Synopses & Reviews
Kirby Nickel loves basketball. The only problem is he cant play basketball. But when an opportunity to meet NBA star Brett McGrew comes up, Kirby knows he has to take a chance and try out for the basketball team. Getting on the team turns out to be easy—the rest of the boys are as supremely untalented as Kirby—but winning in order to be eligible to meet McGrew is a whole different problem. Different and embarrassing. The coachs radical new plan for success involves the boys playing in their underwear. But if this crazy idea works, Kirby will get to meet his hero—who he secretly also hopes is his long-lost father.
Review
2008 winner of the William Allen White Childrens Book Awards. ...This year, more than 50,000 third- through eighth-graders in Kansas schools participated in naming the two White Award-winning books. “A Dogs Life” was the choice of third through fifth graders; “Airball” won the sixth through eighth grade award...
“Airball: My Life in Briefs” is Kansas author L. D. Harkraders story of an uncoordinated Kansas seventh-grader who braves his coachs ire and becomes captain of the basketball team in order to help him prove that NBA star Brett McGrew is the father he has never known....Since its inception in 1952, more than 3.7-million votes have been cast by Kansas schoolchildren to select the annual winners of the White Book Awards. The program was founded by Ruth Carver Gagliardo, a specialist in childrens literature, to honor the memory of one of the states most distinguished citizens by encouraging the boys and girls of Kansas to read and enjoy good books. Gagliardo guided the White Award Program from 1952 until her death in 1980.
Review
"Harkrader offers an amusing, wholly affectionate portrayal of a small-town community's devotion to basketball and of a klutzy kid's success on the court in spite of himself. An entertaining first novel." -- Booklist
Synopsis
Kirby Nickel loves basketball. He loves watching basketball. He loves talking about basketball. The only problem is he can't play basketball. But coach has a plan for Kirby and the supremely untalented seventh-grade team. It involves the guys playing nearly naked -- only in their briefs. Maybe the so-called Stealth Sportswear (think: The Emperor's New Clothes) will really inspire the team. Maybe. And maybe, just maybe, Kirby will find out who his real father is.
Synopsis
Humor and basketball in a middle-grade novel--a slam dunk success with boys.
About the Author
L.D. Harkrader never played underwear basketball, but did have a recurring nightmare about walking into the school cafeteria wearing nothing but pajamas. "I'm sure the dream meant I was afraid people would see who I really was," says L.D. "In telling Kirby's story, I hope I show readers they shouldn't be afraid to let people see who they are. Who they are is okay." L.D. lives in a small town in Kansas and, like Kirby, is a rabid Jayhawks basketball fan.