Muck City

July 23, 2012
Drawing comparisons to the 1990 bestseller Friday Night Lights, this football narrative chronicles the evolution of high school football in Belle Glade, Fla.—among the poorest communities in the U.S. and defined by the fertile black silt that helped build a sugarcane-farming empire. The city, populated predominantly by African-Americans and Hispanics, is home to Glades Central High School, an academic underachiever whose football team has sent more than 30 players to the NFL since 1985. Mealer (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind) followed the 2010 Raiders in pursuit of a record-breaking seventh state championship and introduces readers to Kelvin Benjamin, an agile six-foot-six receiver nicknamed “the beautiful freak” who is rabidly pursued by college recruiters; former migrant worker–turned–NFL receiver Jessie Hester, who returns to coach his alma mater at a critical juncture in the program’s storied history; and orphan Mario Rowley, an overweight quarterback who (like most Raiders) considers football his only means to escape the persistent presence of gunfire, drugs, and AIDS. Mealer recounts Belle Glade’s colorful history, reports from living rooms and locker rooms, and perfectly captures the area’s distinct dialect.

September 15, 2012
High school football players and other residents of hardscrabble Belle Glade, Fla., fight for their pride and their lives in this chronicle from veteran reporter Mealer (All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo, 2008, etc.). The rich soil of the region around Lake Okeechobee, known to locals as "muck," produces cane sugar and other valuable crops. It also produces professional football players (including current star Santonio Holmes) at a surprising rate, especially considering the equally staggering rates of crime, disease and poverty in the area. Glades Central Raiders and their attempt to win a state championship in the 2010 season are the focus of this entry in the inspirational sports genre. At the center is former NFL wide receiver Jessie Lee "Jet" Hester, who has returned to Belle Glade a hero and agreed to take over as coach of his former team in an attempt to give back to his hometown. The book also spotlights two of the players--wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, expected to follow Hester to NFL stardom, and linebacker turned underdog quarterback Jamarious "Mario" Rowley--as well as the head cheerleader, Jonteria Williams, who dreams of becoming a doctor. No one on the team or in the town escaped untouched by tragedy, and Hester learned that trying to give back is not without its own pitfalls. The source material, including some fascinating history of the Okeechobee region, is compelling enough without the author's occasional slips into purple prose, and the chronological jumps in the narrative can be confusing. But there is real drama here, with the stakes much higher than the question of who wins or loses the big game. Mealer tries a little too hard to tug at the heartstrings; nonetheless, he offers a stirring tale of sports as a means of escape from dire circumstances.

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August 1, 2012

Belle Glade, FL, is a depressed small town on the shore of Lake Okeechobee that historically has been economically reliant on sugar corporations. Known as "Muck City" for its rich soil, it is now a dysfunctional community plagued by high rates of poverty, drugs, AIDS and violent crime, but still has produced more than 30 NFL players over the years. Focusing on several players from the Glades Central High School Raiders, six-time state champions, as they try to succeed in the face of long odds, this book profiles the 2009 season--the final year of Coach Jesse Hester, a former Glades player who once played pro football. Mostly, the book functions as a well-reported snapshot of the present disheartening reality of life among the underclass. VERDICT Of interest more to sociologists than to football fans.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2012
Forty-five miles from the wealth of Palm Beach lies one of the most impoverished rural areas in the U.S. Belle Glade, Florida, is at the heart of what remains of Big Sugar, the industry that once attracted hundreds of migrant workers, including West Indian and Jamaican immigrants.The modern Belle Glade is beset by chronic unemployment, gangs, and drugs. For a high-school-age boy, the best way out of town is football. Since 1985, 30 former Belle Glade Central Raiders have played in the National Football League, and many more have secured college scholarships. Mealer spent the 2010 season with the Red Raiders and its head coach, former NFL veteran Jessie Hester. His account of a year in the team's life focuses on Mario Rowley, the team's undersize quarterback; wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin; Coach Hester; and Jonteria Williams, a young woman with dreams of medical school. Despite essentially donating his time, Hester experiences intense pressure from the community to develop championship teams. He's also charged with raising the team's academic achievement, a challenge in any prep environment and even more daunting in Belle Glade. This is another version of Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights (1990), and since both are less about football than they are about family, community, and the horrific struggle to rise above poverty, each boasts a unique set of characters who are well worth knowing. A heartbreaking look at poverty in America, with some football on the side.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)