Review of House of Hoops
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Martha Robson
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Review of House of Hoops
[Following is a volunteer review of "House of Hoops" by June Gillam.]
June Gillam’s House of Hoops (fourth in the Hillary Broome Series) is a light, enjoyable novel suitable for teens and adults. I read it on an airplane, and it kept me entertained all the way to California and back.
Gillam’s books are hard to classify, and readers who try to put them in a box will be frustrated. House of Hoops isn’t a sports story, although basketball plays an important part. If Hillary’s daughter had a bigger role, it could be Young Adult: very little profanity, no sex, and violence presented without gore. There is crime but no mystery and adventure but not much action. Social issues and family problems touch the characters’ lives, but they aren’t explored in depth. It is simply a good story about interesting people in a challenging situation.
The plot centers around the opening of a community center in downtown Sacramento, one of several projects planned by the developer husband of Hillary’s friend Tiffany, who is also the coach of Hillary’s daughter’s basketball team. The projects are opposed by Tiffany’s father, Charlie, a former English professor known by the not-so-affectionate nickname of “Professor Poison.” He and Hillary clashed in college, and the years have not mellowed either one. They both know secrets about the other which they are prepared to use if necessary. Meanwhile Claire and BFF Keisha are trying out for an honor team that can open important doors, Hillary’s husband is pushing her to reconnect with the mother she barely knew, Charlie is dying of a brain tumor, and some violent elements have infiltrated the preservation coalition. Oh, and there’s a school shooter stalking the girls’ basketball games.
With this many strands of plot to weave together, it is frustrating that very little happens during the middle third of the book. The girls play basketball, Hillary keeps refusing to try to find her mother, and Claire goes through a lot of teenage angst. Charlie meets up with old friends and rants about homelessness, lack of parking spaces, and various liberal causes. There are a series of conversations and confrontations that repeat the same talking points until they become stale. People bargain, cajole, and threaten each other, but no one learns anything or alters their position. Tiffany seems unconcerned that her father is publicly vilifying her husband and trying to sabotage a multi-million-dollar project, and she shows little interest in said father’s major health issues. If Claire and Keisha have any interests outside basketball, the reader would never know it. We see more personality in Charlie, almost all of it unpleasant -- he seems more fixated on getting back at Hillary than on preserving his neighborhood and its (supposedly) rich culture.
This is my major disappointment with the book. I was attracted by the promise of a discussion of urban issues, but there is little more than slogans. Hillary and friends talk about progress and community while Charlie and his increasingly violent cronies talk about how great things used to be. It is puzzling that the pro-development side is represented by likable, successful women, while their opponents are crochety old men with grudges. What’s up with that? Questions of historic preservation and its conflict with economic development are complex, with important and far-reaching ramifications. A single project can raise a city’s image and hard-to-define “livability” enough to attract new money to the entire region, not just the area around the project. On the other hand, if they don’t understand where they came from, the residents risk losing their identity in the undergrowth of national chains and pop culture. How the city discusses and negotiates this balance defines its character: more is needed than just a slugfest. My problem with Sunny (the developer himself) is not that he is “greedy,” as Charlie claims, but that he is absent. I would have liked to meet him and hear what he has to say for himself, but he barely makes an appearance.
June Gillam is an excellent writer, and for that I am grateful. She knows how to craft good sentences and coherent paragraphs, and I enjoyed reading every one. From her bio, it appears that she could be a professional editor, and the work reflects her expertise. Overall, House of Hoops is a fun summer read for a general audience, perfect for making the miles fly by.
I downgraded my rating because of the flaws in plot and character discussed above. I give it three out of four stars – the prose alone deserves that much.
******
House of Hoops
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
June Gillam’s House of Hoops (fourth in the Hillary Broome Series) is a light, enjoyable novel suitable for teens and adults. I read it on an airplane, and it kept me entertained all the way to California and back.
Gillam’s books are hard to classify, and readers who try to put them in a box will be frustrated. House of Hoops isn’t a sports story, although basketball plays an important part. If Hillary’s daughter had a bigger role, it could be Young Adult: very little profanity, no sex, and violence presented without gore. There is crime but no mystery and adventure but not much action. Social issues and family problems touch the characters’ lives, but they aren’t explored in depth. It is simply a good story about interesting people in a challenging situation.
The plot centers around the opening of a community center in downtown Sacramento, one of several projects planned by the developer husband of Hillary’s friend Tiffany, who is also the coach of Hillary’s daughter’s basketball team. The projects are opposed by Tiffany’s father, Charlie, a former English professor known by the not-so-affectionate nickname of “Professor Poison.” He and Hillary clashed in college, and the years have not mellowed either one. They both know secrets about the other which they are prepared to use if necessary. Meanwhile Claire and BFF Keisha are trying out for an honor team that can open important doors, Hillary’s husband is pushing her to reconnect with the mother she barely knew, Charlie is dying of a brain tumor, and some violent elements have infiltrated the preservation coalition. Oh, and there’s a school shooter stalking the girls’ basketball games.
With this many strands of plot to weave together, it is frustrating that very little happens during the middle third of the book. The girls play basketball, Hillary keeps refusing to try to find her mother, and Claire goes through a lot of teenage angst. Charlie meets up with old friends and rants about homelessness, lack of parking spaces, and various liberal causes. There are a series of conversations and confrontations that repeat the same talking points until they become stale. People bargain, cajole, and threaten each other, but no one learns anything or alters their position. Tiffany seems unconcerned that her father is publicly vilifying her husband and trying to sabotage a multi-million-dollar project, and she shows little interest in said father’s major health issues. If Claire and Keisha have any interests outside basketball, the reader would never know it. We see more personality in Charlie, almost all of it unpleasant -- he seems more fixated on getting back at Hillary than on preserving his neighborhood and its (supposedly) rich culture.
This is my major disappointment with the book. I was attracted by the promise of a discussion of urban issues, but there is little more than slogans. Hillary and friends talk about progress and community while Charlie and his increasingly violent cronies talk about how great things used to be. It is puzzling that the pro-development side is represented by likable, successful women, while their opponents are crochety old men with grudges. What’s up with that? Questions of historic preservation and its conflict with economic development are complex, with important and far-reaching ramifications. A single project can raise a city’s image and hard-to-define “livability” enough to attract new money to the entire region, not just the area around the project. On the other hand, if they don’t understand where they came from, the residents risk losing their identity in the undergrowth of national chains and pop culture. How the city discusses and negotiates this balance defines its character: more is needed than just a slugfest. My problem with Sunny (the developer himself) is not that he is “greedy,” as Charlie claims, but that he is absent. I would have liked to meet him and hear what he has to say for himself, but he barely makes an appearance.
June Gillam is an excellent writer, and for that I am grateful. She knows how to craft good sentences and coherent paragraphs, and I enjoyed reading every one. From her bio, it appears that she could be a professional editor, and the work reflects her expertise. Overall, House of Hoops is a fun summer read for a general audience, perfect for making the miles fly by.
I downgraded my rating because of the flaws in plot and character discussed above. I give it three out of four stars – the prose alone deserves that much.
******
House of Hoops
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Confessions of a Llama by Patrick Ntsime
