A MOST BEAUTIFUL THING The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team

In the 1990s, Arshay Cooper attends a crew recruiting meeting at his high school for the free pizza. He ends up joining the first Black high school rowing team in the country. Narrator Adam Lazarre-White conveys Cooper’s youth and aspirations in a rich, steady voice that suggests emotional authenticity and humor. Cooper and his teammates create something great with the help of a philanthropic businessman and former college rowers while navigating gang conflict, poverty, addiction, and systemic racism—not to mention their initial inability to swim. Lazarre-White captures Cooper’s developing emotional maturity as he commits himself to fitness, balances the team with his first love, takes steps to achieve his ambition to become a chef, and develops a deep gratitude and respect for his mother’s recovery from substance abuse. A.B. 2020 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2020]