Evvie Drake Starts Over

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Evvie Drake's husband died as she was packing up to leave him, and a year later everyone still mistakes her trauma for grief. The truth is, their golden boy was actually emotionally abusive, and now that he's gone, she simply doesn't know what to do next. But no one, not even her best friend Andy, knows the truth. She's got baggage. And bills. Lots of them. So when Andy asks her to rent the apartment off the back of her kitchen to his friend Dean, who used to be a famous pitcher until he inexplicably lost the ability to throw a baseball where he wanted it to go, she agrees. Over the course of the next year, Evvie and Dean grow from acquaintances to friends to lovers, but they each have so much healing to do, can they move forward together?

I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this novel. I didn't want to put it down until Evvie got the therapy she needed and Dean figured out what direction he wanted his life to take now. I loved that the author didn't write easy, magical fixes, and that the romance was slow build. Since I would categorize this book as Relationship Fiction--Evvie's relationships of all kinds were important to the story--I was afraid for a while that Evvie and Dean would permanently go their separate ways.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, story secondary. There are swear words sprinkled throughout and some alcohol consumption, but no violence, and the sex scenes are fade-to-black. Evvie is a survivor of emotional abuse (constant gaslighting and some social isolation), so that might be a trigger for some readers, though it's all in the past, as the perpetrator dies in the first chapter.

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Pop

Pop by Gordon Korman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's tough to be the new kid in town. Marcus Jordan doesn't have anyone to practice football with, so when a middle-aged man appears in the park eager to play, Marcus doesn't ask too many questions. At first. The old guy is GOOD, after all, and he teaches Marcus how to tackle and be tackled without losing focus--a skill which comes in handy after he makes the varsity team over the strenuous objections of the star quarterback who sees him as a rival both on and off the field. Eventually, though, Marcus realizes that his new friend Charlie isn't just eccentric. Covering for Charlie's pranks has gotten Marcus in trouble with local law enforcement, and his increasingly erratic behavior strains the bonds of loyalty and sends Marcus on a quest for answers, to the dismay of Charlie's family, who are desperately trying to maintain a facade of normalcy.

Gordon Korman tackles (pardon the pun) the serious and timely subject of the long-term effects of concussions and sports-related injuries in this teen novel, and he does it brilliantly. What better way than a good story to communicate the idea of consequences and mortality to teenage boys who have always believed themselves to be immortal and invincible? I'm not what you'd call a sports fan (yes, that's the sound of my family laughing hysterically), but I loved this book. It's not preachy, doesn't try to scare kids out of playing, it just subtly raises awareness while weaving together humor and tragedy.

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways. A couple of mild kissing scenes and virtually no bad language.

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