For the Love of Football! Interfence

Interference
by Kay Honeyman
Arthur A. Levine Books
2016
352 pages
ISVB: 9780545812320

Available September 27,  2016

 

Review

Advance Praise for Interference

"I loved reading about Kate, who uses her street smarts and political know-how to go after what she knows is right. With its winning combination of football, politics, and a swoony small-town romance, this story stole my heart." -- Miranda Kenneally, author of Catching Jordan and Defending Taylor

"If you've ever messed up big time and yearned to hit restart, you must read Interference. Kay Honeyman's big-hearted exploration of life after a scandal reveals the true meaning of love, forgiveness, and courage." -- Justina Chen, author of North of Beautiful and A Blind Spot for Boys

"Kay Honeyman scores a touchdown with Interference, a fabulous read about new beginnings and family politics, freshly spun with humor, scandal, football, and a little romance." -- Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Better Off Friends

 

My Review:

 

Refreshing and light, a true winner!

 

Fleeing Washington, D.C.,  and a scandal, Kate's family travels back  to Red Dirt, Texas, where her career politician and Congressman father is  the local legend and is known as the town's best high school star quarterback. For Kate, Red Dirt can help her get community service hours she needs. She also wants to work on her photography portfolio for entry to college. What she finds to photograph is red dirt and lots of it! A boy she meets  helps her see the beauty of he west Texas sunset.

 

Kate's parents are so involved in politics and spinning the story, they don't think of anything else, including their own daughter and living in the moment. At first, Kate decides to opt out of her father's race and concentrate on her photography and classes.

 

Kate takes a volunteer job with her curmudgeonly Aunt Celia at the animal rescue where she  works with   Hunter who seems like he's only trying to help. To Kate, his "interference" bothers her; she wants to be independent and show people she's strong. She does not need or want a boy helping her or sticking up for her. Hunter gets exasperated that Kate is so stubborn.

 

When Kate tries to play matchmaker for Ana and Kyle, she makes a big mess of things and almost loses the high school football team's hopes for a championship  and her dad threatens to send her back to Washington. Even in a small town, politics can get dirty and Kate will have to use her smarts if she wants to make it in Red Dirt.

 

Interference is that small town, feel good book where boy meets girl, football is KING and Friday Night Lights, politics are dirty, and gossip travels faster than  a Texas brushfire.

 

Readers will embrace Kate who is clever and creative. She does not act like a pampered Washington debutante. Shoveling pig stys and birthing calves is not exactly glamorous, but Kate pitches in like a champ. Kate has moxie by the boatload. This girl is a real winner! Hunter is swoon worthy and the perfect "burr" under Kate's saddle (for those not from Texas, that means he's a pain).

 

Recommended grade 7 and up. No profanity, no sex. This Scholastic book will probably be on fall or spring middle school book fairs.

 

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

I Nearly MIssed This One! YA Pick: Trouble Is a Friend of Mine

Trouble Is a Friend of Mine
by Stephanie Tromly
Kathy Dawson Books
2015
334 pages
ISBN: 9780525428404

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Praise

Praise for Trouble Is a Friend of Mine:
“In what reads like a combination of Veronica Mars and The Breakfast Club, debut author Tromly creates a screwball mystery with powerful crossover appeal.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This is one of those rare books that promises something unique and actually delivers beyond expectation. At least one copy belongs in every young adult collection—maybe even two or three. Once the word gets out, this book will fly off the shelves.”—VOYA, starred review

“Fast-talking, suit-wearing Digby is an exasperating teenage Sherlock—sharply observant, impatient with social niceties, and unafraid of authority figures….Fans of Veronica Mars and Elementary will find much to like here…Zoe’s sarcastic first-person narration is fresh and funny…an offbeat and entertaining caper.”—Kirkus

“With snappy prose and wry humor alongside the gritty crime, this nod to noir moves as fast as Digby talks… An engrossing and satisfying read…[that] encourages readers to dig between the lines and see truths that even Zoe and Digby, in all their sardonic observations, can’t quite spell out.”—BCCB, starred review

“A fast-paced story….Readers will find a sharply drawn character in the irrepressible Zoe, who’s as dubious about Digby’s methods as she is curious about whether or not she can live up to his daredevilry.”—SLJ

“With acerbic banter and a healthy dose of high-school high jinks, screenwriter Tromly weaves together traditional elements of teen stories to create a Breakfast Club for a new century.”—Booklist

My Review:


Trouble Is a Friend of Mine was marketed as a cross between Veronica Mars, Sherlock and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," so I was intrigued right away and had high hopes for a great read. I wasn't disappointed and readers won't be either!


Philip Digby is that weirdly cool nerdy kid who everyone knows but isn't exactly close friends with probably because they couldn't keep up with his intellect. They admire his aplomb, his ability to finesse a situation, his benign smile, his ability to tell tall tales and get away with them, and his audacity to fight authority and win before authority  even knows they were in a fight.Whip smart, ever so random in his observances and utterances, Sherlock Holmes smart, utterly devilish,  charming, and dazzling in his brilliance, Digby befriends Zoe. Actually befriends is not the right word. He wiles his way into her life and Zoe, a little bored and a lot friendless, is confused as to why she's suddenly Digby's sidekick and a willing if confused  Dr. Watson to his witty and biting Sherlock Holmes. A cute football playing jock named Henry joins the two and soon the  trio are searching for a missing girl.  Eight years  earlier, Digby's younger sister vanished, and he's hoping if he finds what happened in the recent disappearance, he can find his sister.


