Interview with Dawn Green, author of IN THE SWISH

If you missed my Tuesday post and review of my favorite sporty read in over a year, click here. 

Today, Dawn was kind enough to join me on Sporty Girl Books for an interview. She's just that awesome;)

Dawn with best friend Kim at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Vancouver. She still quite the sporty girl today.

1. Could you share which sports you’ve played growing up and which ones you play today?

If it had a ball I played it. I grew up playing volley, fastball, soccer, swimming, basketball (of course), golf, and tennis. Today it is much tougher to find the time to play but I do get time to coach basketball at various levels and with different groups, and I also try to get out and do other active things like running, kayaking, and hiking – I am hoping to try climbing soon. One of the great things that sport gave me was the active mindset, which has stayed with me into adulthood.   

2. It sounds like you do a lot. I hope you get on the rock soon. I am addicted to sport rock climbing. Could you share a memorable moment from your own HS basketball career?

I have two very memorable moments but they both happen off the court and in unique ways. The first was when I was 16 and a few members from my junior team went to watch a Canada vs. US women’s basketball exhibition before the 96’ Olympics. A couple of us had been following the US team in the media – it was such a good time for women’s sports – and I was a pretty big fan of the game… anyway, after the game we snuck into the back of the arena and got autographs from Sheryl Swoopes, Rebecca Lobo, and Jennifer Azzi. I’ll never forget the moment when the entire team (from Dawn Staley to coach Tara VanDerveer) walked down the corridor. I don’t get star struck very often, but I was then.   

The second moment comes from my coaching career. A few years ago I was co-coaching a senior girls’ basketball team. It was a team made up of “athletes” (mostly soccer players) but not really any true basketball players. We had no business finishing in the top ten of our province but we did, purely on how well we played as a team. During the final game – a consolation game for 5^thor 6^th – the clock was winding down, we were down by more than 10, and it was clear that our team was going to lose, but the girls on the bench asked if it was okay if they rushed the court when the buzzer went. I’ve never heard or seen a team rush the court for a loss but it was one of the most amazing acts of sportsmanship I have ever seen. They lost the game but rushing the court was about celebrating the season they had, it was about the team not the game, and it was beautiful.  

  

3. What memorable experiences. I can totally envision your team rushing the court. And, I like that your first memory gets a cameo in IN THE SWISH! As a coach, what would be your advice to sporty girls trying out for a new season?

TRY! Even if you think you might not make it and other sporty girls intimidate you, try anyway. You never know what sport you might like, or what sport might like you for that matter. You also can never know what you bring to a team. You might not be the fastest or best shooter, but maybe you can out-rebound everyone or you work harder than anyone else. Coaches all want hard workers over those who are talented but lazy or have a bad attitude. Work hard, be the one who runs all the way across the line, dives on the floor for every lose ball, and cheers for her teammates. 

4. Great advice. Do you have a favorite “coach” saying that you share to inspire your team?

One of my personal favorites comes from my grandfather, “The offense can only play as well as the defense lets them.” It’s simple but profoundly true. 

Something else I tell my players is to never focus on the last play, always focus on the next play. It’s too easy to dwell on the missed shot instead of thinking of taking your next shot.

AND of course, DEFENSE isn’t just something, it’s everything.

5. Oh, you coaches always talking about Defense (j/k, mostly). It really is important:) When did you know you wanted to be a writer and how did you get started?

I never knew I wanted to be a writer but I did always know that I wanted to be a storyteller, I just didn’t know how that would manifest itself. I started thinking that I wanted to be a screenwriter and working in film. Screenwriting taught me a lot about character development and how to arc a story (in fact In the Swish started as a screenplay) but I realized that the film world wasn’t really for me. When I got a bit older I had more patience for writing full novels, and now, here we are.

6. Ooh...I'm seeing IN THE SWISH on the big screen. I read a lot of screenwriting books (SAVE THE CAT, anyone? That's a great background for writing novels. Is this your first book? 

In The Swish is my second novel. My first is another YA with a very different subject matter. When Kacey Left came out last year (2015) and is about a girl who is left dealing with her best friends suicide through journal writing. It’s definitely not as uplifting or fun as In the Swish but it does deal with some important themes surrounding teenage life.

7. I can't wait to read that one! What are you working on right now? I’m hoping for a soccer story!

Ha… well, interestingly enough the main character of my next novel does play soccer but it isn’t really a sporty girl book. I would classify it more as New Age or older YA. I’m not willing to share the title yet, but I will say that it’s a story about a pre-dystopian world (not unlike our own) and the events that unfold in order for society to let those dystopian type worlds come into being. Also, what it takes for an average everyday soccer-playing girl to become a revolutionary. 

If In the Swish does well there might be a sequel in my head, and there may just be a soccer story in there too ;)   

8. Okay, not exactly soccer, but it sounds amazing. pre-dystopian, soccer player to revolutionary. I'm in. What’s your favorite sporty read?

I mentioned this at the back of my book but In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais, was a favorite of mine as a teen.  Venus to the Hoop by Sarah Corbett (about the 96’ Olympic team), I kept next to my bedside for a long time before passing it on to another sporty girl. And most recently I really got into Pat Summitt’s latest Sum It Up – because, well, Pat Summitt.

9. Do you have an all-time-favorite book?

I can’t say, the others might find out and then they’d be jealous.

Great answer! I struggle with this one too. I don't want my books smothering me while I sleep;) Thank you for being on Sporty Girl Books!

Dawn let us know a Goodreads Giveaway for 10 US copies is underway, so in addition to the one we're giving away, you have 10 more chances. I've linked to both below.

