YA

Weightless

seandersonLeave a comment

by Sarah Bannan

Reviewed by SA

High school drama can seem pretty funny from the outside, but truthfully, for some it’s life or death.  With the technology we have today, it’s becoming way too easy to bully someone without consequence; it’s becoming easy to get distracted and not notice the warning signs of someone that needs help. For anyone who recognizes these problems, and for those who haven’t any clue what I’m talking about, this novel is mandatory reading.

Summary (taken from goodreads)

When 15-year-old Carolyn moves from New Jersey to Alabama with her mother, she rattles the status quo of the junior class at Adams High School. A good student and natural athlete, she’s immediately welcomed by the school’s cliques. She’s even nominated to the homecoming court and begins dating a senior, Shane, whose on again/off again girlfriend Brooke becomes Carolyn’s bitter romantic rival. When a video of Carolyn and Shane making out is sent to everyone, Carolyn goes from golden girl to slut, as Brooke and her best friend Gemma try to restore their popularity. Gossip and bullying hound Carolyn, who becomes increasingly private and isolated. When Shane and Brooke—now back together—confront Carolyn in the student parking lot, injuring her, it’s the last attack she can take.

The thing that caught me right away about this novel was the narrative form. The perspective is from a first person plural – we – and it catches you off guard. I know when I started to read Weightless I was waiting to know the name of the person who was recounting all this, only to find that it actually represented everyone. The perspective of the novel is an eye opener: everyone can see what’s happening and completely ignore the warning signs. It’s a little scary, honestly.

The issues that are brought up make me sad, because I know so many people caught in similar situations. Eating disorders, the fear of becoming fat when in fact you are fading away. Cyber bullying, out for everyone to see and no one can, or will help. Physical bullying, where everyone turns a blind eye. Depression, and suicide, when people say they never saw it coming, when in fact they were part of the problem. Weightless deals with the issues teenagers face in a high school environment, and it is not sugar coating any of it.

The novel chronicles the rise and fall of Carolyn, a young fifteen year old girl, remarkably smart, who moves to this new, small town. Everyone in Adamsville has known each other for years: they all attend church together, pray over the sports team together, gossip and grow together. And no matter how much they like her, Carolyn will always be an outsider: she’s too pretty, too nice, too smart. She doesn’t know how to deal with the small town popularity contest, doesn’t even want to play. This is what makes the first person plural narrative so powerful: the “We” is always sharing gossip, telling itself things about this girl. We is turned into this creature, a monster that thrives on partial truths and full on lies, warping its perspective of this normal person until she has become some kind of non-entity. Who even is Carolyn?

The pacing was slow, thoughtful. It takes place over an entire school year, so that the transition between loved and popular to hated and outsider is slow, natural. I loved how the author used Facebook posts and letters, even Carolyn’s essays, to show us how her character was evolving. It felt incredibly realistic. The hints about her fate, slowly dropping through the novel, created fantastic anticipation and made me crave to read more.

The ending, however, did not. I felt as if the reaction of the community (even the world) was blown out of proportion, it’s what we would have wanted to see happen rather than an actual, realistic consequence. I do not want to spoil anything for anyone! But I did find it was odd, more like wish fulfillment for the reader.

In any case, this is a tough novel to read because the subject matter is so important and heavy. Even so, it’s a fantastic book.

Find Weightless on June 30th.

N.B. (A micro rant about the American school system) I don’t get American high schools, you know? So much bitching! Not only that, but is “Protagonist” really a word too complicated for a Junior in Advanced english? I learned it in sixth or seventh grade! Come on! And do you really have to be in an higher math class in 11th grade to learn what a cosine is? I was taught trig in ninth grade, I just don’t get why it takes so long here.

But the bitching, the bitching! One thing that almost made me put down the book was how bitchy everyone was to each other. Encouraging eating disorders in order to slim down! (That scene in the bathroom physically hurt me). Calling people sluts and spreading rumors about STDs? What is wrong with this picture?

That’s probably why this book was so on point. For me, it was provocative. It opens the discussion on the issues on the forces social structure within the confines of the public school environment. And there’s a whole lot to talk about.

From a Distant Star

seandersonLeave a comment

by Karen McQuestion 

Reviewed by SA

Aliens. Did that catch your attention? I’m a sucker for a good alien story, and was so, so pleased to find From a Distant Star on my reading list. And boy, this book is CUTE. I think that;s the best word to describe it! It’s a romance with barely any romance; an action story with only mild action; it’s a story of love, friendship, and a quest for home. And it’s so amazingly sweet.

