“The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics” by Daniel James Brown
Viking Press, New York, 2015, 227 pages. Grades 5-7.
An assertion of individuality has always been part of the American character. Traditionally, Americans have been taught that anything can be achieved through hard work and dedication.
The positive result of this philosophy is that Americans take chances and achieve success in situations that would be unheard of in some societies. However, there is a negative aspect in this thinking. By relying so much on ourselves, we sometimes are not able to work in groups or even see that groups can help and protect us. Daniel Brown has written an outstanding account of both of these types of thinking in his outstanding study of the 1936 American Olympic rowing team. The title of this excellent book is “The Boys in the Boat.”
The author, Daniel James Brown, met an elderly man as he lay dying in his modest home. He only knew that the man, Joe Rantz, had built a half-mile long fence next to his house and that he had won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics. As he listens to the gentle whispers about Joe’s life, he was transported back to 1933 and the boat house on the University of Washington’s campus.
1933 is a brutal time in American history. The Great Depression is destroying the social fabric of the society and a sense of hopelessness hangs over the country. Joe Rantz, abandoned by his family at the age of 15, is forced to make a life in the hard times.
To do this, he becomes self-sufficient. Since there is no one to help him, he learns to rely on himself. After learning in the college of hard knocks, Joe enrolls in the University of Washington a few years later. An excellent athlete, Joe learns that those making the rowing team get a tuition break and are allowed to eat at the school cafeteria.
Of course it would help to know something about rowing, so Joe throws himself into the rowing exercises and gradually turns himself into an outstanding rower. The Washington coach, Al Ulbrickson, believes the rowing team has enough athletes to compete in the Olympics. The trouble is that his best team, including Joe, does not know how to work as a team. He knows that the sum is always greater than the parts, but his rowers are too stubborn to understand this.
Finally, the Washington team figures it out and makes the Berlin Olympics. But the Nazi Party tries to sabotage the Americans in the final race by forcing them to row through the wind and waves of the outside lanes, while their German team rows by the sheltered banks. As the race begins, people all over America strain to hear the outcome on their radios. What happens?
Does the American team overcome the deliberate tricks of the Nazi officials? What happens when a team member is belatedly told by his family that they are all Jewish? Do all these individualistic Americans finally work together? What finally happens during the race for the gold that can only be described as spiritual? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and read this exciting and moving story, “The Boys in the Boat,” by Daniel Brown.
This is an adolescent version of the adult book “The Boys in the Boat.” It is a well-written, exciting story. The Olympic race described in the story is thrilling. This is simply a marvelous book telling of the physical and moral development of nine young men. I hope you get the chance to read the book and to encourage the younger members of your family to do the same. It can’t be beat. Enjoy!
