Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip

DAWN

I have to start by saying that I am an unabashed fan of Jordan Sonnenblick’s young adult fiction. When I first read After Ever After (linked to my 5 Star Reads review), I didn’t realize it was a sequel (of sorts), and I immediately searched out the book that had proceeded it- Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. When I heard several months ago that he would be releasing his next YA novel in March, I literally marked my calendar. He’s that good. And with Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip, he has once again created a piece of realistic fiction that portrays a teenaged character with sensitivity, complexity, heart, and a bunch of laughs.

The summer before he starts high school, life begins to change for Peter Friedman the moment he suffers a significant injury to his pitching arm. Baseball has been his life up until this point, and he figured it would continue to define him as he transitioned to his high school career. Unfortunately, that’s not the only figurative curveball being thrown at Peter, either. His best friend doesn’t seem to want to hear the truth about Peter’s injury. (Or is it that Peter doesn’t really want to say the words aloud?) His grandfather appears to be losing some of his spark, but Peter seems to be the only one noticing. And, of course, there’s a new girl in the picture, and when they get paired to work together on a class project, Peter begins to realize she’s having more of an effect on him than any girl ever has before.

Once again, Sonnenblick has created teenaged characters who are imperfect, likable, upstanding, and wholly realistic. His first-person narration keeps the tone perfect for YA fiction, so readers will immediately connect with the protagonist. With his interest split between his love of baseball and a strong relationship with his grandfather, it’s particularly tough for Peter when both areas bring pain and uncertainty. The story is touching, but the greatest strength is in Sonnenblick’s straightforward writing that conveys emotion and keeps readers hanging on his every word.

I love that I can enjoy a story and appreciate talented writing, and then pass the book along to my own son to read. Sonnenblick tackles serious issues in his books, and he does so in a way that doesn’t talk down to his audience. In this short clip, Jordan Sonnenblick discusses his intent with his latest novel:

Earlier this school year, my son’s sixth grade reading teacher impressed me by using a contemporary novel as a class reading assignment, and I wasn’t surprised to discover it was a Jordan Sonnenblick book. I’ll be wholeheartedly encouraging my son to read Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip, too.

Dawn enjoys revisiting her own younger years through middle grade and YA fiction, especially when the quality of writing is stellar regardless of the characters’ ages. She tells her own not-so-young life story on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

JENNIFER

Like Dawn, I became an instant fan of Jordan Sonnenblick when I reviewed the new audiobook of a backlist title Notes from the Midnight Driver. When I saw that Brilliance Audio was releasing the Curveball audiobook simultaneously with the print edition, I snapped it up, not knowing that Dawn had the print copy at home.

She did a thorough job of the plot of this book, so let me add that I loved this book and adore his strong male characters. In fact, I want my son to be like these young men who he writes so well. Male coming of age stories are not nearly as commonplace as those featuring adolescent girls, but this is exactly what Curveball is. Peter is struggling to come to terms with the loss of something that defined him — sports — on top of starting high school and getting his first girlfriend and dealing with his grandfather’s mental decline. All of these things reshape him.

CONTENT NOTE: Peter is a high school freshman, and experiences some things that high school freshman do, like getting drunk at a party (accidentally??) and getting a girlfriend. Both subjects are treated with care, and in an age-appropriate manner, but I think that the drinking incident in particular makes this a book best suited for middle school and up. I love that Sonnenblick writes novels that manage to be emotionally mature yet funny, and the deft hand he uses when tackling realistic issues without the explicit language that sometimes accompanies these books make them appropriate for burgeoning young adult audiences.

AUDIOBOOK NOTES: I often read complaints about YA book narrators who do not sound convincingly young. For the most part, I’ve loved experiencing young adult literature in audio form. The Curveball audiobook, read by Luke Daniels, is no exception, though Daniels’ deep baritone voice did not exactly evoke a 15-year-old boy. That said, he did an amazing job of voicing the secondary characters, such as the clueless but well-meaning A.J., the grandfather, and an especially delightful Brooklyn-accented photography teacher. Though he didn’t sound like a teen boy, he did evoke the proper emotion in Peter’s character as well, so it’s an all-around good listen in my opinion.

Jennifer, too, appreciates the opportunity to revisit her teen years both in the pages and in reality with her 13-year-old daughter. She blogs at Snapshot.