crafalsk264 's review for:

The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory by Thomas Fuller

3.75

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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 (3.75 rounded to 4.0).

I really love books that show the underdog making it good or people who improve their world against overwhelming obstacles. When the stories are true and the people are real, it reassures me that maybe all is not lost after all. So this nonfiction account of a championship football team from an all deaf high school was a natural fit. Since it came up to borrow in record time for my hold position, my guess is that it met the same need for a number of other library patrons who read it in record time as did I.

Thomas Fuller received an e-mail with an item on an all Deaf high school football team that was reinventing how the nonhearing teammates related to the world of a demanding sport. California School for the Deaf in Riverside is a state-run school with only 168 high school students  having an undefeated season. With only 51 boys in the school, the twenty five boys on the team represented half of the total enrollment indicating a much higher participation rate than in a traditional high school. The degree to which the teammates come to value and support each other is impressive. The team had a disastrous season in 2021 and came back committed having to a redeeming season in 2022. The coach(es) who shepherded the team to this success are profiled as well as many of the individual players who came from a limiting background or who had frustrating experiences in playing with hearing teammates. Their use of ASL as their method of communication was a natural bonding experience which confused their opponents. 

The one area of the book that I would have liked to see more of was the profiles of the players. Each of these young players must have been an extraordinary individual as shown by just joining the team. The experience that they had and the lasting effects on their lives would have been a boon to the narrative. But even without this in-depth portrayal of the individual players, this book showed us a remarkable team and how the team impacted the community. There was an in-depth narrative of the game plays and a rich history of the interactions—including the problems and benefits—of such relationships. Overall this book is a nonfiction examination of the history of “disabilities” and the effects on a sports team and the individual teammates affected by them. It is an entertaining biography/memoir of a group of people impacted by their common need and adaptations. I suspect that anyone who enjoys stories about sports, disabilities, football and its history, and stories of inspiration will enjoy this reading.