Winning the City Blog Tour: Review

Winning the City by Theodore Weesner

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It’s Detroit, 1961. Fifteen-year-old Dale Wheeler, the son of an unemployed, alcoholic autoworker, has big dreams of leading his team to the City Basketball Championship.  But his dream is shattered when Dale—the co-captain and top point guard—is cut from the team to make way for the son of a big money team sponsor.

His life in a tailspin, Dale finds a helping hand in Miss Furbish, the beautiful homeroom teacher whose well-meaning kindness gradually builds into a potentially dangerous passion.  And in his lowest times, Dale gets a final shot at his dream:  A hardscrabble team of street-ballers that may have what it takes to win the City Championship.

Aubrey's Review

Winning the City is a book that can capture any athlete's heart. Dale is a basketball player that like some athletes has developed a love for the sport and always gone to it when he is in a sticky situation. It is his main love. I really like how this book tackles all of the problems teenagers face with the changes that are occurring in their lives. There is a lot of repetition of some phrases, but these are things that Dale says and tells himself a lot. The story through Dale's point of view was a good choice because we can sympathize with his hard moments. I would recommend this book to any teenager.

Author Bio:Theodore Weesner, born in Flint, Michigan, is aptly described as a “Writers’ Writer” by the larger literary community.  His short works have been published in the New Yorker, Esquire, Saturday Evening Post, Atlantic Monthly and Best American Short Stories.  His novels, including The True Detective, Winning the City and Harbor Light, have been published to great critical acclaim in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Harper’s, The Boston Globe, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, Boston Magazine and The Los Angeles Times to name a few.

Weesner is currently writing his memoir, two new novels, and an adaptation of his widely praised novel—retitled Winning the City Redux—also to be published by Astor + Blue Editions.  He lives and works in Portsmouth, NH.