How I Fell in Love and Learned to Shoot Free Throws

by Jon Ripslinger

Danny "the Bruiser" Henderson has a plan. He's going to hustle cool, beautiful Angel McPherson, the best female player in the state of Iowa, on the basketball court. But he has no idea that she is hiding a shocking family secret. And what about Danny's own secret? Both Angel and Danny have a lot to learn about trust--and love--on the court and off. John Ripslinger tells their story in robust, masculine writing that packs a punch.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, LGBT

170 pages, Hardcover

First published March 24, 2003

About the author

After Jon Ripslinger retired as a public high school English teacher, he began a career as an author. He has published many young adult novels and truly enjoys writing books for teens. He has also published numerous short stories in Woman’s World magazine.

Jon and his wife, Colette, live in Iowa. They are the proud parents of six children, and they have thirteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

When not working writing, Jon enjoys the outdoors, especially fishing. He waits patiently for the next “big one” to strike.

Reviews

[Kady Veach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was pretty good. I liked it because it was about basketball. The best part of the book was when Angel pushed Danny into Duck creek. I think the message is that keep trying. I think it's that because Danny has to keep trying to get Angel to like him. I would recommend this book to someone who likes basketball.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, but with the reservation that at one point it skips forward from the end of one page to the beginning of the next in a conversation. You get the distinct impression that a huge chunk was taken out with little effort to conceal it. That being said, it is a very sweet athletes story and an endearing read.

[Mark Lichtenfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure, the book is 10 years old, but there's not much boy-oriented YA out there. I like the way the story moves and Jon keeps the plot interesting, while resorting to less sex and drinking than I've seen in most girl-oriented YA. There's a nice social hook, too, and I wanted to finish the book in one day, which I pretty much did. A very nice story. Mark Lichtenfeld---Author of LINE CHANGE.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I read it a few years ago out of pure boredom and I couldn't put it down. Everywhere i went i was reading that book. Even in classes I was reading it. And man where my teachers mad at me.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

Saw this at a library book sale, thought it might be interesting ... but it's not really grabbing me.

[Jess Schira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light, quick read with interesting characters. It's a bit different from the other Ripslinger book's I've read, but quite enjoyable. It dealt with some important social issues.

[Devan Jarrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young adult novel written by Jon Ripslinger had my interest from the very beginning. One of the main characters, who was the son of the football coach but lover of basketball, fell for a star player of the girl's basketball team named Angel McPherson. She never expressed that she was falling for him too, but you could easily tell she liked him. Angel agreed to teach him how to shoot better free throws. But this was never the main point of the book. Shockingly her mom is a lesbian who is living with her third lover now. Sadly each time people find out about her mom being a lesbian, people will taunt Angel at school and she gets to the point to where she wants to move and transfer to a different school.