Sooley

In his debut basketball book, New York Times bestselling author John Grisham transports you to a different kind of court. Young and gifted, Samuel "Sooley" Sooleymon has lofty goals for himself on the basketball court—and even loftier ones off it.

Samuel Sooleymon receives the opportunity of a lifetime in the summer of his seventeenth year, when he and his South Sudanese colleagues travel to the US to compete in a showcase basketball tournament. He has never traveled by air and has never left his house. It's an incredible chance to have multiple college coaches scout you.

Samuel is a phenomenal athlete with lightning-fast reflexes and an incredible vertical leap. However, he still has to improve the rest of his game, and the American coaches are not too impressed.

Samuel receives devastating news from home during the competition: South Sudan is experiencing a civil war, and rebel forces have looted his village. His mother, two younger brothers, and father are in a camp for refugees; his sister is gone.

Samuel cries out to return home, but it is simply not feasible. The North Carolina Central coach extends a scholarship offer to him, in part out of pity. After relocating to Durham, Samuel joins the team, starts classes, and gets ready to forgo his freshman year. He's not needed right now, and there's plenty of more experienced talent available.

But Samuel possesses something that none of the other players do: a strong will to succeed in order to relocate his family to the United States. He puts in endless hours honing his skills, shooting baskets by himself in the gym every morning at daybreak, and before long, he's outplaying everyone in practice. The Central squad is losing and getting injured all the time, so Sooley—as he goes by—is brought off the bench. The legend then starts.

But how far is Sooley's team capable of going? And will he be able to save his family through success?

Sooley presents John Grisham's unmatched narrative abilities in a whole new way with a gripping and poignant story. Grisham is performing at the highest level here.