Fifteen-year-old Fawad Chaudhry feels his best when he’s holding a basketball. It’s a needed diversion from everything going on in his life. He lives in Regent Park, a Toronto community housing project with a high crime rate. He is the victim of constant physical and verbal attacks from his neighborhood bully, Omar. To make matters worse, his mother is determined to have him marry his first cousin in Pakistan.
Basketball is Fawad’s escape. He often shoots around with his best friends, Yousuf and Arif. Fawad also spent his summer training with Yousuf’s older brother, Abshir. He even sleeps with a basketball in his arms. While that might seem odd, it makes perfect sense to him. That basketball was the last gift his father gave him before he died.
As Fawad enters his freshman year of high school, he hopes to secure a spot on the basketball team, gain some much-needed confidence, and perhaps move past his lingering grief over his father. However, before the school year even starts, Fawad’s optimism is stifled by tragedy. He witnesses Abshir’s murder in a drive-by shooting. Yousuf, in his grief, isolates himself from his friends. Now, a school year that Fawad hoped would be a clean slate is burdened by the shock of Abshir’s death.
Following the murder of Abshir, much of the story’s conflict stems from Fawad adjusting to high school in the aftermath. Fawad and Arif worry for Yousuf’s mental health while grieving Abshir in their own way. In addition, Fawad struggles with living in Regent Park because he dislikes the crime and its negative impact on people’s perception of him. For example, his school dance is ruined when Fawad intervenes in a fight between Arif and the protective older brother of Arif’s girlfriend, Ashley, whose parents simply chalk the fight up to Fawad being “a kid from Regent.”
Through this conflict, Wrong Side of the Court communicates its central message: your circumstances do not have to determine your future. Fawad often feels like an outsider, saying that he never sees anyone like him in movies or on TV. In addition, no Pakistani American has become a professional basketball player. These negative feelings are alleviated by the positive figures in his life, including his friends, his sister, his coach, and other mentors. Through these relationships, Fawad builds the self-assurance he needs to pursue his dreams.
On that note, Wrong Side of the Court has a refreshing depiction of teenage male friendship. While Fawad, Yousuf, and Arif repeatedly argue, they deeply care for one another. When Yousuf isolates himself in his grief, Fawad and Arif consistently check in on him while allowing him some space. The boys aren’t afraid to cry in front of each other and are quick to offer support to one another. In addition, Fawad and Arif encourage Yousuf’s musical talent, which ultimately gives him the confidence to pursue a career as a songwriter.
Wrong Side of the Court is a coming-of-age novel that uses Fawad’s love for basketball to communicate the importance of self-worth. It examines the weight of violence while allowing for many moments of levity, ultimately delivering a hopeful message. Fawad experiences the regular plot beats of a high school story, such as dating for the first time and trying out for a sports team, while grappling with the impact that Regent Park’s violence has on those around him and his own image. The author, H.N. Khan, grew up in Regent Park, which gives the book more authenticity and allows Fawad’s relationship with the area to read as deep and personal.
The story is told through Fawad’s first-person point of view, resulting in an informal writing style. For example, Fawad describes his apartment complex as a “crusty-ass building, which literally looks like some builder shat out bricks and didn’t have enough money for the concrete to put between them.” The informal tone is realistic for a fifteen-year-old, and Fawad’s sarcastic descriptions of the people and things around him lend the book lots of humor. His passionate description of every basketball game will excite even readers who are not fans of the sport. Most readers are sure to find Fawad to be a likable protagonist. Beyond his sense of humor, he always stands up for his friends and never gives up on his goals.
Overall, Wrong Side of the Court is an engaging and heartfelt novel. While some of the book’s conflicts feel too quickly resolved, it is well worth the read. With its violence, language, and sexual content, it is best suited for more mature readers. Although the book is 288 pages long, the story’s tight structure and brisk pace keep the reader consistently invested. Fawad’s journey is emotional and challenging, and the lesson he learns from it is a valuable one. As Venkatesh, a former Regent resident who became a successful programmer at Google, tells an awestruck Fawad later in the book: “All my life, there were a whole lot of people telling me I would amount to nothing. Then there were people telling me that I could be whatever I wanted. But one thing that stayed constant was my own belief in myself. That belief was my armor.”
Sexual Content
- Arif brags about “going to third base.” Later, he says that he and his girlfriend are going to have sex while her parents are out of the house. This is not described or referenced again.
- Fawad describes a teenage couple he often sees making out outside his apartment building. One day, he sees them having a serious conversation and notices the woman is pregnant.
- Arif teases Fawad about masturbating by “shaking his hand up and down near his waist.” He adds, “Trust me, it’s way better with a girl.”
- On the first day of school, Fawad describes a girl as wearing “a tight top that lets me see the contours of her breasts.” He stops himself and thinks, “I don’t want to be that guy on day one, that’s just not cool.”
- A character mentions “getting head.”
Violence
- Abshir is killed in a drive-by shooting. While Fawad only hears the shooting from his room, he sees Abshir’s body from his window. “There’s a body in the middle of the street,” he describes. “Not just any body. It’s in front of Yousuf’s home. That’s Yousuf’s mom. She’s kneeling on the ground, holding the body, caressing its head, screaming.”
- Fawad and his friends tease each other and get into physical scuffles. In one instance, Fawad punches Arif in the stomach.
- Fawad punches the protective older brother of Arif’s girlfriend before he can hit Arif. “I clocked him right in the face,” Fawad describes. “There’s blood dripping down his nose.”
- Omar and his friends attack Fawad and Yousuf. Omar “punches Yousuf right in the gut, sending him to his knees,” before “kicking Yousuf in the head. That sends him flying back into the concrete.” Fawad fights Omar off. “I knock him to the floor, get a few solid punches in, and draw some blood,” he describes. The fight ends when Omar’s friend jabs Fawad “right in the back of the head.” Fawad describes feeling fuzzy and says he can “see red on the snow next to [his] face.” Fawad and Yousuf black out, then wake up in the hospital.
- When Omar’s father forces him to apologize to Fawad for bullying him, he “gives [Omar] a slap behind the head,” “twists part of his ear,” and arm.
- Fawad’s mother slaps him during a heated argument. “‘Fawad, do not talk to your mother like that,’ she yells, standing up, and slapping me across the face. It forces me to take a step back.”
Drugs and Alcohol
- Arif and Yousuf often “smoke up.”
- Fawad mentions that Abshir keeps “a stash” in his room.
- After Abshir’s death, Fawad says that Yousuf spends most of his time smoking weed in his room.
Language
- Profanity is used frequently, in both Fawad’s narration and in conversation between characters. Profanity includes fuck, shit, bitch, damn, pussy, and ass.
Supernatural
- None
Spiritual Content
- Fawad’s family and friends practice Islam.
- They attend classes at their mosque, where they practice reciting the Quran. No verses are transcribed in the book.
- Readers unfamiliar with most Islamic practices should note that not every religious action depicted in the book is customary. Most notably, arranging someone’s wedding at the age of fifteen is not customary today.