Off The Rim by Sonya Spreen Bates
Genres: Middle Grade/YA, fiction
Published: April 2015 by Orca Book Publishers
Pages: 157
Format: Paperback
Rating: 6.5/10
Description: Dylan’s girlfriend knows something—and someone wants to keep her quiet. Dylan’s wish comes true when Coach Scott names him to the starting lineup for the Mountview High Hunters’ first game of the playoffs. But just when he should be concentrating on basketball, Dylan becomes the target of some off-court aggression. As he’s driving his girlfriend, Jenna, home one night, a black pickup truck tries to run them off the road. The police call it an accident. But even as Dylan tries to put it behind him, he has a sense of impending danger that he can’t shake. When Jenna starts receiving threats from an anonymous cyberbully telling her to “keep quiet,” Dylan becomes seriously concerned about her safety. Jenna has no idea what the cyberbully thinks she knows. But Dylan will have to help her figure it out fast if they’re ever going to feel safe again.
Published: April 2015 by Orca Book Publishers
Pages: 157
Format: Paperback
Rating: 6.5/10
Description: Dylan’s girlfriend knows something—and someone wants to keep her quiet. Dylan’s wish comes true when Coach Scott names him to the starting lineup for the Mountview High Hunters’ first game of the playoffs. But just when he should be concentrating on basketball, Dylan becomes the target of some off-court aggression. As he’s driving his girlfriend, Jenna, home one night, a black pickup truck tries to run them off the road. The police call it an accident. But even as Dylan tries to put it behind him, he has a sense of impending danger that he can’t shake. When Jenna starts receiving threats from an anonymous cyberbully telling her to “keep quiet,” Dylan becomes seriously concerned about her safety. Jenna has no idea what the cyberbully thinks she knows. But Dylan will have to help her figure it out fast if they’re ever going to feel safe again.
Off the Rim is a great Middle Grade read that I personally had a lot in common with! I live in an area that is heavily passionate about basketball, so receiving this lovely ARC that was very basketball-centered reminded me a lot of my town!
I played basketball for 6 years, so I must say that Bates captured the essence of the sport quite brilliantly. I do not read many books with sports, and the ones that do have sports tend to be off-putting or distracting from the story-line, but I think that Bates blended the feel of game with Dylan's innermost thoughts and turmoil very well.
The plot-line itself was quite predictable, but since it is a book geared towards younger readers, I feel that the simple plot was just right. Basketball aside, most of the plot had to do with Dylan and his girlfriend dealing with cyber-bullying and online harassment. Cyber-bullying is a huge topic that is addressed in this book. I'm glad to see that this younger generation is receiving books that are relevant in their lives as cyber-bullying is a super serious issue that is very prevalent in our current North-American society. It dealt with the severity of cyber-bullying without being too overly dramatic.
Overall, this was nice quick read! Off The Rim had a great sports component, as well as the cyber-bullying. Perfect for middle-grade readers, or even some young adults, as the protagonists are 17-18 years old.
*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*
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