A refreshing look at a small town on a reservation that supports their school, their kids, and basketball. The town and b-ball team show such maturity and kindness in the face of continuing prejudice by respecting each other and their opponents on the court. Their involvement in suicide prevention (which drew support from Nike) deserves much recognition. This is an eye-opening story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celedon Books/Macmillan Publishers for the ARC to read and review.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.

Very good book, but hard to follow if you aren't a sports fan. I love books and movies about sports even though hockey is really the only sport I'm actually a fan of. But I like books about PEOPLE and that is what this book is at it's heart - a book about the sport and it's players. It was good, although sometimes a little in depth and dry because of it. 4 stars.

Deep at the heart of literature is the existential want to be more connected to one another. That is why books are the great ladder to cultures and worlds unknown. Abe Streep takes on the great challenge of bringing to life a culture that is unknown to many but does so brilliantly in "Brother's on Three."

My whole experience with Streep's non-fiction narrative on a beloved Navajo basketball team was one of heart-warming proportions. Not only did my heart steep with joy over their accomplishments but it also soared with compassion for their challenges.

Thank you, Abe Streep, for taking the time and energy to highlight a group of people typically marginalized and showing off their community in heroic and extraordinary ways. While at times it did read as a bit like dry non-fiction, overall, I really enjoyed this one.

If you are a fan of books that help you to see and praise communities you wouldn't normally encounter, I definitely encourage you to read this one!

Basketball is just the surface theme of this book. Under the surface lies the story of two two boys and the reality they face while growing up on a reservation. The author weaves their story as they navigate between their lives on and off the reservation and also on and off the basketball court. Very interesting story that will appeal to many as there is so much for the reader to learn.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

#BrothersonThree #NetGalley

Beautiful story..... about family, relationships, adolescence, etc. with a sports theme. Writing and native words are a bit hard to follow in some areas. Highly recommend reading the book to get an unbiased and uncaricatured view of the native american life.

Inspired by true stories, Brothers on Three tells the tale of how a team of Native American Indians accomplished the improbable feat of becoming two-time State basketball champions.

Faced with almost impossible odds, the Arlee Warriors of Montana defied the naysayers, playing the game using skill, strategy, and teamwork. But the team and their families also faced a hidden threat. A threat that tore families apart, a threat that could break the spirit of any man. That threat was suicide.

As a Nation, the Native American Indians have the highest suicide rate of any other nationality. Out of concern for that ominous statistic, the Arlee Warriors cohesively started the Warrior Movement. The Warrior Movement’s focus was to bring hope to the downfallen, and to cultivate a warrior mentality of courage. Among other things, the Warrior Movement made the Arlee basketball team stronger. The Movement brought families together; and it gave the community a sense of belonging.

Brothers on Three is not jut another book about sporting accomplishments. It is also a book about the families, the ties that bind them together, and how adversity can be overcome.

Author Abe Streep did an excellent job of compiling all of the stories into a comprehensive novel. However, I found that I appreciated his writing more in the articles that he wrote for Esquire and the New York Times. It was in those magazine articles that I learned so much about the players and the Movement they started.

Street is a sports journalist. So his writing style is reflective of that vocation. Not to say that his book wasn’t interesting. It was. However, it is somewhat of a tedious read with statistical information, Division information, and all of that basketball technicalities. But if you’re into all of the gritty details, Brother on Three is the perfect read for the sport’s enthusiasts. Three impressive stars.

I received a digital ARC from Celadon Books through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

This book was much heavier than I expected and took me a while to get through. It covers very important topics that are just every day life for some basketball kids on a reservation in Montana. I learned a lot and I'm glad I read it.

While I found it very educational and heartwarming, I could also feel the deep anguish that these triumphs are coming out of. The author does his best to portray the strong sense of home and family/community connectedness (11 players on one High School basketball team are all blood related!) among the Séliš people.

He articulates his fears of describing the community and culture in a way that would be detrimental or condescending. He has seen and heard about negative portrayals by others and he doesn't want to make the same mistake and risk hurting these people that he has come to know over the course of 2 years.

“We’re so resilient. But the resiliency throws a blanket over all these problems that are unresolved.” These are wise words from a young man in the community who ended up in trouble in college and then came home and turned his life back around. I think it sums up the story this book tells very well.

I had a bit of trouble with the writing style as there were some bits and details that seemed to be sprinkled into paragraphs where they didn't fit but in the grand scheme, this is still a very influential story that needs to be heard.

Brothers on Three is a non-fiction, coming of age story that focuses on two brothers and their high school basketball team. Their is so much depth to this story as the community and families pull together through so many hardships.

