EXPERIENCE THE EXCITEMENT OF A PERFECT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SEASON IN 1960 IN A SMALL TOWN

In the small town of Homestead, a former sports editor is asked to come out of retirement to once again write about the best sports team in the history of their town for the Heritage News. He chooses to write a series of six articles about the 1960 varsity football season of the Homestead High School Mavericks. Based on the title, “One Great Season 9-0!”, it is obvious the team from the town’s only high school had an undefeated season and won the championship. It was a once in a lifetime experience in a small town when everything aligned for perfection. That time of 1960 was another era. Many things in society were different then. The story reflects some of those differences. Because of the title some may think the novel is just a football story. Each game is described in detail, but the story is about more than X’s and O’s. It is the story of a small town expressed through the words of a dedicated sports writer. The love that town has for its children is shown by how some of the children, the high school football players, develop and how the town is united through the year by the team’s example. There is no sex or profanity in the novel, and the only violence is the inspired effort of a bunch of high school football players. If the reader enjoys watching youth give their all in an endeavor, they will find the novel appealing. Anyone who played high school football, or has a fondness for the game, will find the novel compelling in the descriptive way each game unfolds. The format used for the book is unique. It is set up like a scrapbook of newspaper articles from a small town newspaper. That is appropriate, since the novel is dedicated to Bob Silva, who for many years was the Sports Editor of the Benicia Herald in Benicia, California.

This is the fourth book written by James M. Garrett. The format and storyline of this novel are a departure from his previous novels, where he wrote stories of individuals or groups in letters or short stories. He often used poetry to augment the story lines. In this work of fiction he has crafted a complete season of a small town high school football team in an era before local and state playoff systems. James has been retired for 16 years now, after almost 30 years of teaching at Benicia High School. He continues to write both prose and poetry. He can be contacted on Facebook or at Jgstoriesnpoetry@aol.com.