Originally published in 1995 to huge critical acclaim and a finalist for the NBCC Award for Nonfiction, Madeleine Blais's In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle is a modern sports writing classic. Now expanded and updated with a new epilogue, Blais's book tells the story of a season in the life of the Amherst Lady Hurricanes, a powerhouse girls' high school basketball team from a small western Massachusetts college town. The Hurricanes were a talented team with a near-perfect record, but for five straight years, when it came to the crunch of the playoffs, they somehow lacked the scrappy, hard-driving desire to go all the way. Now, led by senior guards Jen Pariseau, a three-point specialist, and Jamila Wideman, an All-American phenom, this was the year to prove themselves. It was a season to test their passion for the sport and their loyalty to each other, and a chance to discover who they really were.
As an off-season of summer jobs and basketball camps turns to fall, as students arrive and the games begin, Blais charts the ups and downs of the team and paints a portrait of the wider Amherst community, which comes to revel in the athletic exploits of their girls. Finally, a women's team was getting the attention they deserve. And the Hurricanes were richly deserving; these teenage girls are fierce and funny, smart and ambitious, and they are the heart of this gripping book. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle is a classic sports book, a timeless look at girls' athletics.
Originally published in 1995 to huge critical acclaim and a finalist for the NBCC Award for Nonfiction, Madeleine Blais's In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle is a modern sports writing classic. Now expanded and updated with a new epilogue, Blais's book tells the story of a season in the life of the Amherst Lady Hurricanes, a powerhouse girls' high school basketball team from a small western Massachusetts college town. The Hurricanes were a talented team with a near-perfect record, but for five straight years, when it came to the crunch of the playoffs, they somehow lacked the scrappy, hard-driving desire to go all the way. Now, led by senior guards Jen Pariseau, a three-point specialist, and Jamila Wideman, an All-American phenom, this was the year to prove themselves. It was a season to test their passion for the sport and their loyalty to each other, and a chance to discover who they really were.
As an off-season of summer jobs and basketball camps turns to fall, as students arrive and the games begin, Blais charts the ups and downs of the team and paints a portrait of the wider Amherst community, which comes to revel in the athletic exploits of their girls. Finally, a women's team was getting the attention they deserve. And the Hurricanes were richly deserving; these teenage girls are fierce and funny, smart and ambitious, and they are the heart of this gripping book. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle is a classic sports book, a timeless look at girls' athletics.
Madeleine Blais was a reporter for the Miami Herald for
years before joining the faculty of the School of Journalism at the
University of Massachusetts. She is the author of In These Girls,
Hope is a Muscle, Uphill Walkers, and The Heart Is an Instrument, a
collection of her journalism.
Madeleine Blais lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Praise for In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle:
A National Bestseller
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for
Nonfiction
“[In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle] will satisfy your desire for a
book with a sharp human-interest angle—competitive girls becoming
women—and game-time excitement.”—New York Times
Beautifully written . . . A celebration of girls and
athletics.”USA Today
Joyful . . . The reader gets a real sense of these girls and their
dreams.”New York Times Book Review
Extraordinary.”Baltimore Sun
Tender and upbeat . . . Wonderfully wry . . . A delight to
read.”Philadelphia Inquirer
“A beautiful book . . . The art of athleticism is depicted in its
essence.”—Denver Post
Flows like a novel . . . These basketball players show us what
women can do when they work together as a team.”Atlanta
Constitution
Engrossing . . . Better than the best pep talk, this book will
kindle your pride in your own unique, feminine strength.”New
Woman
A special book . . . Alternately funny, exciting and moving, the
book should be enjoyed not only by girls and women who have played
sports but also those who wanted to but let themselves be
discouraged.”Publishers Weekly
A much-needed addition to sports writing for women . . . Extremely
readable and compact . . . Compelling.”School Library Journal
“Few journalists in the country can match the moves and magic of
Madeleine Blais. She writes with a blend of subtlety, grace, and
humor smoother than fine whiskey, and she has never been better
than she is here. I thought that everything that needed to be said
about high school sports in America had already been said. I was
wrong.”—Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights
A fantastic account of a high school basketball team . . . A great
book.”Stefan Fatsis, author of A Few Seconds of Panic and
WordFreak
“Blais’s narrative gift has produced a touching, exciting book
about a subject largely ignored until now, namely women athletes.
Her story of a year in the life of a high school basketball team
and its hometown goes far beyond the obvious to illuminate how
people really feel, how things really work.”—Anne Bernays
“This book is the product of a perfect marriage. The subject is
timely and fascinating, and Madeleine Blais is a first-rate
reporter and writer.”—Tracy Kidder
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