The James Logan Courier

Note: Each week, The Courier spotlights books newly arrived, or expected to arrive, in the James Logan Media Center.

When the Game Stands Tall: The Story of the De La Salle Spartans and Football's Longest Winning Streak by Neil Hayes.
Paperback: 402 pages
Publisher: Frog Books (August 23, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1583941304
ISBN-13: 978-1583941300

From North Atlantic Books:
By 2002, The Streak—a historic 13-year run of consecutive wins by the Spartans, a high-school football team from Concord, California, that couldn't be beat—was still going strong. In this revised edition of When the Game Stands Tall, author Neil Hayes, who had unrestricted access to the De La Salle team, writes from the inside about the games, the players, and their visionary coach, Bob Ladouceur, who managed to amass the highest winning percentage in football history (.995) through standing for something greater than winning. The book, which also features interviews with major sports figures like Bill Walsh and John Gruden, is a revealing portrait of the coach who believed above all in instilling basic life skills where winning is not the goal, but merely the byproduct of playing the game.

The Streak had become a national story long before it ended in September 2004. In this revised paperback, Neil Hayes catches up on the lives of the main characters and takes readers through the final tumultuous year. What results is a timeless and inspirational story of struggle, tragedy, and triumph.



American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
Publisher: HarperTorch (April 30, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0380789035
ISBN-13: 978-0380789030

From HarperCollins:
Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident.

Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him introduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible.

He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever he the same...