A good short story about friendship and sports - basketball. Who shall lose, and who shall win? Sometimes losing is your option, and winning isn't. But how do you win? When you defeat your foes. How do you lose? When your friends lose. But what if, your friends are your foes? Well, that's what you call 'bullshit'.
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Taking Sides By Gary Soto
Very Interesting
I thought that this book was going to be good because of the front cover, Lincoln was playing basketball, and I was right. Lincoln Mendoza had just moved to a suburbs from the big city. Most things weren’t the same, but there was one thing that bothered him the most, he was not white. His father had divorced with his mom, so they decided to move to somewhere else. Lincoln had to leave his friends from the city with not much money to a place where there was a lot of money. Lincoln loved to play basketball and was on the Franklin High school team until he moved. Now he was at Columbus High school. There was a lot of controversy about the race Lincoln was compared to the other kids. This controversy grew a lot when it was almost time to face his old team. Lincoln didn’t like his new team, they were way too cocky. He started to wonder if he could still play on his old team. The week before the game Lincoln hurt his knee pretty badly. Finally, it was the day of the game and he was still hurt with a question he had not yet decided, what team he would play with. ( )

This is a book that I think most students can relate to. It tells of a young basketball star who moved from a poor area in California to a new area that is richer. In this new area, he has to start all over and make new friends. At his new school he joins the basketball team and has a coach that is very hard on him and does not like him much. Not only is he having this problem with the team, his "love life" is not good either. The end of the book is nice inspite of all the bad things Lincoln faces.

I read "Taking Sides" by Gary Soto in seventh grade and now that I'm in ninth grade. This book catches my attention because I'm into sports not exactly basketball but any other sport. This is the only book I've read by Gary Soto so far and I like it so I'm looking forward to read another one of his books. I like the way Gary Soto organizes his books. I like the fact that he uses another language in some parts. The main character is Lincoln. I like his personality because he doesn't only think about himself but about everyone around him. Hes the type that would put his family before anything and I'm like that, I'll do anything for my family so I can kind of relate to him. The book is about Lincoln moving houses because they broke into his house so he moved and now he goes to a different school. He was in the basketball team for his old school and now that he moved he plays for his new school. So then the schools play against each other and he doesn't know what to do. This book is really interesting and I like it because I can kind of relate to it. So if anything I would myself reading again and anyone else should read it too. ( )

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