In the Paint (South Side Sports)

For as long as he can remember, Matt has wanted to play basketball. Now, as he tries out for the team at his new middle school, he realizes that the easy days of elementary ball are over and that this is a much more serious game. Dealing with a hard-driving coach, competitive teammates and his own insecurities in a new school, Matt needs to call on all his skills, both on and off the court, to make the team and keep his head above water. When he is involved, albeit unwittingly, in tagging a store with racist graffiti, Matt finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for. And when he fights back against an aggressive teammate and is threatened with suspension from the team, he learns that it is not only game-time decisions that count, but also the choices made after the crowd has gone home and the gym is silent.

Jeff Rud was a print journalist in western Canada for twenty-eight years, twenty of them as a sports writer. He is currently executive director of communications and strategy in British Columbia's Office of the Representative for Children and Youth. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with his wife, Lana, and likes to coach high-school basketball in his spare time.