Rez Ball

July 15, 2023
Tre wants to play basketball--for his brother, for his reservation, and for his future. Ojibwe sophomore Tre Brun from Red Lake Nation Reservation in Minnesota recently lost Jaxon, his high school basketball star brother, in a car accident. All Tre wants to do these days is read graphic novels, hang out with his friends, get new girl Khiana to like him back, and play basketball. With dreams of making it in the NBA and one day becoming the subject of best friend Wes' first documentary, Tre hopes to make varsity this school year and help his brother's old team, the Warriors, finally make it to states. Basketball is taken seriously on the reservation, and Tre must learn to have faith in himself despite his father's lack of belief in him while also navigating racism, the resentment of those who think he falls short of his brother's legacy, and the pitfalls of partying and trying too hard to fit in. Debut author Graves (Ojibwe) presents a deeply personal look at grief, the weight of expectations, and the ways we find connections with those we have lost. While the start feels a bit forced, the novel quickly settles into its coming-of-age sports-underdog story, giving readers tense, fast-paced descriptions of high-stakes basketball games interspersed with textured descriptions of life on the reservation. This one shoots and scores. (glossary, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Fiction. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 It's been a year since Tre's older brother, Jaxon, died in a car crash, and with him went the best chance the Red Lake Warriors have ever had at winning a Minnesota state basketball championship. Tre's still reeling when he's unexpectedly brought up from junior varsity to fill in for varsity players suspended after being caught drinking. Though he quickly becomes aware of the expectations of his school, his peers, and his family, he shows everyone that he is every bit the player Jaxon was--perhaps even better. But with that spotlight comes the pressures of shouldering the hopes of the entire reservation while still trying to figure out who he is as a person. Tre's story is populated with authentic teen characters contending with the disdain of the majority-white towns and cities that surround the reservation. Debut author Graves, who is Ojibwe like Tre, doesn't shirk from showing his community's ugly experiences, but he never languishes in them. Well-paced and exciting--the action of the basketball games is exceptionally well written--this is a solid piece of sports fiction.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 25, 2023
Basketball means everything to Ojibwe 15-year-old Tre Brun, who lives on the Red Lake Nation Reservation in Minnesota. What started as a bonding activity between him and his older brother Jaxon, who was their high school’s basketball star and a pillar of their reservation community, becomes his life’s purpose following Jaxon’s fatal car accident. After trying out for—and unexpectedly making—his school’s varsity basketball team, despite his belief that he’d never be a good enough player, Tre determines to win the state championship in Jaxon’s honor. But interpersonal challenges involving his and his family’s unresolved grief, his developing connection with a new two-spirit student, and issues with his documentarian best friend drive Tre to distraction, jeopardizing his future goals. Can Tre stay true to himself and be present in his own life when he’s stuck in the shadow of his brother’s legacy? Debut author Graves, who is Ojibwe, realistically depicts life living on a reservation via Tre’s earnest first-person POV, and plentiful fast-paced basketball game sequences will appeal to fans of sports fiction. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from October 1, 2023

Gr 8 Up-Tre was "not really into sports," unlike brother Jaxon and their father who were "rez ball" superstars. After shooting up from 5'9" to 6'4" he "gave basketball a try and was surprisingly good at it," thanks to Jaxon's coaching. But Jaxon's dead, and Tre's become the next big hope to get the Warriors to the state championships. Graves's novel could have been just another glorified sports story, but he delivers much more-the never-ending racism on and off the courts, the joy of "rez ball," truncated futures when the season ends. Newbie Nobess, one of the National Screen Institute's 2022 CBC New Indigenous Voices, a program for emerging creators, is a nuanced narrator, effectively ciphering multiple generations with and without the lyrical "rez accent." He proves especially facile with injecting thrilling anticipation into the many games that jump off Graves's pages. VERDICT Once started, even the most reluctant readers will be hard-pressed to hit the pause button.

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 26, 2024

Gr 10 Up-Nobody from the Red Lake Ojibwe reservation in Northern Minnesota has ever gone on to play basketball at a Division I college or in the NBA. Sophomore baller Tre Brun is committed to being the first. His dad and older brother Jaxon both are legends, and since Jaxon's death in a car accident less than a year ago, Tre is feeling the pressure to excel. Graves strikes a balance between a broadly accessible portrait of teen experience-all-night video game tournaments, basketball practice, and sometimes out-of-control partying-with a pointed view of Indigenous life, including harassment by racist cops and ill treatment by white teams from Bemidji and Minneapolis, and yet all the comforts of hope, family, and tradition. An awkward friendship/not-quite-romance with emo girl Khiana nearly ends when she starts dating best friend Wes, an aspiring filmmaker who has been making a documentary about Tre. Everything comes together when Tre leads the Red Lake Warriors to the state tournament for the first time. A glossary defines several Ojibwe terms that appear in dialogue. In a concluding author's note, Graves writes that while the story is fictionalized, it incorporates much of his own experience as a young Ojibwe growing up at Red Lake. Frequent teen drinking and occasional drug use make the novel more appropriate for high school. The novel is written at a level accessible to striving readers. VERDICT Richly detailed and emotionally powerful, this gripping tale is highly recommended for libraries serving older teens.-Bob Hassett

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
The summer before sophomore year, Tre Brun is grieving the accidental death of his older brother as well as living in his shadow -- Jaxon was beloved and idolized for his varsity basketball stardom within the Brun family and throughout the entire Red Lake Reservation. Tre is also on a mission: dedicating himself to rigorous training in hopes of making varsity and, alongside Jaxon's former teammates, bringing their rez team to the Minnesota State Basketball Championships. Ojibwe author Graves's Morris- and AILA YA Award-winning debut is at once an exhilarating sports thriller, an underdog story, a grieving-family portrait, and a relatable high-school social dramedy. That it is set on a contemporary Native reservation is both a casual detail and a noteworthy aspect of the book, thanks to Graves's authentic depictions of the socioeconomic, racial, and cultural specifics of Tre's lived reality. A YA novel with massive commercial appeal that also opens windows -- hell, wide, welcoming gates -- to an underrepresented community.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)