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Hope: A School, a Team, a Dream
Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island was once a model city school, graduating a wide range of students from different backgrounds. But the tumult of the 1960s and the drug wars of the 70s changed both Providence and Hope. Today, the aging school is primarily Hispanic and African-American, with kids traveling for miles by bus and foot each day.
Hope was known for its state championship basketball teams in the 1960s, but its 2012 team is much different. Disobedient, distracted, and overwhelmed by family troubles, with mismatched sneakers and a penchant for profanity and anger, these boys represent Coach Dave Nyblom's dream of a championship, however unlikely that might seem. Nyblom's mostly black players, including several who emigrated to Providence from war-torn Liberia, face gang violence, domestic uncertainty, drug problems, and a host of other issues. But with the unfailing support and guidance of Nyblom and other Hope coaches, their ragtag team gradually pulls together, overcoming every obstacle to find the faith and trust in themselves that Nyblom never stops teaching.
A look at a hidden world that just a few hundred yards from Brown University, Bill Reynolds' Hope is the inspiring true story of young men and their mentors pursuing one goal―a championship―but achieving so much more.
Hope was known for its state championship basketball teams in the 1960s, but its 2012 team is much different. Disobedient, distracted, and overwhelmed by family troubles, with mismatched sneakers and a penchant for profanity and anger, these boys represent Coach Dave Nyblom's dream of a championship, however unlikely that might seem. Nyblom's mostly black players, including several who emigrated to Providence from war-torn Liberia, face gang violence, domestic uncertainty, drug problems, and a host of other issues. But with the unfailing support and guidance of Nyblom and other Hope coaches, their ragtag team gradually pulls together, overcoming every obstacle to find the faith and trust in themselves that Nyblom never stops teaching.
A look at a hidden world that just a few hundred yards from Brown University, Bill Reynolds' Hope is the inspiring true story of young men and their mentors pursuing one goal―a championship―but achieving so much more.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 26, 2016
23 people are currently reading
538 people want to read
About the author
Bill Reynolds
87 books14 followersBill Reynolds is a sports columnist for The Providence Journal and the author of several previous books, including Fall River Dreams and (with Rick Pitino) the #1 New York Times bestseller Success Is a Choice. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 10, 2017
HOPE: A SCHOOL, A TEAM, A DREAM by Bill Reynolds recounts the 2012 basketball season at Hope high school in Providence, RI. The book shows how basketball at an inner city school, under the right guidance, can teach young men who are lost, forgotten, and misguided how to make better choices in life. As with anything, though, not all of the young men make the right choices.
The head coach, Dave Nyblom, has been at Hope high school since 1989. He seems, over the years, to have developed the ability to show compassion and caring towards all of his players, present and past, while at the same time he commands his team with a strong fist, constantly challenging them to be better than they are and he doesn't accept anything but the most each player can give him. His coaches, all volunteer, are an interesting bunch, all who just want the team and each player to be all they can be. Meanwhile, the players teeter between wanting the team to succeed and wanting to look good as individuals. On top of it all, its seems like every player has there own personal demons, whether its family, friends, or rivals, that constantly throw up obstacles for them to overcome.
Bill Reynolds makes me care about the team, the coaches, and the players by writing about them all in a very honest, straight-forward way. I was rooting for the team every step of the way. He also displayed the city of Providence in a way I was unaware of. He explains how the school system has been torn apart, put back together and now is so fragmented and backward in its design. It blew me away that most of team had to take two public buses to and from school and home every day and a lot of the time they just hung around after school on game days because there wasn't enough time to go home and be back in time for a evening game. The fact that many of the players are immigrants from war-torn Liberia was interesting as well. For one student, it meant he was shy to speak because of his accent and unique Liberian dialect, and yet seemed to be a great kid at heart.
Being a sports fan, and a fan of sports books, I enjoyed this book a lot. Reynolds did a good job of recounting the season and weaving in human interest all along the way. It reminded me of EAGLE BLUE by Michael D'Orso, seeing a group of young men coming together as a basketball team to reach as high as they can. i will definitely try other books by Reynolds after reading this book.
*** I received a copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaway!***
The head coach, Dave Nyblom, has been at Hope high school since 1989. He seems, over the years, to have developed the ability to show compassion and caring towards all of his players, present and past, while at the same time he commands his team with a strong fist, constantly challenging them to be better than they are and he doesn't accept anything but the most each player can give him. His coaches, all volunteer, are an interesting bunch, all who just want the team and each player to be all they can be. Meanwhile, the players teeter between wanting the team to succeed and wanting to look good as individuals. On top of it all, its seems like every player has there own personal demons, whether its family, friends, or rivals, that constantly throw up obstacles for them to overcome.
