How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy

Written by Crystal Allen

Narrated by Muhammad Cunningham

Thirteen-year-old Lamar Washington is the maddest, baddest, most spectacular bowler at Striker's Bowling Paradise. But while Lamar's a whiz at rolling strikes, he always strikes out with girls. And his brother, Xavier the Basketball Savior, is no help. Xavier earns trophy after trophy on the basketball court and soaks up Dad's attention, leaving no room for Lamar's problems. Until bad boy Billy Jenks convinces Lamar that hustling at the alley will help him win his dream girl, plus earn him enough money to buy an expensive pro ball and impress celebrity bowler Bubba Sanders. But when Billy's scheme goes awry, Lamar ends up ruining his brother's shot at college and every relationship in his life. Can Lamar figure out how to mend his broken ties, no matter what the cost? From debut author Crystal Allen comes an unforgettable story of one boy's struggle to win his family's respect and get the girl of his dreams while playing the sport he loves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781461804369

Crystal Allen

Crystal Allen is the author of the middle grade novels How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy, The Laura Line, and the three books in the Magnificent Mya Tibbs series. Her many accolades include the Sid Fleischman Humor Award for The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: The Wall of Fame Game and induction into the Texas Institute of Letters. Crystal is also a committee member of The Brown Bookshelf, the codirector of Kindling Words East, and a faculty member of Highlights for Children. She lives in Texas with her husband, Reggie, and two sons, Phillip and Joshua. Visit her online at crystalallenbooks.com.

Reviews for How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy

[yummyfishmeister · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book took me quite a while to get into and I had problems sticking with it throughout the entire thing. The plot was surprisingly sophisticated compared to the writing style and tone and I actually found myself fairly invested after getting about halfway through. For me, however, the huge, insurmountable problem with this book was the slang. It's supposed to be from the point of view of a thirteen year-old boy, but no thirteen year-old boy I've ever met speaks like this. Phrases such as (and I remember this word for word) "She's all up in my Kool-Aid and she doesn't even know the flavor" really served no purpose for me other than to make the book less enjoyable. They're funny, yes, but there's a limit; sentences like this popped up on every page. Perhaps I'm not giving Allen enough credit, and younger kids would enjoy the writing style, but it was a deal breaker for me. I did feel emotionally involved with the book at various points in the story and I honestly think Allen is doing herself a disservice with this dumbed-down style. She really can write, but I just couldn't get past the absurdity of some of her style and word choices in this book. I just honestly feel the story would be so much more powerful and successful without the shield of poorly-chosen language.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lamar Washington loves bowling. He's the king of Striker's Bowling Paradise and he hangs out there everyday during summer vacation with his best friend Sergio, bowling and checking out cute girls. He reveres bowling pro Bubba Sanders and looks forward to his July 4th visit to the lanes. But Lamar gets caught up in Billy Jenks' hustling scheme, and his head is turned around by the money they make hustling on the lanes. Additionally, friction is mounting with big brother Xavier, a star high school basketball player. Lamar puts up a big front with the girls and his hustling, but inside he's still an insecure kid, wondering if he said or did the right thing, and that adds to the humor of his story. The publisher lists this book as for ages 8-12, but given how much Lamar and Sergio eyeball the girls and discuss hooking up (not sexually in this case, just kissing), I'd say this is better suited for ages 11-14.

[pmlyayakkers · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lamar is known for the pranks he pulls. He is also the "King of Strikers" and bowling is his thing. His brother Xavier, is knows as "Xavier the basketball savior" and is star of the YMCA league. Since their mother died, Xavier has anger issues the boys don't always get along. After one violent encounter, Lamar decides to get revenge.

