Darcy Frey truly has a gift for words. He does an excellent job writing a narrative that is both informative and entertaining. I found myself not wanting to put the book down, yet at the same time I feared for these boys. I really connected with each of them (not quite as much with bratty Stephon Marbury) and I wanted them each to succeed so badly. Subconsciously I knew the odds were stacked up so high against them and that made this a difficult read.

I know this book is 18-years-old however it is a good reminder that our public education system is shot and needs a lot of work. I wish some of their stories ended differently, but unlike Hollywood, sometimes life doesn't provide a cushy ending.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in education. It really dispels a lot of myths associated with poverty and shows a very real side to it. This is a book I will keep on my shelf to share with others in the future.
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Who knew that a book about basketball could be this great? My partner is sport obsessed and challenged me to read one of his sports-related books and this was the one he picked for me.

Journalist Darcy Frey spends a year at Lincoln High School in Coney Island where he follows three basketball players going from their Junior year into their Senior year, with the pressures of SAT scores, being courted by college teams and surviving in a tough neighbourhood.

The three players have very different personalities and through the book I really felt I had come to know them and hoped they would succceed. But this is also about the ridiculous college basketball system, the ruthless coaches and recruiters and how for black kids from neighbourhoods like this, basketball is the only way out. The amount of pressure put upon them at such a young age is shocking and the knowledge that only a small percentage will succeed is heartbreaking.

The book also features a fourth player, three years younger than the main characters, Stephon Marbury who goes onto become an NBA star, but for the rest just getting a college education is a dream in itself. ( )