Bill Reynolds makes me care about the team, the coaches, and the players by writing about them all in a very honest, straight-forward way. I was rooting for the team every step of the way. He also displayed the city of Providence in a way I was unaware of. He explains how the school system has been torn apart, put back together and now is so fragmented and backward in its design. It blew me away that most of team had to take two public buses to and from school and home every day and a lot of the time they just hung around after school on game days because there wasn't enough time to go home and be back in time for a evening game. The fact that many of the players are immigrants from war-torn Liberia was interesting as well. For one student, it meant he was shy to speak because of his accent and unique Liberian dialect, and yet seemed to be a great kid at heart.
Being a sports fan, and a fan of sports books, I enjoyed this book a lot. Reynolds did a good job of recounting the season and weaving in human interest all along the way. It reminded me of EAGLE BLUE by Michael D'Orso, seeing a group of young men coming together as a basketball team to reach as high as they can. i will definitely try other books by Reynolds after reading this book.
*** I received a copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaway!***
April 6, 2016
I chose to read this book because I really like sports books. Also my dad recommended it to me and i looked it up and it had some really good ratings.
The good thing about this book is it doesn't just focus on basketball it talks about the players families and the town and the school. So how it changes topics it can get you more interested but it can also get you less interested.
The plot/ main thing of this story was the basketball team. That is because in the second half of the book they start focusing on games and they who us real pictures of the games. Also throughout the story they were always talking about the families of the players or the players.
The theme of this story is how the poor town had a great basketball year. That is the theme because they weren't expected to do that good and they ended up doing very good. Because throughout the beginning they were like kids have to walk and kids do get fed enough so this is showing a little town can do big things if they try.
In he beginning of the book i got really attached to it. I really liked it but it was starting to talk about all the bad things in the town so i was like oh this isn't gonna be good, It started to play with my emotions/ feelings because i can relate someone or myself to them.But then i start thinking they won't just write this book about bad things so i got really interested to read the whole book and in the middle of the boo it was giving me good feeling because i could relate to the stuff they were saying. All in all it did play with my emotions because it went from good to bad good to bad.
I would totally recommend this book because it was really really good.First off let me tell you i really dont like reading but this book was interesting and you could relate to it. i would rate this book a 5 out of 5.
The good thing about this book is it doesn't just focus on basketball it talks about the players families and the town and the school. So how it changes topics it can get you more interested but it can also get you less interested.
The plot/ main thing of this story was the basketball team. That is because in the second half of the book they start focusing on games and they who us real pictures of the games. Also throughout the story they were always talking about the families of the players or the players.
The theme of this story is how the poor town had a great basketball year. That is the theme because they weren't expected to do that good and they ended up doing very good. Because throughout the beginning they were like kids have to walk and kids do get fed enough so this is showing a little town can do big things if they try.
In he beginning of the book i got really attached to it. I really liked it but it was starting to talk about all the bad things in the town so i was like oh this isn't gonna be good, It started to play with my emotions/ feelings because i can relate someone or myself to them.But then i start thinking they won't just write this book about bad things so i got really interested to read the whole book and in the middle of the boo it was giving me good feeling because i could relate to the stuff they were saying. All in all it did play with my emotions because it went from good to bad good to bad.
I would totally recommend this book because it was really really good.First off let me tell you i really dont like reading but this book was interesting and you could relate to it. i would rate this book a 5 out of 5.
December 27, 2015
Boy, when I win Goodreads first read giveaways, they're good ones!
This dandy little book is due to be released in January 2016, but I was lucky enough to get to read it in December...when basketball is really getting going for high school teams. Very timely.
Providence, RI inner city tough high school basketball...
The coach brings food for the kids because it's often the only meal they get that day.
The starting players are whoever show up the day of the game; it's never the same.
The spectators are often mostly made up of former players who didn't make it anywhere beyond their high school career, who hang around practices because they wish they'd listened to Coach when he was trying to tell them about nothing getting handed to them.
The crumbling, aging school in the shadow of the prestigious Brown University.
I'm not a big basketball fan, but this book kept me hooked through the holidays, kept me turning the pages wondering if the team really WOULD pull it together as the back cover blurb hinted they might. You just don't know! And the coach...oh, I loved that coach; the heart, the try, the persistence of this man.
Thanks St. Martin's Press for another good read!
