My thoughts were all positive to The Perfect Shot. I really liked the mystery part with the murder and the connection Brian had with Amanda and has with his parents. I enjoyed how the author had Brian become friends with Tom because they are similar and helped each other out with the project, getting Julius out of jail, and solving the murder. I would recommend this book to whoever likes the game of basketball or anyone who likes criminal justice. Also, anyone who has a disagreement or misunderstanding with the justice system should read this. Oct 18, Mallory Hanson rated it it was amazing.

I picked this book because our librarian gave us a Book Talk and this was one of the books. I've always liked sports themed books and mysteries so this grabbed my attention right away. This story takes place in a small town, where Brian is a basketball legend.

Brian has many conflicts throughout the book, but the main one is when his best friend and eventually girlfriend gets murdered in her garage along with her mother and younger brother. This is the main conflict because Brian is so in love w I picked this book because our librarian gave us a Book Talk and this was one of the books.

This is the main conflict because Brian is so in love with Amanda and he feels it's his fault she was murdered because he didn't let her and her brother play ball with him and his friends. This conflict is both external and internal since it is also battling his emotions. Brian is pretty static, because he stays the same throughout the whole book and doesn't really change much. I would describe him as persistent, intelligent, and overall just a nice guy. One quote from the story would be; "I'll never make the perfect shot.

Brian feels he can never be better then Julius, and will always be number two, always be the guy behind Julius. I think the message would be follow your gut, especially if you aren't sure because you never know what will happen next or who you could be saving. It pertains to the story because, everyone is accusing Amanda's father for murdering his family, but Brian thinks otherwise because he saw a mysterious jogger with his face masked the same day, around the same time of the murders.

So, following the theme, Brian follows his gut after awhile and tries to get someone to look in to who the jogger might be. One of the reading strategies I used was to visualize, especially in this case it was emotions and expressions on the characters' faces that I could picture so easily. The author did an excellent job portraying and describing the emotions and why the character had those emotions.

The Perfect Shot

Second, before I started reading this book, I 'set a purpose' to read it because it sounded just my type. Last, I connected with some of the feelings the characters had, for example the fear you feel when something terrible happens and how your blood just runs cold. This was just a great book and also an inspiration to believe in your feelings and what you think is right and I would encourage anyone who enjoys a good mystery to read this.

One last thought; I liked reading this because throughout the book, they gave you little hints and clues as to what might happen but you never really know because sometimes it's wrong and it leads you off on a little rabbit trail or comes to a dead end, so it really is a great mystery. Nov 02, Aaron added it. Alphin really cares for doing the right thing. Also in another book titled "Snakehead" the character was presented with the sam "Bullets, Bullets, Bullets Bounce, Bounce Bounce",while reading this book I noticed that its important to pay attention to the small things sometimes.

Also in another book titled "Snakehead" the character was presented with the same situation. Elaine Alphine tells the story from a concerned point of view. Having the characters go through a life altering experience as brian and Juliuis did. By having most of the characters in the book all attend high school,Alphin made it easy to make a connection between the book and a reader. Tod, was one that didnt really fit in. Racism was also an issue in the book. Trying to achieve justice when your not one of the big voices involved, is a difficult matter to handle.

There was a case in the book about the killing of young girl by leo frank. In which the students in the class decided to do a silent play. Jun 12, Abdallah added it. The Perfect Shot is about Brian Hammett, the captain of his basketball team who is supposed to lead them to a State title. Brian's girlfriend, Amanda Daine was murdered and he his trying to get justice. Amanda's father, Michael Daine, has been accused of this crime and is being put on trial.

Many of the people around Brian tell him to move on so he can focus on the basketball team. Brian has his mind off the crime until he gets assigned a project on The Perfect Shot is about Brian Hammett, the captain of his basketball team who is supposed to lead them to a State title.

Brian has his mind off the crime until he gets assigned a project on Leo Frank. Like Michael, Leo Frank was accused of murdering a girl. Leo Frank was committed guilty and hung. Leo never actually committed the crime. The main idea of the novel is that the justice system is not fair and people get falsely accused of crimes.

When Brain is finished with the project he gets threatened by the real killer of Amanda on Michael's sentencing. My favorite character in the novel is Brian. He is my favorite character because I can relate to him. Brian and I both play basketball. Brian is also a very good leader, his teammates and family always believe in him and listen to him. Brian always stands up for what he believes in, which is a good trait that a captain needs. I think the author intended this reaction because Brian is a great and determined character.