A brief summary

Lucas is dying of cancer.
As he nears the end, the impossible happens. An alien crash lands in his yard and uses his body as host in order to troubleshoot a way off of this strange planet known as Earth. Emma, Lucas’s longtime girlfriend, knows right away that the man who came back from the brink of death was not the Lucas she knew and loved. It doesn’t take long for her to piece things together, and determine something has to be done: the alien must be sent home in order for her to get the love of her life back.

Together, she and ‘Scout’, the alien who’s taken over Lucas’s body, must road trip to the one place they know must be able to help. But Scout’s arrival has not gone unnoticed: strange government agencies are on their tail, with nefarious plans for the alien being. Can Emma get Scout home in time, and bring her love back to life?

The premise of this novel is awesome. For once, the aliens who visit us wish us no harm, searching only to communicate and befriend us. Scout tries to slip into Lucas’s life, to quietly observe rather than taking over and trying to run it himself. He only wants to understand and learn. I absolutely love this. I’m so tired of the earth-hating alien trope!

As I said earlier, this novel is so cute, incredibly sweet. Scout and Emma form a bond you would not expect. They grow to respect each other, and even love each other, though platonically. They learn from each other and grow from their experiences.

The plot itself is a little bit… simple? This is not a bad thing, no, but the threats never seem that threatening. Scout has a certain advantage that doesn’t leave much room for deceit, so there’s never any worry whether a character is anything but who they say they are. There are moments of action, fight scenes, car chases, even threats and capture, but there’s never any doubt about who’s going to end up on top. It’s unrealistic that so many people would be so selfless in helping Scout and Emma.

Emma herself I actually feel divided about. On the one hand, she’s resourceful and smart, knows how to hold her own, and seems like a very believable characters. What seems less believable is her obsession with Lucas. It’s completely understandable that she’s in love, that she worships her boyfriend, but at times it was borderline terrifying. She mentions more than once that “other people can’t have him, he’s mine” (usually about classmates who find him very attractive, because he’s so hot) and that they both know they will be together forever (it’s been a year, and he’s been dying of cancer). While she manages to appear independent, there are hints of a co-dependent personality. She literally cannot live without Lucas.

Which only seems to make the book more interesting, because Lucas himself only appears for tiny amounts of time, in Flashbacks and so on. It’s a love story where the main love interest is being possessed for 99% of the time (or playing host to an alien entity, which is pretty different). So while Emma’s rants about undying love can be pretty obnoxious, the lack of clingy romance balances things out.

Scout himself is a fantastic character. He’s a non humanoid alien (huzzah!) who cares (sometimes called too sensitive) about people and just wants to learn and fit in. Sometimes he acts like a small child, other times like a wise old man, and always like an adorable alien who doesn’t know heads from tails on this strange planet. I would love to read more about him.

All in all, while a simple plot, this novel had great premise and was a fun, fast read. I recommend it for fans of YA who want something fun to devour. CUTE ALIEN ROAD TRIP, YALL!

A School For Unusual Girls

seandersonLeave a comment

By Kathleen Baldwin

Reviewed by SA

Hands down, this novel may have one of the strongest female characters I have ever seen in YA. It’s also a very fun read, which is sure to entertain, and seems to be just the beginning of a long and enjoyable series. The Stranje House series might be the most girl power you’ll see in a while, and it’s set in Regency England. Sounds awesome, right?

Summary

After (accidentally ) setting stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House, a school intended to turn her into a proper young lady… by any means possible. But things are not always what they seem in her strange new school: there are hidden passageways all throughout the walls, the girls she studies with are smart and secretive, and the headmistress seems to be encouraging them to be more themselves than actually trying to reform them.

With England at war, and Europe in shambles, it seems as though the only hope for the nation lies with Georgiana’s invisible ink formula – which she hasn’t yet actually gotten to work yet. With the young and handsome Sebastian Wyatt as her lab assistant, she must perfect her ink, in order to change the course of the war. But can she get it done in time, and not loose herself to her heart?

The characters in this novel are fantastic. Georgiana is a smart, independent young woman. She’s a scientist, a chemist, with a nose for challenges. While she never found support at home, she seems to thrive at the Stranje house. The headmistress pushes her with real, tangible deadlines (and consequences) and Georgiana rises to the challenge. And when Sebastian turns up in her life, she works to find balance between her feelings and her work. While I found the relationship a little bit forced, Georgiana never loses her head.

