After Jo has sex with Ty, a boy who is on the wrestling team that she helps manage, she overhears him telling another girl that Jo is just “a practice girl”, to be used only for sexual practice but not one to be in a relationship with. Jo finds out that the boys on the team have used this term to describe her since she has had sex with 2 or 3 of the others after thinking that they wanted a more serious relationship. Jo decides to debunk her reputation by joining the team as a competitor rather than manager and to work on her friendships with other girls. She eventually finds a more honest romantic relationship but in the midst of figuring out what she wants, she makes mistakes and learns some difficult life lessons.
As a YA book written for teens and definitely not a genre that I usually enjoy, I want to fairly rate this book 5 stars as the author covers so many teen issues within a well written, fast-paced and entertaining story. The complexities of adolescent relationships (platonic male/female, girl friendships and sexual encounters) are all included with Jo attempting to navigate around her own feelings while frequently neglecting other people’s feelings. I enjoyed the way the author also included family issues by developing Jo’s relationships with her mother and especially her stepfather over the course of the book. It was nice to see that Jo learned to listen to the adults’ words of wisdom as well as the feedback from her friends. Other family issues such as alcoholism and neglect were touched on showing the reader that teens often have bigger issues than what goes on socially. I also liked that high school wrestling was chosen as the focus sport since it probably doesn’t get much attention but was a perfect analogy for the struggles that Jo “wrestled” with as an individual and on a team.
Overall, I think this is a book that teens can relate to. At first, I wondered if the sexual content would be appropriate for the targeted age group but it seemed to be tastefully addressed and I’m sure teens discuss the content openly anyway. Some of the conclusions may have seemed a little too “tidy” but there were definitely some conclusions left open or messy which is how life really is.
Thanks to BookishFirst and Penguin Random House Publishers for the Advanced Reader Copy.
As a YA book written for teens and definitely not a genre that I usually enjoy, I want to fairly rate this book 5 stars as the author covers so many teen issues within a well written, fast-paced and entertaining story. The complexities of adolescent relationships (platonic male/female, girl friendships and sexual encounters) are all included with Jo attempting to navigate around her own feelings while frequently neglecting other people’s feelings. I enjoyed the way the author also included family issues by developing Jo’s relationships with her mother and especially her stepfather over the course of the book. It was nice to see that Jo learned to listen to the adults’ words of wisdom as well as the feedback from her friends. Other family issues such as alcoholism and neglect were touched on showing the reader that teens often have bigger issues than what goes on socially. I also liked that high school wrestling was chosen as the focus sport since it probably doesn’t get much attention but was a perfect analogy for the struggles that Jo “wrestled” with as an individual and on a team.
Overall, I think this is a book that teens can relate to. At first, I wondered if the sexual content would be appropriate for the targeted age group but it seemed to be tastefully addressed and I’m sure teens discuss the content openly anyway. Some of the conclusions may have seemed a little too “tidy” but there were definitely some conclusions left open or messy which is how life really is.
Thanks to BookishFirst and Penguin Random House Publishers for the Advanced Reader Copy.