In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle

by Madeleine Blais

They were a talented team with a near-perfect record. But for five straight years, when it came to the crunch of the playoffs, the Amherst Lady Hurricanes -- a "finesse" high school girls' basketball team of nice girls from a nice town -- somehow lacked the scrappy, hard-driving desire to go all the way. Now led by the strong back-court of All-American Jamila Wideman and three-point specialist Jen Pariseau, and playing beyond their personal best, this is their year to prove themselves in the state championships. Their season to test their passion for the sport and their loyalty to each other. Their time to discover who they really are. In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle is the fierce, funny, and intimate look into the minds and hearts of one group of girls and their quest for success and, most important of all, respect.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Basketball, Biography, Education, High School, Womens

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Mirjam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was inspired to re-read this one recently, almost 20 years after the first time I read it, and wow, will time make you experience a book differently. But you already knew that, I hope.

I like "In These Girls" just as much, but for a whole new set of reasons, but mainly: the journalism. The reporting and the writing, the beautiful depiction of truth as related, remarkably, to both a particular community and to a national culture.

Inspired anew, because it was such a thorough and impressive reminder that the seemingly mundane rarely ever is, that there are stories worth mining and telling everywhere and always and that a well-meaning, open-hearted reporter can connect the dots in all-important ways... that stand up, unfortunately in some ways, for at least a couple of decades.

[Rolland · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me, as a father of girls, a coach of girls basketball, and a resident of Western Massachusetts near where the story is based. And sadly, something rubbed me the wrong way about it.

The story follows a collection of high school girls who play varsity basketball for the Amherst Hurricanes, led by two all-American players Jen Pariseau and Jamila Wideman and their coach Ron Moyer, in their pursuit of a championship. Ms. Blais, the author, had apparently expanded the book from an article in the New York Times Magazine and I couldn't help thinking that I probably would have preferred the original article. Despite occasional heartfelt and revealing glimpses into the passions and dreams of girl athletes, there were long stretches of the book lacking substance, long detours that detracted from the narrative force of the book, and overblown stereotypes of Amherst that self-consciously tried to explain the town to the rest of the world in a way that felt simplistic, derisive, and distanced me as a reader from the characters as real people. I wondered if the parts that I hated the most were maybe trite filler content to expand the article to book-length.

As an example, this passage about February in western MA: "Colleagues and neighbors who were friendly in the summer, sharing their hippie bedspreads and their tabouli and their tofu scrambler on the lawn at Porter Phelps Huntington House along the banks of the Connecticut River during the Wednesday evening concerts, now ignore each other as they gingerly navigate streets burdened with snow and ice." Aside from being rambling, the description is utterly unrepresentative of the families whose children were the subject of the book. Tofu scrambler? I get it: people are hunkered down in the wintertime. I get it: Amherst has a reputation for being liberal. Now get back to the kids. Or the coach. Or the narrative please.

The book definitely seemed to have trouble deciding its own subject: Was there a major character or conflict? No not really. Was it mainly profiles of the girls? Not well done (and lacking even a team photo to match faces with names). The story of winning a championship? Even that was botched. The book bounced from the western Massachusetts regional championship game to another game against Haverhill that was apparently the state championship game except... it wasn't clear. Instead of saying what the game significance was, the author instead focused on the origins of the Centrum arena in Worcester. Wait, what? Was the regional championship game really a state semi-final? Or did something get skipped? Continuity was abandoned. Consistency lost.

The topic was great (and overdue - thank you Ms. Blais for bringing us into the world of adolescent girls sports). The intention was great. The delivery, however, left me disappointed.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars if you went to UMass in the early 1990s, or have another connection to the Amherst area at that time. Three and a half stars if you attended a small seminar class with Blais while she was writing this book. If none of those apply to you, you'd probably give it two stars.

