Kent Babb's new book is a story of football at Edna Karr High, located on the West bank of the Mississippi in the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Babb follows the team through its 2019 season as head coach Brice Brown and his team, perhaps the scrappiest and most rebellious group in the program's history, vie to again succeed on and off the field. What is sure to be a classic work of sports journalism, Across the River is a necessary investigation into the serious realities of young athletes in struggling neighborhoods: gentrification, eviction, mental health issues, the drug trade, and gun violence. It offers a rich and unflinching portrait of a coach, his players, and the West Bank, a community where it's difficult--but not impossible--to rise above the chaos, discover purpose, and find a way out.
New York City, NY; NYC