Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island was known for its state championship basketball team in the 1960s, but the boys who show up to Dave Nyblom’s first practice of 2012 bear no resemblance to that team. Disobedient, distracted, and overwhelmed by family troubles, with mismatched sneakers and a penchant for profanity and anger, these boys represent Nyblom’s dream of a championship, however unlikely that might seem. As the book’s opening line says, This was the Providence, Rhode Island that most people never see. Nyblom’s mostly black players, including several who had emigrated to Providence from war-torn Liberia, face gang violence, domestic uncertainty, drug problems, and a host of other issues that would destroy most young people. But under the guidance of Nyblom and other Hope coaches, their ragtag team gradually pulls together, overcoming nearly every obstacle to find the faith and trust in themselves that Nyblom never stops teaching.

An inspirational story that is also a clear-eyed look at life for young people in urban America today, Hope uses one basketball season to open a window on a hidden world that is right across the street from us.