The other women in the house are equally interesting. Some even have certain uncanny abilities which you would not expect to find in this kind of novel. One can seemingly speak to animals, another see possible futures in her dreams. They are all incredibly smart and dedicated to their cause.

The one thing that annoyed was the weak plot. It felt a lot like the pilot for a TV show: lots of promise and exciting ideas for the series as a whole, but a shaky story right here and now. A lot of questions are not answered just to keep the story going. If they hadn’t said “not now,” a lot would have been resolved quicker.

However, I feel like the rest of the series will be a whole lot of fun: a spy story, with cool female protagonists? It’s going to be great.

 

A Magic Dark and Bright

seandersonLeave a comment

by Jenny Adams Perinovic

Reviewed by SA

This book made me mad for all the right reasons. Let me just start by saying that. Why? Because the ending is amazing. Really, incredibly, painfully amazing; and so is everything leading up to it. I was spellbound, from start to finish.

Summary

She meant to help a ghost…not unleash a curse.

Amelia Dupree hasn’t seen the Woman in White since the night her brother died.  The ghost seems to have disappeared from the woods surrounding Asylum, Pennsylvania—that is, until Charlie Blue moves into the creepy old MacAllister House next door. Amelia can’t help liking him, even though she spent her childhood thinking his grandmother was a witch. And she definitely can’t ignore the connection between his arrival and the Woman in White’s return. 

Then Amelia learns that the Woman in White is a prisoner, trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead. Devastated by the idea that her brother could be suffering a similar fate, Amelia decides to do whatever it takes to help the Woman in White find peace–and Charlie agrees to help her.

But when Amelia’s classmates start to drown in the Susquehanna River, one right after another, rumors swirl as people begin to connect the timing of Charlie’s arrival with the unexplained deaths. As Charlie and Amelia uncover the dark history of Asylum, they realize they may have unleashed an unspeakable evil. One they have to stop before everything they love is destroyed.

This is a trope breaking novel: as soon as I felt it turning towards the familiar, it changed its direction and gave me something new. Like with the character of Amelia, a young woman recovering from a very painful and traumatic event. She could easily have become obnoxious, but she instead went through incredible growth over the course of the novel. Or with her relationship with Charlie, which at some times seemed to take precedence over the plot, but then defied expectation by turning into something, well, different. And there I must stop, to avoid spoiling anything for you. Suffice to say, this is not your normal YA.

The plot is oddly paced: at times, it feels like not much is happening, while at others, it’s action after action. But it adds to the tone of the novel, where it feels as if the characters are allowed to return to a normality before being thrown back into horror. It also adds to the suspense, the mystery of it all, and its slow resolution, which is sure to raise anticipation, and leave you with a few questions… It all leads through amazing twists and a roller coaster of an ending, leaving you breathless, and craving for more.

From the first line – A woman haunted the woods behind my house. – you know you’re in for something amazing, all the way to the end… and hopefully beyond, because, after a cliffhanger like that, I am going to NEED a sequel!

A great and thrilling novel about life and death, about ghosts and magic, about the dangers of prejudice and jumping to conclusions, A Magic Dark and Bright is a must read for paranormal lovers everywhere. Beware – chills included.  Comes out April 28th.

Bones and All

seandersonLeave a comment

by Camille DeAngelis

Reviewed by SA

A Cannibal coming of age story – yes, you read that right. This is possibly the most bizarre young adult novel I have read in ages, full of life questions and gore, road trips and horror, and cannibals of all walks of life. It is, all in all, messed up – but I loved every second of it.

Summary – thank you again, Goodreads!

Since she was a baby, Maren has had what you might call “an issue” with affection. Anytime someone cares for her too much, she can’t seem to stop herself from eating them. Abandoned by her mother at the age of 16, Maren goes looking for the father she has never known, but finds more than she bargained for along the way.

Faced with love, fellow eaters, and enemies for the first time in her life, Maren realizes she isn’t just looking for her father, she is looking for herself. The real question is, will she like the girl she finds?

Imagine that there are people – they look just like you or me – who have an affliction, an addiction, that they keep hidden from the world. That there are people who need to eat human flesh, to devour an entire being, grinding the bones and all. This last bit makes things easier, since there is such little left of the body to actually find once someone notices they’re missing in the first place. These people are careful,under the radar, so much so that some don’t even know that others exist.

