The Kids Got It Right
How the Texas All-Stars Kicked Down Racial Walls

ISBN10: 1250053951
ISBN13: 9781250053954
Trade Paperback
320 Pages
$16.99
CA$19.50
In the summer of 1964, a high school all-star team lost the most significant football game in Texas's history, to the Pennsylvania Big 33 squad. Determined to prevent another loss, Coach Bobby Layne met with the governor for an important request: authorization to recruit black all-stars for his new squad.
Although Texas was flush with many great black football stars, at the time, high school football was dominated by white players and black and white players rarely mixed in the racially divided state. Layne's scheme never would have worked without Bill Bradley and Jerry LeVias. When no one else would room with LeVias, one of three black players on the team, Bradley stepped forward, and the two quickly became the closest friends and the best of teammates.
Together—and with Layne's will to win—the two led their team to victory at Hershey Stadium. In The Kids Got It Right, Jim Dent tells the story of an American tale of leadership, brotherhood, and Texas-style football.
Reviews
Praise for The Kids Got It Right
"If I could have any sports wish granted today, it would be that every student from seventh grade up in Southeast Texas be required to read Jim Dent's latest and, without question, most important book—The Kids Got It Right. Dent, who is a masterful storyteller, is at his best with this real-life tale."—Port Arthur News
"The Kids Got It Right carries a message that will resonate with any reader. His book takes you back to a fascinating time in our country that seems distant, and yet really wasn't that long ago."—George Dunham, KTCK
Reviews from Goodreads
BOOK EXCERPTS
Read an Excerpt
1
The Blond Bomber
That steamy August night in the faraway hills of central Pennsylvania, Bobby Layne stomped the ground like a man snuffing out a grass fire. His full-throated Texas twang sounded like the whine of a...