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Small town main street with a theater in a sunset.

1980s Texas Coming-of-Age

Feel Like You're Growing Up,
Dreaming Big, and
Living It Again

Jason Curlee writes character-driven fiction about small-town Texas, Friday night lights, the dream of something bigger, and the feelings back when things were slower. If you love Friday Night Lights or One Tree Hill for the people, not the scoreboard, you're home. Start with Beyond the Goalposts: Junior Year, the first book in a nostalgic 1980s Texas coming-of-age series.

"I felt like I was back in high school. It gave me a Friday Night Lights / One Tree Hill vibe." — April T.

The short story Fifty Feet From The Fire by Jason Curlee. A short story for the novels Beyond The Goalposts.

Get a Free Story from the Beyond the Goalposts World

Before you buy the book, spend one wild night in Edna.

Get two free stories from the Beyond the Goalposts world, including a lost chapter unavailable anywhere else.

Step Into the Beyond the Goalposts World

If you love Friday Night Lights or One Tree Hill for the people more than the scoreboard, the Beyond the Goalposts world follows Matt Garrett and Amber Brown through 1980s Texas football, high school hallways, first love, friendship, family pressure, old regrets, and the choices that follow you long after the lights go out.

Book cover for Beyond the Goalposts Book One: Junior Year by Jason Curlee. Features a dramatic, high-contrast silhouette of a high school football player holding a helmet and football, standing under bright golden stadium lights.
Book cover for Beyond the Goalposts Book Two: Edge of Almost by Jason Curlee. Features the clean silhouettes of a football player and a cheerleader standing side-by-side against a vibrant deep blue background lit by stadium lights.
Book cover for Between the Bells: 1986 First Semester by Jason Curlee. Features a nostalgic green high school chalkboard with white chalk drawings of five teenage friends smiling, surrounded by retro 1980s text doodles.

START HERE

THE SECOND BOOK

THE COMPANION BOOK

More Than a Football Story

It's about the dream of something bigger than the town you came from and what it costs to chase it to get out.

For readers searching for books like Friday Night Lights, The Breakfast Club, Saved by the Bell, or One Tree Hill, the Beyond the Goalposts world is built for you. Matt Garrett and Amber Brown’s story moves through 1980s Texas football, high school hallways, love, friendship, family pressure, old regrets, and the choices that change everything.

Football players walking out onto a field before a game with their helmets off.

THE FIELD

Friday night lights, team pressure, locker rooms, coaches, wins, losses, and the weight of being the person everyone expects you to be.

Students walking in a hallway at school.

THE HALLWAYS

Classroom rumors, friendships, first love, old grudges, and the moments that shape Matt and Amber when the game is nowhere in sight.

The two main characters from Beyond the Goalposts standing by a Buick Regal at sunset.

THE AFTERMATH

Parking lots, kitchen tables, quiet regrets, second chances, and the choices that stay with Matt and Amber long after the lights go out.

About Jason

Jason Curlee grew up under the Friday night lights of Edna, Texas. He's a former college football player turned teacher, coach, and author. He writes 1980s small-town coming-of-age stories about the people behind the performance.

Jason Curlee in a red shirt with a city in the background

Get in Touch

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