How I Fell in Love and Learned to Shoot Free Throws

How I Fell in Love and Learned to Shoot Free Throws is a book about a boy who falls in love with the star of the girls basketball team. She, Angel, is a loner. She doesn’t have many friends and never has a boyfriend. Danny, who loses a free throw contest against her, asks her to help him with his shot. She is reluctant at first, but she agrees to teach.

Danny doesn’t really care if his free throw gets better. He just wants to hang around with Angel. But she repeatedly thwarts his attempts to get her to talk about anything other than basketball. Then, when they are playing a one-on-one game, she hurts her ankle. Though she begs him not to take her home, he cannot leave her on the court, almost a mile from home. Why is she trying so hard to keep him away from her house?

It turns out that Angel’s mother is a lesbian. And every time her classmates find out, no matter how many schools she transfers to, they harass her until her life is unbearable. Of course Danny has the perfect solution, she should start going out with him to prove to everyone she likes guys. Will she go for it? Will she even talk to him again after he broke her ankle during the game?

Ripslinger, Jon. (2003). How I fell in love and learned to shoot free throws. Brookfield, CT: Roaring Brook Publishing.