It's not a jock book. It's not a sociology book. It's a storybook about modern society, ancient virtues, and the power of love, money and talent to do a little good." -- Jay Hancock, Baltimore Sun

One day Michael Oher will be among the most highly paid athletes in the National Football League. When we first meet him, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.

This paperback edition contains a brand-new 2007 afterword.