Maren is one of those people. It started with the babysitter when she was a baby, and now, it’s every boy who gets ever so slightly too close. She simply cannot stop herself from eating them whole. Her mother has been caring for her, moving from state to state, until one day, she decides it’s too much, and leaves. Now Maren needs to find her own way int he world – and figure out her place in it. She’s one of those characters you just have to root for, even if their principles are a little out of whack: she’s young, confused, but smart and independent, able to care for herself and reach her own goals.

I will warn you all right now: this novel is not for the faint of heart. People die, and it is presented as natural, light, an event which happens. I found myself reading along and realizing that the person we were just talking to was now in some character’s stomach. It neither glorifies nor vilifies the process, it simply is. And many could find this troubling. If you don’t find it at least disturbing, I’ll be worried we’re not reading the same book. One of the characters is particularly weird, and grows more and more unnerving as the book progresses, to the point of making you uncomfortable. Just goes to show you the extent of the character depth.

But DO NOT let this make you think that I did not enjoy this book. Gosh, you have no idea how much I loved it. Bones and All is a book you’re going to want to share and read over and over again. It’s unique in that it presents the messed up period of a teenager’s life were questions are asked and the search for self truly begins, while at the same time being a story about a messed up person with a really messed up problem. Everything in Maren’s life is a mess, but she’s gotten pretty good at cleaning those up, or hiding most of them. Just because she eats people doesn’t necessarily make her a bad person… does it? That’s a question for the reader to answer – and Maren too.

The ending I’m a little torn about. Does it feel rushed, both in a sense that the writer wanted it done, and that the book just wanted to reach its end? A little. Possibly. But it left me feel shivers, yearning for more, while simultaneously  wondering not only what the heck just happened, but why.

Yes, it’s odd. Bizarre. Sometimes the coincidences are just too huge, too unbelievable, but then again, you’re reading a book about teenage cannibals. But it flows effortlessly, the writing skillful and beautiful, something you’re not sure to forget. You’ll eat it up.

My Best Everything

seandersonLeave a comment

by Sarah Tomp

Reviewed by SA

Romance and moonshine make for a good novel. Sweet, smart, and positively gripping, I would describe My Best Everything as a teenage Breaking Bad, and it is just as addicting. It is also possibly the most believable YA romance I had read in… well, quite possibly ever.

Summary (From Goodreads)

Luisa “Lulu” Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.

Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (definitely illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends, Roni and Bucky. Quickly realizing they’re out of their depth, Lulu turns to Mason: a local boy who’s always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything – including her heart?

The summer walks the line between toxic and intoxicating. My Best Everything is Lulu’s letter to Mason – though is it an apology, a good-bye, or a love letter?

While primarily a romance, what I feel sets this novel apart is the fact that Lulu doesn’t make Mason her primary focus in life. Mason is not the usually ‘dreamy brooding teenager’ that you usually find in YA: he’s older than she is, a high school dropout, and struggling with alcoholism. She doesn’t drop everything when she meets him, her life doesn’t radically change: no, her relationship with Mason is something that grows naturally, and you feel the chemistry between them; it does not seem forced or unhealthy. The novel manages to be a romantic, without being a romance novel, making Mason important to Lulu’s growth.

And yet, this romance is not what defines Lulu: Lulu defines Lulu. There is just something fantastically appealing about driven characters. When I first picked up this book, I immediately felt Lulu’s drive, her determination to reach her goal, and it made her just so reachable. Lulu is a smart young woman, and this is her coming of age story, her experience with alcohol, men, and money. She was entirely relatable  – for me, a whole lot more than I would like to admit – and everything she did was with one goal in mind: raise the money for university.

The story itself is a letter to Mason, so he is always addressed in the second person, always referred to as “you,” “you did this” “you did that”. The letter format made the entire novel seem more honest and intimate, which only added to the list of reasons I could not put it down. It was an entirely realistic look into their lives, and I was hooked.

Not to forget the moonshine. Moonshine! Lulu’s adventures in distillery are fascinating to follow. Her friends too have an interesting dynamic, both with her and each other. Their problems are just as real as Lulu’s, and the reader is drawn into their lives as well. They break the stereotypes of small town, southern Americans. Though they do enjoy the occasional potato chips in ice cream.

I loved this book. I felt an instant connection to Lulu; I loved the moonshine; and I respected her relationships. It is a novel about love, betrayal, ambition, and the tough choices. Come for the moonshine, stay for the character development; you will be intoxicated.

