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Summary
Summary
Hope is hard to come by in the hard-luck town of Willow Creek. Sam Pickett and five young men are about to change that.
Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this dried-up shell of a town on the western edge of the world. He's come here to hide from the violence and madness that have shattered his life, but what he finds is what he least expects. There's a spirit that endures in Willow Creek, Montana. It seems that every inhabitant of this forgotten outpost has a story, a reason for taking a detour to this place--or a reason for staying.
As the coach of the hapless high school basketball team (zero wins, ninety-three losses), Sam can't help but be moved by the bravery he witnesses in the everyday lives of people--including his own young players--bearing their sorrows and broken dreams. How do they carry on, believing in a future that seems to be based on the flimsiest of promises? Drawing on the strength of the boys on the team, sharing the hope they display despite insurmountable odds, Sam finally begins to see a future worth living.
Author Stanley Gordon West has filled the town of Willow Creek with characters so vividly cast that they become real as relatives, and their stories--so full of humor and passion, loss and determination--illuminate a path into the human heart.
Author Notes
Stanley Gordon West has made a name for himself by selling his books single-handedly from bookstore to bookstore, in the process gathering a large and devoted audience. His earlier novel, Amos: To Ride a Dead Horse , became a made-for-TV movie starring Kirk Douglas. He lives in Minnesota.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this originally self-published hit, the small town of Willow Creek, Mont., is the place where dreams go to die. English teacher and basketball coach Sam Pickett hasn't won a game in five seasons and decides to quit coaching, but he changes his mind after getting a look at the 6-ft.-11 Norwegian exchange student, Olaf Gustafson. Sam's other recruits include Tom Stonebreaker, whose drunken father would rather see him working the family farm, and Peter Strong, who moves in with his hippie grandmother after his parents' divorce and would rather be back home in Minnesota with his girlfriend. As the team coalesces around Olaf and begins winning games, their march toward the state tournament inspires Willow Creek and ignites a touching romance between Sam and his assistant coach. If the novel is a little too long, its sentiments worn too shamelessly on its sleeve, and its symbolism a little too obvious (Sam dubs the team bus "Rozinante" in honor of Don Quixote's steed), this uplifting story about the triumph of human decency is sure to be enjoyed by those who fondly recall another David vs. Goliath roundball yarn-Hoosiers. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Elegiac but hopeful novel, originally self-published, about the redemptive power of peopleand, of course, roundball.Sam Pickett is a mess of a man. He has a good excuse, having witnessed his wife's murder in a fast-food joint back in the big city, with bits and pieces of her "spattered on the wall, shrapnel from her head, small bits of brain and bone, skin and hair, sailing down the stainless steel on a sea of gore."Yuck, you may sayand so does he, dropping everything, only to rediscover himself in a small town in Montana, tucked away in a valley surrounded by tall mountains and only a single paved road. "It was hard to tell where the fields and cow pastures ended and the town began,"writes West (Finding Laura Buggs, 1999, etc.), making it a fine place for Pickett to leave the world behind. Alas, no such luck, for in his new role as high-school teacher and emissary from civilization, he finds himself called on to make Willow Creek a better place by giving its residents something to live for in the form of a decent basketball team. He recruits an improbable Scandinavian exchange student ("Olaf, you're the most dangerous center in the tournament...a Maalox Moment for all opposing teams"), rounds up a few other sports fans, enlists the townies and works his way through angst, a sort of outtake from Hoosiers without the DTs. The story almost begs to be layered in clich, but West steers clear of it and of sentimentality; his characters act and speak as real peopleas they maketheir way toward the satisfying conclusion.Worthy of a place in Montaniana alongside Ivan Doig and Deirdre McNamer, this is a modest tale, elegantly writtenand, in the bargain, there are multiple sightings of Man of La Mancha for the Dale Wasserman fans in the audience.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
With 93 consecutive losses behind him, Sam Pickett, high-school basketball coach in tiny Willow Creek, Montana, sees the stars align for him as a new season starts. Added to two returning seniors and a benchwarmer sophomore are a transfer junior with a sweet outside shot, a 6-foot-11-inch totally inexperienced Norwegian exchange student, and a short but speedy freshman. With the help of teacher Diana Murphy and townspeople including an obese cafeteria worker and a one-handed grandmother who scrimmage with the team, Sam hones the players' skills and preaches teamwork and determination. Ending the losing streak at 97 lifts spirits throughout the town, many of whose residents have suffered losses of a spouse, a child, a true love or endured wrenching hardships, and the team is just beginning. This previously self-published best-seller is too long, too overt in its analogies, too repetitious in its theme, and often too melodramatic and flowery. Yet, as it celebrates the indomitable spirit of Don Quixote, this fervent feel-good fairy tale of a novel is likely to warm all but the most cynical hearts.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
This novel by West (Amos: To Ride a Dead Horse) originally was self-published in 2001; republished in paperback in 2010 and selected as an Indie Pick, it is now newly available on audio. The high school boys' basketball team in the tiny, forlorn town of Willow Creek, MT, has lost its last 93 games. Just as the coach, English teacher and widower Sam Pickett, is about to retire, he discovers the school's new 6'11" Norwegian exchange student, who has a great outside shot. As the team marches toward the state tournament, the spirits of Willow Creek's residents soar, and Sam's broken heart begins to heal. Actor Traber Burns warmly narrates this wonderfully sweet and sappy inspirational sports story, which will appeal to those who enjoyed Hoosiers and Field of Dreams. Ripe for a movie adaptation. [For a less laudatory take on this title, read the review of the Algonquin pb, LJ Xpress Reviews, 12/23/10.-Ed.]-Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
