Slingers is what might happen if Sandra CisnerosÕs The House on Mango Street married a Mike Lupica sports novel. Told in first-person vignettes, itÕs the story of Kalinda Davis, a sharpshooting eighth-grade hoops prodigy trying to figure out how to devote herself to her art (basketball) while dealing with her older teammatesÕ jealousy. Slingers is an ode to a beautiful game. ItÕs about coming of age while trying to fit in and excel at the same time.