REZ BALL

REZ BALL by Byron Graves

The foundational story of Rez Ball is amazing and very moving. Unfortunately, there are a lot of potholes to navigate, so you will want to check out the HEADS UP section.

Tre Brun's life is basketball. Living on the Ojibwe Reservation, he knows it is his only ticket out of the lifestyle that so many of his loved ones live. But basketball also haunts him, because he lives under the constant shadow of the memory of his brother, Jaxon.

Jaxon was killed in a car accident leaving a gaping hole on the basketball team and in the Rez community. An unstoppable player, Jaxon was on track to leading the Red Lake Indian Reservation team maybe all the way to state. Now a void exists, and the varsity team needs someone strong to help them heal and go the distance. Tre is the next player in line with the most skills, but can he do this when all he sees, all the teams sees, and all the Rez sees is Jaxon?

HEADS UP- I think the easiest way to do this is to just bullet point the concerns.

-LANGUAGE - This book is HEAVY on language including multiple F-bombs on most pages. I should have added up how many F-words were used, but it is staggering.

-DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE are prevalent. I think author Byron Graves probably provides up with a pretty realistic picture of the usage on the reservation. There are lots of parties. Tre participates in some, but he doesn't like the effect they are having on him and how they affect his game. He sits down with the team and gets them all to agree not to party until after the season is over which is unheard-of.

-SEXUAL REFERENCES- The girl that Tre falls for is "two-spirited." She is bisexual. The book doesn't spend a lot of time focusing on that issue. At one point he entertains the idea of a sexual encounter with her, but she ends up falling for his best friend which causes some issues. She tells Tre that they are "Friendable" a term she's made up that is like "f***able" but just the friend version.