“[Streetball Is Life] is filled with cinematic details and colorful characters, which bring the streetball subculture to life.”—School Library Journal

From award-winning YA author Paul Volponi comes the true story of his unforgettable summer spent proving himself as a New York City streetballer, only to discover that he had gained skills that would enrich his life off the court, as well.

During the sweltering summer of seventeen-year-old Paul Volponi’s life, he had only one goal—he wanted, no, needed to become a legitimate and respected New York City street basketball player. So he entered through the gates of the Proving Ground, the roughest streetball yard in the city. It was where teens and adults contested pickup games with a ferocity seemingly greater than that of the NBA Finals.

Streetball Is Life is the story of Paul’s summer-long initiation at the Proving Ground. It is a testament of a teenager who wanted more than anything else to earn his stripes in streetball society. Only what he didn’t understand at the time was that this experience would deliver to him a set of skills that would enhance his life far beyond the boundaries of a basketball court.

...Volponi conveys a passion for basketball while sharing a bittersweet reminiscence of a pivotal summer. The on-court action is tendered with an almost awe-like respect for the game, the players, and the relentlessly fierce way they play. Sprinkled with quotes from basketball greats as well as reflective life lessons the author learned from playing, this informative memoir reveals the unrelenting world of streetball and the talented athletes who rule it. -- Publishers Weekly
[Streetball is Life] is filled with cinematic details and colorful characters, which bring the streetball subculture to life. . . . An entertaining title that will likely be very popular with basketball fans and will appeal to readers who enjoy realistic fiction. -- School Library Journal
Paul Volponi’s latest, Streetball is Life, is a fitting heir to his signature work Black and White. The rhythm of the city streets envelops the reader with the grittiness of a hard-fought game of hoops that is careening toward an unknown finish. Volponi’s coming-of-age story will attract those just beginning to make their mark on the world as well as those further along in practicing what they learned through early competition. Streetball is Life is a slam dunk. -- Lenny Shulman, Emmy Award-winning sportswriter and author of Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory
Volponi’s microcosm of American culture is a page turner that entertains and informs. -- Ed McNamara, Newsday
Streetball is Life is written the way Volponi's ballers hit that cracked cement: hard and true. -- Paul Griffin, author of The Orange Houses, Stay with Me and Burning Blue

Paul Volponi is a bestselling author, journalist, and educator. His twelve novels for young adults have received a dozen American Library Association honors and his novel Black and White was a winner of the International Reading Association Children's Book Award. Volponi is also the author of multiple nonfiction books for young adults, most recently Famous First Impressions: The Power of Perfect Opening Lines.