Geoff Herbach

Isaiah has embraced high school football. It's allowed him to build a disciplined life, keep his mind and body busy. As an 8th grader he was on a destructive path. He was reeling from the death of his older sister (hit by a drunk driver) and his grandfather (shot by a criminal) and did not have coping strategies to resist the voice inside him urging him to do reckless, dangerous things.
Fast forward to senior year when a big hit leads to a concussion during the football season. He has to decide what is his next step. He is actively working on himself, seeking direction, and looking to connect with people that will help him.… (altro)

If you like basketball, you want to hear and read about this book. The conflict is where Adam could lose his basketball team and not be able to play. It relates to Adam because it's about how he could not play basketball anymore. Adam Reed, his mom Renata, and Kase Kinshaw. Adam Reed is the main character he wants to go to college to play basketball. Renata took him when his parents died. She treats him well and helps him to get to college. Kase Kinshaw is a really good friend of Adam she takes him to practice. She tries to talk to him but he doesn’t talk that much. Adam thinks that she likes him. The theme is if you are good at something you should keep doing it. He has gotten better at basketball and he stayed in basketball. I recommend this novel because it’s a good book, but (or "although") the part that I didn’t like is where Adam Reed isn’t playing basketball, so if you like basketball you would like this book.… (altro)

5.5/10, this is the first book I've read from this author and wow did it disappoint so where do I begin with this; there's so many things wrong with this book. The writing style irritated me from the very beginning of the book since it was told in an interview style but it didn't work out since I only hear one half of it and it makes no sense. The story begins with Gabe discovering that the funds of the vending machine were going to the cheerleaders rather than the band that Gabe is in and he uses the machine very day to drink Code Red which is the equivalent of Coca-Cola and that's partly the reason why he is overweight and he does something about it eventually which I'll get to later. He then rallies a bunch of other kids against the cheerleaders because apparently they use the same machine as Gabe and they are coincidentally just as mad as him for the funding diversion which was an ok aspect of the book and as I read on I saw Gabe getting fit by eating healthily and exercising but it only took like a month. His regime involved lifting weights, running and swimming in the river Spunk but I highly doubt that that lost him so much weight within so little time. I think his family has tensions and the book got a bit raunchy when it didn't need to be and in the end Gabe and his gang won the battle against the cheerleaders by just playing their music louder than them but I think they suffered some consequences and that entire plot point didn't feel believable. If you like realistic books give this one a try though I doubt that people would read this book and now it's nine years old so more better books have been written since then.… (altro)

Being a football mom, one whose son played nose tackle, if what happened to Isaiah happened to him, I’d probably make him quit. This book isn’t necessarily focused on football but the repercussions and what can happen to a person when their bell is cracked. I liked how it also focused on Isaiah‘s pre-football days and post football days. Football definitely gives a troubled kid focus, however, Isaiah‘s trouble stemmed from the devastating loss of his sister Hannah. He was acting out and the only way for him to straighten up and get some structure was for his father to force his hand and make him choose football. Unfortunately there were repercussions to being so focused and playing as hard as Isaiah did. The relationship with Grace almost seemed secondary. Overall it was a good book,… (altro)