CRACKING THE BELL

A troubled Wisconsin teenager finds solid ground and grievous injury alike on the gridiron.

If a whole family could be said to suffer from PTSD it would be Isaiah’s, devastated by sudden, violent deaths. Bad friends and behavior have seemingly locked him in a downward spiral—until his parents offer a choice of football or a group home. In football, Isaiah not only finds salutary physical and mental challenges, but a perfect outlet for the destructive tendencies driven by his rage and grief. When the latest in a series of concussions leaves him struggling to cover up some scary symptoms, though, an agonizing dilemma presents itself: to walk away from both commitments to teammates and the source of his prized, hard-won stability or to stay on and risk permanent damage? By surrounding Isaiah with a supporting cast that, from ineffectual parents to clueless coaches and an alcoholic former girlfriend, seems notably weak on “support” potential, Herbach (Hooper, 2018, etc.) gives his conflicted narrator agency to make his own decision…but also sets up a climactic round of revelations and confessions that reveal those individuals to be less feeble than he supposed. Along with tackling the deadly hazards of concussions, this novel offers a bulletin to readers facing life-altering changes, telling them that they might not have to go through them alone. A lack of physical descriptions points to a white default. Backmatter not seen.

Provocative entry centered on a sizzling topic.