The Final Four By Paul Volponi

Paul Volponi Writer and a teacher Was raised in New York Wrote lots of books about black people Famous YA author

Characters Malcom McBride (Spartan) Wants to get in the NBA Michael Jeffrey Jordan (Spartan) Wants a chance at basketball Roko Bacic (Trojan) Wants to make Croatia proud Crispin Rice (Trojan) Wants to go out with the girl of his dreams

Setting Louisiana Superdome

The Community South California Trojans Michigan State Spartans

Final Four An event also known as March Madness NCAA basketball tournament Only one team from 4 divisions (North, West, East, South)

The Conflict The 2 teams are going head-to-head in a Single Elimination Round The team to win goes to the Finals Quadruple-Overtimes

How do Minor Characters Affect the Main Character? Michael Jordon talked to Malcom about the true importance of a game The USC Trojans taught Malcom what its like to win Trisha, Malcom’s sister who died, taught him what a huge loss feels like

Quotes P.55 “Then, after a few minutes, the EMTs suddenly stopped. They pulled a white sheet over Trisha’s bloodstained face and lifted her lifeless body into the ambulance” P.244 “Then McBride pulled a bandage from his left bicep, revealing a brand new tattoo, one opposite the portrait of his sister’s face, which occupies his right bicep. The tattoo reads Spartans Forever In the Trojan War, with the letters encircling a flaming basketball.”

Personal Response I liked the book because it had little stories inside the book to lead up to the big main idea I also liked the book because it had different people’s perspective I also liked how the author made Malcom, in the beginning, a very competitive guy, but at the end, he didn’t care