Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Our Boys by Joe Drape

Our Boys:  A perfect season on the plains with the Smith Center Redmen by Joe Drape was excellent.  I am trying to read more non-fiction this year, and this is definitely one of my favorites.  Smith Center is a small town in northern Kansas that has a great football team.  Joe Drape is a writer from New York that did a story on them, and then decided they needed more than just one short story; they needed a book about them, so he moved his wife and young son to this small town of less than 2,000 from Manhattan, New York.  Quite a move.  He went to every practice, coaches meeting, game, and really got to know the team as they tired to win their 5th state championship and make the longest winning streak for a high school team in Kansas.  I was so impressed with the Coaches, players, and the town and how they loved and supported their boys.  It made me want to move to Smith Center also.  This book is about football, but that isn't the whole story.  The whole story is about a coach, school, town and community that loved their boys and wanted to make them a little better every day.  A great read!  Check it out!