Hold Me Like a Breath

Shililoquy1 Comment

by Tiffany Schmidt 

Review by KM

Two years ago, I was graduating college with my degree in English Literature. My program wasn’t one that required a thesis, but I had this entire fifty-page paper planned out on illegal organ transplants, or repossession, as seen in literature and what it meant as a reflection on our society. It’s a surprisingly small niche for fiction; I’m always delighted to find more books that broach the topic. It is my reading happy-place. I sincerely squealed when I came across the summary of Hold Me Like a Breath. I needed it and I needed it now. Heck, I’ve already read it and I still feel like I need it. Someone speed up time so I can go grab a physical copy from BN.

Summary

In Penelope Landlow’s world, almost anything can be bought or sold. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families controlling the black market for organ transplants. Because of an autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise easily, Penny is considered too “delicate” to handle the family business, or even to step foot outside their estate.

All Penelope has ever wanted is independence-until she’s suddenly thrust into the dangerous world all alone, forced to stay one step ahead of her family’s enemies. As she struggles to survive the power plays of rival crime families, she learns dreams come with casualties, betrayal hurts worse than bruises, and there’s nothing she won’t risk for the people she loves.*

Musings

I chowed through this book. I couldn’t put it down. It was so frustrating having to go into work being two thirds of the way through, giving me a six hour interruption and letting me daydream about the possibilities and characters for just as long. The eARC I received was around 400 pages: not overly long, but long enough to really get hooked.

Half way through, I groaned. I paused and took a breath, contemplated putting the entire book down for an hour or two. The reason? It looked like there was going to be a love triangle. I’m not sure if anyone shares this opinion, but I am so done with love triangles in YA. I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but I ended up satisfied.

More than anything, I loved Penelope. I loved her demands for autonomy, for her refusal to be seen as weak. She didn’t let her disease define her, especially as everyone around her tried to force her into that position. There were times she even used their warped perceptions against them. It was awesome. The only person I loved more was Magnolia Vickers.

The worst thing about this book is that you can’t go and grab it from your local bookstore today. You have to wait until May 19th. Ugh, I know. That sounds unbearable. Trust me, I feel similar.

This book is the beginning of Schmidt’s Once Upon a Crime Family Series. I’m totally hoping for a book from Magnolia Vicker’s point of view. I don’t even mind waiting, as long as it comes eventually.

*Summary taken from Amazon

Material Girls

ShililoquyLeave a comment

by Elaine Dimopoulos

Review by KM

One of my biggest guilty pleasures is marathoning Project Runway whenever a new season ends, taking a full weekend to bask in the design process as I lay on my couch in pajamas. I myself suck at fashion; I’d be considered to be a total obsoloser with my geeky graphic tshirts and jeans. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy some great fashionable books.

I knew I had to have Material Girls in my collection when it was described as “Project Runway meets Divergent.” Seriously, does anything sound cooler than that?

Summary

In Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world’s aggressive levels of consumption. Will their new “eco-chic” trend subversively resist and overturn the industry that controls every part of their lives?

Musings

I love this book. It’s exactly the type of book I’d recommend to a high-school girl who was having trouble finding a book that really grasped her while reading, or a girl who loved reading and needed something fresh.

Marla and Ivy come from different, but similar, backgrounds in the beginning. They’re both at the top of their career pyramids; both have the potential to fall to the bottom whether they like it or not. What made this great is how they could be friendly, but had such different reactions to their situations. Their paths diverged based on their decisions, but I would be hard-pressed to say either of them made the wrong choice. They both valued their priorities and understood the sacrifices they’d have to make. Sure, one character seemed to be more fulfilled in her life at the end of the book, but the other woman doesn’t seem unhappy. More than that, the ending left an opening for a sequel if wanted, but closed enough of the plot for it to feel like a satisfying end.

The dystopia that Material Girls shows is so based on corporation control that it isn’t hard to see how our society could transform into that. If it wasn’t so clear, there are hints throughout that show exactly how this came to be. It’s interesting to evaluate our current lives to see how close they are to those in the books, if not to the same severity.

My favorite part of the book though had to be how well Dimopoulos nailed the feeling of being seventeen. There is just something about being almost an adult that makes you feel like you’re capable of anything. You’re at the top of your world, handling all these new ventures with the optimism that comes from never having been disappointed. It is exhilarating and wonderful; it was great to feel that through Marla and Ivy.

Welp. I wrote a longer review than I intended, but if you manage to get to this last sentence, I sincerely hope you look for this book that releases on May 5th.

