The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

The Boys in the Boat was hands-down my favorite book I read last year. The story of the University of Washington's crew team is one of sheer determination and grit. Most of the boys in the boat were working class kids. The University of Washington's eight-oar program was a work in progress. The schools that dominated the sport California and the Ivy League universities back east. But under coach  Al Ulbrickson and with a shell built by George Pocock, Washington was finally in contention for the national title. 

I'll just say here that I knew nothing about crew and in all honesty cared even less. The power of Brown's writing lies in his ability to educate and inspire his readers by focusing on the individual stories behind the boys in the boat, primarily Joe Rantz. 

Joe's childhood was filled with grief, abandonment, and poverty. His resilience in the face of all the trauma, combined with a work ethic that would not allow him to quit, got him into the University of Washington and onto the crew team. Although he was finally in the right place at the right time and had remarkable abilities, Joe's coach saw an inconsistency in his performance. For a team to win in a sport like this one required a level of trust in the others in the boat that Joe struggled with, given his past experiences. 

The Boys in the Boat has it all: riveting history, a setting primarily in the Pacific Northwest during the Great Depression and later Berlin under Hitler, compelling biography, a love story, and detailed explanation of what crew is and the process of building shells. The book is available for checkout at Moon Lake Library. 

Boys in the Boat was published June 4, 2013 by Viking Adult.

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