Customer Reviews:
 An everlasting friendship between Bix and Jerome. April 23, 1999
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The year is 1963. Jerome Foxworthy is a thirteen- year-old boy who is a diehard basketball player. He lives in Wilmington, North Carolina (Wilmington is a small city). Jerome is not looked upon as an average citizen, because he is African American, or black as Jerome called it. White Americans were looked upon as higher in society at that time (1963). Jerome practices basketball every night at his "secret court" in the woods by his house. He decides to watch a baseball game his dad was coaching, even though he hated baseball. He sees a child called Bix. He is white, but Jerome wants to be friends with him anyway. Jerome gets transferred from his old grade school to Chestnut Junior High. His mother was hospitalized when the cable of the elevator she was riding snapped and she fell three stories. Since she was now hospitalized, Jerome had to take Home Economics class to learn how to cook for his family. He meets Bix, again, in the class and they get to know each other over time. Jerome teaches Bix how to play basketball at his "secret court". They share each other's feelings, discuss situations, and what two pals would do. Bix plays his step-dad in a game of basketball for the right to see his mother in Duke Mental Hospital, since he was just going to his Aunt's house before that. In the game, Bix wouldn't throw any fakes. Bix hated lying, jokes, or any type of tricks. Jerome had a talk with Bix that set everything straight. Bix won the right to see his mother. Jerome went with to see his mother. Bix realized he had nothing left but Jerome as a friend. What does he do? Read the book and find out.
 The Words Make the Book February 9, 1999
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is truly a great, awsome book; one of the best I've ever read! From the day I started it, to the day I finished, it was soooo hard to put it down. I loved it. Brooks makes you feel like you are watching the whole thing. Every scene, every sentence made a picture in my mind. I recommend you read this book. It takes you there, but it is still the real world you live in. Read it and you won't be disappointed.
Read it eight times... August 24, 1998
I first read this book when I was about eleven years old. I read it about seven more times in the next year or so. I am nineteen now, but I ran across it the other day and read it again. To my surprise, it still offered everything it did when I was younger. Jerome and Bix are excellent characters, very realistic, and the story builds nicely to the unexpected ending. The real treat for me was that I hadn't read the book in so long, the ending was a surprise to me all over again. I definitely think this book is worthwhile for readers of all ages.
This Book Has Bite! January 1, 1997
This is one book that bites into you and doesn't let go, even when the book is back on the shelf, back in the library, or back to the friend who let you borrow it because you "just have to read it." Jerome and Bix are some of the most real characters I've ever met in a book. This is the story of real life folks! There are truly no moves you make alone.
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