Airball

Kirby Nickel loves basketball. The only problem is he can’t play basketball. But when an opportunity to meet NBA star Brett McGrew comes up, Kirby knows he has to take a chance and try out for the basketball team. Getting on the team turns out to be easy—the rest of the boys are as supremely untalented as Kirby—but winning in order to be eligible to meet McGrew is a whole different problem. Different and embarrassing. The coach’s radical new plan for success involves the boys playing in their underwear. But if this crazy idea works, Kirby will get to meet his hero—who he secretly also hopes is his long-lost father.

"Harkrader offers an amusing, wholly affectionate portrayal of a small-town community's devotion to basketball and of a klutzy kid's success on the court in spite of himself. An entertaining first novel." -- Booklist

L.D. Harkrader never played underwear basketball, but did have a recurring nightmare about walking into the school cafeteria wearing nothing but pajamas. "I'm sure the dream meant I was afraid people would see who I really was," says L.D. "In telling Kirby's story, I hope I show readers they shouldn't be afraid to let people see who they are. Who they are is okay." L.D. lives in a small town in Kansas and, like Kirby, is a rabid Jayhawks basketball fan.