Blais's class, we were reading current contemporary non-fiction books, including Friday Night Lights. At the end of the semester she held a panel with several of the authors we read, including Buzz Bissinger. I feel this book was inspired by Bissinger's success with FNL.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Amherst in 1992, because I was there then. Not sure you'd need so much detail about the town if you never lived there, though. The tone of the town doesn't necessarily inform girls' basketball, in the same way the flavor of Odessa, Texas informed football in FNL.

A decent read about girls' sports at a particular moment in history, before professional women's teams. Though Blais tries to help us know most of the girls on the team, it feels a little skewed toward the point of view of Jen Pariseau, one of two co-captains. Perhaps Blais spent more time with Jen than other players.

I immediately Googled Jamila Widener (the other co-captain) after I finished this book, because the epilogue mentions her college basketball team (Stanford) playing in the final four of the NCAA tournament. I was curious whether she had any other tournament appearances after the book was published. I was not surprised to learn she played for several years in the WNBA. I was surprised, however, to learn that she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with her famous father, John Edgar Wideman. A main focus of the SI article is Jamila's brother, who murdered his roommate at a camp when he was 16 and is still serving a life sentence. Why was this not mentioned in Blais's book? Blais mentions the personal lives of all the players. Certainly the team members must have been aware of the situation. Perhaps many Amherst residents knew, as well. I questioned the book and its spin, after learning of this omission.

I understand that the focus of the book is girls, sports, basketball, and this particular season for this team. Perhaps the shadow in Jamila's past is not mentioned out of respect for the Wideman family. Also, no one "Googled" anything in 1993. We hardly used the internet at all, and had not been introduced to the "world wide web." How could Blais have known this would be how we proceed after reading nonfiction in this millenium?

[Nina Krasnoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

not actually my own choice but some required reading from my uncle. was pretty good though! the coach kinda reminded me of bill which made me :’) also this is sort of a love letter to western mass which i obviously love. so anyway wouldn’t really recommend generally but I liked it

[Sean Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Amy Bass' "One Goal" last month reminded me of this book (which I read over 20-years ago) and inspired me to re-visit the story. The similarities between "In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle" and "One Goal" are largely superficial, they are both basically sports stories about teams that lose one year and how they drive themselves to win the next. It's a theme in sports journalism as old as sport itself I suspect.

In any case, this book has stood the test of time brilliantly. It's kind of remarkable to read a story of teen athletes before the age of smart phones and social media. But, seeing as One Goal is a story of teen athletes with smart phones and social media and the story still has most of the same elements I'm not any less pleased with this book.

I read this book originally in 1996 ... the year after it was published and the year after the UConn women's basketball team's undefeated national championship that largely put women's collegiate basketball on the national media landscape. The game had been relegated to the back pages (if at all) of sport sections. I know that the folks out west and down south still resent UConn and the media dynamics that created the spectacle. As someone who started covering women's college basketball in the late 1980's and rode that media wave to covering his first Final Four that year I feel like I have been on the front lines for a long time. This book is just a brilliant installment in the story. Especially because it chronicles a season that took place before UConn's "magic" run in '94-'95 this book really resonates. The story of the Amherst Regional High School Hurricanes of '92-'93 is the story of the seeds being sown for what we have today; a professional women's basketball league ESPN prime time coverage, huge media crowds at games and the NCAA tournament, teams from all over the country competing at the Final Four and winning championships and girls nationwide playing the game and dreaming of that pro career.

Blais took her interest in a quirky local story and turned it into a story with lasting impact. Girls today, the women playing college and pro ball today, should read this book and learn about the women who paved the way for them.

I had to check out the re-issue of the book (I own a 1995 copy) to read Blais' two-page afterward detailing the lives of her protagonists after the events of the book and I was even more delighted, thanks to Google and the web, to read a story about a reunion of the team held 25-years after that 1993 title game. http://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-Hur...

If you live sports stories, great sports journalism in the long form, and or women's basketball, READ THIS BOOK!

