The Moves Make the Man
Author: Bruce Brooks
Page Length: 252
Reading Level: 8
Genre: Realistic Fiction
PLOT SUMMARY: Jerome Foxworthy, an intelligent African American, spots Bix Rivers playing baseball one year prior to the composing of the story of Bix. Bix catches his attention because Jerome has never seen anyone who has mastered the skill and art of baseball like Bix.
Jerome is the only black student attending the junior high school in his neighborhood. Jerome’s first love is basketball and he goes to try-outs for the school team, but is not allowed to play because of his color. After Jerome’s mother is in an accident, Jerome decides to enroll in a home economics class so that he can cook for his brothers while his mother heals. He discovers he is not the only male member of the class, Bix Rivers; the talented baseball player also belongs to the class. The boys immediately bond and Jerome teaches Bix to play basketball in the evenings.
As the boy’s relationship grows, Jerome learns that Bix cannot tolerate any form of lying, or “his definition” for lying. This intolerance for non-truths has caused significant repercussions in Bix’s life which Jerome tries to understand.
REVIEW: This is a well-written book that has great character development and descriptive writing. The description of the game of basketball (p. 59), the reference of “white man’s disease” (p. 95), and Bix’s view of friendship (p.159) are examples of Brook’s excellent writing skills. The bond of friendship between Bix and Jerome is one that young men can relate to, in that; males accept each other just as they are. The boy’s both have family issues that are also common to the young teen-age male. In addition, racial issues are a sub-plot that Jerome must deal with throughout the story.
I think both boys and girls would enjoy this book because of the drama and conflict the characters encounter as they move through their first year of junior high
AREAS FOR TEACHING: Character, Conflict, Setting, Theme and Point of View
RELATED BOOKS: Slam, Learning the Game, The Boy Who Saved Baseball, Hardball
RELATED WEBSITES:
www.literatureplace.com/bookfolios/bookfolio.asp?BookfolioID
www.webenglishteacher.com/brooks.html
www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1992/4/92.04.04.x.html
http://www.harperchildrens.com/hch/parents/teachingguides/brooks.pdf
REVIEWED BY: Shirley Wagner
