Hampton Green is the protagonist of Tim Tharp’s book for young readers entitled Knights of the Hill Country. Green is a senior in high school and is a genuine defensive star on the football field. He is blessed with preternatural physical gifts and a seeming psychic instinct and ability to stop time during critical moments of a game. He makes big plays and amazing tackles and impossible interceptions because he relaxes, surveys the situation, assesses the proper course of action and then flies to the football like an overgrown caffeinated jackrabbit imbued with the strength of a bull. He never questions his judgments and always trusts his gut feeling.
Off the field, Green is uncertain of himself and takes his social and behavioral cues from his close friend and fellow football player Blaine Keller. Green ignores his gut instincts in lieu of blind loyalty to Keller. The setting is a small Oklahoma city whose priorities, above all else, are football and the status quo. Burgeoning relationships with his mother and her boyfriend, and a kindred spirit classmate, force Green to examine his friendship and his beliefs, and alter forever his perceptions of what is important in life. Green discovers that his greatness on the gridiron can lead to similar greatness off the field.
The same qualities that make a young man a success in a sport contribute to success in life. Prepare for competition, disappointment and deception; accommodate intuition, an open mind, and concern for others. Above all, measure success by the company you keep and the honor you uphold, not by the opinion of others or their attempts to pigeonhole you into fitting their expectations.
From September 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
Off the field, Green is uncertain of himself and takes his social and behavioral cues from his close friend and fellow football player Blaine Keller. Green ignores his gut instincts in lieu of blind loyalty to Keller. The setting is a small Oklahoma city whose priorities, above all else, are football and the status quo. Burgeoning relationships with his mother and her boyfriend, and a kindred spirit classmate, force Green to examine his friendship and his beliefs, and alter forever his perceptions of what is important in life. Green discovers that his greatness on the gridiron can lead to similar greatness off the field.
The same qualities that make a young man a success in a sport contribute to success in life. Prepare for competition, disappointment and deception; accommodate intuition, an open mind, and concern for others. Above all, measure success by the company you keep and the honor you uphold, not by the opinion of others or their attempts to pigeonhole you into fitting their expectations.
From September 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
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