[Grommit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the game. I was there, at the Worcester Centrum.
Their opponent, Haverhill, won the State championship the prior year, and they would win it the year after. But, this time around, Amherst played electrifying basketball and scored a resounding victory.
But, do not expect many pages dedicated to The Game.
Nope...this is a story of Amherst, each player, their coach and some of their families.
Lots of bits about their thoughts, hopes. The author really did a thorough job discussing each player.
But, The Game.
I had seen exciting teams (Wareham, Whitinsville Christian, St. John's, Lee, et al)
And individuals who lit up the arena (Ewing, McCall, Curley, Penn, Best, Harrington, etc).
But, gadzooks...there was never a team that ran off 37 points in a row...against a top-notch team.
Anyway, it is high school basketball. Fun, exciting.
The book delves more into the inner thoughts of the individuals, and skimps on most of the game.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are planning on reading this, and if have any interest in women's athletics you should, do yourself a favor and make sure to pick up the updated edition. The seniors on this Amhurst team graduated high school in 1993 and after spending 270 or so pages with them you are going to want to know how they turned out as adults.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3.5.

Surprisingly (or maybe not considering the author is not an athlete or sportswriter), the best parts were where Madeleine Blais described Amherst and gave the reader a feel for a distinctly New England, college town. I really felt a sense of place.

When writing about the team, the results were, for me, decidedly mixed. Some of the descriptions seemed awkward or overly pretentious. At other times, she captured a perfect glimpse of one of the girls. I do think her lack of interest in athletics came through at times with a clunky word or phrasing in regard to competition or practices. At one point, she describes Coach Moyer's thinking as to the way a girl should defend her opponent as the only possible way. Um, hundreds of coaches have hundreds of ideas. I had four coaches while playing in junior high through junior college and none mentioned the method Ms. Blais stated. I also attended basketball camps in the summer without hearing what she portrays as the Holy Grail. I think someone who spent a lot of time around sports would understand this opinion about defense is just that, one coach's opinion, whereas Ms. Blais seems to think it's an unanimous opinion among coaches everywhere.

The part where the Hurricanes warmed up to music on the boom box had me smiling. Reminded me of my junior college days (not high school, our coach would never have allowed it, ha ha). During warm-ups we favored "Nothin' But the Dawg In Me"("Atomic Dog") by George Clinton because we were the Bulldogs. Get it. "Bow Wow Wow Yippee Yo Yippee Yay!" At away games, one girl used to bring in this giant boom box on wheels (it was her cousin's) and we'd crank out the tunes while warming up. Such memories.

One big minus in my opinion was the absence of any pictures except the one on the cover. I would have loved to put faces with the names. All but Jamila and Jen kept getting mixed up in my mind.
A visual aid would have been helpful to tell the girls apart.

All in all, a pretty good read which might also prove inspirational to teen girls and even younger ones.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book. It’s the story of the Amherst Hurricanes, a high school girls basketball team, and their stellar program and championship year. It starts with the previous year when they lost before the final. That serves as an introduction to the players, their coach, and their town. The writing is wonderful—she describes the gym to the coach as his “deep-down address”—and her description of the game at the end was transcendent. Why focus on this group of girls? The year is the mid 90s, so this group felt the benefits of Title IX their entire lives, a testimony that consistent support is essential to developing top athletes.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, detailing a high school girls’ basketball team’s season in Amherst in the early 1990s (including Jamila Wideman, who went on to play at Stanford and in the WNBA). I think it’s probably less impactful now than it was at the time, when I imagine this level of attention to a youth girls’ team—that they might get the same great things out of sports as boys would—was much more novel. It drags in parts, but it’s an enjoyable story about how kids (and coaches) from different backgrounds come together, and of small-town sports culture.

Came across this because it was mentioned on Off the Looking Glass (one of my favorite podcasts) with Tara Vanderveer.

[Amalia Wompa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never really read books like this usually, but I found myself enjoying not just the backgrounds and personal anecdotes of the players, but more often than not the history of Amherst and its surrounding towns. I loved hearing about how the college town I've come to call home used to be, and how I can still relate to how people stereotype it. That's what I loved best, how rich in detail everything was. The personal anecdotes I could relate to since I was also a student-athlete, which made me tear up a little bit as I sympathized with the girls. I didn't think I would, but I did. Still, this wasn't a very exciting book, but I guess, not all good books need to be.