[laurensx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Thirteen year old bowling wiz Lamar, narrates this sweet tale of coming of age and dealing with the issues that come with the territory. Desperate for a girlfriend, Lamar struggles finding the right way to talk to the "ladies". Of course, he envisions himself as a Don Juan, but his quirkiness often backfires. He takes the lead from his best friend Sergio and things begin to change for the better. In addition to this, Lamar's incredible bowling talents, catch the eye of Billy, the local town trouble-maker. This budding "friendship" leads Lamar down some tough life lessons.Generally, a very sweet story, there are things about the writing that had me frustrated in the beginning of the story. First time author, Crystal Allen is attempting to create a well-rounded character in Lamar, which she does, but only after the reader is dragged through lots of events and information which could have been edited out. Overall, Allen created a positive African-American character in Lamar. He is a child you can't help but like, mainly because his father and deceased mother did such a great job raising him and making sure they were involved in his life. I will recommend this book to my students and I look forward to reading other pieces by Allen.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

children's middlegrade fiction. Lamar is that annoying 13-y.o. kid who's always joking around--don't get me wrong, he's a good kid, but being around a kid like that all the time can be tiresome. That said, I could easily recommend this to a lot of middlegrade boys (and girls) who enjoy a funny story.

[meggyweg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(I got his book free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program in exchange for this review.)This is a kind of feel-good story about a young boy who's an enthusiastic bowler and learns important lessons about life, carefully choosing the company he keeps, and staying true to his friends, his family and himself one summer. A lot of tween- and teen-directed books have a sports theme, but I'd never read one about bowling before, and it made for a nice change. Unable to participate in other sports because of severe asthma, Lamar is a very talented bowler, but his longing to be "cool" and desire for expensive bowling gear has him ditching his best friend and hustling with the town troublemaker for money. Meanwhile, he's navigating the tricky territory of his first romance, and fighting constantly with his older brother, who struggles with anger management issues. Lamar's thuggish new "friend" talks him into pulling a nasty "prank" to get back at his brother, he finds himself in big trouble and unsure if he'll be able to fix the mess he's made.I think young 9-to-12s would enjoy this book, particularly those who enjoy bowling.

[hschmill22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a comical and and heart wrenching novel. Lamar is going through a tough time and finds his own way to get through it. It does have a lot of slang and street talk in it. I enjoyed reading Lamar's story come to life and ending was fitting!

[teampeeta254 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lamar just jumps out at me and it's as if he's real. I can hear his voice telling me that his story is the maddest baddest story around. Crystal Allen came to visit my school today and what I have found is that she knows the one thing that makes a good character. Voice.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lamar is known for the pranks he pulls. He is also the "King of Strikers" and bowling is his thing. His brother Xavier, is knows as "Xavier the basketball savior" and is star of the YMCA league. Since their mother died, Xavier has anger issues the boys don't always get along. After one violent encounter, Lamar decides to get revenge.

[bibliovermis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. Lamar, the main character, is really funny and relatable. The book was both fun and sad—Lamar's relationship with his family, which is struggling through an enormous loss, was really heart wrenching. I can imagine some of the slang in the book getting old rather quickly, but it was a really good read.Despite the main character being a 13-year-old, I would definitely call this a young adult book, not a juvenile fiction book.

[lutherann_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has a slow start with an excessive amount of slang, which gives this book a pretty short shelf life as slang changes quickly. For the most part, it seemed to me that the slang and the witty sayings were created just for this story. I have never heard a student speak in this fashion - and certainly not to this extent. This book would have been excellent without all of the slang, though there did seem to be less of it toward the middle/end of the book. The actual plot of this book is good. It says that the recommended age group for this book is third grade. As a teacher, there is no way that I would use this book with third graders. The abstract concepts in this book are more suited to a middle school age level, though the language does not match that. The extremely long title was actually a deterrent to reading the book. "Lamar's bad prank" would have been long enough.Overall, I liked the plot and characters in this book and would have enjoyed it so much more if the language would have been richer instead of overflowing with slang.

[mikitchenlady · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a fan of bowling (married a guy who had his own ball) and middle school fiction, I selected this choice as my Early Reviewer’s edition a few months ago, expecting an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the language and the tone of the book, plus the attitudes of the characters, and applied the Nancy Pearl rule (where you read 100 pages minus your age to determine if it’s worth reading further). I had some empathy for Lamar as the story began. In a motherless family, with a cool, distant older brother and a father just trying to hold things together, it’s hard for Lamar to make his way in life, figure out who he is. He’s all tough talking, planning to conquer the world with bowling, especially after the announcement that Bubba Sanders is coming to Striker’s Bowling Paradise. He’s also trying to figure out how to find a girlfriend, developing an interest in Makeda, previously dissed by him and his buddies. But in the pages I read, I never liked Lamar. I found him distant, manipulative, with just too much street talking for me to connect to. Perhaps the fact that I’m an older white woman makes the difference, and this book would appeal to middle school boys, especially African American ones. But I’m not sure just the language discouraged me. I’ve read selections by Coe Booth, and loved them, so I think the author has to help the reader empathize with this protagonist sooner in order to get them to stick with the story. I know I didn’t.

