Deuker, Carl. Gutless.

Deuker, Carl.  Gutless.   Houghton Mifflin         2016    329p    $17.99  ISBN 978-0-544-64961-3  hs  Sports  E-BN         

Brock Ripley is a football player who is afraid of getting hurt on the field. He is the fastest runner and has the best catching hands of anyone on the team. The quarterback, Hunter Gates, loves to pass to him because it makes him look great. Richie Fang is his best friend. Although Richie is bright student, he constantly gets tripped and bullied by Hunter’s football gang. It is not until the team discovers that Richie is a fantastic soccer kicker that the bullying stops. Gutless is a fast-paced read that will keep readers’ interest until the end.

The various aspects of the novel deal with sports, friendships, prejudices, the multicultural aspects of schools, bullying and learning to accept responsibilities. It would make an excellent selection for a basic books list for secondary school libraries.
                       

Summary: This is a story of a varsity football player (Brock Ripley) who must face his weaknesses and stand strong while doing the right thing. Readers will encounter bullying, prejudice, and multicultural friendships in this story.        

Football-Fiction, Bullying-Fiction                                                                              --Linda McNeil

StVil, Lola. Girls Like Me.

StVil, Lola.  Girls Like Me.  Houghton Mifflin  2016  310p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-544-70674-3          hs  Realistic fiction  VG-BN           

Girls Like Me is the story of Shay Summers, an imperfect teenager trying to live in a world that is not forgiving of girls like her, or girls that look like her.  That world is set up more for girls like Kelly, who is forever on Shay’s back. Or Blake, the god of Shay’s high school.  Or her stepmother, who, in the wake of Shay’s father’s death, is forever trying to fix Shay, one healthy snack at a time.  One day, in a chat room, Shay makes a connection that sets her heart and hopes flying.  Maybe she is not alone.  Maybe there is someone out there who understands, and maybe he is closer than she thinks. 

Girls Like Me is a novel written, charmingly, in verse.  The reader falls in love easily with Shay-- a girl who just doesn’t quite fit in -- and her misfit group of friends: a terminally ill girl named Boots, and Dash, her confident gay friend who struggles with acceptance in his own family.  We sit in class with Shay and witness her being bullied by Kelly, and we cringe as she struggles to find a healing, healthy relationship with her stepmother.  We ache as she remembers her dad and wishes he could help her.  When she meets Godot, online, she seems to have found a kindred spirit. His voice, too, is in verse, and he is witty and kind.  Together they are funny and cute -- an oasis from Shay’s day-to-day life.  But then he wants their relationship to be real, and in the real world.  This complicates matters for Shay.  What if he rejects her, like much of the world seems to do? 
 

This story is a lovely read.  It is heartbreaking at points, honest, and ultimately moving.  As the author says on the book jacket, it is a perfect book for those who “laugh too loud / think too much / feel too much.”  Those who enjoyed Perks of Being a Wallflower and Eleanor & Park will enjoy this novel as well.  This story would be an excellent addition to any Young Adult collection.

Summary: Girls Like Me is a story written in verse about an imperfect teenager trying to live in a world that is not forgiving of girls like her, or girls that look like her.  She is suffering after the death of her father and trying to get along with her step mother and the kids at school.  Then one day, in a chat room, she makes a connection in a chat room that sets her heart and hopes flying. 

Self-esteem-Fiction, Coming-of-Age Novels                                                              --Michele Nass

Alexander, Kwame. Booked.

Alexander, Kwame.  Booked.    Houghton Mifflin  2016  314p  $16.99  ISBN 978-0-544-57098-6  ms/hs  Sports  VG-BN 

In this novel in verse, Nick Hall is an avid soccer player whose father subscribes to Verbomania and forces Nick to read from “his” dictionary and learn a variety of uncommon words to prepare him for college. He has issues with paying attention in class as well as completing assignments, like any middle-school student who is distracted at times. He has a crush on April and a fun-loving, insistent librarian, as well as an overbearing language-arts teacher. Just when Nick learns that his team and best friend Coby’s team have been invited to play in the Dallas National Soccer tournament, he learns of his parents’ intent to separate.

This well-written novel in verse is sure to engage and entertain young readers. It will appeal to adolescent readers, as Nick experiences and learns to balance sports, school, parents’ requirements, romance, and his demanding teacher and librarian. When Nick encounters an unavoidable situation that threatens his ability to compete in the National Soccer Tournament, he must come to grips with it and differentiate between what he needs and what he desires. Readers can’t help but root for Nick on his life journey.

Booked will appeal not only to avid adolescent readers, but to struggling and reluctant readers as well. The story is written as a poem with few words on each page, and it will not intimidate reluctant readers. The many themes and twists in the plot will appeal to readers and give them a strong connection to the protagonist.

Summary: In this novel in verse, Nick Hall is an avid soccer player whose father subscribes to Verbomania and forces Nick to read from his dictionary and learn a variety of uncommon words to prepare him for college; and just when he learns his team and his best friend Coby’s team have been invited to play in the Dallas National Soccer tournament, he also learns of his parents’ intent to separate.      
     

Soccer-Fiction                                  --Virginia McGarvey

Alexander, Sarah. The Art of Not Breathing.

Alexander, Sarah.  The Art of Not Breathing.    Houghton Mifflin  2016  274p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-544-63388-9  hs  Realistic Fiction  VG-BN   

Written in a believable first-person voice, this debut novel by Sarah Alexander tells the dramatic, intriguing story of a girl who must piece together the truth of her brother’s drowning when so many parts of the story have been buried due to the psychological trauma.  Young Elsie is the “normal” twin; her brother Eddie is developmentally delayed.  Both love the ocean, until a swimming accident takes her brother.  The story begins when sixteen-year old Elsie is trying to survive high school.  She has a close bond with her older brother Dillon, but that is not enough to stave off her loneliness and her “misfit” status at school, where she is bullied.  When she meets Tay, her life changes.  She begins to free dive, and realizes that in the depths of the ocean she can begin to live again.  Her deep-sea experience triggers memories that she uses to piece together the events of day her brother drowned.  A wonderful cast of characters plays out various roles in Elsie’s life: her mother, a drinker who is depressed and aloof; her father, an escapist who seems unable to cope with anything more than work and survival; Mike, the owner of a new dive shop, and his son Danny, the free diver who seems to have Elsie’s best interests at heart.  But does he?  The portrait of Dillon is compelling; he is an anorexic who is depressed even before his brother’s death.  As the plot develops, Elsie makes discoveries that change her perceptions of everyone.  It is when she finds her twin’s shirt that the novel reaches a climax that will please new readers and leave them wanting more.  The words are descriptive, the plot is engaging, and the characters are inviting.  A good book forces readers to think, and Alexander’s accomplishes just that.

Summary: A family is devastated and begins to fall apart when a mildly disabled son drowns.  Elsie sets about trying to find out what happened on that fateful day.  A new young man named Tay, her brother Dillon, her mother, and others are involved, and Elsie must figure out exactly how.   

     

Twins-Fiction, Drowning-Fiction                 --Martha Squaresky