Over & Back: A High School Girls Basketball Team Navigates Life in Modern Turkey

by Andrew Jones

Too short. Too skinny. Too far from home. Too shy. Too out of place. These don’t sound like the adjectives anyone would use to describe a basketball team. Especially not a girls high school basketball team in Turkey, a country where many would say girls aren’t supposed to be playing sports in the first place. But these girls aren’t your ordinary Turkish girls. Over & Back tells the true story of a Turkish girls basketball team fighting not only to win games, but to win respect as female athletes in a country that all too often sees the phrase female athlete as an oxymoron. In a turbulent time where Turkey’s president has declared that it’s against nature for men and women to be equal, this book follows an inspirational group of girls who defy societal norms both on and off the basketball court. They square off against basketball opponents in Istanbul and an even more powerful opponent, a society that says they should remain in the background and be dependent on men.

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 9, 2021

Reviews

[Natalie Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the character development throughout this book and even though Ece was such a prominent and leading protagonist, I feel like I truly connected with and understood the other girls in the team just as much. As a reader, I think character connection and development is so important and is what keeps me personally invested in a book. I don’t know a huge amount about basketball but the recount of the games were so intense and I even shed a few tears for those girls; their drive, passion, and frustrations were all portrayed beautifully to the reader. I also enjoyed how the author wove integral (and devastating) real events that were happening in Turkey into their stories. It is the type of book that you continue to think about and reflect upon, long after reading it.

[John Skilliter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go Girls!

I quickly enjoyed getting to know the personalities of each player with the melding of an all star group of teammates. I so hoped that I would learn where each fabulous female had continued their futures. So happy to see the author shared. Well written overall.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant and revealing! This story is sad but true and a must read for not only basketball fans.