This Thing of Ours

Gr 9 Up–Basketball standout Ossie Brown, who is Black, is back for his senior year at Braxton Academy, still on scholarship despite a career-ending knee injury. He’s lost so much: his identity as a baller; the dream that he would at last realize the potential of his dad, a college player who tragically lost his life to an overdose; the attention of his erstwhile fans and teammates; as well as his girlfriend Laura, who is Asian American. Seizing an opportunity for a non-athletic scholarship, Ossie applies for a spot in a competitive writing program with one of the school’s only Black teachers. Here he meets his soulmates, Dominican American Luis, the wealthy son of a former NFL star, and confident, fashionable Naima, whose father was beaten by police at a peaceful protest. When Ossie uses his remaining social media following to amplify messages of protest from the writing program, the situation blows up and angry white supremacists provoke a riot at the school. Many references to Black American culture are woven throughout, including writers James Baldwin and Octavia Butler and musicians Solange and Thundercat. A deep dive into the ways prejudice and oppression overlap and the lush portrayal of the contours and connections within a Black community in Yonkers, NY, take the story in decidedly critical directions, earnestly examining motivations and assumptions. However, the complex narrative careens to a terse climax and pat conclusion.