Review of "Sooley"

 This book was selected for two reasons - one, I decided that maybe a fictional book might break me out of my current reading slump (so far, so good) and two, my wife recommended it to me.  So, here is my review of the John Grisham novel "Sooley"

RATING: 5 of 5 stars (Excellent)

REVIEW: While John Grisham is mostly known for his legal thrillers, he has also written some popular novels centered around sports such as Bleachers, Playing for Pizza and Calico Joe. Now he turns to basketball with Sooley, a novel about a young man who escapes war-torn South Sudan by making a basketball team that would be playing in a tourney in the United States.

Samuel Sooleyman, a 17-year-old with raw but untapped basketball talent, was the last player selected for this team.  Considering this a lucky break, he gets even better news when he learns that he will be provided a scholarship to play basketball at North Carolina Central.  This was done by the school's coach mainly as a favor to the coach who brought the team from Sudan to America.  While at NC Central, Samuel's family is fleeing their village which has been burnt by the fighting.  His mother Beatrice and two siblings find refuge at a camp in Uganda, but Samuel is anguished at their plight.  In the meantime, his basketball skills improve greatly and he becomes an instant star as NC Central makes an improbable run for a great season.

Two main thoughts on this very good novel for basketball fans:  one is that for his first basketball story, Grisham writes about the college basketball landscape like a seasoned veteran.  Whether it was about recruiting, early practice, redshirting promising freshman who likely will not play (which was going to originally be Samuel's situation) or the NCAA tournament, nearly every basketball passage is written with clarity and depth that will make basketball fans happy.  In fact, these were so good that at times I forgot this was a fictional book.  This was the case when NC Central makes the tournament as a 16 seed and it is mentioned that no #16 seed has beaten a #1 seed and the same for #15 over #2 and #14 over #3.  I thought, "Wait that HAS happened, what is he talking about?"  Then I stopped and remembered this is fiction.

Speaking of fiction, all of the elements that one would hope for in a good fictional story – good character development, an interesting story and side story and an ending that leaves the reader satisfied.  While one might say the story of Beatrice and her family's survival during the fighting and subsequent life at the refugee camp may be the more important story than that of Samuel, it is written with the same care that Samuel's basketball life at NC Central is.  Both Grisham fans and basketball fans will enjoy this book.

LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Sooley-Novel-John-Grisham/dp/0385547684/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=