[Joanne Lannin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out because I was a big fan of Stanford, the team Jamila Wideman chose to play for. The reading this time around was just as compelling. Blais is without peer when it comes to bringing characters to life and putting the events of that year in the context of what they meant to the participants and the townspeople. The epilogue, in which we find out what has happened to each of the girls on the team these many years later (about 20 years later) was fun to read.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know i wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style, as it hung out in a weird limbo between literary narrative and non-fiction journalism. there was too much description of the quirks of the pioneer valley, more than necessary to provide setting. that said and done, this book is not good because of its literary prowess. it is good because it tells the story of girls: strong girls, bold girls, girls who never gave up. it’s a quick, light read.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful, interested, smart, compassionate. A terrific portrait of a town, a team, and the young women who are on the team. So good about the power of girls playing sports. Such an interesting moment - shortly after Title IX, no pro women’s basketball yet, the entire 90s-ness of it. Probably one of the best sports books I’ve read.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book for any youth coach, woman and/or girls advocates, or just person seeking inspiration. I loved this book and it made me better at supporting girls and women in sports and business. But it's also a good read with compelling characters.

[Kathleen Carlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for helping me remember what it meant to be an athlete and part of a team. Four stars for bringing to life all of the messiness that often precedes great moments. Four stars for making the community such an amazing character in story of these young women.

[Adamdaigle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just great reporting here. Blais does an outstanding job of bringing every subject to life and putting the reader in places through vivid detail and dogged questioning.

I'm not surprised this book is often on lists of the best sports books ever written.

[Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about over coming challenges! Super inspiring!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was like coming home: a wonderful reminder of all of the reasons that I fell in love with sports.

[Holly Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow for me at the beginning, but the end was well worth it!

[GABRIELLA ROWLEY · Rating 3 out of 5]

not necessarily my cup of tea but wasn’t bad 🦦

[Stephen Boutry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun story, beautifully written. Just an excellent book.

[Terrence Spurlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would recommend to all athletes.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Larry Colton's Counting Coup a couple of months ago, I became a little bit obsessed with women's and girl's basketball. In keeping with that obsession, this book, In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle was repeatedly recommended to me. So, this past week, I read it.

It certainly begs comparison with Colton's book. Both books are about high school girl's basketball teams with big dreams in the early 1990s. But really, the similarities end there. To begin with, Colton's book is about poor girls in a lousy school on a Montana reservation. Blais' book is about upper-middle class girls at a good high school in Amherst, Massachusetts. The problems faced by Colton's subjects, white and (mostly) Native American, are quite different than those faced by Blais', who are largely white, with the exception of two Black girls and one Cuban. Sharon, the star of the high school team Colton follows, harbors a hope to go to a regional or community college (and she does not succeed). The stars of the team Blais follows go to Stanford and Dartmouth. Perhaps most importantly, Blais' team wins, and Colton's loses.

There are also striking differences in the authors themselves. Both Blais and Colton are journalists, but Blais is a "serious" journalist and a professor at the University of Massachusetts who says she's never played a team sport, while Colton is a former professional baseball player who writes about sports and heads up a Portland, Oregon non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of writing instruction in public schools. Maybe most importantly, Blais is a woman and a feminist reflecting on the importance of sports for women. She goes into detail about the mothers of the players she observes, how they weren't allowed to play the way their daughters are, and how they feel about that. She talks extensively about Title IX and what it has meant for women. She puts basketball in a larger context of teenage girls learning to respect themselves and their bodies and raise their voices. Colton is...not. He pays some homage to Title IX and to the importance of girls being respected as athletes, but his perspective as a middle-aged white man is by definition very different than Blais' as a woman of the same generation.