I can't say enough about Digby;  he is an enchanting fellow. He is masterful at controlling the situation and keeping things on a strictly need to know basis. He has a plan to bust a drug ring and find out where the missing girl or girls are. Digby is he master of the understatement and a genius at linguistics. He takes jibs at Zoe, aka Princeton, teasing her for her clothing choices, her lack of friends, her boring life, and her wanting to attend an expensive private school. Readers later learn that Digby's home life is...well...strange!

As Zoe crushes on cute Henry, who has a mean girl cheerleader girlfriend, she realizes her feelings for Digby are more than friendship. Zoe has her share of funny lines. When she sees Henry's toned stomach, she says, "Who knew a sixteen-year-old boy who wasn't a werewolf fighting sparkly vampires could have a six-pack of abs?"

Trouble Is a Friend of Mine has a great trio of characters and lead "actors"  Digby and Zoe are sheer comic gold. After finding the bad guys, not alerting the cops, getting taken hostage, being thrown into a cellar, being held at gunpoint, finding tons of explosives and Zoe coming face to face with her biggest fear: her mother's new sleepover boyfriend, Zoe and Digby make a plan to free themselves from a car trunk. When bad guy Ezekiel opens the trunk, Zoe will stab him with an epi-pen and Digby will take the gun. While that plan sounds like it will work, what really happens is: the trunk opens, Zoe stabs the bad guy, the bad guy screams, Zoe screams, Digby screams and the trunk is slammed shut again. Zoe tells Digby that he was supposed to get the gun, but Digby says that Zoe grossed him out and he froze. Zoe hit Ezekiel directly in the eyeball with the epi-pen. Laugh out loud funny!

More surprises at the end will leave readers speechless but wanting more of Digby and Zoe.  It's great news that this book is only book one of a trilogy. Readers will have to wait until November for book 2, Trouble Makes a Comeback. What are you waiting for? Grab a copy of Trouble Is a Friend of Mine.

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. Some adult situations: Zoe's dad cheated on her mother and leaves her for a much younger woman, no profanity, no sex, a "hint" of romance.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Book Club Pick: Life Among Giants

Life Among Giants
by Bill Roorbach
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2012
331 pages

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A sweeping saga, an epic tale, a story replete with steamy seduction, passionate romance, boundless sorrow, and relentless yearning, Life Among Giants is Gatsby-ish in its description of an era in American history when rock stars ruled and English rockers  invaded. Skirts were short and the summer of love was possible.

David "Lizard" Hochmeyer is seventeen and a talented football star. He leads his school to gridiron victories but gets kicked off the team for not cutting his hair. Lizard is a standout and could care less what the coach thinks. Older sister Kate babysits for the neighbors--British rock legend Dabney Stryker-Stewart and his beautiful but dangerous wife Sylphide. Their son Linsey is "profoundly challenged" and Kate helps out with his care. David is enthralled with Sylphide, a famous ballerina who haunts his dreams and threatens his future. The famous family lives at High Side--the mansion across the pond from David's ordinary three bedroom family home. High Side is a proper mansion and the Stryker-Stewarts are the golden couple and darlings of the press.

Lizard goes off the college and plays football for Princeton and later signs a contract with the NFL playing for the Miami Dolphins. In all those years, he keeps tabs on the beautiful Sylphide--he cuts out news and magazine clippings for a scrapbook of all her escapades and dreams of her constantly.

The story  continues as Lizard learns to cook and returns to his boyhood home, taking up residence and watching the mansion across the pond. David and Kate question the past--the death of Dabney and the deaths/murders of their parents. The court ruled it an accident but there is their dad's missing briefcase and the FBI case against his company. Sylphide plays a part in all the drama, and Kate blames her for every death. Lizard is blinded by love and desire.

Lizard opens a restaurant with friends Etienne and Ru-Ru and they become a culinary success. The real story of Dabney's death is revealed and a plan to punish the murderers comes together. Revenge is sweet, but to get away with murder is oh-so sublime!

You won't forget Life Among Giants. It is likely to stay with you a lifetime--the larger than life characters of Lizard and Sylphide will join the ranks of literature's great lovers--Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde. Author Roorbach has created a masterpiece of mythic proportions. This is a novel that can be read again and again. It's that good. I loved Life Among Giants and it has made it to my best books of all time list along with To Kill a Mockingbird and The Shadow of the Wind.

Highly, highly recommended for mature readers grade 9-up. Language, mature situations, murder, romantic triangles.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Football Fan Pick: Game Changers

Game Changers
by Mike Lupica
Scholastic Press
2012
224 pages

Available May 8, 2012

Mike Lupica continues to deliver high energy boy books that center around sports. The latest, Game Changers, features Ben McBain, a likeable eleven year old with a passion for all sports and a special love for football. Ben likens himself to Doug Flutie--who, like Ben, was considered undersized and too short to be a quarterback, but who won the National Championship for Boston College and went on to have a terrific NFL career. No one expects the coach to select Ben as starting quarterback even though he has the speed, skills, heart, soul and arm to tackle the job (pun intended).

