Synopses & Reviews
Marcus and Eddie are best friends. They're also stars on the basketball court, where they're known as Black and White. Race has never been an issue: Marcus is black, Eddie is white, but it doesn't matter. Until they start to pull stickups for extra pocket cash and the gun they're using goes off. Now Marcus is going to jail and Eddie is going to college, even though Eddie is the one who fired the gun.
Told in their two voices, Black and White is the gripping story of two good boys who make a bad mistake. It's also a heart-breaking look at the realities of the urban criminal justice system. Written with passion and uncanny authenticity, this is Paul Volponi's debut young adult novel.
Review
"This is a thoughtfully crafted and deceptively simple story that knits together a high-interest plot, a readable narrative…and complex personal and societal issues that teen readers will passionately engage." -Booklist, starred review
Review
"With down-to-earth language based on his own experiences . . . Volponi captures the reader." -
VOYAReview
"Using authentic voices that will draw in both strong and reluctant readers, Volponi writes a taut novel, avoiding didactism and deftly balancing the drama and passion on the basketball court with each boy’s private terror and anguish."
—Booklist, starred reviewReview
A readable narrative crackling with street slang, and complex personal and societal issues that teen readers will passionately engage. (Booklist, starred review)
Review
"The plotting is tight, the action is swift, and the troubling outcome that finds Marcus headed to Prison and Eddie off to college is, sadly all too believable."
-Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review "Using authentic voices that will draw in both strong and reluctant readers, Volponi writes a taut novel, avoiding didactism and deftly balancing the drama and passion on the basketball court with each boy’s private terror and anguish. Teens will want to discuss the story’s layered moral ambiguities, heartbreaking choices, and as Marcus says, “the line that separates black and white." -Booklist, starred review
Review
"Volponi, a multiple award-winning author, keeps the tension high from the first to last page ... The Final Four is definitely a winner."
Review
"A triple-overtime game keeps readers on the edge of their seats, but nerve-wracking as the action on the floor may be, the baggage that the players bring to the game is equally fraught."
Review
"With exciting game action ... this gritty, realistic, and riveting novel deserves the wide audience it will no doubt attract."
Review
"Volponi nails it when it counts in this dynamic story."
Review
"Volponi's latest combines in-the-moment
Review
Praise for The Final Four by Paul Volponi: "Volponi, a multiple award-winning author, keeps the tension high from the first to last page ... The Final Four is definitely a winner." —VOYA, starred review
"A triple-overtime game keeps readers on the edge of their seats, but nerve-wracking as the action on the floor may be, the baggage that the players bring to the game is equally fraught." —BCCB, starred review
"With exciting game action ... this gritty, realistic, and riveting novel deserves the wide audience it will no doubt attract." —School Library Journal, starred review
"Volponi nails it when it counts in this dynamic story." —Booklist, starred review
"Volponi's latest combines in-the-moment action, basketball history and the points of view of four college ballplayers with very different lives ... No story or character is simple." —Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
"Volponi, a multiple award-winning author, keeps the tension high from the first to last page ...The Final Four is definitely a winner." VOYA, starred review
March Madness is in full swing, and there are only four teams let in the NCAA basketball championship. The heavily favored Michigan Spartans and the underdog Troy Trojans meet in the first game in the seminfinals, and it's there that the fates of Malcolm, Roko, Crispin, and M.J. intertwine. As the last moments tick down on the game clock, you'll learn how each player went from being a kid who loves to shoot hoops to a powerful force in one of the most important games of the year. Which team will leave the Superdome victorious? In the end it will come down to who has the most skill, the most drive, and the most heart.
"Volponi nails it when it counts in this dynamic story." Booklist, starred review
"Volponi adroitly renders authentic and inspired basketball action." The New York Times Book Review"
Synopsis
Adonis is a jock. He's on the football team and he's dating one of the prettiest girls in school. Alan is the new kid. He wears lipstick and joins the Fashion Club. Soon enough the football team is out to get him. Adonis is glad to go along with his teammates . . . until they come up with a dangerous plan to humiliate Alan. Now Adonis must decide whether he wants to be a guy who follows the herd or a man who does what's right.
From critically acclaimed author Paul Volponi comes this discussable and finely wrought story of bullies, victims, and the bystanders caught in between.
Synopsis
Noah and his friends go to a predominantly all-white neighborhood with a plan: steal a car, sell it to a chop shop, and make some fast cash. But that never happens. Instead, Noah, a teen father, becomes the victim of a vicious beating that leaves him with a fractured skull. The question is, was the attacker protecting his turf, or did he target Noah just because he?s black?
