State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformation by Melissa Isaacson

State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformation – 320 pages

ARC provided by Agate Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Book Blurb:

Set against a backdrop of social change during the 1970s, State is a compelling first-person account of what it was like to live through both traditional gender discrimination in sports and the joy of the very first days of equality–or at least the closest that one high school girls’ basketball team ever came to it. In 1975, freshman Melissa Isaacson–along with a group of other girls who’d spent summers with their noses pressed against the fences of Little League ball fields, unable to play–entered Niles West High School in suburban Chicago with one goal: make a team, any team. For Missy, that turned out to be the basketball team. Title IX had passed just three years earlier, prohibiting gender discrimination in education programs or activities, including athletics. As a result, states like Illinois began implementing varsity competition–and state tournaments–for girls’ high school sports. At the time, Missy and her teammates didn’t really understand the legislation. All they knew was they finally had opportunities–to play, to learn, to sweat, to lose, to win–and an identity: they were athletes. They were a team. And in 1979, they became state champions.

My Review: 4 stars

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State: A Team, a Triumph, A Transformation is one of those books that you read as a movie reel in your head, like  Hoosiers or Miracle, both uplifting sports films. Isaacsons’s book isn’t only about going from zero to hero, it’s also a testament to setting goals, team building and excellent coaching. My husband and his siblings also went to Niles West in Skokie, and we have many mutual friends with the author. For me personally, it was definitely a boon to have that personal Chicago connection; if not, I probably wouldn’t have read the book. Although I love sports related movies and TV shows (let’s hear it for Friday Night Lights), this is the first book I’ve read in this genre and I’m so glad I did.

Trust me, you don’t have to be a sports person to enjoy this book. Understanding how the team started, the battles they faced to be seen as such, their intense training and uphill climb is nothing short of inspiring, motivating and celebratory. Small things like painting their adidas stripes with red nail polish to complete their uniform ‘look’ of red and white were snippets of Missy’s real life that added charm to her writing. Let’s face it, as a veteran sports journalist, she’s got loads of experience writing about other teams’ journeys, yet in this one, we get the intimacy and heart of the person who’s lived it. I’m thrilled she brought this story to the masses so many can enjoy her powerful and moving history.

Quotes I liked:

This is life. It’s filled with these moments, things we can’t explain, things that are unfair. And it’s how we respond to them that’s the important thing. You will get over this. I promise. It was never just about winning.