“You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great”

― Zig Ziglar

This quote spoke to me because when I first began playing basketball I thought I was terrible and wanted to quit but my told me not give up. After reading this quote I realized that I expected to be great from the beginning but this quote by Zig Zagler showed me that in order for me to be great I had to practice. This quote motivated me to keep trying and to put a lot of dedication into what I am doing in order to be great.   

      In the book "Slam" written by Walter Dean Myers is about a young kid named Greg Harris who is incredible on the court but not so good in academic classes. He is also very confident in art class but does not care for it as much as basketball. This book shows the reader that you should not give upon your dreams no matter how hard things get.

       For example in the book Greg's grades are very low so he has to choose either art classes or basketball, in oder for him to have less things to focus on other than school. Greg chose basketball, this shows that he has a very strong passion for basketball and will not give it up.

         Another example is that at basketball practice Greg was embarrassed by his coach, "Mr.Goldstein asks him about me and I hear him saying something about not needing any prima donnas on the team" This made Greg want to prove him wrong.This also shows that after his coached embarrassed him he still didn't give up.

          In conclusion the author wrote this book to show the reader to give up on your dreams no matter how hard thing get. He did this by showing that Greg did not give up basketball just because his grades were low, instead he decided to work on both. The author shows it by showing that Greg did not give up even tho his coached embarrassed him.