When I finished Invisible Murder, I reached for the next book...and remembered that was it. I had no more books left. And it was Friday. THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED ON FRIDAY!
Then I remembered that I'd purchased several books for my classroom library a month or so ago at the Scholastic warehouse sale (which was awesome, by the way). So I decided to read one of those. That makes this the first YA book to appear on Unless You Write It.
My feelings on YA literature are pretty simple: I love it. I don't read it much, but when I do I thoroughly enjoy it. I think it can be just as well crafted as adult literature. There is also really AWFUL young adult literature. But there is also really AWFUL adult literature.
I majored in literature in college and also have a master's degree in it, and one class that stands out is a YA literature class I took in undergrad. It was a very challenging class with a lot of theory, but that's not relevant here. One thing I learned, though, is: there are various definition for YA literature. One definition is that it is written for young adults. Another is that it is written about young adults. I'm not sure which definition I prefer, but at any rate I've found that they usually overlap. YA literature is often both for and about young adults. This book is no different.
Here goes!
For those who have not yet read Boost
Savvy (short for Savannah) and her sister, Callie, have had a rough year. After their family hit a rough patch financially, the sisters' parents moved the family from Arizona to Rhode Island, where they moved in with Savvy's great-aunt on her sheep farm. Savvy, our first-person narrator, is also a very talented basketball player and throws herself heart, soul, and body into her new team. Callie, a former gymnast turned cheerleader, throws herself into cheerleading (or rather, is thrown, she's a flyer...haha see what I did there?). Both girls have some trouble adjusting, but tough Savvy seems to be doing a better job than sensitive Callie. But when they both start struggling in their respective sports, one of them takes things a little too far.
This isn't a bad book, so I don't mean for this to sound disparaging, but this is what I call a "plane book" (since I'm not really a beach person but I love to travel). It's easy, quick, conversational. Does it exhibit the true art of writing? No. But is it a good read nonetheless? Yes. I read it in one sitting and enjoyed it. It highlights some issues that I think are important. Is it high literature? No. But it's a good book. I enjoyed Savvy's character quite a lot and thought the main characters were solidly developed, though some of the peripheral characters came off as caricatures.
Recommended?
Yes. 3/5 stars. I recommend it especially to actual young adults, especially athletes and super especially to girl athletes.
Tips
I actually did NOT get this one at the library! As I noted earlier I got it at the Scholastic warehouse sale to put in my classroom library. I imagine it would be pretty cheap on Amazon. As far as stocking classroom libraries go, if you're interested, here is my personal philosophy: get ALL SORTS of books! So that any student trying to pick out a book can find one he or she likes. It is not about what I like. My classroom library would be totally different if I just bought books I like. Anyway, I know that sports are super important to lots of my students, so one of my goals when I went to the warehouse sale was to get a few more books about sports. This book is the result of that goal.
For those of you who have read Boost
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT!
So I thought the plotting in this was quite good. If you read my last post about Invisible Murder, you'll know what I consider to be a well-done surprise ending. I think this book delivers that. Of course it was Callie. All the signs were there. It was also not quite what I expected. Going into the book, I thought for sure Savvy would turn to the 'roids and Callie would turn to an eating disorder. I was glad to see my expectations were wrong, I always like a surprise!
Now, this is what I call an "issue book." It focuses on an "after school special" type of issue. I actually like these kinds of books if they don't get too preachy and they don't front load us with information. The only time it really did that was when Savvy went to the doctor for the blood test, and I was willing to forgive that. I've never heard of kids this young doing steroids, but I suppose it's possible and it's never too early for athletes to hear the message about how dangerous steroids can be.
Didn't your heart just break for Savvy when they found the drugs in her bag? I felt so bad for her. Here she is, working her ass off, not just at basketball but also with the sheep, and this is what happens. I really felt her desperation to prove her innocence, and I thought it was pretty terrible that those around her didn't 100% believe she was telling the truth. That must have felt just utterly awful, even though they were outwardly supportive.
Another interesting issue brought up, though not meant to take the forefront, was Savvy's body image issues. She clearly felt alienated, different, and unattractive because she was tall. She lamented how hard it was to get a date, how hard it was to deal with the question of "how tall are you?" etc, etc. As a woman who has herself dealt with some very severe body image issues, I truly felt for Savvy. I think this is the unsung issue of the book and Mackel treated it well. Savvy never learned the lesson that she is perfect how she is, but that's to be expected. It take women decades and decades to learn that, and many never do. So why should a 13-year-old? Rather, I appreciated that she presented the issue in a way that Savvy's emotions were very real and very valid, but also that we, the readers, were to see them as silly. It threw these issues in to sharp relief: they are so real to us, but so pointless and trivial when you think about them objectively.
Now for questions!!! I love discussion questions!!
-What is your overall feeling on YA literature? What are the best examples of YA lit you've read? The worst?
-Did you sympathize with Callie? She could be sullen and moody and didn't pull her weight, but did you sympathize with her besides all that? Why or why not?
-How did you feel about the fact that the steroids were Callie's? Did you find the book well-plotted?
-How much did you already know about teen steroid use? Did you think this book did justice to the issue? Was it an effective cautionary tale?
Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!
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