Blais' book is certainly more uplifting. The players Blais follows are headed to college. They have stable families and bright futures. If basketball doesn't work out for them, something else will. Colton's players have a much harder row to hoe. However, I still preferred Colton's book, with its focus on life on the res and the surviving vestiges of American Indian culture to Blais' look at a politically correct Massachusetts college town. Simply put, even if they aren't as talented, basketball seems to mean more to the girls with whom Colton interacts than to those in Blais' book. They need it more. Even though Blais addresses Title IX and the need for women's sports more directly, Colton's argument for it is stronger, and I care more about his players.

I would recommend both books, and I certainly think they are excellent to read together. Maybe now I'll be able to move on to another subject.

[Bridger Hibbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

ASSIGNED THIS FOR "THEMES IN LITERATURE CLASS" 2024

(Eh.....)👋🫤

- Best Marchers in St. Patty's Day parade for sport (pg 3)
- "One of the great burdens of childhood is to be held responsible for the felonies of one's forbears." (pg 4)
- Amherst (Emily Dickenson's birthplace (poet) (pg 11)
- Lost by 11 points
- "Defeat, creates orphaned thoughts" (pg 15)
- Gumby and Jonesboro (Emilies) want to be doctors (orthopedic surgeons)

[Abby Bruins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Madeleine Blais's In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle. The Amherst High Lady Hurricanes basketball team played hard every season, but consistently fell short of the championship trophy. Blais really projects the attitudes of each of players on the team. Even though the girls struggle to get along off the court, they are able to connect well while playing because of their love for the sport, the game, and for the dream of being a championship team. The Lady Hurricanes put their minds and skills to the test, but come out victorious, when they end their season with a perfect record and a championship title.

Blais makes strong points about playing sports that I find relatable to my own sports experience. The girls on the team learn that long, hard practices will eventually pay off. Sometimes I ask myself after the first two and a half hours of practice, is it really worth this? The answer is yes. A chance at becoming the state champions is not one to be messed around with. It is an honor and a personal victory. Another important point to consider is that the Lady Hurricanes were able to bounce back from a rough ending of their previous season. The girls were so close to clinching the championship title, but they let the fear of losing take away their hope. Blais wants the reader to recognize that every season, every game, anything can happen. As my coach always says, "the game doesn't know who is supposed to win". In 1993 the girls finally switched on their "hope muscle" and fought all the way to the championship game. The Lady Hurricanes remind me a lot of my softball team because our team had made it far into the playoffs every year. However for the last twelve or so years, all of the times we've made it to state semi-finals, our team comes up short of a win. However, we too shake off the bad breaks and starts fresh the following spring. Lastly, Blais stresses the importance of teamwork and how essential it is to creating a championship team. When a team has good chemistry and patience with one another, it is more likely that the team will succeed. Blais's points relate to all sports, not just basketball.

I recommend this book to any athlete looking for a little motivation to be a better teammate, captain, or player. Every athlete desires a chance for the gold. These girls are the perfect example of what hope, perseverance, hard work, and big dreams can give you.

[Cailla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book In These Girls Hope Is A Muscle is an empowering novel about girls basketball making their mark in American sports history. As the book opens, you learn about Amherst, Massachusetts and the history of the Amherst High School Lady Hurricanes. As you read you begin to notice how hard these ladies work day in and day out. Their lives are completely dedicated to the game of basketball, especially seniors Jen and Jamila who are also the team's captains. As the season begins the girls really start to buckle down. From the daily practices and tough mid-week games, to the college decisions and even weekend shoot arounds, the girls relationships with each other, and also as a team start to become evident. As they grow tighter and continuously work hard together, they reach the championship game where they overcome the impossible. After reading the book In These Girls Hope Is A Muscle I have given it a 2.5 stars out of 5 stars. I also noticed that throughout the novel it got difficult to understand if they were talking about the girls’ lives personally or the team as a whole and how they began to accomplish success. These tangents that the book would go on felt as if the author began to repeat past information from earlier chapters. As you read this book you may find yourself re-reading paragraphs to figure out who is talking. Meanwhile, I do believe the author's overall message is a good life lesson. The team continued to persevere through tough losses but then came a game that helped them get to the championship. All in all, I give this book a 2.5 stars out of 5 stars. The book was very confusing at times, but did have an extremely powerful that every athlete needs to learn, commitment. As a female high school basketball player, commitment means being in the gym 30 minutes before to practice your free throws or your position’s shots. Commitment means not giving up after a tough season, but instead working harder than last year to improve for this next year. Finally, commitment means sticking around even in the deepest darkest times for that one highly earned season of success. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a motivating sports novel but be prepared for some strungout chapters and confusing character dialogue.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais chronicles the season of the Amherst High School girls basketball team on their journey to claim a state championship. The book begins in the summer as the girls are all doing their part to prepare for the season. The beginning is mostly focused on the town and its background along with how each girl on the team fits into the town atmosphere. As the book continues it illustrates the relationships and interactions of each girl with the rest of the team and how it affects tryouts, practices and games. At the end of the book the author emphasizes two of the senior captains, Jen and Jamila, as they make one final push for the championship.

