Football forms the backbone, but music courses through the veins of a dynamic but thoughtful novel of self-discovery
First-generation rich boy Jack is shipped off to prestigious Oakhurst Hall, where he makes varsity football as a walk-on, molds potheads into a recording-worthy band, wows teachers with his insightful writing and meets the intriguing Caroline—but Jack’s a teen, so there’s plenty of angst and self-analysis, too.
Even with mom long-gone to do “good work” in Guatemala (apparently unconcerned about “the work she hasn’t finished” in raising her son), a father obsessed with work, a kind but inexperienced stepmother, and little home support for his loves of music and running, Jack knows he has more going for him than most. But he’s still a teen away from home facing life-altering decisions: bulk up through weightlifting alone, or try steroids? Go with Dad’s “try harder than the people on each side of you” competitive advice or his coach’s “[you’re] playing for the men on each side of you” message? Buck school tradition, or go along to get along? The compressed time frame (football season) and deep bench of characters necessitate skimming over profound development, but the pace is fast and the writing clean, entertaining and candid. An appealing mix of teen confusion and potential, Jack’s greatest threat is his ’roid-raging teammates’ late hits, but a happy outcome is never really in doubt.
Football forms the backbone, but music courses through the veins of a dynamic but thoughtful novel of self-discovery .(Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25055-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Unabashedly didactic, but moving nonetheless.
A slacker learns life lessons from a slam-poet classmate in an inspiring if overly optimistic school story.
Grunge-rock devotee Sam has been trying to avoid the attention of teachers and other students ever since his mom left town two years earlier. Then the equally quiet Luis Cárdenas arrives in Sam’s English class, and meddlesome Ms. Cassidy seats the two of them together. Rumors fly about Luis: His brother is an infamous gangster, and there is a mean-looking scar on Luis’ neck. Sam doesn’t see Luis’ true colors until Ms. Cassidy announces that the class will have a poetry slam. Luis not only throws himself into creating a poem, he inspires Sam to do the same. The boys’ sudden, unmitigated enthusiasm for a school project may be hard to swallow, but there is something infectiously hopeful in Luis’ devotion to poetry, as well as in the inspiration Sam takes from old footage of Kurt Cobain. When Luis disappears after a gang fight, Sam, once a loner, teams up with classmates, teachers, neighbors and old friends to find out what has happened. Short, punchy sentences, paragraphs and chapters give the novel’s prose a sense of motion, and Luis’ poems, interspersed with the narrative, give readers added insight into Luis’ character.
Unabashedly didactic, but moving nonetheless. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9514-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Here’s hoping Watson’s teen debut will be followed by many more.
The summer before Maya and Nikki’s senior year of high school brings new challenges as their previously all-black neighborhood becomes attractive to other ethnic groups.
The twins, while still close, have been changing in recent years and now find they have very different views about the changes. Nikki is delighted with improvements in their surroundings, but Maya is concerned they come at too steep a price. When their best friend’s family is displaced, the rift deepens: Maya wants to maintain their connection to Essence, while Nikki has become close to newcomer Kate. Nikki may even be abandoning their long-held plan to attend Spelman College together. Their new principal appears willing to sacrifice many of the traditions the African-American students hold dear. And though Maya and Devin are a long-established couple, Maya finds herself drawn to Kate’s brother, Tony, despite her misgivings about interracial dating. Eventually, the students find a way to reach across the divides and honor the community’s past while embracing its changing present. Maya’s straightforward narration offers an intriguing look at how families and young people cope with community and personal change. Maya and her friends are well-drawn, successful characters surrounded by a realistic adult supporting cast. Readers may be surprised to find this multicultural story set in Portland, Oregon, but that just adds to its distinctive appeal.
Here’s hoping Watson’s teen debut will be followed by many more. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5999-0668-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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