Sooley Sooley

Sooley

A Novel

    • 4.3 • 3.2K Ratings
    • $9.99

Publisher Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel “Sooley” Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams—and even bigger challenges off the court.


“Hard to put down ... the pages turn quickly ... building to a climax that won’t leave readers doubting whether this is a John Grisham novel.” —Associated Press


In the summer of his seventeenth year, Sam­uel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basket­ball tournament. He has never been away from home, nor has he ever been on an airplane. The opportunity to be scouted by dozens of college coaches is a dream come true.


Samuel is an amazing athlete, with speed, quick­ness, and an astonishing vertical leap. The rest of his game, though, needs work, and the American coaches are less than impressed.


During the tournament, Samuel receives dev­astating news from home: A civil war is raging across South Sudan, and rebel troops have ran­sacked his village. His father is dead, his sister is missing, and his mother and two younger brothers are in a refugee camp.


Samuel desperately wants to go home, but it’s just not possible. Partly out of sympathy, the coach of North Carolina Central offers him a scholar­ship. Samuel moves to Durham, enrolls in classes, joins the team, and prepares to sit out his freshman season. There is plenty of more mature talent and he isn’t immediately needed.


But Samuel has something no other player has: a fierce determination to succeed so he can bring his family to America. He works tirelessly on his game, shooting baskets every morning at dawn by himself in the gym, and soon he’s dominating everyone in practice. With the Central team los­ing and suffering injury after injury, Sooley, as he is nicknamed, is called off the bench. And the legend begins.


But how far can Sooley take his team? And will success allow him to save his family?


Gripping and moving, Sooley showcases John Grisham’s unparalleled storytelling powers in a whole new light. This is Grisham at the top of his game.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2021
April 27
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
368
Pages
PUBLISHER
JG Publishing
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
3.4
MB

Customer Reviews

See All
D.B.Ess ,

Sooley, Sooley, Sooley

Could NOT put it down! Only when I came to the tragic end; even then I wanted another twist, a twist that would reunite mother & son! But it was not to be.

mskijunk ,

For the love of the game!

Really a good book about the sad state of the professional game and the effect on it players as well as the sad state of immigration to this Country. I loved seeing the game through Sooley’s eyes. That is how I remember the game. Not sure many kids get to see the game this way anymore!

TDaleT ,

Great story!!!

I have to confess that I have never liked basketball at any level, but Gresham kept me interested from cover to cover. Always good to see a story about rags to riches and amazing talent.

Playing for Pizza Playing for Pizza
2007
Racing the Rain Racing the Rain
2015
Blind Your Ponies Blind Your Ponies
2011
Again to Carthage Again to Carthage
2010
A Face in the Crowd A Face in the Crowd
2012
The Color of Money The Color of Money
2014
Sycamore Row Sycamore Row
2013
The Racketeer The Racketeer
2012
The Whistler The Whistler
2016
The Litigators The Litigators
2011
Gray Mountain Gray Mountain
2014
Rogue Lawyer Rogue Lawyer
2015
A Gambling Man A Gambling Man
2021
Dream Town Dream Town
2022
A Calamity of Souls A Calamity of Souls
2024
Simply Lies Simply Lies
2023
The Law of Innocence The Law of Innocence
2020
The 6:20 Man The 6:20 Man
2022