You don't have to be a sports fan to love this book, but be prepared to go on an emotional roller coaster while reading this book. - The Bordeaux Side
Title: Sooley
Author: John Grisham
Narrator: Dion Graham
Genre: Coming-of-age stories, Mainstream fiction
Publication Date: April 27, 2021
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
Audiobook ISBN-13: 9780593459287
US SRP: $45.00
Additional Format(s):
Hardcover ($28.95)
Paperback ($18.00) - 02/22/2022
Large Print Hardcover ($31.00)
Digital Format(s):
NOOK Book - eBook ($14.99)
Summary:
This is a story about a high school basketball player named Samuel Sooleyman from South Sudan. He and some other players from his country travel to the United States to play on their country's national team. tournament and to hopefully be seen by some college coaches in the U.S. While Samuel is playing in the tournament his village was attacked by warlords. Unfortunately his father was killed. His mother, two little brothers and sister are able to escape. Unfortunately his sister was apprehended by the guerillas. His mother and brothers were able to make it to a refugee camp. His coach, Ecko, convinces the coach at North Carolina Central, Lonnie Britt, to give him a basketball scholarship since Sooley has no home to return to.
While at NC Central, Samuel is given the nickname Sooley by his teammates. Sooley works very hard because he is determined to get his mom and brothers out of the refugee camp. Sooley realizes that succeeding in basketball is going to be the only way to earn enough money to get his mother and brothers out of the camp and reunited with him in the U. S. Sooley's roommate, Murray Walker and his family unofficially adopt Sooley. Mr. and Mrs. Walker become his surrogate parents along with Coach Britt.
Sooley works hard and her eventually gets to be a starting playing on the team. He ends up taking the team to the Final Four. With his success at the NCAA tournament, he decides to enter the draft for the NBA.
My Review:
The book was very well written and it caught my attention right away. The book was very detailed oriented which made it very easy to picture the different locations and people. Grisham did a good job of capturing the different emotions that Sooley was feeling. I am a basketball fan and I really appreciated the details given to the games and the practices. Spoiler alert... I thought it was out of Sooley's character to be so easily influenced to take pills from a girl he hardly knew and this ended up killing him. His character was always so focused on taking care of himself and his future that I thought this part was unlikely.
The narrator was very good. His tone and ability to capture different dialects made listening to this book very entertaining.
Ratings:
Quality: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷- Rich
This book was extremely well written and the characters were developed very well. It will grab and keep your attention. Readers will also experience all types of emotions.
Popularity: 🍹🍹🍹- Meet Up
Many different people will be able to appreciate this book. This is one for sports fans and for individuals that like books with a dramatic flair.
Significance of the book:
This book is significant because it covers sports, immigrant experiences, working hard to achieve dreams, and love of family. Sooley originally was working hard to make his family and village proud. He later has to work hard to not only do what he loves and to continue to make his family and country proud, but he has to use this talent to be able to rescue his family. It is also a good book to display the various types of family - blood relatives, teammates, unofficial adopted parents and siblings, and community.
Author's website, interview, and review:
Appeal Factors: Get in the game, Culturally diverse, Character-driven, Dramatic, Moving, Compelling, Richly detailed
Read-alike Titles:
The Redshirt by Corey Sobel - Mainstream fiction, Culturally diverse
Selection Day by Aravind Adiga - Culturally diverse, Character-driven
Awards:
Booktalking ideas:
Sooley's interaction with Murray girlfriend
Ecko Lam and Lonnie Britt's working relationship
The main character's growth over the course of the novel
Book discussion questions:
Did you think the ending with Sooley taking the pills from the girl at the party fit in with his character?
Did you find the growth in Murray's character realistic?
Why I Chose This Book:
I chose to read this book because I am a big fan of John Grisham and I have read almost all of his novels. I am also a big fan of NCAA basketball and thought that this might be interesting. Grisham is a great storyteller and I thought this might be good to listen to because the main character was from South Sudan and I was interested to see how the voice would be done.
“Clues for the Future”: Sudanese basketball player, family, resilient
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