Patty Hits the Court by Patty Mills with Jared Thomas

Game Day: Book 1. Allen and Unwin. 2017. ISBN 9781760295103
(Age: 8-12) Patty Mills is an Australian Aboriginal basketball player who now earns many millions playing for the San Antonio Spurs in the USA. He comes from a basketball background with his parents active in the sport in Canberra. Patty has also played basketball in 3 Olympics and currently represents the Australian Boomers. So Patty is indeed a big player in the sport and this book is targeted at children who are either starting in basketball or have been keen players for awhile.
Young Patty is successful at several sports but he embarks on a new game, basketball in this first book of the series. He must learn to be a team player and understand that he will not be instantly effective at something new.
Patty uses his Torres Strait Islander dance lessons to help him understand movement and cooperation. He has to work with a bullying team member and accept the ire of his team mates when he doesn't work cooperatively. The team doesn't always win and the coach encourages the players to learn from each game.
The book seems to finish rather abruptly but there are 2 other books available in the series so the story will continue in these books.
Dr Jared Thomas co authored the book and there are black and white illustrations by Nahum Ziersch scattered throughout the book.
The cover is brightly coloured and shows Patty and his friend Josie playing basketball.
There are about 120 pages of easy to read text, so this book will appeal to middle primary school children, aged 8 to 12 years old.
Jane Moore