REVIEW: Boy21 by Matthew Quick

Title: Boy21

Author: Matthew Quick

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: March 5, 2012

Pages: 250

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:  Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in gray, broken Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish Mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, he takes care of his disabled grandfather, and at school he’s called “White Rabbit”, the only white kid on the varsity basketball team. He’s always dreamed of getting out somehow with his girlfriend, Erin. But until then, when he puts on his number 21, everything seems to make sense.

Russ has just moved to the neighborhood. A former teen basketball phenom from a privileged home, his life has been turned upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he now answers only to the name Boy21—his former jersey number—and has an unusual obsession with outer space.

As their final year of high school brings these two boys together, “Boy21” may turn out to be the answer they both need.

Review: This book has been on my radar for awhile - I’ve seen it on other bloggers’ lists, I know of other teachers who use it for a read aloud - and, yet, I’ve never picked it up. When I saw it on the 2106 Abe Lincoln list, I decided now was the time to read this book - I am SO glad I did! Since having Ella, reading hasn’t been a focus for me; Boy21 is the first book I’ve read, start to finish, in one day since becoming a mom.

I’m not quite sure what it is that drew me so completely into the story: the characters, the storyline, or the ease of the writing. I know I started the book because of the plot. I have a lot of boy readers that always want sports books. Admittedly, this is a reading gap of mine. When I saw Boy21 focused on basketball, I knew this could be a great recommendation for some of my students. Yes, it is about basketball. It’s a common thread throughout the book. But, really, this book goes WELL beyond sports (like how Winger isn’t really a book about rugby). As a reader, you feel compassion, you feel uncomfortable, you feel stunned...it’s all there.

Quick gets the reader to feel so many feels through his beautifully developed characters. I know I want a friend like Finley. Someone who will do anything for you even when he doesn’t want to. Someone who is unspeakably loyal and loves what he loves so fiercely. And, Russ/Boy21? My heart breaks for him. When you see his heartbreak on the page, you can’t do anything but want to reach in and wrap him up in a hug.

So, even though this book appeals to the sports crowd, it goes well beyond that. It teaches the reader about people, about how we handle tragedies that might come out way. Would you be like Finely and erase them from your memory, or would you be like Russ and create another world for you to exist in? Either way, we need to think about what those around us are going through before we jump to conclusions - that’s what Quick teaches us through his novel.

Who Should Read It? This book appeals to many different readers. I know my sports readers will pick this one up because of the basketball thread, but I also know fans of realistic fiction (like myself) will fly through this book. It has tension (you don’t really know Finley’s story until the very end), it has great characters, and it is a quick read - a perfect combination for readers of all kinds.

REVIEW: Winger by Andrew Smith

Title: Winger

Author: Andrew Smith Website Twitter Facebook

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Release Date: May 14, 2013

Pages: 448

Buy It! amazon

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn info-graphics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking.

First Thoughts: Wow! Just WOW!

I’m writing this review weeks after finishing the book - not something I normally like to do. I’ve let this review just sit here; I don’t feel like I can perfectly formulate what I want to say, and I want to do this book justice, because WOW does it deserve it! Winger left me uplifted and yet heartbroken, it made me laugh and then cry, it left a serious imprint on my soul. My review cannot possibly do this book justice, and I’m just going to have to be okay with that.

This book is just so honest and real (something you don’t always get, even in entertaining and well-written young adult fiction). Plus, it’s not pretty; everything doesn’t fit perfectly together, and it’s definitely not tied up in a pretty bow at the end. Hence, the reality of the story. Life isn’t perfect, life isn’t pretty, and everything doesn’t resolve nicely even though our studied plot diagram would have us believe so. Smith beautifully writes in unexpected turns, lost friendships, terrible but understandable decisions and frustrating (for the reader) conclusions. Again, real life.

As for the ending, it’s heartbreaking. Smith, through his narrator - Ryan Dean, had me literally laughing out loud for the first 90% of the book (I got some weird looks from my husband and dog). Then all of a sudden...BAM! Heart officially broken. To be honest, this really upset me at first. I was so angry; why couldn’t it end tied up in a nice pretty bow? I stewed on it for days. Even though I LOVED the book and immediately recommended it to every single student, my broken heart wouldn’t mend. Then, a few days later, I realized how necessary the ending is to Smith’s story. Would it have been a wonderful book without the tear-shedding moment at the end? Absolutely! Would it have been a powerful book with a lasting, oh-so-important message for readers? No, it wouldn’t. I get it, I appreciate it, and honestly, it makes me love the book even more (although, admittedly, not at first).

