Gold Star Review - Boy21

Boy21 
by Matthew Quick

You can lose yourself in repetition--quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of this at a very young age.

Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in broken-down Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, his dad works nights, and Finley is left to take care of his disabled grandfather alone. He's always dreamed of getting out someday, but until he can, putting on that number 21 jersey makes everything seem okay.

Russ has just moved to the neighborhood, and the life of this teen basketball phenom has been turned upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he won't pick up a basketball, but answers only to the name Boy21--taken from his former jersey number.

As their final year of high school brings these two boys together, a unique friendship may turn out to be the answer they both need. (Description from Amazon.com) 

This is a book that I never would have picked up without prompting.  It's got a sort-of unappealing cover, it's about basketball and boys that live in a not-so-nice neighborhood. Not my normal type of book. Am I glad, however, that I was forced to pick this one up? YES! 

I sat down to read this and I won't lie, I was pretty much figuring I'd hate it. Instead I found myself totally absorbed, unable to put the book down until long after my regular bedtime, even as my eyes were fighting me, wanting to close.  There is something about the tone of this book that hits it just right.  The story is powerful and haunting and absolutely, heartbreakingly believable.  I finished this book and immediately started recommending it the next day....to think I thought I'd hate it, LOL! 

Yes, there is violence, and yes, it's definitely a book for more mature YA/Adult readers, but I don't think there's a person out there who wouldn't find something in this book relatable or compelling once they started it. Please ignore the cover. Please trust me.  This is an excellent book and I am most definitely awarding it a GOLD STAR. 

Full Disclosure: Borrowed from my library 

What Happened to Goodbye

What Happened to Goodbye

by Sarah Dessen

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out. (description from Amazon.com) 



Sarah Dessen's books alway make me cry at least a little. They are great summer reads and they are great for any time that you want something that will make you both smile and tear up. They deal with family and relationship issues in such a great way, too.

For example, in What Happened to Goodbye, McLean is dealing with her "issues" following her parents divorce. Rather than move in with her mom and her mom's new husband and twin toddlers, McLean chooses to live with her father...and that means moving from place to place for his job. McLean loves the fact that they move, though, because it gives her the chance to reinvent herself in each place.

When she finds a guy who really seems to get her, though, she finds that she suddenly wants to be "herself" again. Can McLean rediscover who she was or wants to be today?

This book dealt with the fallout of McLean's parents divorce really, really well. What I loved most was that they were a family that finally pulled together in the end...around McLean... when she needed it the most. I loved the restaurant setting and I loved the secondary characters that worked at Luna Blu.

Another great book from Sarah Dessen.

Why We Broke Up

Why We Broke Up

by Daniel Handler

I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened.

Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped. (description from Amazon.com)

 

It's funny. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about this book, but once I actually sat down to read it, I fell right in and enjoyed it...whole hog. I had prepared to feel ho-hum about it, but I really enjoyed the whole experience. 

 

I liked the feel of the pages, the weight of the book, and the pictures of items that accompanied each chapter.  I loved the concept of one gigantic letter, full of relationship vignettes that add up to the demise of a couple. ...And, I, unlike a lot of other people, totally got Min.  I felt like it was listening to myself when I was still in high school.

 

I knew what I loved, I liked my friends, and yet... when the guy came along that was into everything else, I was not assertive enough to make it clear that I was into different things or that I really loved my friends and everything they were into...

 

Min may have been way too complacent at times in her relationship with Ed, but I felt that was totally believable! Regrettable, but believable.  I also understood, well...most of the time, how Ed liked Min, even though he totally had no clue as to who she really was...

 

Though this book was sad, it was also hopeful. In the sense that Min was growing and learning from her relationship's demise.  I think she'll become a stronger person from the experience.

 

Full disclosure: ARC received at BEA 2011