Final Four by Paul Volponi

Reviewed by Danilo C.
Grade 8

The seconds are counting down in the Final Four matchup, a college basketball playoff tournament, between the heavily favored Michigan State Spartans and the underdog Trojans from Troy University. As the game’s most exhilarating moments wind down on the game clock, the reader is taken between two different settings--the game, and the lives of four key players on the court leading up to the big game.

Malcolm McBride, Michigan State’s star point guard, is a self-centered kid from the projects of Detroit ready to make millions in the NBA as soon as he can. Roko Bacic, Troy’s fearless point guard, is playing for the pride of his family in his corrupt home country of Croatia. Crispin Rice, Troy’s passionate center, is dealing with the stress of being engaged and the whole world knowing about it. Lastly, Michael Jordan, Michigan State’s shooting guard, usually warms the bench but because of injuries to the rest of the team was thrust into the big game and has never really been able to live up to his name.

The way the author writes the book is interesting because I’ve never seen this style of writing before. He writes about the game as it is happening as well as incorporating flashbacks for each player that tells the reader how each of the characters grew up. I also enjoyed how realistic the book was. You could tell the author was very knowledgeable about sports by the way he wrote the book.

If you call yourself a basketball fan, The Final Four is definitely a book for you. This book had hardly any boring parts throughout the entire novel. The different fast-paced moments as well as interesting anecdotes about each character made me want to keep reading the book. This book was a page turner for me, and I guarantee that it will be for any other sports fan.