Tunis explores social issues within a narrative structured around dramatic confrontations on the athletic field. A series of sensory images conveys the mood and atmosphere of a game, a locker room, a classroom, or a school auditorium. The author's compelling, dynamic style draws the reader into each contest, capturing the breathless immediacy of the action by relating the events in the present tense, cutting quickly from one player's perspective to another, and then shifting from the intensity of the field to the collective involvement of the fans. From the grandstands come bursts of cheers, exhortations, and expressions of distress and dread. Tunis also inserts the coach's comments which, by clarifying strategy and providing a broader perspective on the game, serve much the same purpose as the commentary given by today's "color men" during televised sports events. To balance the purely physical aspects of competition, the author...