Book about Arlee basketball wins Montana Book Award

The 2021 Montana Book Award winner is “Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana,” by Abe Streep, published by Celadon Books.

The annual award recognizes literary and/or artistic excellence in a book written or illustrated by someone who lives in Montana, is set in Montana, or deals with Montana themes or issues. Presentations and a reception for the winning authors will take place on Aug. 3 during the Montana Library Association Conference in Missoula.

“Brothers on Three” centers on the community of Arlee, home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and tells the tale of a remarkable group of young people who also happen to be remarkable basketball players. It follows Will Mesteth Jr. and Phillip Malatar, starters for the Arlee Warriors, 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.