The summer that Bix Braxton Rivers the Third disappears is the summer that Jerome Foxworthy, who calls himself the "Jayfox," decided to write the story of Bix. But either way, who was more intellegent then him? He'd been there the whole time and he had Bix's notebook.During the daytime, Jerome practices on his private court in the middle of the dark woods where there are no lights. He has no clue where the court came from - he only knows that it's his special place. Jerome Says "The moves make the man, the moves make me,". Then Momma noticed that the moves were making him something else.The week before school started, Jerome Foxworthy was told ahead of time that he will be the colored child to be in Chestnut Street Junior High School. It's the biggest white school in Wilmington. Jerome knows he will miss his teachers and friends and, especially, playing on the Parker Basketball Team. Jerome quotes "Were there white people as good at Chestnut to take their place?" But, Jerome felt all right about it. "In spite of knowing I was going to miss everybody, I know who I am, and I will be fine anywhere."Jerome decides to try out for the basketball team. He is not allowed to play, and one of the good players on the team tells the coach, "Here's a kid could win us the city, and nobody but you cares because he's a Ni**r. The coach calls Jerome a niger. Jerome discovers Bix Braxton Rivers the Third on his court, holding a basketball, whispering secret numbers, playing bounceball. Bix asks Jerome to teach him to play hoops. So Professor Jerome gives Bix lessons late at night on the windy and no light court in the woods. And after Jerome wins a railroad lantern in a basketball game, they can play underneath the light. Bix spins the lantern so that it starts to go around "smooth as could be, in a big whizzy circle, making a whole ball of light, very large and beautiful and you could have seen it for miles." Later, while reading Bix's notebook, Jerome finds that Bix had written, "I will play my game beneath the Spin Light."The two boys are as different in life as they are on the basketball court. Bix is quick to pick up hoops but he does not have the moves; he does not put one single move anywhere, not one fake at all. "I don't need fakes," Bix says. "If the game is worth playing, it is worth playing straight, clean, no cockamamie mumbo jumbo in it." To the "Jayfox" the moves are self-expression and survival. However, to Bix, they mean falsehoods, and he has sworn never to lie.Bix tells Jerome why he has to learn to play basketball, why he has to beat his stepfather. Will Jerome be able to help him if Bix refuses to put in the moves? What has happened to Bix that he flips out at the least suspicion that someone is faking, even in jest? What has caused the pain in his eyes that he covers with a strange wit? These are questions that were answered during the story. Or this writing.THE MOVES MAKE THE MAN by Bruce Brooks contains many words or phrases, all old and breaking up away, to reveal how the metaphor of the basketball game follows through in life. Jayfox says, "If you are faking, somebody is taking. If nobody else is there to take the fake, then for good or bad a part of your own self will follow it. There are no moves you truly make alone."
Usually I don't trust books that win awards. The Newbery in particular seems to slap stickers on any sort of kid's book that is at the very least slightly better than average - maybe that's because it's hard to find a really excellent kid's book, which this one definitely is. So I was happily surprised that, for once, the Newbery got something right. (Sorry for being horrendously bitter, heh heh heh.) I picked it up in grade five on the last day of school, and sat down in a quiet corner and read the crap out of it. I sat there for hours, completely absorbed, moving not one single inch until my teacher came over and told me I could have it. Whew. I took it home and finished it. I loved it. Something about it just completely blew my eleven-year-old brain upside-down - here was a book that was written with pure magic. The main character, Jerome, was unlike any other kid protagonist I'd ever read about - he felt real. His thoughts ran quick and adult, he saw the world in a very smart way and he seemed like the epitome of a human being. The narrative was probably my favorite part of the book, the way it danced in front of my eyes, bringing up the clearest, most vivid, most take-your-breath-away images - and the language was sophisticated, which I absolutely adored. Finally, here was a kid's book that didn't talk down to me. Jerome Foxworthy talked like a smart kid, a real smart kid, and that was something I could really appreciate. But not only that. The book was about basketball, too, and that's something I love.The basketball part seems to me like just a way to get the story going. It was really more about Jerome and Bix, the strange messed-up white kid who becomes his friend - and that part of it was tough. There was your real-life part of the book. Bix is obviously not normal or very easy to figure out, but that's part of what made him so fascinating. This isn't really a story about basketball, it's a story about friends and love and craziness and big problems, with basketball as the hook.So many good things about this book, though. That narrative, man. It's as effortless as effortless can be - most books, probably close to all of them, have moments where they're slightly uneven, or not as inspired; but The Moves Make the Man was as solid as stone all the way through. It's close to three hundred pages but doesn't feel like it's any at all. It's the type of book you read and get pulled into, and don't surface from until all those pages are behind you and you're miraculously already at the end. This book has magic in it.And not to mention the humor of the thing. It's a sad book, sure, but it's also pretty darn entertaining - Jerome sees a lot of funny things in the world, and there's that whole "exasperation with the stupid adults" part of it that I got such a kick out of. Bruce Brooks sees right into the mind of a kid, and that's something authors can rarely do, and almost never with such skill. I would compare Bruce Brooks with Jerry Spinelli (who wrote the oddly similar book Maniac Magee) - they've both got that surreal, magical prose thing going on.Five stars for The Moves Make the Man.
What do You think about The Moves Make The Man (1995)?
In the book The Moves Make the Make a black boy name Jerome Foxworthy a basketball fantatic meets a tremendous Shortstop baseball player named Bix Rivers. They form a friendship like no other and teach eachother things they never would have learned with out the other.I gave this book 4 stars because although it was a really good book, it didnt have much of a plot. Jerome was just telling a story and at times all he did was ramble on. Other than that the book was very good and enjoyable. Some of the books strengths are the characters. The characters are very believable and it was easy to like them and want them to succed and overcome their challenges. The book had a slight mystery theme. A weakness would be that at times the book was slow and boring nd seemed to ramble on. I would possibly read another book by this author. I might because they are very detailed and they have good themes and are very well written and are believable and easy to understand. They are not to wordy and quite easy to understand. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and would deffinetly recomend it to others.
—Katey Gruber
I liked this book because every chapter you read is different. The story is about this boy named Jerome Foxworthy and his friend named Bix. Jerome is writing about how he meet his friend Bix because he thinks he can write about Bix because Bix's ran away. Bix's mom is crazy and if she got a hold a pencil she would probably kill someone or herself. His step dad hates him. The first time Jerome saw Bix was when he went to see his brother manage his team and he saw Bix making magical plays in the infield. Jerome's mom got hurt and Jerome and his two brothers were on their own in the house, Jerome got the cooking duties. The school counselor told Jerome that he could take Home economics to learn how do things around the house. In his class was a boy and it was Bix and all the other students were girls. the teacher put Jerome and Bix as partners. Then Jerome and Bix became friends.
—Brandon Farber
I rated this book a three because it was kind of unrealistic and not extremely interesting like some of the other books I have read. Some strengths of the book would be that is demonstrates good friendship at its best. Also it shows courage and confidence as well. It shows confidence and courage when Jerome had to integrate into an all white school. He walked into the school not afraid or nervous, and even to show that he was not afraid, he fought a student who was making fun of him. The other s
—Zach West