The team is surprised that Coach O'Brien has moved to town from a successful career in the NFL and having sold his chain of restaurants, has ample time to coach them. His own son Shawn is a great quarterback, too. It comes as no surprise when the coach's son becomes the starting quarterback even though he does not perform consistently. Ben, on the other hand, is nothing if not consistent. Every play, every down, Ben gives it his all. Ben doesn't think that Shawn has the same love of the game that he does.

The two boys are in competition for the entire season. Ben is the harder worker and is motivated to win. Shawn seems to be motivated because he wants his dad's approval and love, not because he wants to win. When the team wins the championship, it's Ben's big day, and Coach gives Ben the game ball. The little guy is really the biggest guy on the team, after all.

An uplifting book for any kid who has ever been told that he/she is too short, too little, too light to play a sport.

Recommended for boys and girls who love sports and football.

Grades 5-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

High School: Mean Girls Pick

The Debs: Love, Lies, and Texas Dips
by Susan McBride
Delacourte Press, 2009
293 pages

Think Mean Girls with a Texas swagger and a Houston drawl. The storyline follows four debutantes as they prepare to be Rosebuds--the creme de la creme of Houston's country club set.

There's Jo Lynn, spoiled, pampered, beautiful, cunning, and two-faced. Jo Lynn--the girl with an eye for designer duds and Vera Wang dresses. Jo Lynn--the girl with the perfect quarterback boyfriend who dreams of quarterbacking at Texas Tech.

There's Mac, the nice girl.

There's Laura, the girl who always has to be second best to Miss Perfect, Jo Lynn.


There's Ginger, granddaughter of one of the staunchest debs in memory. Ginger--who has to maintain the family name.

The drama unfolds as the girls prepare to be presented at the event of Houston society: The Rosebud Ball.

What happens when false rumors are posted on myspace? Will someone have to step down?

Girls who love gossip and drama will love this read. It's like Gossip Girl, Texas style.

As a good ol' Texas girl myself, I enjoyed looking at how the uber-wealthy live.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL. Recommended for grades 10-12.
Sex, some language, adult situations.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from a fellow librarian. I received no monetary compensation for this review.

High School Pick

Reality Check
by Peter Abrahams
Harper Teen, 2009.
330 pages

When his girlfriend goes missing, star quarterback Cody drives across the country to find out what happened to her. Clea disappears in the woods and her horse comes back without her. A renowned equestrian, Clea would not just fall off her horse, and Cody knows that Bud would never leave her in the woods alone. The whole town searches for the missing girl for days until weather forces the search called off. Cody accepts a job at the stables where Clea boarded her horse and noses around for clues. He meets an ornery stable manager, Clea's new "boyfriend" Townes Dewitt, and a nosy cop, Sgt. Orton. The more Cody digs, the more secrets are uncovered and an illegal gambling syndicate emerges. Cody doesn't realize how much danger he is in. If he doesn't save Clea, who can?



Part mystery, part YA thriller, part football story, Reality Check is a sure page-turner.

Recommended for high school collections, grades 9-12.
Some sex, some language, some violence.

FTC Required Disclosure: Originally I purchased this book for my middle school library, but after reading it, I sent it over to the high school library due to sex, language, and violence. I believe it better suited for grades 9-12. My review was in no way influenced by this fact.

YA Picks: Sports and Such

Payback Time
by Carl Deuker
Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt
2010
298 pages

Since grade school Mitch True has dreamed of becoming a real reporter--a hard-nosed investigative reporter like the ones he saw in the movie All the President's Men. At the beginning of his senior year, it is looking good that Mitch will become editor of Lincoln High School's paper. When Alyssa Hanson is named editor, Mitch nearly quits. She gives him "Sports." Who does she think she is? He is the most senior reporter on the paper--why does he get such a low-life job like sports?

Mitch almost quits, but sees an opportunity to break a story--maybe someone will get busted for steroids or maybe there'll be a huge story in football scholarships.

He teams up with school photographer Kimi Yon and together they find a story in a transfer student named Angel Marichal. Who is this mystery football player, and where did he come from? And what's his secret? Why is Coach McNulty hiding Angel's past? Could it be that the coach and the student are cheating for the championship? This could be the story of the year!

There is an underlying secret in Angel's past--a secret so dangerous that it will threaten the championship and change all their lives.

Carl Deuker not only writes for sports fans but anyone who loves a good read. Solid sports writing with a great story for the non-sports fan.

Not just for boys. Anyone who loves journalism will love this book.
Recommended for reluctant readers. Recommended for all YA collections grades 7-12.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I received no monetary compensation for my review, and this review was not influenced by the fact that the publisher sent me a copy. In fact, I probably would not have reviewed a "football" book at all, but since it was sent to me, I decided to read it. I found it highly interesting and will recommend it to my students to read.