Brothers on Three

By Abe Streep

A basketball team unites a community, but can they navigate the challenges of growing up?

3.9/5 Goodreads · 831 ratings

368 pages· 95,853 words

$28.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

On a legendary night, the Arlee Warriors win the state championship, uniting their community. Follow Will and Phil as they navigate senior year, balancing the weight of expectations and their own futures. Can they forge their paths amidst the pressures of adolescence and the dreams of their reservation? Discover the challenges of growing up as Indigenous youth in the American West.

From the publisher

Winner of the 2021 Montana Book Award**Winner of the 2021 New Mexico-Arizona General Nonfiction Book AwardFinalist for the Spur Award for Best Contemporary NonfictionA New York Times Editors’ Choice Pick** “A heart-stomping, heart-stopping read. Unsentimental. Unforgettable. Astonishing. Brothers on Three captures the roar of a community spirit powered by blood history, loyalty, and ferocious love.”–Debra Magpie Earling, author of Perma Red From journalist Abe Streep, a story of coming-of-age on a reservation in the American West and a team uniting a community March 11, 2017, was a night to remember: in front of the hopeful eyes of thousands of friends, family members, and fans, the Arlee Warriors would finally bring the high school basketball state championship title home to the Flathead Indian Reservation. The game would become the stuff of legend, with the boys revered as local heroes. The team’s place in Montana history was now cemented, but for starters Will Mesteth, Jr. and Phillip Malatare, life would keep moving on–senior year was just beginning. In Brothers on Three, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches, and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future. Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, state championships, and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.

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