N4L 122: "Canyon Dreams" by Michael Powell

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SUMMARY

Embedded deep in the heart of Northern Arizona with the Chinle High School boys’ basketball team, sportswriter Michael Powell gives us a behind-the-scenes look in Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation. Given access to the team through coach Raul Mendoza, Powell is able to pull back from the game and see the larger Native American culture for both its flaws and strengths. As a mechanism for describing the tugs and pulls of the Navajo people, Powell uses “rez ball,” a unique brand of basketball characterized by intense running and the passion of the entire community. Hovering above all the fierce competitions, he sees the boys' dreams and fears of leaving the reservation.

KEY POINTS AND CHARACTERS

Raul Mendoza – as much counselor and mentor as he is the Chinle High School team coach and strategist
Parsifal – high school English teacher determined to stay on the reservation; gifted at “setting young brains on fire”; never worries about having a real purpose in life
Cooper Burbank – the team star whose parents decide to prioritize family unity over money
Perhaps more than economics, fear and worry hold kids back from leaving home.
Navajo kids live with the tug and pull of twin worries: “Will you leave? And, if you leave, will you be able to make it?”
Being “functionally homeless” make it tough for kids to attend school and get a good education.
For every game, the fans--from grandparents to cousins--drive long miles to fill every seat in a stadium.
Families fight against splintering from alcoholism, drugs, suicide, and fathers who work far away from home.
Still alive in the Navajo Nation is long-standing pride and a profound sense of belonging.

QUOTES

“There was no grander sport on the reservations of the Southwest than rez ball, a quicksilver, sneaker-squeaking game of run, pass, pass, cut, and shoot, of spinning layups and quick shots and running, endless running, with an athleticism that found its origin in that Native American time before horses.”
“Suicide is a door ajar on native reservations, where its incidence is well above the national average. It is the second-leading cause of death for Navajo teenagers.”

BUY Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation

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