Stealing the Game (25 page)

Beneath the drawing in bold lettering:
Master Thief
.

“This is amazing, Brooke. You didn’t tell me you could draw.”

“I can draw,” she said.

“It’s so professional. This could be in an actual comic book. It’s that good.” I couldn’t stop myself from gushing. It was the first time I’d actually seen
Master Thief as I had imagined him.

“I have one even better,” she said. “I did it after talking to Theo. He told me you were working on solving the garage burglaries.”

“You asked him about me?”

“I asked him why a cop had pulled you into the principal’s office. That’s when he told me the cops wanted your help.”

Good ol’ Theo.

I shrugged. “A little.”

She handed me another sheet of drawing paper.

I stopped breathing.

This was no roguish thief in a shiny suit, driving a Ferrari and living in fancy hotels. It was a boy wearing jeans and a flannel shirt over a T-shirt. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder
and a basketball under his other arm. And he had my face. Except it was my face smiling and confident and open. No secrets. It was me the way I wanted to be. Only I hadn’t even known that
until just now.

Beneath the drawing in bold lettering:
Master Sleuth
.

“Maybe you’ve been having trouble with your story because you’re telling the wrong story,” she said.

“What are his superpowers?” I asked.

“Doesn’t have any,” she said. “Doesn’t need any.”

I started breathing again. Brooke had drawn this picture before I’d actually solved the case. She saw it in me before I did.

You probably want to know what happened next. Just like you wanted to know who won the rematch between us and the Undertakers. This time I’ll tell you some of what
happened.

We talked.

I told her about what had happened with Jax and Fauxhawk and Hannah. I told her about me being a designer baby. I told her everything I could think of.

We never got around to watching the rest of the movie.

We just talked.

And it was awesome.

What color is an orange?

Any color it wants to be.

by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld

“A crisp tale of sports, smarts and what it means to be your own man.…[T]his obviously is a work of
someone intimate with sports and, by extension, how sports can serve as metaphor for a way of being in the world.”

—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

“This funny and inspirational story based on Kareem’s sudden growth spurt as a middle-schooler captures the excitement of playing basketball and the anxiety of
growing up—while growing tall, which I know a little something about. Kids will learn about the wonderful world of basketball and the importance of friendship and following your
dreams.”

—Magic Johnson

“The pages fly. It has a great message.”

—Dr. Phil McGraw

“This smart, sensitive novel is full of simple truths that extend far beyond the court.”

—
Booklist

“[A] humorous novel that delivers a heartwarming story about growing up, facing down bullies, and learning what true friendship is all about.”

—
School Library Journal

“The depth and realism Abdul-Jabbar and Obstfeld bring to the novel keep it from being a run-of-the-mill sports story.…Readers will feel a kinship with Theo as he
maneuvers through tough but realistic choices.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“
Sasquatch in the Paint
is terrific.…Here’s how you know you’re reading a really good book: when you get to the last page, but keep turning,
looking for more. Honestly—that’s what I did.”

—Barry Saunders,
Raleigh News and Observer

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
played basketball for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers, leading his teams to win six NBA Championships. A nineteen-time NBA All-Star, he is the NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer, with 38,387 points, and he holds records in nine other categories. Kareem gave the game the skyhook, considered basketball’s most indefensible classic shot. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, and since retiring he has become a
New York Times
best-selling author. In 2012 he was selected as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador by then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and in the same year he was honored by the Los Angeles Lakers with a sixteen-foot bronze statue showcasing his signature skyhook, which was unveiled in front of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Currently he is a columnist for
Time
magazine and the society editor for the
Tokyo Journal
magazine.

Raymond Obstfeld
is a novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. His second novel,
Dead Heat
, was nominated for an Edgar Award. He also wrote an award-winning young adult novel entitled
Joker and the Thief
. Raymond has previously collaborated with Kareem on the first book in the Streetball Crew series,
Sasquatch in the Paint
; the sports memoir
On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance
; and the nonfiction picture book
What Color Is My World?
Mr. Obstfeld currently teaches creative writing at Orange Coast College as an associate professor.