Family, school, community and racism challenges all brought to light in a great and thoughtful book about basketball. "Ball is life"

I will be honest and say basketball is really not my thing. But I read this book description about a local high school team who overcome numerous challenges to win the Montana State Championship, and I was intrigued. The Arlee Warriors live on the Flathead Indian Reservation and that adds another dynamic to this story. Will and Phil are two of the players and not only are they dealing with the usual perils of teenage life, but they are also living a much different life than their peers.
Whether or not you are a fan of the game, this book was emotional and inspiring. I learned so much about being a member of a small community, family ties that bind and stretch, and what it means to be a team member. A book that I honestly wasn't even sure I would like, became one of my favorite nonfiction reads of the year.

I grew up in a small town where basketball was a huge deal, and I loved the book Counting Coup, about a girls basketball team in Montana on the Crow (I think) reservation. So I decided to give this book a try.
I thought the author did a good job of bringing in issues external to basketball that affect Indigenous youth and families, like intergenerational trauma, boarding schools the difficultly of allotments on reservations, blood quantum as a colonial construct, etc. I really appreciated that. I also enjoyed reading about the boys on the team and their families, although I felt that the stories were disjointed at times. It may not be like that in the finished version though.

Brothers on Three
by Abe Streep
Pub date: Sept. 7,2021

Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, about state championships and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood, finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.

Thanks to the author and Celadon Books for the gifted ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

5star

This is a very well written nonfiction book about a group of teenagers who play basketball as a team and whose lives are bonded by being the team.We are introduced to their families watch as they face life’s problems like racism.an intimate look into their lives their world.Will be recommending.#netgalley #celadonbooks

This is a true story, I don't think many of the readers realized this. Abe Streep utilized his journalistic skills to build a story of a community and it's heart....the people....from an original story about a small town school basketball team who wins the Montana State Championship against overwhelming odds. Following 2 cousins, who as juniors, were members of the championship team as they move into their senior year and struggle to repeat their win. The basketball story serves as the background for a deeper story of the people and events that occur on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Mr Streep finds himself in a community unlike any he has known before. A community where life is hard, harder than you'd find 100 miles down the road. The history of the reservation and their interactions outside it's borders is an eye opening education. So yes, this is a story about a basketball team.....a winning basketball team....but it's more about how this community has managed to rise above their hadships and raise some amazing young men and women.

Inspirational story sandbagged by outrageously detailed irrelevant errata that makes a reader struggle to get to the heart of the story. For that reason it disappoints. It feels at times like an intentional plea for praise for the author’s observational skills and his facility with white and Native words. The narrative feels wrongful much more often than it should. Why does it matter that one shows up to a game on time but later than the opposing team? Why the emphasis that the coach showed up to practice with feces on his shoes? What points are being made? Why is it important to report that the bottom of a coffee pot disintegrated and team members worried about the old man who had picked it up? Isn’t that normal behavior? If you persist you will be rewarded with the heart in the story. But there are a lot of rocks to plow through before you reap the harvest. Be prepared.

A well written book by journalist Streep. He profiles a group of high school basketball players from a Native American reservation, their families, the beauty and pull of the land they live on, and the systemic racism they deal with.

This follows the story of a boys basketball team in Montana on the Flathead Indian Reservation and the mission to go to the Class C state tournament not only are they carrying their hopes but also the hopes of their community. You also see the various struggles these boys along with their communities face with drugs. alcohol, and what is called suicide clusters. It also covers the struggles they face when they are leaving for advance education and getting scholarship offers especially when it comes to sports. If you have ever lived in small town or community you understand how much of a draw sports can be for the surrounding area and it no less with the Arlee Warriors,
after you read this great book go to watch some of the highlight videos on social media and it is outstanding to see the amount of people there in support of the team. I would give this 4 1/2 star rating. Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon books for an ARC for a fair and honest review. You will find yourself rooting for this team.

The Review

An emotional, inspirational, yet poignant look at not only these two young men’s personal journeys in the face of success and hardship but of the people of the Montana Flathead Indian Reservation as a whole. The author does an excellent job of walking the fine line between reporting the story and building the story, navigating the history, culture, and life these young men faced on the reservation as they achieved their success while also creating a narrative that readers could instantly get lost in.

The author’s writing and almost cinematic style of storytelling, when paired with the emotional depths this story goes into, really brought this book to life. So many times when I was reading this book, I could close my eyes and almost imagine this playing out like a sports film, with inspirational music playing in the background while shots of the player's emotional home lives and their journey to overcome the odds cut across the screen. The author's ability to connect readers with these very real people and their lives is not only seamless but emotional as well.

The Verdict

A stunning look into the heart of life on a Montana Indian Reservation and the journey into adulthood two teens took amidst sports glory, author Abe Streep’s “Brothers on Three” is a must-read nonfiction sports book. The balance and emotions that the author found within the narrative of this nonfiction read were incredible to see come through on the pages, and readers will not be able to help to delve deeper into this story.

Phil and Will, cousins with "rhyming names," come of age in this very immersive account of a family of native Americans and the role basketball plays in their lives. Abe Streep has called on his experience as a reporter, as reflected in his clear, concise style. The tragedies that play out, the suicides and personal losses experienced by the tribe, bring a heartbreaking quality. Highly recommended.