Audiobooks by Kevin Waltman

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"D-Bow is a Junior now. He can taste a State Championship, but he pulls his knee after a thunderous dunk.   Junior year. Derrick Bowen has put in two good years getting ready for this season. He put in the work and earned his coach’s trust and his role as the starting point guard for Marion East. Marion has never won the Indiana state championship, but this year the team is Derrick’s. And Derrick is good. Opponents worry when Derrick—D-Bow when he’s pounding the rock—steps onto the court. Major colleges work feverishly to recruit him. Derrick is ready to run teams off the court.   If only he could get on the court and stay on it.   Old school coach Bolden suspends Derrick for the first game of the season after Derrick’s best friend Wes gets busted for carrying a joint while in Derrick’s car. Even after that, Marion High’s team just doesn’t quite click. They don’t want to follow Derrick’s lead as squad’s dominant player. Dissension and selfishness are threatening to tear the team apart. And then Derrick hears a sickening snap as he lands awkwardly after a thunderous dunk.   Can Derrick lead the team to victory from the bench?   'Readers who have followed D-Bow through his first two years at Marion East will find themselves slipping effortlessly back into his life, his candid, present-tense narration comfortably familiar. … [Kevin] Waltman continues to keep it both real and fresh for D-Bow.'—Kirkus Reviews   A Junior Library Guild Selection"

Kevin Waltman (Author), Ruffin Prentiss (Narrator)

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Quicks

"Senior Year. Glory time! But nothing’s easy. Girls. Family. The rehabbed knee. And there’s this white guy. S’up with that?   Marion High, an inner-city school in Indianapolis, has never had a state championship. It’s D-Bow’s senior year, his A-game is ready, big-time colleges are taking notice, and he’s dreaming big. The doctor says the rehabbed knee is ready for ball. D-Bow celebrates with new kicks, the LeBron XIIIs. Still, his life is not easy. First, there’s the girl trouble. Lia is his steady, but his ex, Jasmine, starts texting him late at night. At home, his mom is acting crazy, because, well … she’s pregnant! Still, the heart of Quicks is basketball. Tough-assed Coach Bolden has retired, and D-Bow is surprised that he misses the old grump. Marion High’s new basketball coach is Murphy, Bolden’s easygoing assistant. How can he mold these teenage players into a championship team? But what’s really rattling D-Bow is the cocky white guy, Daryl Gibson. He wants D-Bow’s job at point. Fat chance, the others think, but the white kid got some real quicks, and he can handle the rock. It’s time for D-Bow to man up. He needs to be the team leader, and he needs to bring that A-game.   A Junior Library Guild Selection"

Kevin Waltman (Author), Ruffin Prentiss (Narrator)

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Slump

"Things were supposed to change for sophomore year. Things were supposed to be—I don't know—easier somehow. At least with Jasmine. Instead it's more of a struggle than ever. At least last year when she was with Nick Starks I knew where I stood.   Derrick Bowen's sophomore year is a grind. He's been looking forward to the basketball season all summer, but his girlfriend Jasmine leaves him for putting too much focus on basketball. The promise his Marion East basketball team showed at the end of last season isn't materializing. And the sweet jumper D-Bow worked on all summer just isn't falling. When Derrick's father is severely injured in a car crash, Derrick is faced with a new reality where basketball can't be his only priority."

Kevin Waltman (Author), Ruffin Prentiss (Narrator)

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Next

"In Indiana, basketball is the next thing to religion. Especially for inner-city black kids like Derrick Bowen. He's a 6'3' freshman, lightning quick, and he can slam the rock. He wants to start at point guard for Marion High, but senior Nick Starks has that nailed down. Besides, the coach is old school. He thinks D-Bow needs to work on his game, his shot, and his attitude. That means bench time. And that's when Hamilton Academy, the elite school in the suburbs, comes sniffing around. They want D-Bow for the next three years. His mom wants no part of that. But his father needs a job, and Uncle Kid, who is a bitter ex-star at Marion High, has his own plans. Yeah, there's a pretty girl and a best friend in the mix. Plus plenty of basketball action and suspense just like high school boys like to read."

Kevin Waltman (Author), Ruffin Prentiss (Narrator)

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