I think he also intended for this reaction because Brain made his perfect shot, killing Officer Recks, the murderer of Amanda. I'm not sure I can find the spine, but I line the sights up with his masked head. I tell myself I can't miss this time, and pull the trigger" I thought that The Perfect Shot was a great book. I liked the mystery of the murder in it. I really enjoyed when Brian's basketball team had to work together with six people to win the playoff games while Brian was hurt. I also like Brian's friendship with Tom. I liked that friendship because they solved the murder and got Julius out of jail.

I would not recommend this book because I thought it was confusing and I do not like mysteries. I would recommend this book to basketball fans. Oct 05, Noah Oxley rated it it was amazing. In this book, I think the author's purpose was to let people realize that some people can be falsely accused of something they didn't do or something they shouldn't have gotten in trouble for.

In this story, Mr Dian is falsely accused of murdering his two children and wife when he was actually innocent. Also another purpose was to show how hard it is to be a lawyer. Even though some people hate them, we need to respect them for their hard work and difficult jobs. I think the theme of this book is In this book, I think the author's purpose was to let people realize that some people can be falsely accused of something they didn't do or something they shouldn't have gotten in trouble for.

I think the theme of this book is to trust your instincts. In this book, Brian, the main character, doesn't trust his instincts in the beginning. He doesn't tell police about a suspicious character who may have killed his friend Amanda. Because of this, someone else, the victim's father, is wrongly accused, arrested and jailed. Brian is threatened by the suspicious character making him believe he will kill him and his family just like the victim. Brian decides to report his suspicions to a reporter. Brian uses his basketball skills to save himself and his family when the suspect tries to kill them.

Brian should have trusted his instincts in the beginning. I think this book was a narration because it was told in first person and written in chronological order. This is very effective and suspenseful making the reader want to continue reading. The narration makes you feel like this story is actually happening to you directly. You feel the emotions he is going through including fear, sadness, love, and guilt. I really, really liked this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. It was awesome because while it was sports related, it wasn't a typical sports book about how an underdog team wins a national championship.

It was a mixture of a mystery book and a basketball book. I wouldn't change anything about this book at all except maybe I would make the beginning more interesting. This book is absolutely nothing like any other sports book I have read which is why I loved it so much. Nov 23, Clay Mandernach added it. Based on my opinion of the perfect shot i would rate this book a. I think it was a great story line but i did not like the beginning of the book when brian has been shot, and dying he is also telling the story in a flashback which i did not like.

At this point after reading this i had little idea what was going on and the story immediately went into a flashback of him playing basketball with his friends i had little idea what happened. For a high school student like myself i find this book very appealing and easy to read.


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This appealing to high school readers because most of us play sports and we may lose sometimes but other times we beat all the odds and win. The themes are Justice and responsibility.

I like these themes because these are things we should all live by. This a great theme because he wants justice for his girlfriend and her family who was murdered he wants to find them. In my own opinion i just think sports mysteries where someone is murdered is just over played and done too much. I could have figured this out on my own i just think that if this was like a kidnapping or something else it would have been way more interesting and a lot better of a read. But what i did like is how we had to kind of think about who the murder was.

Dec 07, Griffin Tebrugge rated it really liked it.

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I think the author's purpose was to show people can be accused of something and be innocent. In the book, Mr. Dian was accused of killing his family which includes the main character's best friend. One more purpose of the story is to show how hard someone's job can get. Such as the lawyer who proves Mr.

Dian is innocent, which took a lot of hard work and dedication. I believe the theme is to trust yourself. You should do this because Brian who is the main character in the book doesn't trust hims I think the author's purpose was to show people can be accused of something and be innocent. You should do this because Brian who is the main character in the book doesn't trust himself at first.

He doesn't trust his instinct to tell the police about a suspicious person that might have killed his friend Amanda. Instead of him not telling the police this, Amanda's father is accused of it. Brian is then threatened by the suspicious person and he is worried his family and himself will be killed. Brian ends up telling a reporter about the suspicious person. When his family and himself are almost killed he uses his basketball skills to save them.

Thus concluding he should have went with his instinct and told the police. I believe this book was a narration because it was written in chronological order and was told in 1st person. This is very suspenseful which made me want to keep reading it. It felt almost felt like the story was happening to the reader. You can feel all the ways he is feeling throughout the story. I thought the book was pretty good because it was suspenseful throughout the entire book. It was a sports book that connected into mystery which was different and was pretty sweet.

