Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Attucks is the true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose.
An ALA Notable Book of 2019
NYPL Best Book for Teens of 2018
A 2018 Booklist Youth Editors' Choice
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2018
A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Nonfiction Book of 2018
An ALSC Notable Children's Book of 2019
A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Nominee
By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in the state shattered the myth of their inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team from a group of boys born in the South and raised in poverty. Anchored by the astonishing Oscar Robertson, a future college and NBA star, the Crispus Attucks Tigers went down in history as the first state champions from Indianapolis and the first all-black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament--an integration they had forced with their on-court prowess.
From native Hoosier and award-winning author Phillip Hoose comes this true story of a team up against impossible odds, making a difference when it mattered most.
This title has Common Core connections.
Synopsis
One city. One team. One victory for racial justice that the history books forgot.
1955, Indianapolis--a northern American city, a hotbed of Jim Crow laws, and a national high school basketball epicenter. Crispus Attucks High School, an all-Black school founded thirty years earlier by the Ku Klux Klan-infected school board in the name of segregation, has not been lucky in the state tournament. The odds have been stacked against them, with no gym of their own, a weak schedule, and racially biased referees. But in 1955, they've finally assembled a powerhouse squad of ten Black boys, each one a migrant raised in poverty in the South, born to families who came North to escape Jim Crow in the South and were shocked by the city they found.
Led by superstar Oscar Robertson, the 1955 Tigers may be unbeatable. As they advance through the state tournament, they seem poised to win. And a largely white city is forced to decide: Can they accept a team of Black champions? Indeed, the Tigers' road to victory is paved with injustice going back decades--and their hard-earned success will shatter the myth of their inferiority.
From Newbery Honor and National Book Award-winning author Phillip Hoose comes this true story of the first all-Black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament--a new classic in the civil rights canon about resilience, teamwork, and the struggle to overcome impossible systemic odds, one game at a time.
An ALA Notable Book of 2019
NYPL Best Book for Teens of 2018
A 2018 Booklist Youth Editors' Choice
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2018
A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Nonfiction Book of 2018
An ALSC Notable Children's Book of 2019
A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Nominee
Synopsis
Attucks is true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose.
By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in the state shattered the myth of their inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team from a group of boys born in the South and raised in poverty. Anchored by the astonishing Oscar Robertson, a future college and NBA star, the Crispus Attucks Tigers went down in history as the first state champions from Indianapolis and the first all-black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament--an integration they had forced with their on-court prowess.
From native Hoosier and award-winning author Phillip Hoose comes this true story of a team up against impossible odds, making a difference when it mattered most.
An ALA Notable Book of 2019
NYPL Best Book for Teens of 2018
A 2018 Booklist Youth Editors' Choice
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2018
A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Nonfiction Book of 2018
An ALSC Notable Children's Book of 2019
A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Nominee
This title has Common Core connections.