Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is a riveting true re-telling of the underdog story of main character Joe Rantz and the rest of the Washington University nine-man rowing team that represented the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics, a competition in which the USA was given no chance to come close to winning. All of the members of the University of Washington rowing team in the mid-1930’s came from lower-class families, and competition in and competition out, they were forced to battle against universities with far more funding and prestige, forcing them into uphill battles every time they stepped into the boat.

Additionally, since these boys all made it to where they did on their own, they struggled to mesh initially because they all thought they didn’t need each other and that they individually could carry the team to victory. This was especially true with Joe Rantz, a young man who came from an especially impoverished background which saw his mother pass away from cancer when he was young, and saw his father and stepmother abandon him in his teen years. Joe would go on to put himself through high school get get admitted on his own to the University of Washington, an incredible feat for a teenager forced to grow up so quickly. After rowing together for a while however, the boys began to mesh very well, and Joe became one of the leaders.

The boys would go on to continue to come together and eventually knock off teams the likes of the University of California, leading to an eventual National Championship sweep in New Jersey. Finally, the Washington rowing team was now the American rowing team at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

The Americans, Italians, and Germans all qualified for the finals, with the Americans finishing with the fastest qualifying time. This forced them into the worst lane for the race, making them row into the headwind the entire final race, and two of the men were sick during the finals as well. This team had faced adversity before, and it obviously paid off as they were trailing both teams until the very end, when they gave it their all and pulled out the victory by the skin of their teeth.