{"id":37345,"date":"2020-08-20T22:26:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T02:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37345"},"modified":"2020-08-20T22:31:55","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T02:31:55","slug":"review-of-attucks-by-phillip-hoose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=37345","title":{"rendered":"Review of Attucks! by Phillip Hoose"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Attucks!<\/p>\n

Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City<\/em><\/p>\n

by Phillip Hoose<\/p>\n

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2018. 212 pages.
\nStarred Review
\nReview written November 14, 2018, from a book sent by the publisher
\n2018 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>:
\n#6 Longer Children’s Nonfiction<\/p>\n

I am not a fan of sports books. Ho hum. Who really cares?<\/p>\n

So I was completely surprised to be mesmerized and pulled into this story of an all-black high school in Indianapolis that built a championship basketball program, despite discrimination.<\/p>\n

Phillip Hoose puts a special note at the front of the book about an interview he did with Oscar Robertson in 1986 about basketball fever in Indiana. <\/p>\n

One scrap from that conversation inspired the book you\u2019re reading now.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d Oscar said, \u201cwhen the Ku Klux Klan started our school, they really didn\u2019t understand what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did something they couldn\u2019t foresee by making Attucks an all-black school. The city of Indianapolis integrated because we were winning. All the black guys, the really great players, went to Attucks. We were winning all those games, and the coaches didn\u2019t like it. And then a lot of black kids started going to other schools . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

What could he be talking about? A high school in a major American city \u2013 in the North \u2013 started by the Ku Klux Klan? And a basketball team integrating that city?<\/p>\n

Oscar wasn\u2019t laughing.<\/p>\n

Could it be true?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So Phillip Hoose is telling the story of winning basketball teams, building a championship basketball program, and one of the greatest high school basketball players ever \u2013 but he does all that against the backdrop of overcoming racism and the whole city of Indianapolis building pride in the championship team at the all-black high school.<\/p>\n

There are spoilers in the note at the front. The author doesn\u2019t hide that Oscar Robertson led the Attucks team to state championships in 1955 and 1956. But how they got there \u2013 That\u2019s a story!<\/p>\n

The Prologue actually begins before Oscar was even in high school \u2013 with the game where his big brother had an amazing game-winning shot with seven seconds left.<\/p>\n

Then the main text goes back to the founding of Cristpus Attucks high school in 1927 \u2013 yes, it was started by the Klan in order to separate the black kids who had been moving to Indianapolis from the south. He carefully gives us several threads to follow, including how the basketball program developed as well as Oscar\u2019s childhood, obsessed with basketball from an early age.<\/p>\n

The first basketball coach at Attucks was concerned that his players not offend anyone \u2013 which doesn\u2019t make for the toughest team. But even when they got an excellent coach, the larger white schools wouldn\u2019t play against them, and they weren\u2019t even allowed in the statewide tournament until 1942.<\/p>\n

The author includes several seasons, including some with real heartbreaker games. He highlights many of their great players (not just Oscar, the Big O). It all builds to a breathtaking finish and a description of their undefeated season when they became state champions.<\/p>\n

And I should probably stop saying that I don\u2019t like sports books. This one was outstanding.<\/p>\n

philliphoose.com<\/a>
\nfiercereads.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/attucks.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a book sent by the publisher.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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