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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
A gripping story about a young, very tall South Sudanese boy named Sooley (short for Samuel Sooleymon) who gets a remarkable opportunity to play basketball in the US. While he tries very hard to increase the accuracy of his shots, his family meanwhile is brutally killed, exploited and struggling to make it to the next day.
The story brings to notice how such sport opportunities can literally save the lives of players and their families in war torn countries. Sooley is forced to live two very jarringly different lives and the feelings of despair and pride are palpable.
The ending though! Felt like someone pulled the rug under my feet! Classic Grisham.
I highly recommend this book. Especially to basketball players / fans - the gameplay in written form might be more enjoyable to you.
The story brings to notice how such sport opportunities can literally save the lives of players and their families in war torn countries. Sooley is forced to live two very jarringly different lives and the feelings of despair and pride are palpable.
The ending though! Felt like someone pulled the rug under my feet! Classic Grisham.
I highly recommend this book. Especially to basketball players / fans - the gameplay in written form might be more enjoyable to you.
The sleeve has a photo of Grisham in a basketball uniform captioned “the author in high school. He went unnoticed by college recruiters.” Based off of this book, it appears he hasn’t watched a basketball game since that photo was taken. He took the Len Bias tragedy and somehow managed to concoct a version that was more depressing and less believable. On the bright side, I learned that with just under a year of intense practice, my broken jump shot can become the most unstoppable thing college basketball has ever seen! I may have to quit my day job…
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Having been to South Sudan and worked among the Dinka and Nuer, I think Grisham could have done better research. (I could be wrong, but I never heard of Sooleyman as a name in these groups of people, and Grisham says it's common...) Also, the whole story seems so completely unrealistic and the ending really makes no sense. There's no way he would have been up to college-level academics, and don't most athletic scholarships depend on maintaining a certain GPA? Yet he skips classes and they don't even mention academics for the most part. It's a very superficial story that's totally unbelievable and could have been much better written.
I enjoyed this book although it’s a far different story for Grisham. I like basketball, and this had a lot of college basketball in it. The ending was difficult, but would still recommend- a good humanitarian story!
I can respect it, just couldn’t get into it. The ending was beautiful.
I really enjoyed this book. I was a little disappointed in the ending as it was so unexpected but it was a good book overall. Highly recommend if you are a sports fan.
Just when I think Grisham can’t get any better, he proves me wrong. A master storyteller. This might be my favorite book of his.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No