By John Grisham
This was my first Grisham book to read in years. I used to read every book as soon as it was published. Sooley caught my attention with its focus on Southern Sudan after spending time there on a mission trip. Grisham does a great job of humanizing the horrible conditions going on the new country by following the life of a young boy who was given an opportunity to succeed based upon his basketball skills.
“In the summer of his seventeenth year, Samuel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basketball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true.
Samuel is an amazing athlete, with speed, quickness, and an astonishing vertical leap. The rest of his game, though, needs work, and the American coaches are less than impressed.
During the tournament, Samuel receives devastating news from home: A civil war is raging across South Sudan, and rebel troops have ransacked his village. His father is dead, his sister is missing, and his mother and two younger brothers are in a refugee camp.
Samuel desperately wants to go home, but it’s just not possible. Partly out of sympathy, the coach of North Carolina Central offers him a scholarship. Samuel moves to Durham, enrolls in classes, joins the team, and prepares to sit out his freshman season. There is plenty of more mature talent and he isn’t immediately needed.
But Samuel has something no other player has: a fierce determination to succeed so he can bring his family to America. He works tirelessly on his game, shooting baskets every morning at dawn by himself in the gym, and soon he’s dominating everyone in practice. With the Central team losing and suffering injury after injury, Sooley, as he is nicknamed, is called off the bench. And the legend begins.
But how far can Sooley take his team? And will success allow him to save his family?”
I was unaware how Sooley ended and was shocked at the twists and turns. I loved Grisham’s storytelling giftedness in writing a multilayered book. At the end, I put the book down in a somber mood and found myself thinking a lot about life, opportunities, the dark side of sports and what really is important in our short time on this earth.