Maraniss continues YA mission with his latest powerful and timely book, Games of Deception

     It's no secret Andrew Maraniss is one of my favorite sports authors, and one that I have a great respect for(not just because we both live and die by the Green Bay Packers).  The New York Times bestselling author released his eagerly anticipated new book in November 2019 called Games of Deception:  The True Story of the First U.S. Olympic Basketball Team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany   Since I've been on a small hiatus(has anyone even noticed?!), I'm going 'Beast Mode" and returning to the game in style by writing about  a guy I consider one of the best at his craft.
     Games of Deception, while centered on the historic 1936 Olympic basketball team, is so much more than that.  The book provides context into James Naismith and the genesis of basketball itself, background of the buildup going into these Hitler Olympics in both America and abroad, and the social, political, and competitive backdrop in Germany and America surrounding the 1936 Olympic Games.
     Games of Deception, much like the first Maraniss title Strong Inside,  weaves sports, history, and culture together with seamless effort in his trademark descriptive journalistic style.  It is the second book that Maraniss has done in a YA format, and one that I feel earns him a spot as one of the top voices in young adult nonfiction sports literature today, along with authors like Steve Sheinken, Phil Hoose,  Howard Bryant.
     It's hard to underestimate the impact a book like Games of Deception can have on a generation of youth who have grown rather complacent to the catastrophic political events of the past, and rather apathetic to the current dangerous political climate.   While some like to argue that sports and politics should hold their own courts, books like Games show that sports and society are indeed closely connected, and when used properly, sports can be a great tool to raise awareness to current social and political issues.
     In Games of Deception and Strong Inside, Maraniss has purposely chosen to take his message to a group most in need--our youth.  And what better way than to speak to teens than through sports.  I've worked with young adults as a teacher, librarian, and coach for the past 30 years; it takes a special type to pull this off.  It takes a special kind of author to understand how to write for a teen.  I can tell you for sure that Games of Deception is great book.  But I'd rather talk use this space to highlight what Maraniss does in Games (and Strong Inside) that makes him a key voice for the younger generation .

• Teens don't like to be told, but they can be shown.  It's hard to lecture a teen--that's for textbooks.  Bring an event to life with passion., and you have a different story.  Maraniss writes for the YA audience passionately, with the mission of helping others SEE history and FEEL a connection to the subject.   In Games of Deception, there is not only a passion to be felt about the game of basketball, but there is an undercurrent of passion about fully comprehending a twisted moment of history that chronicled the rise of a dictator, and how the events in this book bear an uncanny resemblance to what is happening in today's political arena.  Young adults don't react well to direct messaging, but cationary tales like this from history, transported to modern times in a digestable tone, can be very powerful to a teen.
• Make teens feel important-like the book is for them.  Teens feel adult books are too heavy for them, and they feel elementary books are insultingly simple.  Most YA books stand like an awkward acne faced teen at the roller rink looking for a date.  They don't know how to act, and while they may have something to say, they don't quite know how to say it.  Maraniss finds himself at the ground level of a real YA nonfiction revolution, where authors are saying, "Hey, I know you want to leave the kiddie table and eat with the adults, so I'm going to find a way to make you feel welcome; teach you what fork to use with salad, how to reach for the gravy, and how to handle a conversation with Uncle Bill.  Games of Deception is meaty enough to stand as an adult book (I have recommended this book to many adults), yet is written  with the bones and eye for detail that make the YA reader know that it is for them.  It's a real fine line, but in Maraniss, this mini genre has found a true voice.
• Be a teacher.  I remember reading Steve Sheinken's Undefeated and learning so much about the origins of football and concepts of the sport most kids just take for granted today.  In Games of Deception, Marniss describes the origin and many enhancements of the game of basketball, starting with its architect James Naismith.   I was actually reading this book as I was watching a preseason college hoops contest with my teen son and constantly bugging him with, "Did you know that...." facts about the game of basketball! Part of growing up is learning to appreciate things you have taken for granted as a kid.  To understand that everything has an origin, and that sports are no different.  As for history, everyone knows Hitler, and everyone knows the war.  But helping kids understand the concepts of "deception" by political leaders, or the reasons and ramifications for athletes boycotting an event and what it represents--those are true teaching moments.
• Pick pieces of research details that would click in the mind of a kid.  While Maraniss spent years sifting through a plethora of facts and stories that dot the historical records, it takes a keen eye to mine what information will resonate with a teen.  In highlighting scenes like the team departing New York for Berlin, life in the Olympic village in Germany, the vibe on the streets in New York or Berlin, and daily life tidbits like what people were eating and what they were saying, he gives kids perspective and context.  Maraniss skillfully picks important athletes, pioneers,and political players in his cast of characters  and brings them to life in a teen's eye to supply them a relatable and fair representation of the times.  
• Know how to survive in the visual culture of a kid by knowing how to paint a picture through words.  When I read Strong Inside, I commented to Maraniss that I loved  his old newspaperman style of writing.  See, once upon a time before Twitter and video portals, there was a thing called a newsPAPER.  And every morning as a kid I would look forward to reading the sports section and allowing the sports reporter to transport me into the game and help me feel the excitement and the action from whatever contest he was writing about.  In those days, the sports reporter was my only eyes, ears, and nose to the event, and his/her job was to give me a seat at that game.  Maraniss writes with the same style.  He's an artist who paints scenes, and wants you to see the faces, feel the reactions, sniff the air, and be emotionally swayed by the ebbs and flows of the action. Maraniss has the talent to not only bring the direct action home, but nail the all the "background noise" for the reader.  More than adults, teens crave 3D experieces in reading, and Maraniss helps them find their bearings.
• Encourage teens that research is a journey, and that discovery can be fun and rewarding.  After getting to know Maraniss when Strong Inside came out, I had the pleasure of communicating with him throughout the process of writing Games of Deception.  I can't tell you how fun it was seeing him trek up to Canada or over to Springfield to study James Naismith and the origins of basketball.  He visited iconic sports locations at KU, Notre Dame, and National historical sites like the Holocaust Museum .  Visions of him holed up in libraries combing through stacks of old newspapers  gives me a wave of excitement that I am sure only a librarian could appreciate!  The bibliography and works/places/people consulted that is included in Games of Deception will give kids a real idea of how provoking and satisfying research can be.  The idea that learning is not a straight line, but a trail with paths that veer astray and intersect at unexpected moments is present in all the research Maraniss does.  Kids need to see this process.
• Put your money where your mouth is.  If you're going to write for a YA audience, you better connect with them in person and enjoy yourself.  There is no one better at connecting with young adults than Maraniss.  When he came to visit my school, the feedback I recieved from the kids was more positive than I even could have imagined.  In fact, as I put Games of Deception out on display, I had kids come up to me and say, "That was the guy we saw in middle school--he was really cool!"  Anyone worth a lick in middle school psychology understands this is the ultimate compliment for any adult!  Point being, Maraniss made a lasting impact by connecting with kids through his story AND his personality--one which fostered a memory that drove these kids to want to read more work by him.  If you follow Maraniss on Twitter, you will see he spends much of his time presenting to young adult audiences.  You will see pictures and commentary from kids, teachers, librarians, and parents raving about his passion for the subjects he writes about and the love he has for sharing his work with kids.  He is an author clearly devoted to this cause, and you can't fake that.

So you need to get Games of Deception in your library now.  Show it to your social studies and English teachers, it would be a great curriculum addition.  Now more than ever, we need to have authors that focus on connecting with the younger generation and raising awareness to what's going on in the world today.  These are scary and uncertain times in more than one way, Maraniss and his works have become the perfect model  to cut through all the deception.

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