The Perfect Shot
Novel by Elaine M. Alphin Presentation By Tanner Burchett
Setting
Characters
Brian Hammett
Amanda Daine
Minor characters
Julius-Brian's African American friend. Leader of the basketball team. Julius is arrested for merely being black and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The basketball team-all the players on the team have each others back
Conflicts
Brian vs. the perfect shot-In all parts of the story, Brian is attempting to hit the perfect shot. He always practices on this shot whenever he can. To him, this shot is a perfect, long range jumper that he can never hit. He has the rest of his game down, just not the perfect shot. He believes this holds him back. He also believes if he can hit this shot, he could be as good as his friend, Julius. This perfect shot could also be thought of as the shot that killed Amanda and her family. This of course changed his life forever.
Summary
In school, Brian was assigned a project that dealt with the Leo Frank case of 1913. This case involved the death of Mary Phagen, a young teenage girl that worked for Frank. Frank was tried and went to prison with a life long sentence. He was however broken out of the prison and lynched because everyone believed he should have been executed. This case is very similar to Amanda's murder case. Everyone believes that Amanda's dad committed the murders, yet Brian is unsure. He later puts the puzzle pieces together and figures out the murderer. This however ends badly. This man also tries to kill Brian's family. Bryan tries to make the perfect shot, he has the killer right in his sights. Last thing he remembers is seeing officer Recks(The killer) and blacking out when the medics came.
The story ends with Brian at Amanda's grave. He talks to her about his life and how he is doing. He also mentions how rehab is much harder than any basketball practice. He also says that he will try and make the most of life before he can see Amanda again.