This dandy little book is due to be released in January 2016, but I was lucky enough to get to read it in December...when basketball is really getting going for high school teams. Very timely.
Providence, RI inner city tough high school basketball...
The coach brings food for the kids because it's often the only meal they get that day.
The starting players are whoever show up the day of the game; it's never the same.
The spectators are often mostly made up of former players who didn't make it anywhere beyond their high school career, who hang around practices because they wish they'd listened to Coach when he was trying to tell them about nothing getting handed to them.
The crumbling, aging school in the shadow of the prestigious Brown University.
I'm not a big basketball fan, but this book kept me hooked through the holidays, kept me turning the pages wondering if the team really WOULD pull it together as the back cover blurb hinted they might. You just don't know! And the coach...oh, I loved that coach; the heart, the try, the persistence of this man.
Thanks St. Martin's Press for another good read!
January 14, 2016
"Hope: A School, a Team, a Dream" gave this small town person a picture of high school life in the big city (Providence, RI) ghetto with many one-parent homes, the lack of discipline, drugs and guns, and the difficulty of improving life's situations. It pictures volunteer basketball coaches attempting to improve the present and future situation for the players. Added to this is the real-life excitement of one team's road to the state finals. I liked the book and give it a five-star rating.
March 1, 2016
Hope--A School, a Team, a Dream by Bill Reynolds tells the true story of Hope, a high school in Providence, Rhode Island, and one season of basketball. The coach of the team is Dave Nyblom. What I enjoyed in this book was the interaction between the coach and the players. That was the main focus of the story. The part that dealt with the actual games was okay too. With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, this book is perfect to get you in the mood for it! (Gerard's review)
June 24, 2016
Very exciting and encouraging book! I felt like I was at the games. Whether you like sports or enjoy helping teens, this book is a winner!
November 3, 2017
Book Bingo Category: GOOOOOAL!
Pages:256
Summary: In this book, a sports columnist follows the high school basketball team at Hope high school. This school is in the inner city in Providence, RI and there are many gangs and a lot of violence there. Some of the kids do not always show up to school because they are so engrossed in the world and violence outside of school. Their Coach Nyblom continuously brings food for the kids and supports them in a father figure way. In the past, hope was known for it's state championships in basketball but that has changed drastically. The current team was unorganized, unprepared, and inconsistent. Some of the kids didn't show up for practice at all and when they did it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Majority of the kids faced gang violence, drug issues, and even family and relationship uncertainty they would come to school and practice in horrid moods. But with the support of their coach and assistant coaches they begin to pull through and they are more organized, more prepared, and the majority of the kids are actually showing up to play. Read this book if you would like to know what happens to the team and how everything turns out!
Explanation: I really liked this book a lot. It helped me understand more about basketball and especially about team work. I also learned that if you had the right mindset you can do anything. This book was really interesting because you got more of a personal sense of the team and the players. I found it interesting and more helpful to understand the book the way they really described all of the characters and the coaches with so much detail.
Pages:256
Summary: In this book, a sports columnist follows the high school basketball team at Hope high school. This school is in the inner city in Providence, RI and there are many gangs and a lot of violence there. Some of the kids do not always show up to school because they are so engrossed in the world and violence outside of school. Their Coach Nyblom continuously brings food for the kids and supports them in a father figure way. In the past, hope was known for it's state championships in basketball but that has changed drastically. The current team was unorganized, unprepared, and inconsistent. Some of the kids didn't show up for practice at all and when they did it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Majority of the kids faced gang violence, drug issues, and even family and relationship uncertainty they would come to school and practice in horrid moods. But with the support of their coach and assistant coaches they begin to pull through and they are more organized, more prepared, and the majority of the kids are actually showing up to play. Read this book if you would like to know what happens to the team and how everything turns out!
Explanation: I really liked this book a lot. It helped me understand more about basketball and especially about team work. I also learned that if you had the right mindset you can do anything. This book was really interesting because you got more of a personal sense of the team and the players. I found it interesting and more helpful to understand the book the way they really described all of the characters and the coaches with so much detail.
