Akron Public Library

"Out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times - the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant. ... Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man's...

Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant. With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington's eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite East Coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf...

Describes how the author's determination to master the art of rowing a single shell helped her escape her marriage to a wealthy but abusive husband and overcome the haunting memories of childhood sexual abuse, and become a champion rower.

"In 1936, nine working-class boys from the University of Washington took the rowing world and the nation by storm when their eight-oar crew team captured the gold medal at the Olympics in Berlin. These sons of loggers, shipyard workers and farmers overcame tremendous hardships--psychological, physical, economic--to beat not only the Ivy League teams of the East Coast, but Adolf Hitler's elite German rowers. The boys' unexpected victory, and the obstacles...