
State
A Team, A Triumph, A Transformation
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Melissa Isaacson
-
By:
-
Melissa Isaacson
About this listen
Set against a backdrop of social change during the 1970s, State is a compelling first-person account of what it was like to live through both traditional gender discrimination in sports and the joy of the very first days of equality - or at least the closest that one high school girls’ basketball team ever came to it.
In 1975, freshman Melissa Isaacson - along with a group of other girls who’d spent summers with their noses pressed against the fences of Little League ball fields, unable to play - entered Niles West High School in suburban Chicago with one goal: make a team, any team. For Missy, that turned out to be the basketball team.
Title IX had passed just three years earlier, prohibiting gender discrimination in education programs or activities, including athletics. As a result, states like Illinois began implementing varsity competition - and state tournaments - for girls’ high school sports.
At the time, Missy and her teammates didn’t really understand the legislation. All they knew was they finally had opportunities - to play, to learn, to sweat, to lose, to win - and an identity: they were athletes. They were a team.
And in 1979, they became state champions.
With the intimate insights of the girl who lived it, the pacing of a born storyteller, and the painstaking reporting of a veteran sports journalist, Isaacson chronicles one high school team’s journey to the state championship. In doing so, Isaacson shows us how a group of "tomboys" found themselves and each other, and how basketball rescued them from their collective frustrations and troubled homes, and forever altered the course of their lives.
©2019 Melissa Isaacson (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
What Winners Won't Tell You
- Lessons from a Legendary Defender
- By: Malcolm Jenkins
- Narrated by: Malcolm Jenkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the course of his thirteen-year NFL career, the now retired defensive back’s triumphs extend beyond that on the football field. As a successful entrepreneur, he has seen the blossoming of his business ventures with an eponymous company, Malcolm Inc., and a media conglomerate called Listen Up Media. As a philanthropist, he strives to make a positive difference in the lives of young people in underserved communities through The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation.
-
-
Love for his daughters opinion
- By John B. on 03-08-25
By: Malcolm Jenkins
-
The Last Great Game
- Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball
- By: Gene Wojciechowski
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
March 28, 1992. The final of the NCAA East Regional, Duke vs. Kentucky. Millions could say they witnessed the greatest game and the greatest shot in the history of college basketball. But it wasn't just the final play - an 80-foot inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left in overtime - that made Duke's 104-103 victory so memorable. Each player and coach arrived at that point with a unique story to tell. In The Last Great Game, ESPN columnist Gene Wojciechowski turns the game we think we remember into a drama filled with suspense, humor, revelations, and reverberations.
-
-
A great book about a great game
- By Hebern on 02-02-21
-
Inseparable
- How Family and Sacrifice Forged a Path to the NFL
- By: Shaquem Griffin, Shaquill Griffin, Mark Schlabach
- Narrated by: James Shippy, Marc Samuel
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Inseparable, much more than a sports memoir, Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin share the previously untold details of the powerful and inspiring story behind the modern NFL’s first one-handed player and his twin brother’s unrelenting devotion, sacrifice, and love. It’s the story of Shaquem’s understanding of God’s purpose for his life - to inspire others to stop being afraid and to stop making excuses - and his family’s unwavering support in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Alex Hostetler on 10-25-19
By: Shaquem Griffin, and others
-
No Excuses
- The Making of a Head Coach
- By: Bob Stoops, Gene Wojciechowski
- Narrated by: Bob Stoops
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Stoops's journey from player to struggling graduate assistant to legendary head coach, it becomes clear that his dedication to football is about far more than the sport itself. Big Game Bob, as he is known by adorning Sooners, made a name for himself not only by rebuilding the OU football program and leading the team to multiple conference championships but also by adhering to a strong set of principles at a time when corruption was rampant across the NCAA.
-
-
What a Story!
- By Teacher 4832 on 05-07-20
By: Bob Stoops, and others
-
The Blind Side
- Evolution of a Game
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we first meet the young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story, he is one of 13 children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or any of the things a child might learn in school. And he has no serious experience playing organized football.
-
-
Another great book by Michael Lewis
- By Leland on 03-20-11
By: Michael Lewis
-
Darkness to Light
- A Memoir
- By: Lamar Odom, Chris Palmer - contributor
- Narrated by: Chris Palmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world knows Lamar Odom as a two-time NBA world champion who rocketed to uncharted heights of fame thanks to being a member of both the storied Los Angeles Lakers and the ubiquitous Kardashian empire. But who is Lamar, really? Fans have long praised his accessibility and genuine everyman quality - he is a blinding talent who has suffered a series of heartaches, setback, and loss.
-
-
Horrible choice of the narrator
- By Tdub on 07-14-19
By: Lamar Odom, and others
-
What Winners Won't Tell You
- Lessons from a Legendary Defender
- By: Malcolm Jenkins
- Narrated by: Malcolm Jenkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the course of his thirteen-year NFL career, the now retired defensive back’s triumphs extend beyond that on the football field. As a successful entrepreneur, he has seen the blossoming of his business ventures with an eponymous company, Malcolm Inc., and a media conglomerate called Listen Up Media. As a philanthropist, he strives to make a positive difference in the lives of young people in underserved communities through The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation.
