Back to Books Bank
Description
#1 New York Times Bestseller
A People Kid Pick of the week
From the mind of basketball legend and Academy Award–winning storyteller Kobe Bryant comes this radically original portrait of five young basketball players, one enlightening coach, and the awesome transformative power of the game. Filled with insights about the mental stamina and emotional clarity that peak performance requires, this is an indispensable story for young athletes, coaches, educators, and anyone interested in the astonishing potential of team sports to unlock individual growth.
THE GAME WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
Magic doesn’t seem possible for the West Bottom Badgers. They’re the lowest-ranked basketball team in their league, and they live in the poorest neighborhood in Dren. Nobody expects them to succeed at anything. Plus, every kid on the team has secret struggles of his own.
When a new coach named Professor Wizenard arrives on the first day of training camp, the Badgers can’t explain the magical-seeming things they see and hear. Every player experiences unique and strange visions—visions that challenge everything they thought they knew about basketball, and about their lives and their secrets off the court. To survive the increasingly intense ordeals of training, the Badgers will need to take unimaginable risks, learn to trust their teammates, and confront the darkness within themselves.
A People Kid Pick of the week
From the mind of basketball legend and Academy Award–winning storyteller Kobe Bryant comes this radically original portrait of five young basketball players, one enlightening coach, and the awesome transformative power of the game. Filled with insights about the mental stamina and emotional clarity that peak performance requires, this is an indispensable story for young athletes, coaches, educators, and anyone interested in the astonishing potential of team sports to unlock individual growth.
THE GAME WILL NEVER BE THE SAME
Magic doesn’t seem possible for the West Bottom Badgers. They’re the lowest-ranked basketball team in their league, and they live in the poorest neighborhood in Dren. Nobody expects them to succeed at anything. Plus, every kid on the team has secret struggles of his own.
When a new coach named Professor Wizenard arrives on the first day of training camp, the Badgers can’t explain the magical-seeming things they see and hear. Every player experiences unique and strange visions—visions that challenge everything they thought they knew about basketball, and about their lives and their secrets off the court. To survive the increasingly intense ordeals of training, the Badgers will need to take unimaginable risks, learn to trust their teammates, and confront the darkness within themselves.
Author Bio
Wesley King is the author of over a dozen novels for young readers. His debut, OCDaniel, is an Edgar Award winner, a Canada Silver Birch Award winner, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, and received a starred review from Booklist. The companion novel, Sara and the Search for Normal, received a starred review from School Library Journal and was the recipient of the Violet Downey Book Award and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award. King has also written The Incredible Space Raiders from Space!, A World Below, Butt Sandwich & Tree, Benny on the Case, and Kobe Bryant’s New York Times bestselling Wizenard series. He lives in Newfoundland.
Review Quotes
"The novel is unusual in structure and plot as readers experience the same incidents portrayed through different perspectives, each revealing another layer of the story . . . . Solid, authentic basketball action with plenty of food for thought, colored with elements of fantasy."—Kirkus
“The Wizenard is an achievement—not only because it’s a good novel; not only because it merges the world of wizardry and sport deftly. It is an achievement because it teaches that magic and basketball aren’t binary, not in fiction and not in reality. …Every young person who picks up a ball, or a book, or even a wand, should pick up The Wizenard Series: Training Camp to be fans and teammates of this standout rookie.”—Nikko Ramos, Fully Booked Online.com
“Every kid who reads [The Wizenard Series: Training Camp] will imagine they are one of the lucky five young hoopsters—Rain, Twig, Cash, Lab, and Peno—who benefit from the teachings of the master.”—2paragraphs.com
“The Wizenard is an achievement—not only because it’s a good novel; not only because it merges the world of wizardry and sport deftly. It is an achievement because it teaches that magic and basketball aren’t binary, not in fiction and not in reality. …Every young person who picks up a ball, or a book, or even a wand, should pick up The Wizenard Series: Training Camp to be fans and teammates of this standout rookie.”—Nikko Ramos, Fully Booked Online.com
“Every kid who reads [The Wizenard Series: Training Camp] will imagine they are one of the lucky five young hoopsters—Rain, Twig, Cash, Lab, and Peno—who benefit from the teachings of the master.”—2paragraphs.com
Biographical note
Kobe Bryant was an Academy Award winner, a New York Times best-selling author, and the CEO of Granity Studios, a multimedia content creation company. He was also a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Above all else, he was a loving husband and a doting father to four girls. In everything he built, Kobe was driven to teach the next generation how to reach their full potential. He believed in the beauty of the process, in the strength that comes from inner magic, and in achieving the impossible. His legacy continues today.
Wesley King is the New York Times best-selling author author of eleven novels, including The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, OCDaniel, the Vindico series, and A World Below. His books have been optioned for film and television and translated for release worldwide. Besides writing, he is working on a circumnavigation on a 1967 sailboat. You can follow him on Instagram @wesleykingauthor or on Twitter @WesleyTKing.
Wesley King is the New York Times best-selling author author of eleven novels, including The Wizenard Series: Training Camp, OCDaniel, the Vindico series, and A World Below. His books have been optioned for film and television and translated for release worldwide. Besides writing, he is working on a circumnavigation on a 1967 sailboat. You can follow him on Instagram @wesleykingauthor or on Twitter @WesleyTKing.
