Whether the court is inside or outside, it is there. It does not matter if you are a member of the team or of the spectators, you sense it. It is always there regardless of the level of the game, high school, college or professional. It's there during a three-on-three tournament in a capital city. When you and the people in your neighborhood play it at the park or in someone's yard, it is there. You can't hear it, but you feel it. It silently swirls around the sounds of hands slapping on balls and balls bouncing on hard surfaces.
It is excitement and anticipation and the possibility of witnessing something unexpected. This is the game of basketball. The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale (Farrar Straus Giroux, January 4, 2022) written and illustrated by Charly Palmer elevates the excitement, anticipation and possibility to the height of legend. You not only want to believe it is true, you believe it to be true.
I've heard you young folks talking about who is the best ballplayer
to ever grace the court. Like that"King James" someone or
other. He's not too shabby.
But have you ever heard of Gravity?
An initially unnamed narrator goes on to explain that Gravity is a phenomenal player not the force that keeps everything anchored to earth. As the story goes, one day toward the end of June, when some players, Liquid, Sky High, and Left 2 Right, were on the local outside court, a new kid strolled up to the group. He wanted to join them in a three-on-three.
When Liquid threw him the ball, a tad cranky at being stopped in his current discourse, the boy caught it like the superb pass it was not. The new guy's moves on the court with that ball had the other players standing stone still and quieter than quiet. When Liquid asked this new player his street name, he said he did not have one. The narrator gave him the name of Gravity. And just like that, he was now a member of the playground team, Eagles.
Word spread of his incredible playing abilities. He once racked up 150 points . . . in the first quarter. The Eagles through Gravity felt like champions. They traveled by foot, bike, and bus to other blacktop courts to beat other teams. Yes, this was a summer to remember!
As the summer came to a close, the "Best of the Best" pickup tournament was to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For the first time, the Eagles believed they could win. Their strategy was simple, at all costs get the ball to Gravity. By Sunday, their hopes were soaring. The East Side Flyers made it to Sunday, too. Their players were the stuff of history in the game.
By the time the half of the championship game arrived, the score between the Eagles and the East Side Flyers was tied. The Eagles's strategy was not working. Gravity was barely standing. Not much of a talker, Gravity spoke to his team saying words they would remember for the rest of their lives. Words which have echoed for decades. The Eagles were a changed team and that made all the difference.
You cannot read the words penned by Charly Palmer without feeling a surge of hope. You know with every phrase, he is building toward the spectacular. His narrator speaks with the veracity only a firsthand observer could. This narrator also knows basketball, relating courtside moments like a play-by-play sports commentator. The decription of the street names of the players on both of the championship teams and what they represent are marvelous. Here are two passages.
We had always been good, but we had never won a
championship. We thought Gravity would be our missing
link. Truth be told, he was often a one-man show. Gravity
once jumped so high that we were able to go out for ice
cream before he came down.
EAST SIDE FLYERS
SPIDER
Yusef "Spider"
Woodruff had
hands so quick,
you'd swear he
had eight of them.
When you open the matching dust jacket and book case, you see on the front, right side, a portrait of the young man who defied the norm. His shy confident smile gives us a hint of his on and off court demeanor. The planets and stars above him are a testament to his capabilities. The same deep blue mix of colors on the front travels over the spine to the left, the back of the jacket and case. Here three sentences from the text invite readers to learn about Gravity. Between the text is a drawing within the circle of a basketball. It features the hands of the players in solidarity before a tip-off.
The opening and closing endpapers are in basketball orange. On the title page, a basketball is at rest on an outside court. The verso and first page are a bird's eye view of the city of Milwaukee. The subsequent images are a blend of full-page and double-page pictures. Sometimes a series of smaller visuals are included on a single page to show a succession of quick moments on the court. Other times double pages are divided into panels.
The bold, bright colors selected by Charly Palmer work beautifully with the bold strokes of his brush. His paintings reflect shadows and light drawing our attention to the characters, especially to Gravity. Charly Palmer might add explanatory words with his images to further define the text.
We are given intimate views of the art of basketball playing. In one illustration, the foreground shows us tennis shoes and the lower half of Gravity's legs with silhouettes of other players in the background. In another image we stand back a bit to watch players meeting during a game and devising a plan of play.
One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture. On the left, five members of the Eagles have collected on the court, holding ice cream cones. They are looking up at Gravity. His body is far above them, legs spread in a jump. One hand is posed for balance. The other hand holds the basketball. Some celestial bodies are near Gravity. To the right of the players and across the gutter is the darkness of space and colorful planets. Gravity has indeed eluded gravity.
In his debut as both author and illustrator, Charly Palmer with The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale showcases a game many people love to play and watch. His words and artwork capture the true spirit of this sport, especially as it is played in outside parks and playgrounds. In an author's note at the end, Charly Palmer speaks about streetball legends and this book being a dedication to them. This title will resonate with most readers of all ages. It is read-aloud gold. I highly recommend you have a copy on your personal and professional bookshelves.
To learn more about Charly Palmer and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website. Charly Palmer has accounts on Facebook and Instagram. At the publisher's website you can view interior images.
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