{"product_id":"the-assist-hoops-hope-and-the-game-of-their-lives-paperback","title":"The Assist: Hoops, Hope, and the Game of Their Lives - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNeil Swidey\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJack O'Brien, the impossibly demanding basketball coach at Charlestown High School in Boston, has led his team to five state championship titles in six years. Less talked about is O'Brien's other winning record: Nearly every one of the players who stuck with his program -- poor kids growing up in high-crime neighborhoods and saddled with the lousy educational system available in urban America -- managed to get to college. But O'Brien is no saint. Saints give without expecting anything in return. O'Brien needs his players and their problems as much as they need him. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Revolving around fascinating, complex characters, \u003ci\u003eThe Assist\u003c\/i\u003e is a captivating narrative of a basketball team in pursuit of a championship that also drills down into the legacy of desegregation and explores issues of education, family, and race. O'Brien is a middle-aged white guy coaching an all-black team playing in an all-white neighborhood that three decades ago was at the center of the busing wars dividing cities across the country -- a time and place indelibly described in J. Anthony Lukas's powerful book \u003ci\u003eCommon Ground\u003c\/i\u003e. It's the inspiring story of a man who makes a difference, and of boys surmounting nearly impossible odds; it is also the story of the ones who don't make it, and why.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNeil Swidey\u003c\/b\u003e is a staff writer for the \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e. His writing has won the National Headliner Award and been featured in \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Science Writing, The Best American Crime Reporting\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Political Writing\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three daughters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 392\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 8.4 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 11, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAward:\u003c\/strong\u003e Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (2011)\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAward:\u003c\/strong\u003e Iowa High School Book Award (2012)\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51760471179552,"sku":"9781586486662","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/2dfcaef9e091154d093d449868b65163.webp?v=1780180790","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-assist-hoops-hope-and-the-game-of-their-lives-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}