Odessa is a small town in Texas that obsesses over their school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star fullback, Boobie Miles is gravely injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and all the pressure is placed on the new, inspiring head coach, Gary Gaines to bring the team back to their former glory. The book written by H. G. Bissinger is based on a true story about a Town, a Team, and a Dream, and it follows the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team as they make a run towards the state championship. 

The character I found to be most interesting and inspiring was Jerrod McDougal. This is due to his work ethic, and his love for the sport of football. Jerrod is a somewhat undersized offensive tackle, only measuring in at 5’9. He had sacrificed a lot to attend Permian high school, problems ranging leaving his father’s oil company and family affected him majorly, but he didn’t sit around feeling sorry for himself – he went to work, and although he knows he is too small to play at the college level, he still practices several times a day to bring himself to an advantage over his opposition. This gives us a better sense of the character, and individuals within the audience are able to relate to him and his situation to a much greater degree, compared to any other viewers. 

One of the messages I took away from this book is to just keep moving through life with the right mindset and to keep working hard. I can partly relate to Jerrod McDougal, as I am also undersized in the position I play in within my sport, but having a reasonably positive attitude benefits your well being greatly, as you are looking towards the future and how you’re going to be the best you can be rather than dwelling on the past and your flaws and not doing anything about it. I’m sure other people could bring in and build up confidence and positive attitude within their lives, so they’re able to keep moving forward, fast or slow, and under minor or even horrible circumstances. “ I’m a firm believer in you can do anything you put your mind to, and yourself, you, I believe you can do anything you put your mind to.” is a quote from the book that I believe backs up the message I took away from the book, as it basically means to just not give up and keep moving through life’s challenges.

Jerrod had to face some major challenges over the course of the book – varying from his family’s oil company collapsing, moving out, and far from home, and being undersized and overlooked in his position of football. As a result of this, he became depressed for a short while and had very little contact with anyone outside his inner circle of family and friends. He did nothing most days, but when football season came around he began to attend training where he met new friends. They all had the same goals and positive attitudes – so he surrounded himself with this. This pulled him out of the reasonably dark stage he was in, and made him happy.

The title of this book does not have as much meaning to it as the other books do in my opinion. Friday night lights are mentioned almost nowhere in the novel and the only clear relationship I can see is when the football team plays on Friday nights.

Personally, I would recommend this novel to teens of all ages and also adults ( 14yrs + )

This is for people that enjoy sport, and a great storyline. As I explained before, it is relatable to many people, on many different levels (pressure, expectations etc..). This book is full of action and humour.  Whether you enjoy the sport or not, I encourage more people to read this book, as it gives us an insight into the people that are actually in this situation (jobs, schooling, etc…) Once again I really enjoyed this book and hope to read it again someday.