We Are Family

by LeBron James, Andrea Williams

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Drawing inspiration from his own life and the lives of the students at his I Promise School, LeBron James has crafted a fun and inspirational story about a determined group of middle schoolers and their quest to save their basketball season. Filled with grit, perseverance and heart, Jayden, Tamika, Chris, Anthony, and Dex team up to save their beloved Hoop Group and get back on the court.

Kids have big dreams. And when those dreams are on the line, how far are they willing to go to achieve them?

When Jayden and his teammates find out there’s not going to be a Hoop Group this year—and maybe ever again—they have to learn to lean on each other if they want to save their basketball season, in this inspiring new middle grade novel from NBA superstar LeBron James and acclaimed author Andrea Williams. A New York Times bestseller!

Jayden Carr has been training all summer to be ready for Hoop Group—the free afterschool basketball program where his hero, NBA superstar Kendrick King, got his start. But when his beloved coach tells him there’s not going to be a Hoop Group this year, Jayden is heartbroken.

And he’s not the only one. Coach Beck’s daughter, Tamika, was planning to be the first girl ever to start for the squad. Chris King, Kendrick’s only nephew, spent the summer bragging that his uncle was coming home just to watch him play. For Anthony Pierson, Hoop Group was supposed to be his way out of trouble. And for Dexter Donyel, all 4’6” of him, Hoop Group was his chance to finally be part of a team, instead of just watching from the stands.

For each kid, Hoop Group was more than just a chance to ball; it was an escape, a dream, a family. Now their prospects seem all but impossible—but then the world hasn’t met Jayden, Tamika, Chris, Anthony, and Dex before. Determined to have their shot, the five new friends scrap, hustle, fight, and play hard to save their season to prove that sometimes a chance is all it takes.  

It’s an inspiring, original middle grade story from NBA superstar LeBron James and acclaimed author Andrea Williams that channels the many relatable challenges so many young kids face.

The first step to winning is getting out on the court.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062971111
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/31/2021
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	426,515
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

LeBron James is widely considered to be the best basketball player in the world and one of the greatest players of all time. James has won four NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, and four league MVP titles. James grew up in Akron, Ohio, where he continues to create generational change through his LeBron James Family Foundation that focuses its efforts on helping youth achieve a better future through education. In 2018, his foundation opened the I PROMISE School, designed to help underprivileged students and their entire families succeed in school and beyond. 

Andrea Williams is an author, journalist, and editor. Though currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four children, Andrea’s heart will always remain in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.

Editorial Reviews

"An inspiring sports story all the way to the buzzer." — Kirkus Reviews

"A book that is truly a mirror and a window—score a win for this inspiring sports story!" — Booklist

From the Publisher

"A book that is truly a mirror and a window—score a win for this inspiring sports story!"

Booklist

"A book that is truly a mirror and a window—score a win for this inspiring sports story!"

Booklist

2021-07-08
Basketball is life in Lorain, Ohio.

A group of seventh graders have different reasons for joining Hoop Group, an elite youth basketball program. Jayden, who lives in a tiny, cramped house with his mother and grandmother, desperately needs the money playing for the NBA would bring. Chris’ uncle made it out of Lorain and into the NBA, but he doesn’t share his uncle’s skills and can’t quite live up to his father’s expectations. Tamika’s dad was Hoop Group’s coach before Parkinson’s disease put the team’s future in jeopardy; she has a lot to prove and dreams of being the next Pat Summitt. Dex and his hardworking single mom are struggling with poverty, but he just loves the game––especially the Cleveland Cavs. And Anthony, frankly, doesn’t have much of a choice; it was either join this character-building group or face expulsion from school. A makeshift team of preteens with a lot on their plates, they discover as much about themselves (and one another) off the court as they do on it. The authors present a convincing argument about the value of basketball beyond points on the board and big contracts. The characters’ dreams are relatable along with the book’s universally valuable emphasis on hard work and perseverance. But the specifics about what it takes to make it in basketball and the fast-paced on-court action provide something special for young fans of the game. Main characters read as Black.

An inspiring sports story all the way to the buzzer. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews