The title alone made me
wary. Gets it? IT it? One chapter in and I am thinking… definitely the IT it.
I read further over my
lunch hour at work. I felt guilty and embarrassed. It was sort of like reading
a Harlequin Romance. It was like I was doing something wrong. Like my parents
were going to catch me reading smut.
So if girls read
“chick-lit”. What do boys read? I don’t know what it’s called, but this would be
it. (chuck-lit, dawg-lit, brutha-lit, hmmm)
The question would be, why
then am I reading it? Because it is on the Abraham Lincoln Nominee list from
last year. I have read all of the winners (fiction) of this Illinois high
school readers’ award and I have read several of the nominees. I am preparing
for the young adults in my future.
Considering that I have
two daughters, I would hope and pray that this book is not stereotypical of the
average teenage boy. And yet I suspect that it is very true to the mind of the
typical male adolescent. In which case, it might need to be standard reading
for teenage girls!
Let me tell you, I really,
really, wanted to be able to bash this book. I wanted to hate it. I wanted to
lecture.
And I cannot.
I like it. I like it a
lot. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Later, the evening of the
first day I started reading it, my husband and I were in bed reading. I started
snickering. I tried not to guffaw. I didn’t want to wake anyone up, but I was
having a hard time holding it in and the bed started to shake. My husband took
his ear buds out and looked at me. So I told him how Carter was trying to bench
press the second heaviest weights available… and they were crushing his chest…
and his best friend straddles him to try to lift the bar up using his leg
muscles… Okay, cover your eyes; I’m really going to write it… “But with just
gym shorts on he’s basically sticking his nuts in my face and jumping up and
down laughing.” And I lost it – tears streaming down my face. Fine, so I don’t
live in a house with “potty” humor.
William Carter is a
Freshman and he has the potential to do great things, with much opportunity to
make mistakes. He may not be the star player, but he is a member of the football
team. He falls into the position of Kicker which suits him fine. Not as much
work and plenty of time in the spotlight. But when he is given the opportunity
to make a name for himself, disaster strikes. Well, there is always the swim team... Where opportunity comes knocking yet again to earn a letterman’s jacket. Let’s just
say, he might have brought his relay team victory, but he might just as easily have
jumped the gun and forfeited the race for his team.
Carter is handsome and
smart enough. A popular older sister boosts his popularity as well. On the down
side, Carter has ADD. He daydreams. He lacks focus. Sometimes he misses
important things, like when the Coach calls him into the game. Furthermore, put
a “hot” girl in front of him and he loses what little attention he did have.
Not to mention, his stutter becomes more pronounced. And he seems to have no
control over his mouth. Blame those girls again. He finds himself labeled the “jerk”.
What he finally gets is
the confidence to do what he wants regardless of what others think or what is
considered popular. When Carter gets cut from the glorified baseball team which
equals time away from his “boys,” Carter is forced to leave the crowd. He finds
an alternative, extracurricular activity in which he can excel. Steal the show even.
Yes, girls are
objectified. Yes, there is mild, bad language. Carter attempts to “run the
bases.” There is implied sex. There are out-of-control parties and police.
There is underage drinking and underage driving, but not together. I believe
that was all going on when I was in high school too…
I wouldn’t mind reading it
with my daughter some day… might be a useful tool to show what is considered
unacceptable behavior in this house. But it is a guy book recommended for grade
8 and up.
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