-
-
Love for his daughters opinion
- By John B. on 03-08-25
By: Malcolm Jenkins
-
The Last Great Game
- Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball
- By: Gene Wojciechowski
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
March 28, 1992. The final of the NCAA East Regional, Duke vs. Kentucky. Millions could say they witnessed the greatest game and the greatest shot in the history of college basketball. But it wasn't just the final play - an 80-foot inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds left in overtime - that made Duke's 104-103 victory so memorable. Each player and coach arrived at that point with a unique story to tell. In The Last Great Game, ESPN columnist Gene Wojciechowski turns the game we think we remember into a drama filled with suspense, humor, revelations, and reverberations.
-
-
A great book about a great game
- By Hebern on 02-02-21
-
Inseparable
- How Family and Sacrifice Forged a Path to the NFL
- By: Shaquem Griffin, Shaquill Griffin, Mark Schlabach
- Narrated by: James Shippy, Marc Samuel
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Inseparable, much more than a sports memoir, Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin share the previously untold details of the powerful and inspiring story behind the modern NFL’s first one-handed player and his twin brother’s unrelenting devotion, sacrifice, and love. It’s the story of Shaquem’s understanding of God’s purpose for his life - to inspire others to stop being afraid and to stop making excuses - and his family’s unwavering support in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Alex Hostetler on 10-25-19
By: Shaquem Griffin, and others
-
No Excuses
- The Making of a Head Coach
- By: Bob Stoops, Gene Wojciechowski
- Narrated by: Bob Stoops
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Stoops's journey from player to struggling graduate assistant to legendary head coach, it becomes clear that his dedication to football is about far more than the sport itself. Big Game Bob, as he is known by adorning Sooners, made a name for himself not only by rebuilding the OU football program and leading the team to multiple conference championships but also by adhering to a strong set of principles at a time when corruption was rampant across the NCAA.
-
-
What a Story!
- By Teacher 4832 on 05-07-20
By: Bob Stoops, and others
-
The Blind Side
- Evolution of a Game
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we first meet the young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story, he is one of 13 children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or any of the things a child might learn in school. And he has no serious experience playing organized football.
-
-
Another great book by Michael Lewis
- By Leland on 03-20-11
By: Michael Lewis
-
Darkness to Light
- A Memoir
- By: Lamar Odom, Chris Palmer - contributor
- Narrated by: Chris Palmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world knows Lamar Odom as a two-time NBA world champion who rocketed to uncharted heights of fame thanks to being a member of both the storied Los Angeles Lakers and the ubiquitous Kardashian empire. But who is Lamar, really? Fans have long praised his accessibility and genuine everyman quality - he is a blinding talent who has suffered a series of heartaches, setback, and loss.
-
-
Horrible choice of the narrator
- By Tdub on 07-14-19
By: Lamar Odom, and others
-
In the Blink of an Eye
- An Autobiography
- By: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Nick Chiles - contributor
- Narrated by: Corey Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is perhaps most well-known for being exiled from the league for praying—instead of standing and saluting the flag–during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games throughout the 1995-96 season. Abdul-Rauf’s protest sent shockwaves through the NBA that can still be felt today. With wit and candor, Abdul-Rauf tells the story of how he rose to the top of his game—only to have his career taken away in the blink of an eye when he stood up for his principles.
-
-
The Truth behind the legend!
- By Terry Conry on 12-03-22
By: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and others
-
One Life
- By: Megan Rapinoe, Emma Brockes
- Narrated by: Megan Rapinoe
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Megan Rapinoe, Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women's World Cup champion, reveals for the first time her life both on and off the field. Guided by her personal journey into social justice, brimming with humor, humanity, and joy, she urges all of us to ask ourselves, What will you do with your one life?
-
-
inspiring autobiography
- By Christine Nunez on 11-18-20
By: Megan Rapinoe, and others
-
Overtime
- Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football
- By: John U. Bacon
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past year, John U. Bacon has received unprecedented access to Jim Harbaugh’s University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes. Overtime captures this storied program at the crossroads, as the sport’s winningest team battles to reclaim its former glory. But what if the price of success today comes at the cost of your soul? Do you pay it, or compete without compromising?
-
-
Good story.... but
- By Amazon Customer on 10-07-19
By: John U. Bacon
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
-
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
-
All the Way
- My Life in Four Quarters
- By: Joe Namath, Don Yaeger - contributor, Sean Mortimer - contributor
- Narrated by: Joe Namath
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three days before the 1969 Super Bowl, Joe Namath promised the nation that he would lead the New York Jets to an 18-point underdog victory against the seemingly invincible Baltimore Colts. When the final whistle blew, that promise had been kept. Namath was instantly heralded as a gridiron god, while his rugged good looks, progressive views on race, and boyish charm quickly transformed him - in an era of raucous rebellion, shifting social norms, and political upheaval - into both a bona fide celebrity and a symbol of the commercialization of pro sports.
