Gutman, Dan. The Million Dollar Shot. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1997. 114 pages. (Sports Fiction)
The story takes place in a trailer park and is about a kid named Eddie Ball who won a contest. For winning the contest, he got to make a foul shot during halftime at the NBA finals for a million dollars. The million dollars could change his life and put an end to his and his mother’s problems. But someone really doesn’t want Eddie to make the shot. He sent letters and painted “you’re going to miss” on the backboards which distracted him. His neighbor, Mr. Oakley, walked up to him one day and asked him if he wanted to know the secret to making foul shots. Eddie said, “There is no secret.” Mr. Oakley took ten foul shots and made all of them. Eddie asked, “How did you do that?” Mr. Oakley replied, “If you let me be your coach, I will teach you the trick.” Eddie agreed and practiced with him every day. Mr. Oakley made him take five hundred shots every day for practice. But Eddie cannot shot as well under pressure. Will Eddie make the shot?
I liked this book a lot, but there is a character in the story that I despise very much, Mr. Finkle, because he is the one who is running the contest, but he doesn’t want to give away a million dollars.
Reviewed by: Sally56
