Muckers Hardcover – October 8, 2013

With a little tweek here and a name-change there, the telling of this story kept me fully engaged and "living" in my parents' high school years in a way I'd never been able to imagine through the many tales I've heard. Thank you Sandra for bringing those days back to life.

This is an outstanding sports story about an actual, extraordinary town in Arizona. I'd think the cinema folks would be falling all over themselves to get rights to this book.

As expected. Great!

I've introduced this to so many students, family, my dad...it's such a great story! If you ever loved an underdog story, you'll love Muckers!

I live close to this town and the history was fascinating to read about this great ghost town and tourist town.

There are two things that matter to the town of Hatley, Arizona: mining and football. And that's about it. In 1950, when the copper veins—the town's largest source of labor—begin to dry up and threaten to shut down not only the mine, but also the entire town, the future seems bleak with only the smallest feather of hope remaining: Hatley High School's football team's final season.Set in the grim, desperate backdrop of the Korean War during the second Communist scare, Muckers is a story about the team that had all odds against them, but still found a way to run and fight and survive through the muck—and emerge not only alive, but also triumphant. This is a football story, yes, but it's also a war story, as well as a family story, a love story, a personal story—a very real story.Red O'Sullivan is no stranger to wartime's tragic effects; the last war that swept the globe changed everything in his life, and this new one is about to do the same. As quarterback, he has a sense of dismay knowing his team's the smallest, scrawniest in Arizona, but it's certainly not the weakest—and that's what keeps him holding on, because it may be the only thing Hatley has left. The last time the town saw something so hopeful was when Red's older brother, Bobby, brought home the Northern title nine years back. Now, everyone's counting on Red to redeem the collapsing town, and this just may be his last shot.This book was really slow-paced, which had me skimming a lot; I feel it wouldn't hold the attention of younger readers well. However, I'm a huge fan of sports novels and so I refused to give in too easily, and in the end, I am so, so glad I did.Muckers combines Red's frank, but heartbreakingly tenacious narrative with local newspaper clippings of the time, to expose the untold, valiant history of the real-life Jerome Muckers. Wallace gives careful, stimulating attention to period detail and breathes life into the inspired fictional town of Hatley. There are so many different issues within this book that she handles well, including those on politics, race, the real meaning of family, teamwork, and never giving up; Muckers could really teach our middle and high schoolers about succeeding in even the most disadvantageous of circumstances, just by persevering.I was particularly intrigued by the origins of this novel, explained beautifully in the author's note. This football team literally had nothing left for them, but they fought hard to earn the only type of victory they could reach. The civil rights issues are interesting, as well; while most American high schools at this time were segregated, Jerome, and Hatley, were rare in that it was inhabited by both caucasians and Mexican-Americans. However, even though they all lived together, the racial tensions are still clearly prevalent, and the way the town manages to overcome them—even if only for the sake of the football team—is glittering, exultant.Pros: Raw; hits exactly the right notes // Moving story // Captures the genuine hopes and worries and fears of the age // Vibrant, distinct characters // Forbidden romance sidestory // Detailed, suspenseful sports fiction // Preserves the amazing Muckers football team in literatureCons: On the slow side // The writing style itself isn't particularly impressiveVerdict: Friday Night Lights meets Remember the Titans in this highly-charged, visceral young adult novel that has both spirit and soul. Harrowing, eye-opening, and tenderly honest, Muckers masterfully recounts an inspiring story about how one resilient high school football team finds victory through enduring the tragic, unforgiving demands of war and the injustices of racial divide. Sandra Neil Wallace did a marvelous thing by digging up the forgotten letters and faded newspapers that made up this previously overlooked narrative, and bringing it to light. This is the kind of story that deserves a special spot in American football history. Fortunately, through this novel, the Hatley Muckers get the chance to prove themselves, while the real-life Jerome Muckers, in their blazing glory, get the chance to be remembered.Rating: 8 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): An engaging read that will be worth your while; highly recommended.Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Random House and TLC!).

The fictional town of Hatley, AZ substitutes for the real town of Jerome, AZ in this book which centers on the local high school's football team and its attempts to go all the way to the state championship.Set in the early 1950's, Hatley has already seen better times and is positioned for oblivion as the mine is about to close and the high school seems to be following suit. Red, the main character, is at that crisis period in his life. His brother has been killed in the war and Red wants to follow in his footsteps. An attempt to live his life for his brother who left too early? Probably. The focus to go to state is on the face of it unlikely, but miracles can happen.This is a novel of persistence, following dreams, and defying the odds. The team has grit despite a lack of decent equipment or even an adequate playing ground. While this story sounds like a take on Friday Night Lights, it is about dealing with loss set in the context of 1950's America and the prevalent issues of the day such as the Korean War, the economy, and racism.I liked this book. It had heart and a good plot, but it also had history going for it. I liked the retro feel of it as the issues of the time were blended with the story.I thought the writing was good as was the character development. It generally was fast paced and didn't drag too much.This will appeal to sports lovers, but they will also get a surprise history lesson, too.

Muckers, is a novel written by Sandra Neil Wallace telling the story of Felix O’Sullivan and his quest to bring the football state title to his crumbling home town. Felix’s high school is about to be shut down, and as the quarterback of the team in its final season, he wants to live up to his brother’s legacy. While the novel exemplifies all seven of the yardsticks, two are made very clear to readers. These two yardsticks happen to be Clarity and Reflection of Reality. Wallace does an excellent job of being very clear while writing in this book. It is not difficult at all to remain focused to this compelling story. It does not take much effort to comprehend Muckers, and Wallace’s point is completely visible. The novel surpasses many other books of this time on the aspect of getting its point across. While Wallace does a very good job of displaying clarity in her writing, she is quite mediocre at reflecting reality. While the novel displays a great Reflection of Reality in areas such as setting and historical accuracy, it fails to do this well in other categories. The premise of Felix’s team being able to go undefeated to win the state championship is somewhat of a miracle. The book shows this as if it were meant to be. This does not reflect the real world well at all and massively hurts Wallace’s writing style. Because of the novel’s failure to reflect this aspect of reality combined with the well portrayal of setting and historical accuracy reflect reality pretty satisfactory. This yardstick as well as Clarity is the two that stand out the most from Sandra Wallace’s Muckers.