In another exemplary mix of issues and action both on and off the court, the middle-school cast of Sasquatch in the Paint (2013) returns to take on a team of older, bigger, thuggish rivals amidst a rash of local burglaries. Thirteen-year-old Chris is stunned when his golden-boy big brother, Jax, suddenly shows up at home with gambling debts after (he claims) dropping out of law school. With extreme reluctance, Chris agrees to help Jax get out from under both by enlisting his street-ball buddies against a club team to settle a bet and by helping his brother break into a pawnshop. At the same time, Chris asks his Sherlockian friend Theo to check out Jax's story, and he also definitely beats the odds by finding common ground with brilliant, acid-tongued classmate Brooke. Along with vividly drawn characters, the coauthors craft a mystery with artfully placed clues that Jax might not be the loser he seems to be, and also inject plenty of exciting, hard-fought basketball in which speed, strategy, and heart play equally strong roles. Flashbacks crank up the tale's suspense, flashes of humor brighten it, and the end brings both surprise twists and just deserts all round.--Peters, John Copyright 2015 Booklist

Abdul-Jabbar and Obstfeld (Sasquatch in the Paint, 2013) team up for another exploration of the intersection of sports and life conduct.Chris is a good, quiet kid who likes to keep his head down. As he says, "I was friendly to everyone but friends with no one." Still, if the machinery of thought made much noise, Chris would be a one-man band. For a 13-year-old, he does considerable shrewd, high-ground thinking, as do his friends ("You know," one says, "not talking about things doesn't actually make them disappear"). Where it really shows itself is on the basketball court, where he plays a savvy, court-wise game. Enter his brother, Jax, a golden boy who appears to have fallen from the pedestal upon which his well-intentioned parents have placed him, and Chris' still waters are about to feel a hefty stone break their surface. Add his classmate Brooke, a sharp girl with plenty of her own baggage, and a waterspout is in the making. The authors' light hand allows readers to inhabit the characters; to taste the value of respect, dignity and vulnerability; and to embrace the elemental joy of sportsall without ever feeling like they are being tube fed. The shifting structure of the story and a clever series of blind alleys keep readers on tenterhooks. A deft, understated sports thriller with a solid moral compass. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 5-8-When Chris's older brother Jax asks him to enlist his basketball buddies for a pickup game in the park, the opposing players prove too tough to beat. Chris discovers not only his brother's setup to win gambling money but a twist about Jax that he never expected. For more basketball action, see the series opener, Sasquatch in the Paint (2013). © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

To eighth grader Chris, his brother Jax is "the Golden Boy, who shined like the sun"; Chris himself is "more the Bronze Boy...not worth much, and...easily forgotten." But Jax is in trouble, and it's Chris's time to shine as he and his friends try to figure out what's behind Jax's mysterious behavior. Basketball provides the mystery's backdrop, but the appealing characters propel the action. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.