Knights of the Hill Country

Happy New Year! Told you I was going to resolve to review a book, didn't I? There ya go, one down, and I feel like a better person already.

Book: Knights of the Hill Country
Author: Tim Tharp
Published: 2006

On the football field, Kennisaw High School senior Hampton Greene is a god. He is never confused about what to say or do next. He is sure of himself. He can think clearly and quickly. And it seems that whatever he does, he’s golden.

Too bad he can’t live his life on the football field.

Off the field, things are getting more complicated by the day. His best friend Blaine, once the star of the team until he blew out his knee junior year, is getting more and more jealous of Hampton’s rising popularity and better prospects with the college scouts. The girl he likes, Sara Reynolds, couldn’t be farther from the supposed ideal girlfriend he’s supposed to want. And his momma has suddenly stopped bouncing from fella to fella and settled on a man generally despised by the small town of Kennisaw, Oklahoma. Sooner or later, Hampton is going to have to make a choice about where he stands, but he isn’t so sure he’ll be able to do that on his own.

This is the second book I’ve blogged about football, which is funny, because as I mentioned in my post about Dairy Queen, I don’t know a tight end from a tent pole. But although certain football passages left me in the dust, it wasn’t enough of the book to spoil my enjoyment. The biggest charm of this story is a tie between sweet, quiet Hampton himself, and the colloquial, Oklahoma way he tells his story. Try out this book of a young man finding a place to stand and learning how to hold to it, no matter what, or who, he’s standing against.