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The Zoo Court Kings
Paperback
Publisher Price: $55.99
ISBN13: 9784248064857
Publisher: DeMarco Ellison
Published: Sep 23 2026
Pages: 102
Weight: 0.32
Height: 0.21 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Five friends. One neighborhood court. A summer that could save everything they love.
The court behind the Ridgeline Community Center has a fence painted with a lion, an elephant, and a giraffe - and everybody on Delaware Avenue calls it the Zoo. Malik Bennett has played there his whole life. But when the city threatens to cut the center's funding unless it can prove it still matters, Malik and his four closest friends do the only thing they know how: they build a real team, name themselves the Zoo Court Kings, and set out to qualify for the Regional Invitational - a citywide tournament that could either save their community center or watch it disappear for good.
What follows is a season of growing pains and hard-won trust. Deja Okafor has to fight to be seen as more than the girl who plays with the boys. Curtis Yang battles a learning difference that threatens his spot on the roster. Antoine Rivera hides an old wound behind jokes until his teammates finally see past them. And Jamal Foster, the team's fifteen-year-old manager, turns out to have exactly the hustle they need off the court. Under the steady hand of Coach P - a former college player who's spent twenty-eight years keeping this gym alive - five kids and their teammates learn that talent isn't the hard part. Trust is.
What's inside:
- A complete, heartfelt sports novel about friendship, community, and second chances
- Twelve substantial chapters following one unforgettable summer season
- A found-family cast readers will want to cheer for from tip-off to final buzzer
- Themes of resilience, teamwork, and standing up for the places that raise us
- A satisfying, big-game finale with real emotional stakes
Perfect for readers who love underdog sports stories, coming-of-age fiction, and books about community and belonging - fans of feel-good urban dramas who want a story that's honest about hard things without ever losing its heart. Fans of heartfelt team stories and neighborhood-pride fiction will find a new favorite here.
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