Eric Kester

So a book about football and football players in a small fishing town does not really sound like something I'd be into, but I loved this book!

Calling it comic (as the blurb does) is something of a stretch, to be honest. There's a lot of very dark stuff in this book, from the broken marriage of the protagonists' parents to the devastating natural disaster that has struck the town for the second time in these teens' short lives. There are funny moments though, and the narrator's sardonic view of his world offers some humor too.

Wyatt is the fat kid who has always lived in his older brother's shadow. Brett is a star football player whose season was cut short last year when a player from a rival team intentionally injured him. It's Brett's last chance to shine this year, with college scholarships on the line. Wyatt tries out for the team in an attempt to finally have a relationship with his brother after a lifetime of feeling that they have little in common.

He's surprised when he makes the team, and even more so when it turns out his bulk, which has long been cause for ridicule, proves valuable on the field. The team's season goes from strength to strength, generating a kind of town-wide pride that is much needed as the community's fishing industry is destroyed by a toxic algae.

So when Brett is concussed during a game, he swears Wyatt to secrecy, knowing the town is relying on him and the team to raise their profile on a national level and receive much-needed funding.

I enjoyed the relationship between the brothers in this book very much. They are very different people each responding to the darkness of their broken home in his own way. Brett initially seems cool and stand-offish, but as Wyatt, and the reader, grow closer to him, his quiet, considered manner is revealed to be his defence mechanism.

The insights into the male world of the locker room and football field are vividly drawn and the behaviour of these boys is often appalling, yet totally understandable in the context of their lives.

So I'd recommend this one, even if it doesn't sound on the surface like something you'd be into.… (more)