Young Hoosier - Gary L. Bender

This book is about a 13-year-old boy, Mike Barnes, whose family moves from Atlanta to a small Indiana town. He faces a lot of unfamiliar challenges in his new school including cliques, peer pressure and first encounters with girls, cigarettes and alcohol. Mike received strong family support and this is a big factor in his ability to handle problems. The story centers on basketball in a state where many consider the sport a way of life. Young people, however face these same challenges, all over the world, each and every day.