Beyond Belief is a biography written by Tim Keown about Texas Rangers All star Josh Hamilton. Hamilton currently plays for the Rangers and has been since 2008. This book follows Hamilton since he was a young boy and how when he was 6 he was forced to play with 11-12 year olds because he could hit to hard and throw too fast for his age. Hamilton was an amazing baseball player through high school, graduating as the number one prospect for Major League Baseball. He has set a goal during high school to reach the pros and stay away from trouble. He met his goal and was drafter number one overall in the draft and began playing minor league ball to make it to the big leagues. During this time his parents were usually around to support and help him but managers felt that he was being overprotected and Hamilton's parents backed off. One day Hamilton and his parents were in a car wreck that injured his back and kept him from performing at a top level. This is where things got bad for Josh; he became depressed. He started getting tattoos and began to experiment with drugs and alcohol with his tattoo artists. He begin to slide further and further down in life spending excessive amounts of money on drugs. He started to hang out with the wrong people and baseball seemed to slip from his grip. He knew he needed to change but couldn't, he had the support from family that he needed but at times it wasn't enough. One night at his grandmothers, who took him in to feed him and house him, he came across the bible. He opened the book to the passage James 4:7 "Humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Hamilton memorized and changed from this passage, along with his love for life and family.
This story is absolutely amazing. The events that he went through in his 4 year slump of drugs and alcohol were unreal. Spending nearly 2 million on drugs alone, and bartering off his wife's wedding rings for drugs shows how he was below rock bottom. He is now back at the top of major league baseball and has a story to tell that nobody should ever have to experience. He is an inspiration to many people and a great role model.
Since this book is a sport biography I think it would be hard to recommend in school or do read alouds. It is about his faith in the God and how it saved him; which makes it religious and not able to make others read. I would highly recommend this book, especially to fans of Josh Hamilton. This book is about a mans life at its highest point, reaching the lowest of lows, and making a comeback to be the best once again. It is truly inspiring and is a must read for all sports fans.
I would like to show this book to my son. He is a major sports nut and loves to study athletes.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to your hesitations about having it in the classroom because of the religious aspect, I would agree with you that it would not be an ideal read aloud because of different religious beliefs. However, you could still have it in your classroom library depending on the age that you end up teaching. It is good to be conscious of and respectful of varying beliefs in a public school setting though.
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