25 Feb / Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick
While everyone else has been lost to Linsanity, I’ve been contrarily following baseball … at least on the page and in manga (via the entertaining Cross Game). Hmmm … I wonder how Jordan Sonnenblick might write Ko Kitamura‘s story’s? Ack! Again I digress …
In Sonnenblick’s latest pitch-perfect (couldn’t resist) teen story, Peter Friedman’s life is changing way too fast. It starts with an accident: an elbow injury during an eighth-grade summer baseball game sidelines him – for life. Peter will never play ball again.
Now that he’s lost his sports moniker, Peter’s unsure about how he’s going to navigate high school. At least he’s got his best friend (and best teammate) A.J. around, even though A.J. won’t accept Peter’s injury as permanent; A.J.’s still convinced the freshman duo will rule high school baseball come spring tryouts.
Peter ends up in an advanced photography class in which he’s utterly star struck by new girl Angelika. Photography’s going to be easy enough … but the boy/girl partner thing is whole new territory.
Thanks to his accomplished photographer Grampa, Peter’s already familiar with all the equipment. The two have always bonded over getting the shot, but now Grampa can’t even seem to remember the pictures …
Between family, school, friends, and maybe even first love, Peter’s having a heck of a time keeping things in focus … but when Grampa calls during a snow storm – shoeless, cold, and lost – denial is no longer an option for anyone.
Sonnenblick creates another memorable slice-of-life, coming-of-age novel for the teen reader (not to mention lots of old folks, too!). For devoted Sonnenblick groupies, you’ll love finding an older San Lee from Zen and the Art of Faking It spouting “Truth” (p. 207!). Sonnenblick sure knows how to make his stories real … no spoilers here, but (especially for us parental types) fair warning that you’ll be needing that box of tissues before the final page … waterworks guaranteed.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2012
Thanks so much, as always! This book was really personal for me, because the dementia episodes were largely drawn from my own experiences with my beloved grandfather, so the warmth of your review means a lot.
Ah … that’s what made those episodes so real then …
Following the advice of a poet friend (who herself is a noted writer on Alzheimer’s, based on her own experiences with her mother, especially her Dementia Blog), I’ve been doing a mini-dementia study: Turn of Mind and The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey were her recommendations.
She recently ordered Curveball on my recommendation … baseball fans, her whole family! Such serendipity, no?