Review of "Backboard Scrambler," by Bill J. Carol

Review of

Backboard Scrambler, by Bill J. Carol

Five out of five stars

Mel Hart is a recent transfer to Hillsdale High School and the basketball season is about to start. He played the pivot position at his former school and Mel has every expectation that he will be playing that position again. However, the Hillsdale team already has a man that plays that position very well, so the coach wants him to play what is in modern terminology the power forward position. Mel declines, believing that he can beat out the incumbent.

 Mel also has already established his career goals, get a basketball scholarship to a specific college that has an excellent engineering program. Since that program requires a solid background in mathematics, Mel is enrolled in trigonometry, a subject that he really struggles to understand.

 This book of adolescent sports fiction is more realistic than others, there are girls and the boys are interested in them. Even though he lives and breathes basketball, Mel pays particular attention to one pretty girl and is working up the courage to ask her out, suffering the common angst of a boy that has discovered that girls are interesting, but different.

 Mel struggles in trigonometry and has other issues, both on and off the court. After some major setbacks, he finally realizes that the best team that Hillsdale can put on the court has him at power forward. There is a big game at the end and Mel proves his worth in a tight and tense finish.

 This book is good because the major character also suffers from the angst of having a career goal that is not consistent with his passion, which is art. After aiding another in following their dream of being a commercial artist, Mel realizes that he will be much happier if he does what he loves rather than what he knows to be a path to a good salary. That aspect makes this a very good book, as this is a very valuable lesson, follow your passion rather than the big bucks.