As for that laugh-out-loud narrator, Ryan Dean? Add him to my list of all-time favorite fictional characters! I LOVE Ryan Dean. He’s funny yet sensitive. He’s loveable yet infuriating (I mean seriously, stick to Annie and Annie alone!). And, holy cow is he all boy; I think I learned more about the fourteen year-old “boy brain” than I ever needed to know! He dreams about girls (a lot) but is afraid to even kiss the girl he likes. He draws sometimes inappropriate sketches and cartoons on his homework and yet he is completely fine passing them to friends (even when they are the subjects of the cartoons). He is a narrator I won’t soon forget and one I loved reading and rooting for.

Although I could go on-and-on about my love for this book (while still not doing it justice), just two small side notes. One: I liked the sports aspect of the rugby team; many of the guys don’t like each other as people, but they will stand up for and defend each other until the end of time. Two: if Ryan Dean is my favorite character, Joey is an extremely close second; every crazy boy, like Ryan Dean, needs a voice of reason, like Joey, for a best friend.

Final Thoughts: It’s just a special book. Simple as that. Special.

Who Should Read It? Everyone! I enjoyed this book so much, and I really truly think everyone else will too. More specifically though, I plan to get this book into as many boys’ hands as possible. It’s a book that speaks to everyone, but I so often struggle to find the perfect boy narrator- this is it.

REVIEW: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Title: I Hunt Killers

Author: Barry Lyga Website Twitter Facebook

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Pages: 384

Buy It! amazon

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

First Thoughts: Very Dexter Morgan-esque! I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of sociopaths and murderers (my guilty pleasure is anything on the ID channel - Snapped, Dateline, etc...), and this book did not disappoint! In fact, it might have made my dark obsession a little bit worse.

As a fan of all things dark, twisted, and sociopathic (my television choices are evidence of this) I knew I had to get my hands on this book as soon as I saw it on this year’s Abe Lincoln list, plus, it’s book trailer is pretty fantastic. Well, after reading it, I can say that it belongs on that list for a reason - so good!

I love the characters in this book, which is probably why I like the story so much. Jasper “Jazz” Dent is the perfect lead for this storyline. His conflicted feelings - sociopath or not -  make him seem so real. And, although I’m sure he would hate to hear this, he is heartbreaking; the way he was raised, the way the town looks at him, the way his Grandma weighs on his mind - seriously heartbreaking. Plus, everyone else can see the goodness in him except himself. How can he be a sociopath when he questions it with every move and decision he makes? Not only is Jazz a great lead, but he has the perfect sidekick in his best friend Howie. Loved him! He provides the perfect amount of humor to an otherwise dark book.

This book is definitely dark; I mean, the premise surrounds a boy who was raised by a father who brutally murdered 123 people. This book is not necessarily for the faint of heart. The descriptions of the murders are somewhat graphic and gory, although they are described in a very clinical CSI-like way. Plus, every few chapters or so, we get the killer’s point of view. It’s creepy to read how detached the killer is from what he’s doing - definitely a sociopath, unlike Jazz.

I will admit I had a hard time with the beginning of the book. I found myself having to reread a lot of the police lingo and crime-scene jargon, but after about chapter three, I could not put the book down (I even stayed up late on a school night to finish it - you know it has to be good for me to give up some much-needed sleep).

Final Thoughts: A fantastic and much-needed young adult crime novel! A thrilling page-turner that surprised me up until the very end.

Who Should Read It? Crime, mystery, and thriller fans - move this to the top of your To-Be-Read list.  It’s action-packed from the very beginning, features relatable characters, and is extremely hard to predict (even for a good predictor like myself). I had no idea it’s part of a series, but I look forward to book two - Game. And, boys, this one’s right up your alley (not to stereotype, because I also loved this book, but I always have a hard time recommending to boys).