Slam!

Seventeen-year-old Greg “Slam” Harris loves basketball. It’s his life, and he is a very talented player. Slam goes to Latimer, a charter school in the Bronx known for its visual arts program. The school has enacted a new policy designed to bolster its racial diversity. Mr. Tate, the school principal at Latimer, tells Slam’s mother that Slam’s grades are at risk of keeping him from playing basketball. Slam can’t even think of a world in which he no longer plays basketball. The anxiety causes him to lay awake at night. Outside, Slam can hear the noises of the neighborhood: boom boxes, people talking outside, and police sirens. He reflects on how hearing sirens is common in his Harlem neighborhood. Worrying about his future, Slam thinks about the things that bother him in his life. His mother is worried about his grades, but he doesn’t know how to solve the issue. Slam’s father has a hard time holding down a steady job, and when he’s unemployed he drinks too much. Slam also worries about Derek, his nine-year-old brother, and his future growing up in their neighborhood. Reflecting on what Mr. Tate said about getting his grades together, Slam is concerned he will have to transfer back to Carver, his former school.