March 04, 2006
Catch
Between pledge breaks this morning I finished off Catch by Will Leitch, a really excellent YA boy-book about a kid from a small town and his last summer before college. School Library Journal writes, "During the summer between his high school graduation and leaving for state college, Tim Temples works and drinks hard and discovers that he is not alone at the center of his own universe. ... Only belatedly does Tim realize that he is different from most of his friends, most of his family, most of the town. He's leaving to be a college guy, in a world just down the highway but very far away in terms of prospects. Leitch draws readers to Tim slowly and places him within a cast of characters who are finely etched, realistic, and memorably quirky. Teens will recognize people they know among these characters, some admirable, most deeply flawed, all genuine. This is a keenly felt and absorbing read about this bittersweet rite of passage." I will definitely add it to my list of YA recommended books.
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