February 4, 2021
I found this book fascinating. It is the story of the author's experience following (embedding really) an inner-city Providence, RI high school basketball team in its quest for respectability and a state championship. This goes beyond any stereotypical, predictable rags-to-riches sports story with a Hollywood ending. Reynolds seems to have done his fair share of listening to how Coach Dave Nyblom (who is white, it is worth noting) and his staff work with a group of boys (none of whom are white), tries to teach them about sports and about what is important in life, and how to be a good person. He relays the coaches' frustrations, celebrations, hopes, and fears for their players, and it quickly becomes apparent that the coaching staff faces more than just "typical" adolescent athlete issues, as Providence is home to more than its share of gang violence, drugs, crime, and opportunities for adolescent players to make poor choices. There are cultural, socioeconomic, generational, and systemic issues at play throughout the book, and Reynolds does an excellent job of transporting the reader into the team practices, locker room, huddles, games, and every day trials and tribulations. It is clear that these student athletes have more to worry about than school, basketball, and social lives. Hope is a fascinating read, which I highly recommend to anyone who is a basketball (or sports) fan, any fans of John Feinstein, or anyone who wants a glimpse inside the modern city public high school game in the smallest state in the USA.
March 27, 2018
I first heard of this book while reading an interview with author Don Winslow, who praised "Hope" as the best book he'd read in a while. It's the story of one season in the life of an inner-city basketball team playing for Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island, and it's written by Bill Reynolds, a sports columnist for the Providence Journal newspaper in that city. The subject matter of a book like "Hope" has now become more or less a genre. Struggling team, struggling kids, coaches trying to do the right thing and make life better despite the considerable odds. Alas, I found "Hope" to be a pretty generic read. I don't mean to minimize the problems, which are awful. But the book? Interesting, a quick read, but ... pretty generic. I'm not quite sure what Mr. Winslow saw in it.
July 18, 2017
(3) Obviously, this is not a unique concept. A writer following a team, a coach or a player for a season is a formula that has been used many times. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. This time it does. Reynolds does a masterful job of making this much more than a basketball book. Sure, you have to be a sports fan to enjoy the excitement of the tournament chase and the drama of the games that are described, but this is a story about people. Volunteer coaches who don't just give time, but money as well. A head coach who is somewhat crusty but caring beyond belief. Kids coming from Africa with their families landing in a totally different culture. And it is the story of a city, Providence, Rhode Island, the good and the bad. A worthwhile read, especially for a sports fan.
August 26, 2017
Roy Blount's fine (some say classic) book about his year with the Steelers Two Bricks Shy of a Load is the obvious model for this journalist's embedding with a Providence, RI high school basketball team, the 2012 Hope Blue Waves, and writing about a much different social scene -- one that, to begin with, is much less glamorous. However, Hope's efforts are rewarded, and Reynolds, a local sportswriter with a fine prose ear, sympathizes with his subjects and certainly gets you rooting for them. His local understanding of the Providence scene adds a lot, his good-hearted tolerability, less. The book is about the difficulty of a team whose school is in crisis -- and I'm not certain Reynolds understands that as comprehensively as he might.
July 12, 2018
I had some problems with it. But I really enjoyed the close-up of life at Hope HS. The narrative tends toward negativity at times, for example, the story of a male teacher walking down the hall and a kid says to him, "What the fuck you looking at?" The conclusion being the kid is horrible. I can also see that maybe the teacher was horrible, glaring at the kid. All right, I agree the kid is wrong, but there are 12 sides to every story. Some lazy writing - every one who leaves near someplace lives 'a jump shot away'. I just didn't like the tone, generally.
Note - I worked in the Providence school system for ~20 years, and my son graduated from Hope in '90.
Note - I worked in the Providence school system for ~20 years, and my son graduated from Hope in '90.
July 28, 2021
This book in no way compares to Basketball Junkie - but at the end of the day, this is just not as good of a story. While Reynolds does his best here, you really get the feeling that the majority of these players did not even remotely let him into their inner world. To be fair, these kids have learned the hard way to not trust many people, primarily as a defense/survival mechanism, and it is evident as Reynolds uses the same quotes and stories repeatedly in an effort to salvage the time he invested in a full season with this team - with the hopes of creating a good book.
December 10, 2019
Nice respite from heavier reading. About a Providence RI inner city school and its basketball team. Learned a few things especially how the life out of school impacts the players and how schools have changed over the decades. How good athletes in high school are thrilled to get any scholarship to college, even ones that play Division III ball. Also, how suburban white schools can confuse an inner-city school with a zone defense.
August 11, 2018
I am a sucker for sports stories that also dive into social justice issues. This isn't one of the best ones, but I still enjoyed the journey and would recommend it to anyone wanting to read a deep dive into one inner city basketball team's tumultuous season.
January 5, 2019
Entertaining Read!
This book shows the importance of showing up everyday and doing your job like this coach. It will never be glamorous but the lives that are affected in the process will forever be appreciative.
