Reviews

This book is a tale of a father and son going through a hard time. ZJ the main charcter is adjusting to his father's head injuries. He was a football player and got hit on the head a lot which has led him to start losing his memory. ZJ and his friend have to deal with his father's head and their own problems. This heart-wrenching story deals with difficult topics like changing family members and divorce. This is a beautiful story and I would recommend it to anyone.

jsterry's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book is AMZAING. The way the charcters feel like actual people is so real, it feels like i am reading some kid's journal. The only real flaw with the book was how short it was. the book can easily be read in a hour without even trying. However, that is a small flaw with a great book.

crousecm's review against another edition

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4.0

Short listen from a child's perspective on their dad having CTE.

crystal_reading's review against another edition

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5.0

Review copy: Digital ARC via Netgalley

Jacqueline Woodson's writing is so incredibly powerful. Every word counts and they all fit together so wonderfully. The words sing from the page. ZJ also does some singing since music is his thing so it really fits with his personality and passion.

Aside from the awesome writing, the content is also fantastic. ZJ and his family are really dealing with some incredible challenges. Watching someone lose memories, has personality changes and is dealing with incredible pain is never easy. The beauty of this book though is the ways that friends and family pull in close and are there for ZJ and his family.

This is a heartbreaker of a book, but I'd say it's also a heart mender.

lsmith725's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was informative and touching at the same time. So real. This explores the way a brain injury affects a family, and how race plays into that dynamic as well. ZJ was such a realistic, lovable young boy, and his parents are wonderful as well. I just adored this. My one critique was that I was not as intrigued as I wanted to be because I knew the symptoms the dad was facing were from a brain injury; younger readers would likely find this suspenseful and enjoy working out what was going on with the father. I believe this would be a highly beneficial read for young readers.

beorn_101's review against another edition

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4.0

I read this for work. It was the first book I read that was completely in prose. I liked it, the prose meant it was a really quick read. It also lent itself to feeling like it was a journal getting the internal thoughts of our main character.

The content is heavier, grappling with a parent who is losing themselves to a mental illness with littler understanding. This was handled well, balancing the feelings of good days and bad days and the social isolation things like this can cause.

The pro-sports angle didn't resonate with me, but I don't watch pro-sports.

Overall, it was well written, but it isn't the type of book I would personally go out of my way to read.

hmay11's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book is about a boy whose dad is a professional football player and his dad suffers from memory loss and migraines from unknown causes so Z.J. has to watch his dad suffer.This book also reads like poetry.This story is definitely interesting and questionable but I do think it is sad also.I do wish the ending was different because this was a shock ending and unless if you like shock endings you'll be OK with the ending.I think this book wasn't the best but it was fine. I think that more sporty people.

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