Andrew Maraniss
Sponsored by H. Newton Williams and Connie Crow
New York Times bestselling author Andrew Maraniss writes sports and history-related nonfiction, telling stories with a larger social message. His new book, "Games of Deception," tells the true story of the first U.S. Olympic basketball team at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.
His first book, "Strong Inside," received the Lillian Smith Book Award for civil rights and the RFK Book Awards’ Special Recognition Prize for social justice, becoming the first sports-related book ever to win either award. His Young Readers adaptation of "Strong Inside" was named one of the “Top Biographies for Youth” by the American Library Association. Andrew is a contributor to ESPN’s sports and race website, TheUndefeated.com, and is a visiting author at the Vanderbilt University Athletic Department.
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Books:
Games of Deception
Children / Teens
Philomel Books
November 2019
ISBN 9780525514633
240 pages
$18.99, INSTORE
Buy nowFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Strong Inside comes the remarkable true story of the birth of Olympic basketball at the 1936 Summer Games in Hitler's Germany.
Perfect for fans of The Boys in the Boat and Unbroken. On a scorching hot day in July 1936, thousands of people cheered as the U.S. Olympic teams boarded the S.S. Manhattan, bound for Berlin. Among the athletes were the 14 players representing the first-ever U.S. Olympic basketball team. As thousands of supporters waved American flags on the docks, it was easy to miss the one courageous man holding a BOYCOTT NAZI GERMANY sign. But it was too late for a boycott now; the ship had already left the harbor. 1936 was a turbulent time in world history. Adolf Hitler had gained power in Germany three years earlier. Jewish people and political opponents of the Nazis were the targets of vicious mistreatment, yet were unaware of the horrors that awaited them in the coming years. But the Olympians on board the S.S. Manhattan and other international visitors wouldn't see any signs of trouble in Berlin. Streets were swept, storefronts were painted, and every German citizen greeted them with a smile. Like a movie set, it was all just a facade, meant to distract from the terrible things happening behind the scenes. This is the incredible true story of basketball, from its invention by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, to the sport's Olympic debut in Berlin and the eclectic mix of people, events and propaganda on both sides of the Atlantic that made it all possible. Includes photos throughout, a Who's-Who of the 1936 Olympics, bibliography, and index. More/less
Strong Inside
History / Biography
Vanderbilt University Press
December 2014
ISBN 9780399548345
272 pages
$17.99, INSTOCK
Buy nowA young readers edition of the New York Timesbestselling adult nonfiction book about the racism and obstacles faced by Perry Wallace, the first African American to play college basketball in the deeply segregated Southeastern Conference.
Perry Wallace entered kindergarten the year that Brown v. Board of Education upended oseparate but equal.o As a 12-year-old, he sneaked downtown to watch the sit-ins at Nashville's lunch counters. A week after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s oI Have a Dreamo speech, Wallace entered high school, and later saw the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts. On March 16, 1966, his Pearl High School basketball team won Tennessee's first integrated state tournament-the same day Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky Wildcats lost to the all-black starting lineup of the Texas Western Miners in an iconic NCAA title game. The world seemed to be opening up at just the right time, and when Vanderbilt recruited Wallace, he courageously accepted the assignment to desegregate the Southeastern Conference. The hateful experiences he would endure on campus and in the hostile gymnasiums of the Deep South turned out to be nothing like he could've ever imagined. This thought-provoking, insightful biography digs deep beneath the surface to reveal a complicated, profound, and inspiring story of an athlete turned civil rights trailblazer. More/less