-
-
My childhood hero.
- By Audiobookaddict1 on 05-15-19
By: Joe Namath, and others
-
The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality
- By: Mike Sielski
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson, Mike Sielski
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kobe Bryant’s death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.
-
-
I didn’t think I would learn a life lesson…
- By TE on 01-25-22
By: Mike Sielski
-
Unguarded
- By: Scottie Pippen, Michael Arkush
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scottie Pippen has been called one of the greatest NBA players for good reason. Simply put, without Pippen, there are no championship banners - let alone six - hanging from the United Center rafters. There’s no Last Dance documentary. There’s no “Michael Jordan” as we know him. The 1990s Chicago Bulls teams would not exist as we know them. So how did the youngest of 12 go from growing up poor in the small town of Hamburg, Arkansas, enduring two family tragedies along the way, to become a revered NBA legend?
-
-
Unfortunate
- By Lisa A Bartruff on 11-22-21
By: Scottie Pippen, and others
-
The Sixth Man
- A Memoir
- By: Andre Iguodala, Carvell Wallace
- Narrated by: Sullivan Jones, Andre Iguodala
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The standout memoir from NBA powerhouse Andre Iguodala, the indomitable sixth man of the champion Golden State Warriors. Andre Iguodala is one of the most admired players in the NBA. And fresh off the Warriors’ third NBA championship in the last four years, his game has never been stronger. Off the court, Iguodala has earned respect, too - for his successful tech investments, his philanthropy, and increasingly for his contributions to the conversation about race in America.
-
-
Lost its legs in the 4th
- By JKay on 07-08-19
By: Andre Iguodala, and others
-
The Back Roads to March
- The Unsung, Unheralded, and Unknown Heroes of a College Basketball Season
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Feinstein has already taken listeners into the inner circles of top college basketball programs in The Legends Club. This time, Feinstein pulls back the curtain on college basketball's lesser-known Cinderella stories - the smaller programs who no one expects to win, who have no chance of attracting the most coveted high school recruits, who rarely send their players on to the NBA. Feinstein follows a handful of players, coaches, and schools who dream, not of winning the NCAA tournament but of making it past their first or second round games.
-
-
A love letter to college basketball
- By Hebern on 01-27-22
By: John Feinstein
-
Three Ring Circus
- Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the history of modern sport, there have never been two high-level teammates who loathed each other the way Shaquille O’Neal loathed Kobe Bryant and Kobe Bryant loathed Shaquille O’Neal. From public sniping and sparring, to physical altercations and the repeated threats of trade, it was warfare. And yet, despite eight years of infighting and hostility, by turns mediated and encouraged by coach Phil Jackson, the Shaq-Kobe duo resulted in one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.
-
-
Ok I've finished it and have more thoughts
- By Bobby S on 09-24-20
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
Brothers on Three
- A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana
- By: Abe Streep
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Brothers on Three, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches, and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future. Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, about state championships and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood, finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.
-
-
Reservation disadvantages
- By Barb on 10-27-23
By: Abe Streep
-
The Boys of Dunbar
- A Story of Love, Hope, and Basketball
- By: Alejandro Danois
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the crack epidemic swept across inner-city America in the early 1980s, the streets of Baltimore were crime ridden. For poor kids from the housing projects, the future looked bleak. But basketball could provide the quickest ticket out, an opportunity to earn a college scholarship and perhaps even play in the NBA. Dunbar High School had one of the most successful basketball programs, not only in Baltimore but in the entire country, and in the early 1980s, the Dunbar Poets were arguably the best high school team ever.
-
-
the talk of how the players grew up with one another
- By Anonymous User on 10-08-24
By: Alejandro Danois
What listeners say about State
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joe Brennan
- 10-24-22
Basketball Transforming Girls' Lives
Just finished a wonderful book by former Niles West student and professional sports writer, Melissa Isaacson! I laughed and I cried as she led me down memory lane. And though my wife and I and 6 month old baby followed the team closely - even down to Champaign for the state championship games, I really didn't know the half of it. Definitely the best after school pick up games in my days at Niles West were playing with and against these girls. And their hard work and success made the path to starting girls interscholastic soccer at Niles West the following spring an express lane super highway that led to recognition by the state of Illinois for a state tournament. Niles West even hosted the first two IHSA recognized state tournaments after hosting our own "unofficial" state tournaments for a couple of years beforehand. It's been wonderful to watch "Earl's Girls" grow up and stick together. This book is a great read about the dawning of interscholastic girls sports and the transformative power of being able to compete for your school. It's definitely not "just" a sports book. Great job of reporting and storytelling, Missy!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!