Overall, the author does a fantastic job of telling the story of the Amherst High School Lady Hurricanes. The suspense the author uses, the real quotations and news articles included and the in depth character development leads the reader to move to the edge of their seat, become directly involved and interested in the story and become personally connected with all of the characters and their emotions.

Although this book has a long list of strengths, there are some drawbacks to it. The author seems to sometimes go on tangents when she is trying to add more details to make the story longer. This leads the reader to become confused at times by adding many plot lines that are mostly unnecessary. In addition to this, the author’s bias toward the town of Amherst is very strong and clear. Blais writes negatively about the flaws of the town without including any positive descriptions of it.

I highly recommend In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais for anyone who plays or enjoys watching sports, not for just basketball players and fans. The inspiring story of the Lady Hurricanes and their quest for a title can be related to any sport and its goals. Whether it be a college baseball team trying to break their losing streak, a field hockey player trying to make her high school team, or even a devoted fan hoping their football team will finally win the super bowl, any athlete or sports fan will enjoy reading Madeleine Blais’s book.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my radar since my freshman year of college, when someone showed me a New York Times magazine article of the same name. But what the book might have meant to my 19-year-old self might as well be 180 degrees from what it means to me now, and I'm damned glad I waited to read it.

Far more than just another season-in-the-life memoir, it could do for girls high school sports what "Friday Night Lights" did for boys sports. In a more positive vein, "Muscle" shines a light on what it means to be young, female and athletic (and based on the makeup of the Am'erst Hurricanes, smart!) in a modern world. While things have changed since the 1992-93 basketball season, the basic problems girls face for wanting to be more than eye candy have not. This book shows it's OK to be conflicted about all these things girls must be — and that's it's damn sure OK to be more than what is expected. Because you, Ms. Intelligent, Accomplished, Sports-Minded Girl, are far from alone.

Madeleine Blais dabbles in some of the clichés of sports books, like the desire for a fairy-tale ending (which keeps me from giving it five stars), and sometimes seems to beat the reader over the head with the aforementioned sociology. The overall message is one that needs to be heard, and all the stars aligned (a team with talent and intelligence, multi-dimensional players and compelling backstories) for her to write a knockout book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of my road-trip reads, this book was an incredibly fun read. Having gone to college in the Five College area and lived in South Hadley for another four years, I loved hearing the descriptions of areas that I know personally...so appropriate and spot on! It took a bit to get used to cheering for Amherst as the protagonist, since they have always been opponents in my experience, but beyond that, this book was a very insightful look at high school sports, particularly given the ways in which implementations of Title IX have influenced them. Although the story seemed to jump around a lot, making it hard to follow, I liked getting to know the girls on the team and seeing how their relationships impacted their basketball performance both individually and together...that is such a crucial component of any sport, and it's so often overlooked! I also felt like the end came rather quickly, like all of a sudden they won, without me having a real idea about what made the difference from previous years. Regardless, definitely a book worth reading.