[In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle ] will satisfy your desire for a book with a sharp human-interest angle―competitive girls becoming women―and game-time excitement.”―New York Times
“Beautifully written . . . A celebration of girls and athletics.”—USA Today
“Joyful . . . The reader gets a real sense of these girls and their dreams.”—New York Times Book Review
“Extraordinary.”—Baltimore Sun
“Tender and upbeat . . . Wonderfully wry . . . A delight to read.”—Philadelphia Inquirer
“A beautiful book . . . The art of athleticism is depicted in its essence.”―Denver Post
“Flows like a novel . . . These basketball players show us what women can do when they work together as a team.”—Atlanta Constitution
“Engrossing . . . Better than the best pep talk, this book will kindle your pride in your own unique, feminine strength.”—New Woman
“A special book . . . Alternately funny, exciting and moving, the book should be enjoyed not only by girls and women who have played sports but also those who wanted to but let themselves be discouraged.”—Publishers Weekly
“A much-needed addition to sports writing for women . . . Extremely readable and compact . . . Compelling.”—School Library Journal
“Few journalists in the country can match the moves and magic of Madeleine Blais. She writes with a blend of subtlety, grace, and humor smoother than fine whiskey, and she has never been better than she is here. I thought that everything that needed to be said about high school sports in America had already been said. I was wrong.”―Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights
“A fantastic account of a high school basketball team . . . A great book.”—Stefan Fatsis, author of A Few Seconds of Panic and WordFreak
“Blais’s narrative gift has produced a touching, exciting book about a subject largely ignored until now, namely women athletes. Her story of a year in the life of a high school basketball team and its hometown goes far beyond the obvious to illuminate how people really feel, how things really work.”―Anne Bernays
“This book is the product of a perfect marriage. The subject is timely and fascinating, and Madeleine Blais is a first-rate reporter and writer.”―Tracy Kidder
When Pulitzer Prize-winner Blais pokes gentle fun at Amherst, Mass., where an infuriated teen-aged athlete in the heat of the fray may yell, ``You ignore your inner child!'' you suspect this will be a special book. And it is, as the reader follows the Amherst High girls basketball team-the Lady Hurricanes-in the 1992-93 season, from game one on December 15 to the final game on March 16, when they all but obliterated Haverhill, 74-36, to win the state championship. While this is the story of well-bred, upper-middle class, genteel girls who learned to be tough, it is also a picture of a changing period in American sports history, when a town rallied around its female athletes in a way that had previously been reserved for males. Alternately funny, exciting and moving, the book should be enjoyed not only by girls and women who have played sports but also those who wanted to but let themselves be discouraged. (Jan.)
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
This oddly titled book chronicles the 1992-93 girls' basketball season at Amherst High School in Massachusetts. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Blais manages to tell the story both as an outsider (as when describing intellectual small-town Amherst with its liberal quirks) and as an insider, privy to the players' thoughts and diary entries. The central themes are the team's intense camaraderie, as characterized by their rallying cry "Hoop Phi" (i.e., "the thing that people search for in their lives") and the complex emotions among the players. Their constantly joking coach knows just when to push, as when he transforms Kathleen's unaggressiveness into meanness by inventing her alter ego, "Skippy." This will be of interest to high school athletes and their parents. Recommended for public and high school libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/94.]-Kathy Ruffle, Coll. of New Caledonia Lib., Prince George, B.C.
YAA much-needed addition to sports writings for women, this is a true account of the development of a state championship high school basketball team from Amherst, MA. Extremely readable and compact, it covers a disappointing season's end to a triumphant one the following year. It is anecdotal and details the physical and psychological efforts each of the Hurricanes puts into the development of her team. Individual stories cover jealousy, antagonisms, practice habits, diverse family situations, and sexual harassment. The integration of personalities combines to sweep the young women into a tremendously strong steamroller of a team. Two of the stars, both sure of college scholarships upon graduation, get a lot of input, but lesser team members with interesting views and problems are also featured. There is a wonderful feeling of community in this small town New England setting. The building of the will to win as a team recalls such movies as "Hoosiers" or "A League of Their Own." A compelling choice.Frances Reiher, Kings Park Library, Fairfax, VA
