The Necessary Hunger

As a star basketball player in her last year of high school, Nancy Takahiro's life is about to change forever. Faced with the college recruitment process and unsure of where her skill will take her, Nancy is not prepared for meeting Raina Webber, an All-State shooting guard whose passion for basketball is matched only by her talent.

When Nancy's father and Raina's mother move in together, the girls are faced with the challenge of negotiating their already intense friendship and rivalry. As Nancy's love for Raina grows and both prepare to leave inner city neighborhood that has nurtured them, they find themselves looking toward a future that is no longer easily defined.

Set against a backdrop of racial tension between the Asian American and African American communities of Los Angeles and infused with tenderness and passion. The Necessary Hunger explores not only the intricacies of the game of basketball, but also the very nature of the relationships young women create in the face of the odds that are stacked against them.

Nina Revoyr was born in Japan and raised in Tokyo and Los Angeles. She received her M.F.A. from Cornell University, where she is currently a lecturer.

"Beats with the pulse of life . . . A smooth, insightful read."Time

"A quietly intimate, vigorously honest, and uniquely American hoop dream: tough and tender, without a single false note."Kirkus Reviews

"I hope this engagingly written novel finds its way into the hands of young women and older one who experience similar passions for women and sports."Rebecca Brown, author of The Terrible Girls and What Keeps Me Here

"The author has created a remarkable first novel, a truthful memoir of passion, drive, and the need to surpass everyone's expectations of your abilities. The importance of family, community, and the struggle to succeed are realistically portrayed through a variety of characters. The rough life of the Los Angeles neighborhoods, the easy slide into crime, and the acceptance of violence is skillfully woven into the players' world. History, prejudice, and powerful basketball action flow easily around the narrator's hope-filled and sometimes painful account . . . A rare examination of women's sport for older readers, athletes or not, and an intimate one-sided love story."Mary McCarthy, VOYA

"Thoughtful . . . Revoyr focuses on a number of issues, including competition, interracial relationships, and same-sex relationships."Shirley N. Quan, Library Journal

"A wholesome coming-of-age novel about two lesbian high-school basketball stars, Revoyr's debut is a meditation on consuming passion and a reflection on lost opportunities. Narrator Nancy Takahiro, a Japanese-American teen growing up in predominantly black South Central Los Angeles, is awestruck when she first sees fellow high-school sophomore Raina Webber (who's black) play basketball. Nancy is on the team, too, and her awe develops into a minor obsessionand then a full-fledged crush. Awkward everywhere but on the court, Nancy is further flustered when, two years later, Nancy's father and Raina's mother meet and fall in loveand Raina and her mother move in with the Takahiros. The basketball action, which builds climactically, honors the split-second timing and excitement of the game. Revoyr also evokes the feel of contemporary L.A., capturing crackheads, gangbangers and car-jackings in sharp, street-smart dialogue. A handful of engaging subplotsincluding Raina's mother's conflict with friends over dating a non-black manexamine contemporary issues of race, sexuality and fairness. [The novel portrays] the pressure and passion of athletic competition, and all the sweetness and yearning of first love."Publishers Weekly

"Two young women grapple with the stress of competitive high school basketball, college recruiters, their sexual identities, racism, and the interracial love story of their parents."School Library Journal

As a star basketball player in her last year of high school, Nancy Takahiro's life is about to change forever. Faced with the college recruitment process and unsure of where her skill will take her, Nancy is not prepared for meeting Raina Webber, an All-State shooting guard whose passion for basketball is matched only by her talent.

When Nancy's father and Raina's mother move in together, the girls are faced with the challenge of negotiating their already intense friendship and rivalry. As Nancy's love for Raina grows and both prepare to leave inner city neighborhood that has nurtured them, they find themselves looking toward a future that is no longer easily defined.

Set against a backdrop of racial tension between the Asian American and African American communities of Los Angeles and infused with tenderness and passion. The Necessary Hunger explores not only the intricacies of the game of basketball, but also the very nature of the relationships young women create in the face of the odds that are stacked against them.

Nina Revoyr was born in Japan and raised in Tokyo and Los Angeles. She received her M.F.A. from Cornell University, where she is currently a lecturer.