This book shows the importance of showing up everyday and doing your job like this coach. It will never be glamorous but the lives that are affected in the process will forever be appreciative.
January 6, 2019
Meh, it was tedious. I didn't finish this one.
Want to read
October 18, 2019I would rate this a 4 out of 5 stars because of how's it written and how its about sports and I like to read sports books, they are very intersesting.
January 11, 2020
This was a great book! Such an eye opener regarding Providence schools, and a great way to learn more about the state of RI.
Read
May 27, 2020If you want to hear about an inspiring coaching story, read Hope by Bill Reynolds.
December 31, 2023
3.5, kinda repetitive but still good
March 12, 2019
This book is about a basketball team that has never plated together so they don't have any chemistry so they arn't very good. Once they get a coach and have practices they end up being an actually good team and they win many games. I liked how the team started out rough but then they ended up coming out as a team and then ended up winning the season. I also liked how some of the teammates stepped up in the end of the season and helped them win most of their games. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes sports and whatever age.
February 20, 2017
There were many glaring typos in the book that really affected my ability to enjoy the book.
It's a good story, albeit repetitive for this genre (inner-city kids face adversity, overcome, face more adversity, overcome again, repeat...). I might be nostalgic for my younger years, but The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams will always be the best.
It's a good story, albeit repetitive for this genre (inner-city kids face adversity, overcome, face more adversity, overcome again, repeat...). I might be nostalgic for my younger years, but The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams will always be the best.
November 28, 2016
A hometown Headliner worth investing in. - Wrapped in a blanket , I spent a few Sunday's soaking in my beloved Capital city history of a few of Providence's basketball heros and champion orators -And who but another passionate local favorite would paint a hard hitting raw documentary.- Bill Reynolds . Agree or disagree he gives us a gritty straight shooting portrait of why a student's choice matters, why a segregated culture brews a dystopic clash and why a personalized educational vision makes all the difference in those"happy endings"stories .
Each chapter strikes your heart with all the disparities, grit and violence of Providence even with their parents, Coaches like David Nyblom or those loyal quintessential parental guardians exist . And even with those down to business locker room tactics - "You screw off in the classroom. You chase girls after school, or else go down the street to McDonald's instead of studying and doing what you're suppose to be doing before practice" p.64 , we have loses!
Solutions are embedded in knowing that beyond Hope's hoop is the dream of extra time for mental transitions and an open mind-But its up to Reynald's readers to decide -Just when does the student ego accept invitations to discuss inter scholastically there is more beyond their own perception, culture or gender ?
Here I am over 28 years later still wondering how to help student's see relevance in this notion of transformation- "Undisciplined" youth and energized powerballs into a productive independence of success -Because of Mr Reynolds and people as bold as Nyblom, and Pedro Correia . 66 and far too many to highlight -our comfort zones might never exit again but one never gives up in the war against poverty or violence.
A big fan and follower-SAHNBCT2018
Donated to the Providence Veterans Administration on behalf of my loving family- SAHNBCT2018
Each chapter strikes your heart with all the disparities, grit and violence of Providence even with their parents, Coaches like David Nyblom or those loyal quintessential parental guardians exist . And even with those down to business locker room tactics - "You screw off in the classroom. You chase girls after school, or else go down the street to McDonald's instead of studying and doing what you're suppose to be doing before practice" p.64 , we have loses!
Solutions are embedded in knowing that beyond Hope's hoop is the dream of extra time for mental transitions and an open mind-But its up to Reynald's readers to decide -Just when does the student ego accept invitations to discuss inter scholastically there is more beyond their own perception, culture or gender ?
Here I am over 28 years later still wondering how to help student's see relevance in this notion of transformation- "Undisciplined" youth and energized powerballs into a productive independence of success -Because of Mr Reynolds and people as bold as Nyblom, and Pedro Correia . 66 and far too many to highlight -our comfort zones might never exit again but one never gives up in the war against poverty or violence.
A big fan and follower-SAHNBCT2018
Donated to the Providence Veterans Administration on behalf of my loving family- SAHNBCT2018
February 8, 2016
I won an advanced uncorrected proof of Hope: A School, A Team, A Dream by Bill Reynolds in a Goodreads giveaway. The book provides an interesting look into the problems facing lower socio-economic inner city schools, esp. those districts which no longer have community schools. But, it wasn’t really that gripping for me. I felt that Mr. Reynolds was a bit too concerned with race, needing to go out of his way to identify the race of everyone, even where it really had little to no bearing on the main figures or story. I really don't care whether the opposing teams coach on a particular day was black or white. There were a few consistency issues (like the one scene where Wayne is sitting on the bench moping and it switches from him covering his head with his jacket, to a towel, then back to his jacket with no indication that he actually switched his covering). There were only a few noticeable typos that will likely be fixed by the time the regular book comes out: on p. 122 its says "grown with a mother..." instead of "grown up with a mother..." and on p. 191 "at halftime" is accidently repeated twice. It would be a good book for those interested in high school sports, esp. basketball, and the issues faced by inner city schools in the US.
