The Assassination Of Josh Bell

Characters:      Buck is one of the three people who are kidnapping the children. He is tempered easily. He doesn’t really care for others much. Rita is Buck’s wife. She is not very pretty and gets drug into schemes by Buck. She feels he will leave her if she doesn’t follow directions. Juan is the other kidnapper who does more of the dirty work. He is the one who calls the parents for the money. He’s the one who shot the bus driver. Glenn is one of the boys who were kidnapped. He’s very popular and has friends and thinks that nobody dislikes him. He’s handsome and very athletic. Glenn’s brother Bruce

Characters: The main character is Jayson Barnes. Jayson is 12 and enjoys basketball. He meets a friend named Zoe at his new school.

People who enjoy realistic-fiction novels that include sibling rivalry, sports, making life changes, and the tension of a dysfunctional family environment will be interested in reading this journal writing from the first person perspective of Paul Fisher. This novel includes characteristics of middle school encounters ; therefor, ages 10 and up will appreciate this

The Crossover, a verse novel by Kwame Alexander, is the story of twelve-year old Josh Bell and his life’s occurrences, including learning of his brother, Jordan (JB’s), girlfriend, Alexis, throwing a basketball at JB’s nose so hard that it bled, and hearing of his father’s death that happened during the basketball tournament he won towards the end of the book. In this book, many important lessons are learned such as, the most noteworthy: strong family bonds bring happiness and benefit to the entire family, the importance of listening to people who matter to you, and how meaningful and necessary it is to understand the feelings and actions of others.

Boy21, written by Matthew Quick is a book about a kid named Finley that has a love for basketball. He has played the game ever since his mothers murdering and he would do anything to play basketball. But, then something drastic changes him forever. A boy by the name of Russ Washington comes to his city to live with his grandparents. Russ is a nationally recruited basketball, but he was no interest after the murdering of his parents last October. Finley’s job given to him by his coach is to look after Russ and to persuade him to play basketball again. But, there is a catch. Russ plays the same position that Finley does and wears the same number as well. That would mean that Finley would be the odd man out. Regardless of all that, Finley helps Russ, knowing what it feels like to have a loved one murdered. Finley is a very kind person. Examples of his kindness include him looking after Russ, him leaving his game to see his girlfriend, Erin, after she is hit by a car, and letting Russ take number twenty one from him. Because of that, the theme of Boy21 by, Matthew Quick is the kindness that Finley shows to others.

In the book it also says, “ Well, I will talk to her about this job thing, since it means so much to you. ”(167), this piece of evidence shows that Josh cares about his father and is even willing to talk to his mom to convince her to let him take the job. These two quotes show how Josh is a caring teenager. Josh Bell is also very immature because in the book it says, “ Today, I plan on passing the ball to JB, but when I hear him say “Filthy, give me the ball,” I dribble over to my brother and fire a pass so hard, it levels him”(134), this quote shows that he acted immaturely and without thinking or caring about what would happen to his brother. In the book it also says, “ Me and dad stare at each other for ten minutes without saying a word.

Josh gets in fights with his brother Jordan because he has to help him with his school work because he is out with his girlfriend Alexis “Miss Sweet Tea, Miss Bitter Tea”. Josh gets through the story with

He’s a teenage African American boy who seems to have some conflict occurring in his life at the start of the book. One of them is his mother got a job in Springdale, a town that Jordan doesn’t want to move to. Another struggle I learned is that his father left him, his mother, and his little sister, Tachelle, when Jordan was little. Jordan got into the Cobra’s gang which was filled with older guys who stole, did drugs, and were overall a horrible influence on Jordan. One night Jordan left to go to his grandfather’s to take his watch for the gang. The King of the gang offered Jordan a place to live since he complained about moving. He thought it was a good opportunity and he felt wanted. Wanted, something he hadn’t felt since his father had left. As he walks along a street in the evening somehow he goes through a portal to the 1700’s and loses the watch. A little boy comes up to him and asks him where he came from. Jordan doesn’t know at the time but it was his great grandfather. Jordan stays as a slave and would get whipped if he didn’t do something his Paddyroller, a white man that kept little boys as slaves, wanted him to do. He finally goes back to the present time after he finds the watch. When he returns he doesn’t give the King the watch and all the men jump him. He goes to the hospital, but in the end everything turns out fine and he finally realizes that the watch had much more value to his family than the money it was

This movie hits viewers in the heart with real children. He uses five children ranging from first to eighth grade that have hit hard times, and are simply trying to secure a better future for themselves.

In the summer of 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. After the shooting, there had been conflicting reports by police and eyewitnesses about what exactly happened. Officer Wilson insist Brown was confrontational throughout the encounter, while eyewitnesses say Brown has his hands up trying to surrender before he was shot and killed. Following the Grand jury’s decision not to indict officer Wilson over the shooting of Michael Brown and similar cases of officer-involved shootings and brutality such as the death of Eric Garden in Staten Island, New York, politicians, family advocates, civil rights activists, and law enforcement officials have called for police across the country to adopt the use of body-worm cameras. Although there are many who feel police body cameras present a challenge to privacy and safety issues for both cops and civilians, by recording police-citizen encounters, it increases transparency and accountability of officers and the video recorded by body cams protect any false accusations, police misconduct, officials can get clear evidence of what happened instead of relying on hearsay.

Chris and Doughboy, two brothers in gangs, live with a single mother. Chris is headed for an athletic scholarship and there is hope he will escape gang

In this alternate reality novel, everything that we think we know today is a lie. Former CIA operative Edward Snowden escaped the United States after leaking secret government documents onto the internet in 2013; however, he was not the only whistleblower. James McGrady is on the run from US forces and is in possession of documents that are even more controversial and important than those that exposed the Patriot Act. McGrady holds the truth behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Holed up in safe house on a remote island somewhere north of Hawaii, McGrady is re-writing a condensed form of history in order to expose the lies the United States government has told its citizens and the world for years.

In the contemporary novel Little Brother, Marcus Yallow is a normal teenage boy, he loves being with his friends, playing video games, and especially hates going to school. One day Marcus and his friends, Darryl, Van, and Jolu,

The main character that the book is based on is Drew Robinson. Drew, also known as True, is a sophomore in high school in Queens, NY and loves the game of basketball. He is arguably the best high school basketball player in the area. True’s best friend, Lee Atkins, is a senior at the school. Since he is in his last year of high school basketball, all Lee wants is to make a run in the playoffs and win the championship game. True’s mother is Darlene Robinson. Darlene got a job in California, thanks to a man named Mr. Seth Gilbert, who saw True playing an AAU basketball tournament. Mr. Gilbert wanted him to attend Oakley High School in CA to play for Coach DiGregorio. Mr. Gilbert believes True is the best player and that he will make it into the NBA. So, Mr. Gilbert helps True meet some people who can help him become sponsored. When True goes to play basketball by himself at Morrison Court, he keeps seeing a ghost man. He finds out that the ghost man is Urban Sellers, a basketball player who ruined his career before he was even out of high school. Seeing him made True not want to make the same mistakes. Callie Mason is on the girls’ basketball team and True has a crush on her. He even sneaks into the gym to watch the girl’s team practice from time to time.

David and Linus have many similarities as brothers, but they simultaneously have multiple differences too. David and Linus, although brothers, look and act surprisingly different. Older looking