A Novel - Raincoast Books

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Must Win
A Season of Survival for a Town and Its Team
Drew Jubera
This is not necessarily a sports book. It is a character-driven tale of
survival and the desire to be a champion again." —Jim Dent,
bestselling author
Valdosta, Georgia, is home to the winningest high school football team in America and for decades has drawn the spotlight
of national media—including Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and ESPN, which christened the South Georgia
city “Title Town, U.S.A.” To be in Valdosta is to be reminded of the continuity of dominance: sons still play in front of
fathers and grandfathers, creased old men in pickup trucks still offer steak dinners to seventeen-year-olds as reward for
gridiron glory, and Friday nights in the 11,000-seat stadium known as Death Valley still hold a central roll in the town’s
social fabric.
Now that place is in peril. As much as Valdosta is a romantic symbol of traditional American values (excellence, God, and
football), things are changing here just as they are in small towns across the country. In Must Win, author Drew
Jubera chronicles the country’s most famous high school football team's 2010 season, a quest to regain past glory for not
only the team, but also the town it represents. This town, this school, and these people have been rocked by forces that
have hit the entire country, but they’re a long way from giving up. They still believe in the power of a game to overcome
all. With a new coach, a new optimism, and a new season, these Wildcats have been given one more chance. A real life
Friday Night Lights, Must Win is the American story written across a bright, green playing field.
DREW JUBERA is a five time Pulitzer-nominated journalist and has been a staff writer for Texas Monthly, The Washingtonian, and The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he was the national correspondent for nearly a decade. His pieces have appeared in The New
York Times, ESPN The Magazine, and Esquire. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
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