The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Streep, Abe. Brothers on Three. Celadon Books, 2021.

Abe Streep's Brothers on Three is a nonfiction account about the Arlee, Montana Arlee Warriors basketball team. Throughout the text, Streep employs unique approaches to structure and point of view. The following summary relies upon the present tense and a linear mode of explanation.

When Abe Streep first arrives in Arlee, Montana, he thinks that he understands the state, and its history and culture. As a seasoned journalist for The New York Times Magazine, Streep therefore believes that writing a piece about the Arlee Warriors team and its star player, Phil Malatare, will be uncomplicated.

Streep soon discovers how little he knows about Montana or its people. The more time he spends in the tight-knit community, the more he learns to ask questions and listen. The story quickly expands beyond the parameters of the Warriors and the basketball court.

After Phil and his cousin Will Mesteth Jr. win the state championship in their junior year of high school, they spend senior year attempting to defend their title. Because they have grown up with the sport, they are dedicated to basketball. Will's parents, Chasity and Big Will, and Phil's parents, Becky and John, have also always loved athletics. The parents helped start a youth basketball program for the boys when they were only five years old.

As high schoolers, Phil and Will regard their team as a brotherhood. Therefore, they never engage with one another in a selfish, greedy, or competitive manner. Rather, the Warriors are another form of family for the boys.

Over the course of the season, Streep is careful about how he interacts with and writes about the Warriors and their families. He knows that the community has a fraught relationship with the local media. As Native peoples, families like the Mesteths and Malatares are accustomed to adversity and prejudice. Streep is wary of continuing this pattern of oppression and violence. The community is also in the midst of a suicide cluster. The community continually loses loved ones by way of suicide. Streep is cautious about sensationalizing this ongoing trauma.

Shortly before the Warriors' championship tournament, they receive news about yet another friend's death. Their coach, Zanen Pitts, asks the boys if they want to help him make a video in response to the suicide. The boys agree. When the video receives media attention, the isolated project gives birth to a movement, which Zanen calls the Warrior Movement.

Meanwhile, Will and Phil attempt to plan for their futures after high school. They hope to receive basketball scholarships, but soon realize the difficulty of securing such offers. The University of Montana finally reaches out to Phil. However, by the end of senior year, he realizes that they have no intention of giving him a position on their team.

The boys graduate school and spend the summer in the woods and mountains. Phil does eventually play for North Idaho, but gives up basketball two years later. He and Will form a three-on-three league with their friends, which lets them keep their love of basketball alive.