resslesa's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent book -details the history of basketball and Hitler’s Germany before WWII. Notes the racial injustices of the time and details the other track stars besides Jessie Owens. Great sports details mixed with history and the author keeps the story moving -overall great for dormant readers with action and details. Not Steve Sheinkin but definitely reads like him. A great addition to HS and MS libraries for all the nonfiction sports readers!
christinajleaf's review against another edition
4.0
Not my genre at all, but I found it very interesting. I liked how it highlighted other sports and aspects of the Games
the_fabric_of_words's review against another edition
5.0
This is a non-fiction book that looks at the origins of basketball, exploring its religious, racial and political beginnings as a sport, culminating in it being played for the first time as an Olympic sport in Germany, 1936 when Hitler hosted the Olympic games.
It doesn't delve quite as deeply into the players' backgrounds as The Boys in the Boat does. But you do get a sense, albeit brief, of the white, Christian, prejudicial beginnings of the sport and the YMCA, where it took off.
You also get a pretty good sense of how some players who were chosen to go to the Olympics, early on, grappled with the antisemitism displayed by the US Olympic committee head and how he courted Hitler and his minions to get basketball included as a sport in the games. You learn of a team that refused to give their tacit endorsement of such prejudices via their participation in the games and voted not to compete in the qualifying games. And at least one of the US basketball team's players who did go was openly Jewish, unlike the US rowing crew, whose Jewish team member hid his belief and grappled with that decision.
It's one of those books I wish had a good educator's guide, or a publisher-offered free teaching guide, but it doesn't. Therefore I can't recommend it in Teachers. But it is a high-interest topic that many of your students may be interested in reading and would make a great addition to a classroom or home bookshelf.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
It doesn't delve quite as deeply into the players' backgrounds as The Boys in the Boat does. But you do get a sense, albeit brief, of the white, Christian, prejudicial beginnings of the sport and the YMCA, where it took off.
You also get a pretty good sense of how some players who were chosen to go to the Olympics, early on, grappled with the antisemitism displayed by the US Olympic committee head and how he courted Hitler and his minions to get basketball included as a sport in the games. You learn of a team that refused to give their tacit endorsement of such prejudices via their participation in the games and voted not to compete in the qualifying games. And at least one of the US basketball team's players who did go was openly Jewish, unlike the US rowing crew, whose Jewish team member hid his belief and grappled with that decision.
It's one of those books I wish had a good educator's guide, or a publisher-offered free teaching guide, but it doesn't. Therefore I can't recommend it in Teachers. But it is a high-interest topic that many of your students may be interested in reading and would make a great addition to a classroom or home bookshelf.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
thehmkane's review against another edition
3.0
Great intro to a lot of different things - Olympic history, Nazi Germany, racism in America, and of course basketball.
taralorraine's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
While, yes, this book did do a decent(ish) job of telling the story of the first Olympic basketball team - I would say probably half of this book wasn't directly focused on that topic. The tangents were relevant for establishing historical context, but there was so much that seemed unnecessary to the main storyline.
Also, the captions were really poorly done. Most just repeated things said in the text.
I did learn a few interesting things, but this felt like it could have been an article instead of a book.
Also, the author just seemed to input his own views a little to much making this less than objective information.
Also, the captions were really poorly done. Most just repeated things said in the text.
I did learn a few interesting things, but this felt like it could have been an article instead of a book.
Also, the author just seemed to input his own views a little to much making this less than objective information.
pennyriley's review against another edition
5.0
The game is basketball, the deception is the Nazis attempts to make these games seem like any other Olympics, bringing athletes from many countries together to compete in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Both stories were fascinating especially at their intersection. Many in America wanted to boycott the games, one player decided not to go because of the atrocities. Another Jewish player convinced himself that playing was the right thing to do, and had a wonderful time in Berlin, but all the time questioned whether he should be there or should have stayed home. A couple of things that fascinated me: how the team was chosen, or in fact, teams. The two finalists of a national competition were the two teams to go to Berlin, and because of the restrictions of numbers of players allowed on court, they continued as two teams, playing alternate games. Another: the conditions under which the teams played, basically on what was more of a muddy football style pitch than a basketball court. And finally the unequal treatment of women; while men were feted and lived like kings the women were shoved into a dormitory and only got enough to eat if they arrived promptly at the dining hall. The whole series of deceptions was fascinating, if unsurprising given what history has taught us. For me an added layer of interest was the Kansas connection. A good section was given over to James Naismith's invention of the game and his later move to KU where his original 13 Rules of Basketball are still displayed, and that one of the two teams to make it to Berlin was from a small town, McPherson, KS.
katiegrrrl's review against another edition
4.0
I found this really interesting and mind of terrifying to how much our country is resembling what was happening in 1936.
opheliastephanie's review against another edition
1.0
Maybe I have misread this somewhere but this is supposedly a kids/ YA book?
No it isn’t. Not even sure who it is for. A a history of the USA’s basketball team going to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. But this book kept going off on tangents to ensure you got the full picture. Too much detail was provided and too many side stories. For a die hard basketball enthusiast this might be an engaging book but for a mother reading to her 3 times a week basketball playing 11 year old we found it dull and badly constructed.
Note: I now see it was an adult book that was ‘converted’ for younger readers. Personally, I don’t think the editors stepped back from this project enough and thought about reading this as a young adult.
No it isn’t. Not even sure who it is for. A a history of the USA’s basketball team going to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. But this book kept going off on tangents to ensure you got the full picture. Too much detail was provided and too many side stories. For a die hard basketball enthusiast this might be an engaging book but for a mother reading to her 3 times a week basketball playing 11 year old we found it dull and badly constructed.
Note: I now see it was an adult book that was ‘converted’ for younger readers. Personally, I don’t think the editors stepped back from this project enough and thought about reading this as a young adult.