Every now and then a library "shelf run" will uncover an older book that my kiddos adore because they identify with it.
My son, who has loved basketball since the 3rd grade, pulled this one from a shelf. He read between games at an out-of-city tournament, and in the car, too. He finished it in one weekend.
"Mom, you gotta read this," he declared when he came home. "He's a baller!"
As far as my son is concerned, this book has it all - a baller for a MC (who's not stand-out tall and therefore competing for the point guard position on the school team - like my son), aliens, a gentle crush, and an overzealous policeman. He put the rest of the books in the series on hold at the library!
I liked the way Clete Barrett Smith turned the SF genre on its head, bringing the aliens to Earth as tourists.
