A review by shighley
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick
4.0
Really wavered between a 4 and 5 here. There are so many things to like about the book. I listened to the audio version, and Luke Daniel did a great job with the different characters. AJ is hilarious, even if a bit over the top. The relationship between Peter and his grandfather is well-documented, and very special. In addition, they undergo parallel disappointments: Grandpa loses his photography, and Peter loses baseball. My main quibble is with the delay in dealing with Grandpa's Alzheimer's. In this day and age, there are treatments (admittedly, some experimental) that can be administered ASAP, so by denial (by Peter to his parents, and the parents to him), maybe some opportunities were missed. How could the parents think, with Peter spending more time with Gramps than anyone else, that they could keep it from him? The pitfalls and tensions of keeping secrets are well-done, although I don't get why Angelika had to be so mad at Pete for not telling AJ the severity of his injury. There are so many truly funny scenes in the book: the party, photographing the swimmer, the pitch and catch, and many more. The scene with Peter almost passed out but eavesdropping was a nice plot device as well.
One other bone to pick: I don't know of any science classes that use specimens with formaldehyde anymore. I started teaching science over 30 years ago, and other preservatives were used soon after that. I enjoyed the parts about photography as well; I learned some things, but it was not too technical to be overwhelming. Sonnenblick included some elements to make this more attractive to older teens, without having to be too edgy or including language that might make some libraries hesitate to include it. I can't remember when I've read a book with so much vomiting, either, but it was all understandable!
One other bone to pick: I don't know of any science classes that use specimens with formaldehyde anymore. I started teaching science over 30 years ago, and other preservatives were used soon after that. I enjoyed the parts about photography as well; I learned some things, but it was not too technical to be overwhelming. Sonnenblick included some elements to make this more attractive to older teens, without having to be too edgy or including language that might make some libraries hesitate to include it. I can't remember when I've read a book with so much vomiting, either, but it was all understandable!