His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school.
Most main characters are white Ali is Korean American, and Luci is Argentinian and white American.Ī fresh, beautifully written look at high school sports that sparkles with strong female athletes.Ī teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas. The end, while satisfying, lacks sophistication.
The pace may frustrate-it takes a while to grasp that the book is not about the season but a series of perspectives and shocking reveals over the course of one long night. The writing is both poetic and blunt, just like the badass Wildcats. Anyone who raised a high school championship trophy-or dreams of doing so-will find Vivian’s ( Stay Sweet, 2018, etc.) book powerfully familiar and sink deeply into this juicy read. At sleepovers before weekend games the girls enjoy dinner, movies, and bonding, but on this night, the first before the new season, devastating secrets are revealed.
This year, the West Essex Wildcats-including new members Grace and Luci-are willing to give up romance, free time, and family for the privilege of being a Wildcat. They are tormented by last season’s championship loss: Ali and Kearson choked Mel, the leading scorer, didn’t score at all and Phoebe limped off the field. The intense pressure that Coach exerts on these former field hockey champions is far less than what they place on themselves. “The girls who played varsity last season each still nurse a secret wound, the thinnest of scabs capping a mountain of scar tissue.”
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