Our Boys
Authors: Joe Drape
Publisher: Times Books
Price: $32.00 (Hardcover)
New York Times reporter Joe Drape ventured to Smith Center, Kan., expecting only to pen an article on the small town’s highly successful high school football team, the Redmen. But taken by the team’s rousing head coach Roger Barta, Drape relocated to the community to write a full novel on the team. What he found was a fostering culture that transcends football, the coach’s encouragement and enthusiasm touching players’ personal lives and futures. Through this intimate field study, Drape explores how a sports team is both a symbol of the collaborative power of a town.
