  | Full Text Reviews: Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2012 If you own a basketball, you’ve played Horse, the court equivalent of follow-the-leader: “Right, we call it ‘ghost’ where I come from. But the game’s the same. You start.” And thus begins a wild round of one-upmanship in which each of two friends plans his opening shot. The bald dude starts off modestly enough: “I’m going to skyhook this ball clear across the court into that basket, with my eyes closed, standing on one foot, over my left shoulder.” Not to be outdone, the headbanded dude orchestrates a shot that involves climbing up 437 flights of stairs and calculating wind speed, and then “I will stand on one tiny tiptoe, balance myself on the topmost corner of the 437-story building, and shoot a perfect layup, with my left . . . foot.” And they’re just getting started. Of course, neither gets around to actually taking a shot, but they don’t care and neither will the reader, because it’s all about talking a little good-humored smack. The only thing stretchier than Myers’ lanky buddies is their imagination, and the literal renderings of their outrageous plans (how about an airborne tongue dunk? Or a trip into space, with a cameo by Neil deGrasse Tyson?) are as hilarious as the patter. In a closing note Myers explains this work is inspired by games of Horse played with his photographer friend, Kambui, and this tribute to friendship incorporates snippets of Kambui’s photographic medium with Myers’ painting. The freewheeling format and broadly popular topic makes this eminently saleable as either a readalone or readaloud, and kids familiar with Myers’ illustrations of Zora Neale Hurston’s whoppers in Lies and Other Tall Tales (BCCB 1/06) will welcome his latest venture into hyperbole. EB - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. School Library Journal - 01/01/2013 Gr 3–6—Two friends on an urban basketball court begin a game of H.O.R.S.E. For the uninitiated, Myers does a fine job describing how to play the game, which is similar to Ghost: one player shoots any kind of shot (layup, jumper, etc.) and the other player has to duplicate it. If the second player fails to make the shot, he gets one letter and the game continues until someone loses five times and spells the word H.O.R.S.E. It sounds simple enough, until these two players get creative, such as balancing on the top of a 437-story building and shooting a perfect layup with the left foot. As the friends raise the stakes and the braggadocio rises to an inventive pitch, readers will appreciate the grand humor. White or plain background space emphasizes the dramatic shots that are dreamed up. In addition, the text waves up and beyond the skyline just as the ball can soar. This book will encourage all readers to grab a close friend and get out to play a game, matching their athleticism to their imaginations.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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