Synopsis
Noah and his friends go to a predominantly white neighborhood with a plan: steal a car, sell it to a chop shop, and make some fast cash. But that never happens. Instead, Noah, a teen father, is the victim of a vicious beating that leaves him with a fractured skull. Was the attacker just protecting his turf, or did he assault Noah because he?s black? Awardwinning author Paul Volponi, known for his brutally honest portrayals of the moral complexities of urban life, uses alternating perspective to give readers a fascinating and chilling insight into the minds of those on both sides of a hate crime.
Synopsis
Rucker Park?a place where basketball?s greatest pro players go up against street legends. Best friends Mackey and J.R. have waited their whole lives to win the basketball tournament here. But when the day of an important game arrives, J.R. is fatally stabbed. While Mackey didn?t wield the knife, he feels responsible. Now he has a score to settle, but the killer is watching his every move. Mackey is determined to finish the final game of the Rucker Park Tournament on his own terms. The question is, can he do it?
Synopsis
Clay is committed to cleaning up his act. He’s at Daytop, a drug treatment facility, working towards getting his GED and kicking his drug habit. Then one day his estranged cousin, Addison, shows up at the program. Addison’s a bigger, bolder version of Clay: he’s older, he’s into harder drugs, and he’s in more trouble.That trouble comes to a head one tragic night on a rooftop when Addison is shot by the police as Clay stands just a few steps away. Addison wasn’t armed. He didn’t deserve to die. But was he completely innocent? And what will prove more difficult for Clay—living a lie, or facing the truth?
Synopsis
Best friends Mackey and J.R. have waited their whole lives to win the basketball tournament at Rucker Park, where their favorite pro ballers squared off against street legends. But the day of their big game, J.R. is fatally stabbedand its Mackeys fault, even though he didnt wield the knife. Now Mackey has a score to settle, but the killer is watching his every move.
Synopsis
It started out as an innocent day for Martin, but it quickly turned into his worst nightmare-arrested for something he didn't even mean to do. And five months later, he is still locked up in jail on Rikers Island. Just when things couldn't get worse, Martin gets caught in a fight between two prisoners, and his face is slashed. He's scarred forever, but one good thing comes from the attack-Martin is transferred to a part of Rikers where inmates must attend high school. When he meets his caring and understanding teacher, will Martin open up and learn from his situation? Or will he be consumed by prison and getting revenge on his attackers?
Synopsis
Hurricane Katrina is raging and you are inside the Superdome!
Miles has only lived in New Orleans with his dad, a musician, for a few months when Hurricane Katrina hits. Father and son haven?t exactly been getting along. Miles is obsessed with football; his dad?s passion is jazz. But when the storm strikes, they?re forced to work through their differences to survive a torturous few days in the Superdome.
Paul Volponi, known for writing books that capture the pulse of urban life in New York City, creates a gripping hour-by-hour portrayal of what life was like for those left behind once the floodwaters began to rise.
Synopsis
Marcus and Eddie are best friends who found the strength to break through the racial barrier. Marcus is black; Eddie is white. Stars of their school basketball team, they are true leaders who look past the stereotypes and come out on top. They are inseparable, watching each other's backs, both on and off the basketball court. But one night—and one wrong decision—will change their lives forever. Will their mistake cost them their friendship . . . and their future?
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick “Top Ten”
IRA Children’s Book Award (Young Adult)
Synopsis
Cousins Clay and Addison were like brothers, growing up together in the projects, until they were ripped apart by a family argument. when they are reunited in a drug-treatment program, they try to work out their issues like a family. but one night, one wrong decision, leaves Clay shaken and Addison dead. And in the rash of events that follow, the truth of what actually happened on the rooftop of the apartment building is caught up in a clash of politics and racial issues. will Clay be able to rise above the lies and face the truth?
Synopsis
March Madness is in full swing, and there are only four teams let in the NCAA basketball championship. The heavily favored Michigan Spartans and the underdog Troy Trojans meet in the first game in the seminfinals, and it's there that the fates of Malcolm, Roko, Crispin, and M.J. intertwine. As the last moments tick down on the game clock, you'll learn how each player went from being a kid who loves to shoot hoops to a powerful force in one of the most important games of the year. Which team will leave the Superdome victorious? In the end it will come down to who has the most skill, the most drive, and the most heart.
About the Author
Paul Volponi is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novel Black and White. From 1992 to 1998, he taught adolescents on Rikers Island in New York City to read and write. Mr. Volponi worked at a day treatment center like Daytop teaching students and helping them prepare for the GED. Mr. Volponi lives in New York City.