Lindsay Powers is a book lover, writer (bylines include The New York Times and The Washington Post), and author of You Can’t F*ck Up Your Kids: A Judgment-Free Guide to Stress-Free Parenting.
When not devouring narrative nonfiction, fiction, memoirs, and essays, Powers can be found out and about in Brooklyn, where she lives with her husband and two young sons.
At the Amazon Book Review she and Al Woodworth tagged five "thrilling sports books even non-fans will cheer for." One title on the list:
A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay CooperRead about the other entries on the list.
If you’ve seen George Clooney’s adaptation of bestseller The Boys in the Boat, then you have to read A Most Beautiful Thing—an unforgettable story about mentorship and personal investment, triumphing over adversity, sports and endurance, and about faith—in yourself, in others, and in your team. ArshayCooper was part of the first all-Black high school rowing team, a feat that landed him on the cover of the Chicago Tribune, and catapulted his life, which at one time seemed destined for destruction, to higher education and the professional world. As he put it, “It takes a village to raise a child, and our village is gang members, drug dealers, drug addicts, and prostitutes. It’s easy to become a product of this.” At first, the thought of a Black rowing crew was laughable to Cooper and his friends, but the commitment of his coaches offered him something more: “I am done with my old life. I choose rowing. I choose a future.” And so began the pursuit of rowing in unison, which would expose Cooper and his teammates to college campuses in different states, internships, and jobs. In some ways this is a memoir of underdogs fighting their way to the top, but it’s also about how an entire population is left out of the opportunity loop and how a seemingly small thing like sports can change lives.
—Al Woodworth, Amazon Book Review
--Marshal Zeringue
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