The last football game I voluntarily watched was–well, never. Yet this book, ostensibly about football, is by far my favorite book of the year. The author of Liar's Poker has written as human a story as I've ever read.

He starts with changes in football, the sudden new respect (and cash) given to Left Tackles who protect the quarterback. They must be both huge and fast. But quickly he comes to the heart of the book–a kid named Michael Oher. Someday his name will be as familiar as Joe Namath's, but when we first see him, he is the completely uneducated child of a crack-addicted mother. He doesn't know his birthday or his real name. He knows so little that he has no idea of what he doesn't know.

Michael is taken in by a well-off Evangelical family and miraculously gets into a great school. Everyone around him can see his potential, but he's a would-be star who can barely read, never speaks and has no interest in football.

I won't ruin this for you. I'll just say that as narrative nonfiction, this is as good as it gets. You don't need to be a football fan to love this wonderful, wonderful book.–Victoria Skurnick

This is not only one of my favorite books of the year, but one of my favorite books ever.–Larry Shapiro, Editorial Director