On Point: Volume 2 (Zayd Saleem, chasing the dream, 2) - Tapa blanda

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Hena Khan is a Pakistani American writer. She is the author of the middle grade novels Amina’s Voice, Amina’s Song, More to the Story, Drawing Deena, and the Zara’s Rules series and picture books Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, and It’s Ramadan, Curious George, among others. Hena lives in her hometown of Rockville, Maryland, with her family. You can learn more about Hena and her books by visiting her website at HenaKhan.com or connecting with her @HenaKhanBooks.

Sally Wern Comport has illustrated numerous picture books and novels, including Love Will See You Through: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Six Guiding Beliefs (as told by his niece); Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure; Hanging Off Jefferson’s Nose: Growing Up on Mt. Rushmore; and the Spy Mice series. She has also translated her picture making skills to various large-scale public, private, and institutional artworks. Sally lives with her husband and two daughters in Annapolis, Maryland, where she operates Art at Large Inc. Learn more at ArtAtLargeInc.com.

De la contraportada

The second book in an exciting new chapter book series about a scrawny fourth-grader with big dreams of basketball stardom. Now that Zayd has made the Gold Team, he's loving every minute of the season. But when the team starts to struggle, Zayd wonders if it has something to do with him. Original.

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On Point

1

Sometimes when you finally get something you really want, it ends up not being what you hoped it would be. Like that remote-control car that’s supposed to be able to drive over anything but gets stuck on the carpet and spins its wheels. Or the haircut that is cool looking on that kid on TV but on you looks like a giant mushroom sprouted on top of your head.

So far, though, being on my new basketball team is as amazing as I thought it would be. It’s totally worth the weeks of practice I put into getting ready for tryouts. And that includes getting grounded when I skipped violin practice to play basketball instead. I’m finally on the best team in the fourth-grade league with my best friend, Adam. And each time I lace up my sneakers and step onto the gym floor during practice, I feel like a million bucks.

It’s halftime during our first game of the season. My parents and older sister, Zara, are in the stands. I heard them cheering loudly for me when Coach Wheeler put me in during the last five minutes of the first half. I missed a wide-open shot but had a good pass and a nice rebound. And now I get to start the second half! My heart is thumping wildly in my chest. This is exactly the moment I’ve been waiting for.

We’re huddled around Coach and his clipboard, where he scribbles down plays and taps his pen to make his point. We’re down by four. Not too bad. Although by the way Coach is speaking, you’d think we were losing by a lot.

“All right, guys.” Coach Wheeler taps on the clipboard. “I know we have new players. We’re still learning to work together as a team. That’s no excuse for rushing your passes and turning the ball over. Remember to keep the ball up when you rebound.”

I look around at my new teammates’ faces. Adam looks determined. Blake is super sweaty. Ravindu looks like he hasn’t slept enough. And Sam? He’s mouthing something to his mom in the bleachers instead of paying attention.

“Who’s going to take us home?” Coach asks.

“Let’s do this,” Adam says gruffly. He’s the team captain, and he puts his hand out first. I stick mine on top of his, and soon there’s a pile of hands.



“One, two, three, MD HOOPS!” we shout in unison. I feel reenergized as I step back onto the court. I’m going to put up some serious points in the second half. I can feel it.

Blake inbounds the ball, and Adam starts to take it up the court. I always admire his handles. He can dribble behind his back, and he has a sweet crossover. He’s stuck right now, though, because the other team is pressing him hard. Two guys are all over him.

“Over here,” I yell, holding out my hands. Adam glances at me for a second but then flings the ball over to Blake. A kid from the other team strips it from Blake before he has possession. The kid takes it down the court on a fast break and makes an easy layup. Now we’re down by six.

We get the ball back, and this time Adam passes it to me. I immediately have two guys smothering me. All I can see is a bunch of arms waving in my face like a giant octopus. They’ve got me in a trap, and I try to pass the ball back to Adam. But I turn the ball over. The other team runs down the court and puts up two more points. Now we’re down eight.

My dad loves this old movie where this guy wakes up each morning and the same thing happens to him over and over again. It sounds super boring to me, but now I know what he means when he says, “This reminds me of Groundhog Day.” Because the same exact pattern keeps repeating. We get the ball. They press us. We turn the ball over. They score. Repeat.

We’re down by twelve with only three minutes left.

“Time out!” Coach yells. He looks as sweaty as we are and has been pacing the sidelines and yelling louder as each minute ticks by.

“Let’s see if you guys have better luck,” he mutters as he puts in the entire bench for the rest of the game. Adam and I sit next to Blake, Sam, and Ravindu and watch as our teammates try to shake things up. It doesn’t work. We end up losing 32–17.

This isn’t how I imagined playing on the gold team would feel. They were undefeated last season and got second place in the playoffs. I thought I’d be playing on that team. Today feels like I got another mushroom haircut.