Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger
Original ISBN 978-0-306-81282-8
Da Capo Press, 1992
367 pages

Plot Summary: A fall Friday night in Texas can only mean one thing: high school football. In Odessa and other towns hard-hit by the recession, Friday nights are what everyone lives for. In 1988, investigative journalist H. G. “Buzz” Bissinger moved his family to Odessa, Texas and embedded himself amongst the coaches and players of the Permian High Panthers – the winningest team in Texas on their path to attaining yet another state title. What resulted is a raw and honest look at how football sparked life into an otherwise bleak town while changing the lives (some for the better, some not) of the young men that played like warriors each a week.

Critical Evaluation: Not only is Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream a book about football (Sports Illustrated named it the fourth greatest sports book of all time), but it is also a social commentary on racial prejudice, the economic divide, and the importance placed on sports at the cost of individual livelihoods. Bissinger’s honest and dramatic narrative will lead readers to feel excitement and heartbreak as they delve deeper into the lives of these athletes.

The success of the book led to the release of a movie in 2004 and a critically acclaimed television series in 2006.

Reader’s Annotation: In Texas, high school football isn’t merely a game: it’s an obsession.

Author Information: Bissinger is an American born in 1954. His work as an investigative journalist earned him a Pulitzer Prize and a Livingston Award. He is the author of several nonfiction books including Shooting Stars that tells the story of LeBron James and his high school teammates.

His website can be found at http://www.buzzbissinger.com/

Genre: Nonfiction sports

Curriculum Ties: This book would be an excellent tie-in for Social Studies. It would also be an excellent example to show descriptive writing in English Language Arts.

Booktalking Ideas: I would show a trailer from the movie or television series, and read an excerpt from the book that describes one pivotal moment of an important football game.

Reading Level / Interest Age: Grades and up

Lexile: 1260

Challenge Issues: There are a few profanities laced throughout the book.

Reason for Item’s Inclusion: Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream is one book most often asked for by high school males (who are notoriously known for being reluctant readers) when they are required to read a novel for pleasure.

References:

Entegart, P., Wertheim, L. J., Menez, G., & Bechel, M. (2002, December 16). The top 100 sports books of all time. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/features/2002/top_sports_books/1/