Marc Rasmussen

While I was excited to try a new kind of material for a change, since I largely read YA books, I was very disappointed with Six. The book reads like a high school or college biography essay, including every little detail to show the teacher how much research the student has done. In particular, the section on the team itself was missing any real sense of the boys who played but instead consisted almost entirely of lists of players, opponents, and final scores with nothing to hold them together. It lacked the depth I expect from a strong biography, generally telling us things about the characters' nature rather than showing us them through evidence and never really touching on any negative aspects or character flaws. The school biography essay sense was reinforced by the Conclusion, which seemed to be simply a restatement of everything previously covered without any real conclusions drawn. Additionally, the text is in need of a good editor. The language is often overwraught; for example, I really can't thing of a situation where the phrase "their distant calls taunted the wingless ones below" would ever be well received. In places, the tense and timeline move around in a very confusing way. And, while I'm a strong supporter of Wikipedia, when your bibliographic essay notes the two sources you used for the history of football as both being websites, I become a little suspicious of the quality of the research being done. I think the idea behind this book is very interesting and, with some stronger research, good editing, and perhaps some more significant oral history, it could tell an uplifting inspiring story, but in its current state, it really misses the mark.… (plus d'informations)

As a sports fan from the state of Georgia, I know nothing at all about the history of South Dakota high school sports. But this was a nice little read about the coach that leads a six-man football team from a tiny South Dakota town to the longest winning streak in the nation. I enjoyed learning about the six-man game and the story is compelling. I only wished that there had been more narrative included, like interviews with players and fans. This work comes off as a relatively dry recitation of facts in some places.… (plus d'informations)