I would have made the beginning more interesting and that's about it. It isn't like any other book I've read which is different but is also a very good thing. I would recommend this to a friend. Mar 07, Tj Long rated it really liked it. The author's purpose in writing this book is to expose issues in civil rights and in the judicial system while showing the impact that the death of a friend has on a high school kid. Brian's girlfriend Amanda, her little sister, and her mother were all murdered in their garage and Amanda's father was instantly accused for the murders.

Brians friend Julius, who is the star of the basketball team, gets arrested for the crime of "Driving While Black" in a white neighborhood. I think that one of the The author's purpose in writing this book is to expose issues in civil rights and in the judicial system while showing the impact that the death of a friend has on a high school kid. I think that one of the main themes of this book was that when something bad happens, you should never live in the past. Another theme was that you should never hide your feelings, but always should express them.

Keeping things bundled up inside will cause someone to break. Brian was keeping his feelings bundled about the murder and was only focusing on basketball. This book is a First Person Narrative because it is seen through the eyes of the main character. It uses the word "I" in sentences which means it's told in the first person. I think the writing style is effective because you see through the narrators' eyes and you can emotionally feel what the narrator is expieriencing. I thought this story had a great plot.

The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin (3 star ratings)

The beginning of the book was very slow and dragged out compared to the rest of the story. I disliked the beginning of the book because it started off too slow but the rest of the book was great. I recommend reading this book. May 19, Carter Weiters rated it really liked it. Carter Weiters May 5, B-2 English I think the authors purpose was to show people can be accused of something and be innocent.

You should do this because Brian who is the main chara Carter Weiters May 5, B-2 English I think the authors purpose was to show people can be accused of something and be innocent. He doesn't trust his instinct to tell the police about a specific person that might have killed his friend Amanda. Brian is then threatened by this suspicious person and he is worried about his family and friends will be killed. Brian ends up telling the reporter about the suspicious person. When his family and him are almost killed he uses his basketball skills to get them out of the situation.

Thus concluding he should have went with his instinct and gone to the police. I believe this was a narration because it was written in chronological order and was told in 1st person. This is very suspenseful which made me want to keep reading the book. Brian isn't so sure. Brian hopes that the system will work for Amanda and her father.

An innocent man couldn't be wrongly convicted, could he? But then Brian does a school project on Leo Frank, a Jewish man lynched decades ago for the murder of a teenage girl--a murder he didn't commit. Worse still, Brian's teammate Julius gets arrested for nothing more than being a black kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Brian can't deny any longer that the system is flawed. As Amanda's father goes on trial, Brian admits to himself that he knows something that could break the case. I would recommend this book to my friends because like this book because it kept me interested in the book.

Also I was about a basketball and a murder. I like basketball, and I like to watch murder shows on TV. That why this book interset me so much. The main charter friends gets murder. The book is about the trial for her friend murder. It takes place in a small town where everyone in the town knows the name of the basketball team. Recommended to Brooke by: This is a clever teen murder mystery, infused with basketball and social issues. Two things I liked most about this book: This book The Perfect Shot was an okay book.

Its about a teenage boy who likes to play basketball, but one day his girlfriend got murdered and he wants to know who did it. I like how some chapters have alot of detail and how the book includes basketball games with detail. I didnt like how it took a very long time reading to find out who was the murder, and some parts where they go off subject. Brian goes a long way for finding justice and honesty in this case and i know any murder that is close to you is very hard to deal with. The book The Perfect shot is a OK book to read. It can get off the point from time to time.

It can go from talking about a death.

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To a team studding to on the team. To a flash back all the Time. It is not a book for you if you don't like basketball. But if you do this is a good book for you. Not my usual read, but still good. I thought the book was pretty good. It was hard to understand at the beginning for me. This book is about a boy named Brian and his struggles in life after his girlfriend dies. This book is mainly a drama. Ok but doesn't really make sense so probs don't read it.

A surprisingly serious look at racism and the nature of justice.

About the author

A book that leaves you asking questions about what is right and wrong, the meaning of justice, and how well the legal system really works. Not much happens except in the beginning and right at the end. I wouldn't recommend it though. Sherry rated it liked it May 30, Scott rated it liked it Mar 14, Alex rated it liked it Jan 07, Amber Yhelka rated it liked it Sep 04, Amy Venneman rated it liked it Jun 17, Trish rated it liked it Jul 03, Willow Staley rated it liked it Mar 11, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.

About Elaine Marie Alphin. Carr Junior High School.

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This is a school picture of me from my junior high school days. Books by Elaine Marie Alphin.