Deadline by Chris Crutcher (336 pgs)

G: Another entertaining book by Chris Crutcher, one of my favorite young adult authors. I have read many, but not all of his books, and so far they all connect to sports, troubled teens with both male and female leading characters, relationships and emotional angst, positive turn around, and adults who are good and some not so good. Give this a try - it is short, heartbreaking and positive. Can a book be all of that? With Chris Crutcher directing - yes it can. 

Amazon: 

How can a pint-sized, smart-ass eighteen-year-old make his mark on the world from Nowheresville, Idaho—especially when he only has one year left to do it? When Ben Wolf learns his senior year of high school will be his last year, period, he is determined to go out in a blaze of glory.

That means not letting anyone know about his diagnosis. It means trying out for the football team. It means giving his close-minded civics teacher a daily migraine. It means going for the amazingly perfect, fascinating Dallas Suzuki.

But living with a secret isn't easy . . . What will Ben do when he realizes he isn't the only person who's keeping one?

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer (384 pgs, 10 cds)

Geraldine: First  - perhaps this is a book every high school student should read. Second - perhaps the parents, teachers, and administration will think it is inappropriate (depends on age) and extremely graphic (which it is). If my daughters were just now going off to college I would make it required reading for our family and open discussion at the dinner table. In high school, parents know their own children best. I would definitely have had my rising 9th grader read this and be aware and wary of senior challenges, canyon parties and substances dropped in unattended drinks, alcoholic or not. The graphic descriptions of non-consensual sex are truly assaults. I have not decided if I can have it in the library system for access by all ages. I welcome opinions. 

An Amazon Best Book of April 2015: Toward the end of this powerful, absorbing book, best-selling author Jon Krakauer quotes a jury member as she sums up popular assumptions about sexual assault: “(1) A stranger jumps out from the bushes; (2) There is no (assault) unless the woman puts up a fight, to the death if necessary.” The truth is much different—assaults by acquaintances are by far the most common form of the crime. In Missoula, Krakauer examines one community’s struggle with such accusations, shining a bright light on a problem that frequently goes underreported and is all-too-easy to sweep under the rug. Not only must victims contend with the after-effects of the crime, they must often face doubting police, antagonistic lawyers, and the whims of popular opinion. Some of the reported assaults in Krakauer’s book involved members of the University of Montana’s beloved Grizzly football team.