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https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/176039-in-the-swish

Book Review and Giveaway: IN THE SWISH by Dawn Green

Let me start out by saying this is the best sporty girl book I've read in over a year--and basketball isn't even in my top three favorite sports:)
Thank you to author Dawn Green for providing us with a signed copy to review and give away. I haven't yet read her first book, WHEN KASEY LEFT, but I've not only put it on my TBR pile, I've moved it dangerously close to the top. (It's another YA, but not of the sporty variety.)
IN THE SWISH, published by Red Deer Press, released in Canada January 16th, but except one lucky winner from our raffle, the rest of America has to wait until May 15th. 

From the back of the book:
Bennet Ryan is a superb young basketball player who propelled her team to a regional championship. But in the senior year she discovers there's a lot she doesn't know. She has to switch schools, for one thing, and learn to find in wit the team she helped defeat the previous year. What's more she confronts a far more complex world than she's been used to--a new friend who is on the autism spectrum, as well as teammates from a diversity of cultures. Finally she has to face her old team--and some old assumptions--in a dreamt playoff game. In the Swish is a coming of age story about friendships made and friendships tested set against the fast-paced world of competitive girls' basketball. 

Dawn Green teaches high school and coaches basketball. Both of these facts are readily apparent in reading IN THE SWISH. She knows basketball, athletes, and high school. I felt for our main character Bennett from the very first page. I tried to imagine having to move to my rival team in high school to compete against the girls and the team I loved like family, and I couldn't imagine it. Bennett not only had to do this her extremely important senior year, but also do it with a mom as the new school principal. And yes, she does get sent to the principal's office:) The mother/daughter tension is palpable. They love each other, but can a mother who doesn't understand basketball truly understand Bennett?
I cared about Bennett, about the flack she was getting from her new school, about the distance growing between her and her old teammates, about her need to be in the gym with a ball, and about her only friend Matti. Bennett is tough and serious on the court, but she has a heart. She cares about people. 

IN THE SWISH isn't only a basketball story, it's a sister story, a story of autism, and a story of learning about diversity and culture. Above all, it's a kick a** sporty girl book. I read the entire thing in less that 24 hours. It's fast and real (both to the characters and to the sport). The characters and situations walk off the page. I appreciated that it wasn't one main character and a bunch of supporting similar characters, but that each teammate had their own life and needs and issues. Coach K was one strong woman who knew what the team needed and how to make it happen. She punished Bennett and another player who couldn't figure out how to play together in brilliant Parent Trap-esqe stuck-together fashion that I absolutely loved.

One of the characters that touched me the most and made Bennett's story what it is, is her father. I wish all girls could have a dad like that. Boy, girl, young, old, we can do things. The only thing/person stopping us is ourselves.

I won't ruin the ending, but will note that I whole-heartedly approved. I look forward to many more intense sporty reads (maybe a soccer one, since she mentioned loving that sport as well) in the future.

Just a note that there is some language in this book, so I would keep to that 14-18 recommended range. 

****Dawn Green was kind enough to let me interview her. Come back Thursday to learn some of her favorite sporty moments, her advice to girls trying out for a team, her favorite sporty reads, and more***

Dawn Green graduated from the University of Victoria with degrees in languages and education. She is a high school Spanish and English teacher, basketball coach, and Special Olympics BC volunteer. When Kacey Left was her first young adult novel.

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Sporty Girl Basketball Books for March Madness

March Madness is almost upon us. Here are some of our favorite sporty girl basketball books.

Picture Books

Basketball Belles by Sue Macy 

This dynamic picture book about the birth of women's basketball will keep young readers riveted. Raised on a cattle ranch, Agnes Morley was sent to Stanford University to learn to be a lady. Yet in no time she exchanged her breeches and spurs for bloomers and a basketball; and in April 1896 she made history. In a heart--pounding game against the University of California at Berkeley, Agnes led her team to victory in the first-ever intercollegiate women s basketball game, earning national attention and putting women s basketball on the map. 

Middle Grade 

Kyle Jean, Hoop Queen by Marci Peschke

Kylie Jean is usually good at everything she tries. So how come learning to play basketball is so hard?

Game Time, Mallory! by Laurie Friedman and Jennifer Kalis

Mallory can't wait to play in her town's new girls' basketball league! What could be more fun than trying something new and being on a team? But Mallory's basketball career gets off to a rocky start. None of her friends are on her team. And no matter how much she tries, she can't make a basket. 

Rebound Time by Jake Maddox

After her parents' divorce, Sarit's dad moved across the country for his new job. Sarit feels lost without him there. To make things worse, her dad was also her basketball coach. Now that he's gone, Sarit doesn't even want to play basketball anymore. Can Sarit learn to love the game without her dad on the sidelines?

The Big Break, A Julie Classic by Megan McDonald

It's 1974, and Julie Albright has just moved to a new neighborhood and started at a new school. So when she finds out the basketball team is "boys only," Julie is determined to fight for her right to play. Will a petition with 150 names be enough to make the coach change his mind and give her a chance?

Young Adult

Head Games by Nicole Leigh Shepherd

Taylor is calm, cool, collected, and ferocious on the basketball court. A total all-star. Not so much in real life. She may be tall, gorgeous, and an incredible catch, but just try telling her that!

And lately, Taylor doesn't know which way to turn: The summer showcase game is almost here. Her BFF Hannah roped her into a fashion show (eek!). And she can't decide between Zach-the super-popular, super-tall, super-off-limits basketball dynamo-and Matt-the sweet boy from her math class (who may just be dating her BFF's older sister). It's enough to make any girl's head spin!

Boost by Kathy Mackel

Thirteen-year-old Savvy's three-point shot is deadly. But she gets pushed around on the basketball court. Her older sister, Callie, is on varsity cheerleading, but she's not light enough to be a flier - her coveted position. Both girls need to boost their level of competition to get into the action. How far are they willing to go to be the best?