[reneemrobbins · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. At first it was difficult to get used to the slang and I would have preferred it to not have included so much. I had a hard time relating to Lamar because of the slang, but I did get very involved in the book. It was difficult, at times, to follow the story because the slang was so ethnic I did not understand what was being implied. Even with all the slang difficulties I really got attached to Lamar and found myself getting emotional in the story. There was one point when I cried, not just had tears! The reader can not help but feel for this poor young boy as he goes through difficulties. I think it was a good book with a great moral.

[curioussquared · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book took me quite a while to get into and I had problems sticking with it throughout the entire thing. The plot was surprisingly sophisticated compared to the writing style and tone and I actually found myself fairly invested after getting about halfway through. For me, however, the huge, insurmountable problem with this book was the slang. It's supposed to be from the point of view of a thirteen year-old boy, but no thirteen year-old boy I've ever met speaks like this. Phrases such as (and I remember this word for word) "She's all up in my Kool-Aid and she doesn't even know the flavor" really served no purpose for me other than to make the book less enjoyable. They're funny, yes, but there's a limit; sentences like this popped up on every page. Perhaps I'm not giving Allen enough credit, and younger kids would enjoy the writing style, but it was a deal breaker for me. I did feel emotionally involved with the book at various points in the story and I honestly think Allen is doing herself a disservice with this dumbed-down style. She really can write, but I just couldn't get past the absurdity of some of her style and word choices in this book. I just honestly feel the story would be so much more powerful and successful without the shield of poorly-chosen language.

[kwrolsen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took me a few tries to start this book and stick with it. It was hard to get used to Allen’s writing, as she took the perspective of a 13 year old boy. As I continued to read, I connected with the story. Despite the extensive humor and Lamar’s love of bowling (an interesting choice in itself), Allen includes very serious topics. These include the death of his mother, physical abuse from his brother, and impulsive choices that teenagers often make. I was particularly impressed that Allen chose to include the real life consequences of poor choices, especially the effect on one’s reputation. This is a very important, realistic consequence of choices that is rarely related to youngsters. Allen included this point in a straightforward, relatable way. I do not regret spending my Sunday curled up on the couch reading about Lamar and his bad prank.

[lauraenos · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This young-adult novel is an extremely enjoyable read, about a thirteen year old boy, Lamar, trying to live up to the expectations and pressures he's put on himself due to having a basketball phenom older brother and a deceased dead mother who always had confidence in her youngest son's abilities. Many times while reading, I'd have to remind myself that Lamar was only thirteen years old. I found his thought process and dialogue to mirror that of a freshman or sophomore that I've myself taught, but with the death of his mother at a young age, Lamar had to grow up faster than his classmates. The back-and-forth witty banter between Lamar and his best friend and Lamar and his brother is very entertaining. This is very much a feel-good novel. It's hard to like Lamar's dad and older brother at certain points in the book, but in the end, these three male characters experience a lot of grief throughout the book and really come out as a stronger family because of it. I'm excited to put this book on my shelf to share with my students.

[tara22_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was pleasantly surprised by this story which is about thirteen-year-old Lamar, the King of Strikers bowling alley. This story is Lamar’s, his thoughts, dreams, about his friends and family, and about coming to peace with yourself after making some bad decisions. Lamar is a really good bowler (they don’t call just anyone the king) and he is on the Honor Roll, but his brother Xavier the basketball savior gets everyone’s attention, even their fathers. Lamar is growing up, trying to find a girlfriend, spending his days bowling, and dealing with a severe case of asthma which makes it hard. The language was a little hard for me to get used to, but once I came to understand who Lamar was I was on his side through thick and thin.