Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
From the literary merit of this book alone, I probably would have given this 4 stars, but there is some undefined aspect of quality that this book has that many do not for me: I WANTED to read it. The writing, the characters, the several interrelated themes all worked for me.
Normally, I don't read other reviews before I write my own, but this time, I read a few. I must say, I didn't find Angelika unbelievable - it seems to me the high school kids I see make snap judgements like that all of the time. [I am a substitute teacher, so I see a lot of kids making snap judgements and witty remarks.] And the sarcastic wit is one of the hallmarks of today's teens. In fact, sometimes I wish it weren't so. But not this time. The wit in this book didn't seem mean-spirited, just keenly observant.
There were also some things that this book didn't have that impressed me: there was no unnecessary sex scene. There wasn't a big nasty confrontation to resolve the character's dilemma. There wasn't an unrealistically positive ending (see Okay for Now).
But, most of all, I just enjoyed it.
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