Describe one way of how a family relationship has shaped Josh’s sense of himself and his world?

Josh refers to his father as the backboard – the backbone – of the family, and of his own life. Chuck holds his family together, having carefully saved his professional basketball money to provide for his family, allowing his wife to follow a career in education, and his sons to want to follow his footsteps in basketball. Chuck is everything that Josh aspires to be, from a good man to a basketball star. Indeed, JB looks up to his father in the same way.

Josh spends a lot of time with his father throughout the novel, as JB drifts away, now interested in girls. Chuck hands down some sage advice and important wisdom to Josh related to life that comes through the metaphor of basketball. For example, Josh should understand that life isn’t always about winning, but learning to dance in the rain during the storm. Chuck is teaching Josh not only to be prepared to deal with loss, but to handle it with grace, to find reason to even revel in defeat. In keeping with Chuck being the backboard of the family, he tells Josh and JB that the court is their family, and the ball is their heart, and they should always leave the ball in the court, meaning that family always comes first. It is a lesson that Josh takes to heart.

When Josh’s father dies, everything appears to fall apart for Josh. The backboard, he says, is splintered. The nights, he explains, are starless, for his father was the light in his life. He has no idea what holds together the family anymore. While shooting hoops after his father’s funeral, Josh believes his father has returned when he hears JB’s voice, but then realizes it is only JB. Chuck’s passing causes Josh to realize that, although he doesn’t have his father anymore, he still has his brother. The mistaking of his brother for his father demonstrates the taking of the father’s place by the brother, symbolically, in the eyes of Josh. At the same time, Josh grows closer to his mother – and so Josh’s brother and mother will become the new backboard in the family.