Originally published in 1995 to huge critical acclaim and a finalist for the NBCC Award for Nonfiction Madeleine Blais s In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle is a modern sports writing classic. Now expanded and updated with a new epilogue Blais s book tells the story of a season in the life of the Amherst Lady Hurricanes a powerhouse girls high school basketball team from a small western Massachusetts college town. The Hurricanes were a talented team with a near-perfect record but for five straight years when it came to the crunch of the playoffs they somehow lacked the scrappy hard-driving desire to go all the way. Now led by senior guards Jen Pariseau a three-point specialist and Jamila Wideman an All-American phenom this was the year to prove themselves. It was a season to test their passion for the sport and their loyalty to each other and a chance to discover who they really were. As an off-season of summer jobs and basketball camps turns to fall as students arrive and the games begin Blais charts the ups and downs of the team and paints a portrait of the wider Amherst community which comes to revel in the athletic exploits of their girls. Finally a women s team was getting the attention they deserve. And the Hurricanes were richly deserving; these teenage girls are fierce and funny smart and ambitious and they are the heart of this gripping book. In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle is a classic sports book a timeless look at girls athletics.