Orphans of Chaos

ShililoquyLeave a comment

By John C Wright

Review by KM

Continuing my Pop Sugar Challenge, I pulled out a book from 2005 for this week. It’s hard to imagine that was a full decade ago now. Orphans of Chaos is the first book of a trilogy. I’m planning on reading its two sequels before the month is out, finishing that task for the challenge. With such an odd mix of science and mythology, I’m eager to finish out the series (without having to wait months for release dates, like normal)!

Summary

200px-Orphans_of_ChaosWhat if your teachers taught you everything-except who you really are?

 
For Amelia and her friends, the strict English boarding school she lives in is all she has ever known.  The sprawling estate, bordered by unknown territory on all four sides, is both orphanage, academy, and prison.  The school has a large staff, but only five students, none of whom know what their real names are, or even how old they are.
 
Precocious and rebellious, all five teenagers are more than just prodigies.  Amelia can see in four dimensions.  Victor can control the molecular arrangement of matter.  Vanity can find secret passageways where none existed before.  Colin is a psychic.  Quentin is a warlock.
 

And, as time goes by, they’re starting to suspect that none of them are entirely human . . . 

Musings

This book is nothing like I expected from reading the summary in the library a few words all. Most of it reads like a YA, but I’m nearly certain that I picked it off of the aunt shelves.

The writing itself is extraordinary, getting so involved in the small details that you make assumptions about the larger ones. I was sincerely shocked about the twist revealed a third of the way through the novel. It through me off-guard and I want sure if I was going to enjoy the plot after that, but Amelia’s voice pulled me back.

I have to admit, the parts that tried to explain the science behind their creation and where they were are far beyond my comprehension. I’d love to hear an opinion on them from my review partner, SA, who is much cleverer when it comes to math and science.

I really don’t want to give away any shoulders for this fabulous book, so I can only advise you check your local libraries for a copy as I try to find the sequel. I promise, in the horrible case that the third book ruins everything, I’ll post an update to warn you.

Biggie

seandersonLeave a comment
By Derek E. Sulivan
Reviewed by SA

Biggie“A teen story? A coming of age novel? Sports? Meh, we’ve seen those,” you say.  And so have I! I have read my fair share of high school books, and usually, I find myself quickly bored. To top that off, sports novels have never peaked my interest. Not so with Derek E. Sullivan’s “Biggie”, a novel that gripped my attention and held me until the very end.

Biggie is an overweight teenage boy, who has pushed himself to 300 pounds in an attempt to remain invisible at school. He spends his time studying, striving for perfect grades, while managing a slew of online friends. Biggie also happens to be the son of one of the biggest athletes of Iowa, and step-son to the close second. With a lineage like that, everyone expects Biggie to be some kind of big sports hero… that is, everyone except him.

When Biggie pitches a perfect game of whiffle ball during PE, the girl of his dreams suggests he should play ball… and he finds himself suddenly obsessed with the idea of pitching a perfect game of actual baseball, on the school’s actual team. Biggie finds himself challenged in every possible way on his quest, making radical changes to his lifestyle, changing his perception about himself, and everyone around him.

There are so many things about this novel that make it so compelling. For starters, Biggie, our protagonist and narrator, is smart, insightful, and imperfect. Many of the decisions he makes tend to be the worst possible ones, and though he feels justified in doing them, he is held accountable for his actions. And while his reasoning for wanting to keep his weight over the 300 pound mark seems justified to him, we as a reader are quick to see how unsound it really is. You might find it odd how quickly he throws his entire being into this insane idea of a perfect game, but we are completely aware of avery motivation behind it. Biggie may come off as a coward and a creep at first, but he slowly grows and evolves into someone I wouldn’t mind being friends with.

Biggie is a character with depth, but so are the people around him. The ‘bully’ turns out to be much more. The ‘girl’ turns out to be much less. Everyone else who is a part of Biggie’s life is more than just a placeholder or plot device. I loved the growth that they all went through, and how their own growth affected Biggie’s. The evolving relationship between Biggie and his step-father is something quite impressive, but it is really Biggie’s relationship with his peers, in particular with the women in his life, that is the most incredible change. The change in his obsession with Annabel is probably the best mile marker for his maturity.

With characters like those, it’s easy to root for them to reach their goals, even if those are *shiver* sports. As I said before, I don’t tend to find novels about sports compelling, but, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed reading about Biggie’s games. As baseball becomes increasingly important to him, it becomes important to us. Which is why I liked the resolution so much; I won’t spoil anything, though, you’ll have to read it yourself.

Biggie (Derek E. Sullivan) comes out on March 1st, 2015.