Random Reads

These novels deal with sports.  Swimming, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, cheerleading, and all the above.  No sport is off limits.

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

   Mick Johnson's entire life is football.  His dad was a huge college football star and it runs in their blood.  Mick's goal is to make varsity and stay on varsity at all costs.  He begins lifting weights and his trainer gets him to take steroids in order to enhance his performance.  His playing ability skyrockets and his dependence on steroids becomes borderline addictive.  Deuker has football scenes that make the reader feel they are watching the game on the sidelines.  Fans of football will appreciate the action and raw emotions of the characters.  The ending will leave the reader shocked and satisfied.

Slam by Nick Hornby

     Sam is a likeable character who loves skateboarding and Tony Hawk who hangs on a poster in his room.  He actually talks to Tony for advice although Sam isn't mentally unstable.  He's read his biography like a thousand times and worships the ground he walks on.  Sam's life is going great until his ex-girlfriend tells him that she's pregnant and keeping the baby.  Sam's own mother was only sixteen when she had him so this situation "runs in his family."  Sam initially doesn't handle the news well and runs away for a day.  Upon his return, he steps up to the plate and accepts his role of fatherhood.  The setting is England although it doesn't detract from the storyline.  This is Nick Hornby's first novel for young adults and this reader found the story very engaging.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher

   Ben is 18 when he receives some really bad news at a routine football physical; he has a rare form of cancer and has only one year to live.  Instead of getting treatment, he decides to live his last year without being sick and in the hospital.  He also decides to keep his diagnosis a secret.  He doesn't tell his parents, his brother who is the quarterback of the football team, and Dallas, his girlfriend he thought was totally out of his league.  The novel addresses some serious issues and fans of football will not be disappointed in all the game action.  Once again Crutcher uses secondary characters to flesh out the novel and preach his agenda of censorship among other things.  Fans of Chris Crutcher will once again get another great read!

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

   D.J. Schwenk is not your typical sixteen year old girl.  For one thing, she lives in Wisconsin on a farm where she single- handedly performs all the chores by herself.  Her mother is busy working two jobs, her father just had hip replacement, her two older brothers are off at college, and her younger brother is busy with sports.  D.J. is also a jock.  Her older brothers are football legends in their hometown and D.J. is falling right into their footsteps.  Over the summer, she is training Brian Nelson, who is a quarterback for the rival high school.  Besides falling in love with him, D.J. has decided to try out for her high school's football team.  Oh yeah, did I mention her best friend Amber is in love with her?  Any female fans of football should read this book.  Look for the sequel, the Offseason, to see whether or not D.J. makes the team.

The Off Season by Catherine Murdock

   This is the sequel to Dairy Queen and picks up right where it left off.  D.J. Schwenk returns again as a strong and likeable character.  Life is looking good for D.J. as she makes the Red Bend football team, she's semi-dating Brian Nelson, the rival quarterback, and she's on good terms with her best friend Amber.  The good life soon ends as D.J. suffers a minor injury and must choose between football and basketball.  While it seems life couldn't get any worse, her older brother suffers a horrific football injury that leaves the family in crisis.  While most sequels are often disappointing, The Off Season is a superbly written novel that adds extra dimensions to D.J.'s character.

7 Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman

   Scott is an eighteen year old who lives and breathes baseball.  His high school team is having a record season and life seems good.  That is until his best friend Travis reveals that he's gay.  Suddenly Scott's world is turned upside down.  He recalls an earlier incident in which Travis and him were at the batting cages and Travis was injured.  Some of Travis's blood ended up on Scott.  He fears AIDS even though it's a pretty far fetched notion.  He decides to get tested anyway and is horrified to discover it will take 7 days to get the results, hence the title.  This is a very fast paced read by Terry Trueman but he packs in a terrific novel in so few pages.  He addresses the situation with brilliance and understanding by portraying Scott as a maturing individual who must deal with life, no matter what it throws at you.  Well done Mr. Trueman.

Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp

     Hampton Green is a senior in high school and on his Oklahoma football team the Kennisaw Knights.  Living in football country ranks next to God in his neck of the woods.  His team is going for five straight years without a loss and his team feels the pressure to succeed.  His best friend Blaine and his father are like family to him since Hampton's own father deserted them years ago.  His loyalty runs deep but is tested when Hampton falls for a Sara, a girl most football players wouldn't even look at twice.  This story will widely appeal to football fans because the upclose and realistic portrayal of the game plays will keep all readers on the edge of their seat.  This debut novel will not disappoint.

Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte

   Matt is co-captain of his high school football team.  Matt and his fellow teammates enjoy the good life because they are treated like royalty by the town and their fellow students.  Matt's sole purpose in life is to excel at football in order to please his father and to ensure a scholarship to a top ten university.  He is addicted to Vicodin and takes steroids in order to enhance his performance on the field.  During football camp, one of Matt's teammates sexually assaults a fellow player with a bat.  Matt is torn between doing the right thing and being loyal to his friend by keeping quiet about the incident.  Fans of football will immediately identify with the main character as they are drawn into this dark and deeply disturbing plot.  I absolutely could not put this book down and readers will not be disappointed.

     Paul Fisher is in seventh grade when he moves with his parents and star football older brother to Tangerine County in Florida.  Paul was a star goalie on his old school's soccer team but is unable to play for his new school due to his poor eyesight.  Ever since he was five years old, he has had to wear extremely thick glasses because his parents said he stared at an eclipse too long.  Paul has no memory of this and later discovers the truth about what really happened to his eyesight and how is brother was involved.  Paul is forced to switch schools when his junior high sinks into the ground from a sinkhole.  He attends a much tougher school that is in desperate need of a goalie for the soccer team.  This novel is very fast paced while developing an intriguing plot line that completely holds the reader's interest.  This is definitely one of those books that you will want your middle school readers to devour because it could just be that one book that turns them into a lifelong reader.  The book is simply astounding.

     Austin Reid is the star football player for the Parkersville Panthers.  He is extremely popular and dates the prettiest girl in school.  It's his senior year of high school and everyone expects him to lead the Panthers to the state championship.  Austin should be on cloud nine but instead he is depressed and suicidal.  The major issue of the novel is Austin and his depressive state.  Jenkins cleverly develops clues that allude to Austin's true mental state.  She addresses the subject matter with delicacy and compassion.  The author hints that the cause of his depression may stem from the fact that his father died when he was a child.  He often stares out his window and contemplates suicide.  Austin is scared to reach out to anyone and you will have to read this book to find out if he ever asks for help or submits to his illness.  Jenkins does an excellent job of portraying a teen dealing with issues of depression and suicide.