One Season of Hope: An Inspiring Tale of Triumph and Tragedy

by Jim Stovall

Overview

Bestselling author Jim Stovall’s latest offering and first title of his Homecoming Historical Series, One Season of Hope, is a rare combination of tear-jerking emotion, powerful wisdom, and inspiring hope. Written in Stovall’s signature easy and economical style, the story is told through the perspective of Glen Fullerton, “a man for the last forty-two years in the Truman High universe, simply known as Coach.”

Welcome to the Friday night lights of Harry S. Truman High School football stadium. Coach knows the roller-coaster ride of a high school football season better than anyone. But this season is different than any he has experienced in all his years of coaching. It is one of life-changing suspense and gripping lessons in the value of humanity.

Regular, reflective “conversations” with the late President Truman give guidance, mined from the coach’s love and study of history, to help him through the most challenging season of his long and storied career at Truman High—a season that he will forever remember as One Season of Hope.

Greetings From the Author:  
I want to thank you for taking the time to explore the first book title in my new Homecoming Historical Series. Each book in the Homecoming Historical Series will combine elements of an inspirational novel with a historical retrospective.
  
Other book titles anticipated in this series include:  

The Will to Win—  
A Tale of Humor and Perspective from Will Rogers High School  

Making Your Mark—  
A Story of Wit and Wisdom from Mark Twain High School  

Top of the Hill—  
A Saga of Wealth and Success from Napoleon Hill High School  

The Making of a King—  
An Adventure in Tolerance and Forgiveness from Martin Luther King, Jr. High School  

The Building of a Dynasty—  
A Novel of Champions and Victory from John Wooden  High School 

Each of these book titles and others to follow will appeal to my existing audiences including businesspeople, success-oriented readers, the faith-based community, public and private schools, and readers around the world who love inspirational novels as well as a relevant historical perspective. I look forward to exploring the possibilities with you.  

~Jim Stovall

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781640950245
Publisher:	Sound Wisdom
Publication date:	05/15/2018
Series:	Homecoming Historical Series
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jim Stovall has enjoyed success as an author, athlete, investment broker, and entrepreneur while dealing with the challenge of blindness. During his remarkable life, Jim has been a national champion Olympic weightlifter, as well as the author of more than 30 books. In addition to his personal achievements, Jim was honored as the 2000 International Humanitarian of the Year, joining Jimmy Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Mother Teresa as a recipient of this prestigious award. As co-founder and president of the Emmy Award-winning Narrative Television Network (NTN), Jim has also helped make movies and television accessible for America’s 13 million blind and visually impaired people and their families. Jim Stovall can be reached at 918-627-1000 or at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Jim Stovall
• Chapter One - Milestones and Memories
• Chapter Two - Possibility and Potential
• Chapter Three - Hope and Fate
• Chapter Four - Questions and Answers
• Chapter Five - Beginnings and Endings
• Chapter Six - Winning and Losing
• Chapter Seven - Love and War
• Chapter Eight - Teaching and Learning
• Chapter Nine - Life and Death
• Chapter Ten - Balance and Perspective
• Chapter Eleven - Best and Better
• Chapter Twelve - Sight and Vision
• Chapter Thirteen - Heroes and Heroics
• Chapter Fourteen - Pain and Recovery
• Chapter Fifteen - Endings and Beyond

Editorial Reviews

Overall, however, Stovall is a sure-handed storyteller, and his book is uplifting without ever seeming one-dimensional. A heartwarming story that’s a little bit about football and an awful lot about life.
- Kirkus Review, February 16, 2015

From the Publisher

2015-02-16
A novel about small-town high school football, life lessons, and President Harry S. Truman.Stovall (The Millionaire Map, 2013, etc.) opens a new series of Homecoming Historical novels with the story of 66-year-old Glen Fullerton. He's retiring after 42 years as the head coach of Harry S. Truman High School's Eagles football team in Springfield, Missouri. At Fullerton's farewell dinner, as he's praised by dozens of former players, he reflects on his many years at Truman High, where he was first a student, then an assistant coach, then head coach. Along the way, he recalls having mental "conversations" with the statue of Truman on the school's front lawn, which provided him with spiritual guidance. In particular, Fullerton reflects on football and on "the moments that bind us together forever." One specific incident forms the main plot of the novel: during Fullerton's fifth year as head coach, he learned that one of his players, Bradley Hope, had cancer and was expected to live only another year. Bradley's doctor told Fullerton that the boy was pinning his hopes on becoming a starter for the Truman Eagles. When a so-called "football miracle" clears the way for that to happen, Hope's courage inspires his teammates, who shave their heads in sympathy with Hope's baldness from chemotherapy, along with the rest of the townsfolk. During this story, Stovall effectively interweaves a great many anecdotes about Harry Truman himself, as well as some of Fullerton's observations on the deeper meaning of football: "Football is a game, but there are habits we form and lessons we learn that will carry us through the rest of our lives," he observes at one point. "Winning becomes a habit just as losing becomes a habit." The author does make a confusing reference to the story as a "book/movie" (it is, in fact, just a book), and some readers may find his idealization of Truman, who signed an order to incinerate two Japanese cities, to be simplistic. Overall, however, Stovall is a sure-handed storyteller, and his book is uplifting without ever seeming one-dimensional.A heartwarming story that's "a little bit about football and an awful lot about life."

Kirkus Reviews