Subtle, nuanced, and full of heart
A coming-of-age story about a teen who gets the first—and only—start of his football career when their star quarterback is badly injured a week before a championship game.
Zeb, an exceptionally well-mannered small-town high school senior who lives in a cramped camper, is thrust into the spotlight and a leadership role when the quarterback that Zeb’s backed up all through school, phenom T.T. (one of the only black kids in the primarily white school), is injured a week before the New Hampshire state championship game. An eccentric white teacher who carries a coup stick, both challenging and reinforcing myriad Native stereotypes, challenges Zeb to think about why football’s such a big deal, likening performance in the game to counting coup. The adults in Zeb’s life—his hardworking single mother, his gruff-but-good uncle, his enigmatic-yet-fallible football coach—are complex characters that he sees through new eyes as he figures out the kind of person he will be, on and off the field. Lyrical turns of phrase are balanced by Zeb’s frames of reference, and testicular-related, profane masculine posturing is balanced by heartfelt speeches from the coach. The plot has no direct villains, the slow-boil tension building anticipation with potential obstacles to Zeb’s playing, working its way up to the big game, which plays the themes out beautifully.
Subtle, nuanced, and full of heart . (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-53122-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
IN THE NEWS
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful.
A college-bound teen with cerebral palsy learns to advocate for herself.
Even though her friends are buzzing about senior year and their college plans, Greek American Euphemia Galanos can’t muster the same enthusiasm. For Effie, an aspiring journalist, choosing a college is fraught with additional variables: Are the dorms wheelchair accessible? How easily can she navigate campus? Such concerns threaten to derail her dream of attending New York’s prestigious Prospect University, home to an excellent journalism program…and the choice of her crush, Wilder. As if Effie doesn’t have enough on her plate, she faces discrimination from Mill City High’s administration—and this time, her mother insists she manage things herself. But Effie isn’t used to speaking up, and her efforts go awry. How can she show her mom she can handle moving from Minnesota to New York if she can’t be assertive? And will she ever get the chance to tell Wilder how she feels? Forrest, also a wheelchair user with CP, explores the role of media representation in developing self-confidence and refreshingly highlights the importance of disabled peers. Readers will appreciate Effie’s conflicted, insightful introspection and appraisals of her options; those who struggle to speak up will empathize as she finds her voice. Supportive friends and family and a sweet romance add warmth. Wilder reads White; there’s some racial diversity among the supporting cast members.
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781338813838
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)
In the three years following Eden’s brutal rape by her brother’s best friend, Kevin, she descends into anger, isolation, and promiscuity.
Eden’s silence about the assault is cemented by both Kevin’s confident assurance that if she tells anyone, “No one will ever believe you. You know that. No one. Not ever,” and a chillingly believable death threat. For the remainder of Eden’s freshman year, she withdraws from her family and becomes increasingly full of hatred for Kevin and the world she feels failed to protect her. But when a friend mentions that she’s “reinventing” herself, Eden embarks on a hopeful plan to do the same. She begins her sophomore year with new clothes and friendly smiles for her fellow students, which attract the romantic attentions of a kind senior athlete. But, bizarrely, Kevin’s younger sister goes on a smear campaign to label Eden a “totally slutty disgusting whore,” which sends Eden back toward self-destruction. Eden narrates in a tightly focused present tense how she withdraws again from nearly everyone and attempts to find comfort (or at least oblivion) through a series of nearly anonymous sexual encounters. This self-centeredness makes her relationships with other characters feel underdeveloped and even puzzling at times. Absent ethnic and cultural markers, Eden and her family and classmates are likely default white.
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4935-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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