March 10, 2016
Against All Odds
A once highly respected academic institution dominant in all high school sports, Hope High School became an inner city school with all the problems of society immersed. Hope located on the prestigious East Side of Providence, R.I. was just a jumpsuit from Ivy League Brown University. However, these two schools were light years apart.
Bill Reynolds, highly respected author and sports writer from the Providence Journal, follows a school basketball team thru a frustrating winter with a tough love coach and his volunteer assistants who refused to give up on athletes whose neighborhood challenges were staying out of gangs, dodging gunfire, and dealing with absentee parents and guardians.
The book is a great insight into the workings of Interscholatic League Basketball in Rhode Island and the daily struggles of an inner city team as they travel around the state.
This book is an eye-opener to any coach who thinks teaching and coaching in an inner city school isn't the most challenging experience you'd ever want!
A once highly respected academic institution dominant in all high school sports, Hope High School became an inner city school with all the problems of society immersed. Hope located on the prestigious East Side of Providence, R.I. was just a jumpsuit from Ivy League Brown University. However, these two schools were light years apart.
Bill Reynolds, highly respected author and sports writer from the Providence Journal, follows a school basketball team thru a frustrating winter with a tough love coach and his volunteer assistants who refused to give up on athletes whose neighborhood challenges were staying out of gangs, dodging gunfire, and dealing with absentee parents and guardians.
The book is a great insight into the workings of Interscholatic League Basketball in Rhode Island and the daily struggles of an inner city team as they travel around the state.
This book is an eye-opener to any coach who thinks teaching and coaching in an inner city school isn't the most challenging experience you'd ever want!
December 16, 2016
Okay. I grew up in RI, so this was super close to home for me. I was a graduate of Mt. Pleasant High School, a Hope rival, but it was really neat to read a book and recognize so much of the cityscape and landmarks. I have also worked in an Urban Boston school for the last 6 years, so the actual story, the narrative, hit close to home. In fact, I was given this book by the Boys Basketball Coach, who knew I grew up in RI. We both agreed that changing the names and places, this book could have been written about our school.
So why only 3 stars? This book does not grab you and compel you to read. It was repetitive, and at times just dragged. At less than 300 pages, this should not have been an issue. I know I was supposed to care about these boys, but they were never made real, never fully fleshed out enough. Reynolds never dug deep enough, never got to the meat, the essence of who these kids were and why their lives were playing out the way they were. It was all surface, and left the reader unsatisfied.
So why only 3 stars? This book does not grab you and compel you to read. It was repetitive, and at times just dragged. At less than 300 pages, this should not have been an issue. I know I was supposed to care about these boys, but they were never made real, never fully fleshed out enough. Reynolds never dug deep enough, never got to the meat, the essence of who these kids were and why their lives were playing out the way they were. It was all surface, and left the reader unsatisfied.
April 1, 2016
I thoroughly enjoy reading Bill Reynolds columns in the Providence Journal. I had a hard time staying interested in this book. The story itself was captivating, however I got tired of reading about their uniform colors, different socks and sneakers, etc. Coach Dave Nyblom and his staff deserve recognition for the genuine love, support, and tireless hard work they put into this program and the students.
May 20, 2016
The Struggle To Get My Out .
Inside perspective in inner-city life. Very interesting look at the obstacles kids face growing up in the city and attending public school. It also demonstrates the failure of government to provide education and a way out of the cycle of poverty and entitlement dependency.
Inside perspective in inner-city life. Very interesting look at the obstacles kids face growing up in the city and attending public school. It also demonstrates the failure of government to provide education and a way out of the cycle of poverty and entitlement dependency.
Read
March 3, 2016This book was very much enlightening. It brought forth so many of the challenges players and coaches alike have within an inner city school. If I had not read this I still would not have a clue
to the life these teens have. At 69 years of age,I learned an awful lot.
Excellant !!
to the life these teens have. At 69 years of age,I learned an awful lot.
Excellant !!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews