Smith, A. (2013). Winger. NY: Simon & Schuster.
Ryan Dean is a fourteen year old junior at a boarding school. He is beginning the year in a dorm for troublemakers with the biggest bully of all Chas his rugby teammate. Throughout the novel, he faces many conflicts with old and new friends, but he slowly builds new relationships with his new dorm members and attempts to win over his best friend Annie who he is in love, but she sees him only as a little boy. Eventually Annie begins to fall for Ryan as well, and they begin to form a strong relationship, which helps to overcome the shocking death of his gay best friend Joey. The author did a great job of creating humor with very real and deep social issues in this book, which is why it is a great book for high school students. I must admit, I was completely shocked and saddened when the mood switched from humorous to somber when I read that Joey was beaten to death in an angry rage by two other characters in the book. One of Hipple's (1991) criterion for good YA literature is the book's ability to reflect real life with artistry in detail. For example, in real life there are the various character types such as: Chas the jock, Ryan the nerd in the beginning, Joey the gay friend, and Annie the scrupulous girl he chased. Smith used humor to show us the characters in the conflicts faced throughout the novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment