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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Just started it today and I can't put it down... Great stuff thus far!
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow! I fear this happens more often than I care to think about.
Way...way better than I thought it would be. edited: I woke up and realized that sounded harsh. This is not a book that I would typically pick up. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and even how much the plight of Mick has stuck with me. I'm so glad that a bunch of kids are also reading this. I'm also thrilled that it didn't read like an after school special with an overbearing moral of the story. Highly recommended.
I don't know much about steroids, other than that one episode of Dinosaurs that I saw, like, fifteen years ago. Remember? The teenage boy dinosaur took the Dinosaurs-equivalent of steroids and he grew spikes on his back and he had major 'roid (or whatever) rage.
********
What I just did there? That's called "activating prior knowledge," and it's totally a research-based reading strategy that can be used in the classroom.
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Gym Candy is about high school football player Mick Johnson. His dad's a failed NFL player, and he's groomed Mick from birth to make up for his own mistakes. In addition to the pressure his father puts on him, Mick is also driven by his own high expectations for himself.
He begins to train harder and work out longer in order to guarantee his starting spot on the football team. Soon, though, lifting weights is not enough, and Mick's trainer introduces him to steroids. He graduates from Dianabol to "stacks"--I don't know what's in those--to XTR. Each time, Mick tells himself he'll only use the steroids until he makes the team/gets the starting spot/beats a certain team, and each time he finds another reason to continue using them.
While his performance on the field is increasingly amazing, Mick's personal life deteriorates: he ditches his friends in favor of working out, he feels isolated because he has to keep his steroid usage a secret, and the gross side effects (all over acne, breast growth) mean he's cutting back on his male/female interaction.
This was kind of a test-read; I'd never have chosen it if I hadn't wanted to build my YA repertoire so I could recommend books to my classes. I did enjoy the story--though the end was a little WTF?--and I was able to move through it quickly.
There's a lot of football jargon in this book that I didn't understand, but I got some students to explain it to me in basic terms and single-syllable words so I could wrap my head around it.
Bonus: one of them said, "Hey, can I read that book? It sounds interesting." So, you know, SCORE.
********
What I just did there? That's called "activating prior knowledge," and it's totally a research-based reading strategy that can be used in the classroom.
********
Gym Candy is about high school football player Mick Johnson. His dad's a failed NFL player, and he's groomed Mick from birth to make up for his own mistakes. In addition to the pressure his father puts on him, Mick is also driven by his own high expectations for himself.
He begins to train harder and work out longer in order to guarantee his starting spot on the football team. Soon, though, lifting weights is not enough, and Mick's trainer introduces him to steroids. He graduates from Dianabol to "stacks"--I don't know what's in those--to XTR. Each time, Mick tells himself he'll only use the steroids until he makes the team/gets the starting spot/beats a certain team, and each time he finds another reason to continue using them.
While his performance on the field is increasingly amazing, Mick's personal life deteriorates: he ditches his friends in favor of working out, he feels isolated because he has to keep his steroid usage a secret, and the gross side effects (all over acne, breast growth) mean he's cutting back on his male/female interaction.
This was kind of a test-read; I'd never have chosen it if I hadn't wanted to build my YA repertoire so I could recommend books to my classes. I did enjoy the story--though the end was a little WTF?--and I was able to move through it quickly.
There's a lot of football jargon in this book that I didn't understand, but I got some students to explain it to me in basic terms and single-syllable words so I could wrap my head around it.
Bonus: one of them said, "Hey, can I read that book? It sounds interesting." So, you know, SCORE.
This book was interesting, but not great. What I enjoyed was the perspective of an athlete. It's not something I understand myself, and there aren't a ton of football-centered books that I've read, so reading about football and steroid use was different for me.
However, the writing was a bit too simplistic. For a book that was trying to dig deep into the psyche of a boy who feels so pressured and so ambitious that he chooses to use drugs, it was too sparse. There's succinct, and then there's not enough actual depth. That's how I felt about this book.
Especially the ending. Suffice it to say the gigantic climax of the novel happened in about thirty pages, and it was altogether too rushed for my tastes. We didn't get as much insight as I had hoped for.
It was a decent book, but for one of the rare instances where I read about athletes, it wasn't profound enough to leave a mark. Deuker had some great lines (and I really mean that, he had some fantastic moments or prose), and I will fully admit that I'm left with greater understanding for Mick and the culture he's representing, but my overall impression left me feeling juvenile and incomplete.
I recommend it for the cultural niche it provides, but don't expect to be blown away.
However, the writing was a bit too simplistic. For a book that was trying to dig deep into the psyche of a boy who feels so pressured and so ambitious that he chooses to use drugs, it was too sparse. There's succinct, and then there's not enough actual depth. That's how I felt about this book.
Especially the ending. Suffice it to say the gigantic climax of the novel happened in about thirty pages, and it was altogether too rushed for my tastes. We didn't get as much insight as I had hoped for.
It was a decent book, but for one of the rare instances where I read about athletes, it wasn't profound enough to leave a mark. Deuker had some great lines (and I really mean that, he had some fantastic moments or prose), and I will fully admit that I'm left with greater understanding for Mick and the culture he's representing, but my overall impression left me feeling juvenile and incomplete.
I recommend it for the cultural niche it provides, but don't expect to be blown away.
This one was pretty good. Super heavy on the football. The ending wasn't quite as pat or wrapped up as I expected it would be. I am torn between annoyance for that happy, tidy ending, and respect to the author for leaving issues realistically unresolved.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes