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Reviewed by: Becki Truelson, High School Librarian Title: The Champions Author: Kara Thomas Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 10-12 Genre/Type of Book: Realistic Fiction/Mystery
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Language, high school parties, sexual assault, murder. Not graphic. Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I saw a description and thought it sounded interesting. It got good reviews. If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
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Review:
Hadley has finally made it to senior year and is patiently waiting to hear whether her high school dream of becoming the editor of the school newspaper will come true. She has always loved to write for the paper and aspires to continue her journalism as a student at Columbia. Her focus is suddenly derailed by an invitation to a party hosted by the football team. By the end of the night, Hadley is at the hospital with one of the players who has been poisoned and is in a coma. Hadley realizes that many things are not adding up when it comes to the football team, their girlfriends, the coaches, and teachers at the school. As her journalistic instinct sets in, she finds herself in the middle of solving a mystery involving revenge and murder.
What I loved about this book: it is set in an upstate NY town during football season, so the time and setting were perfect to read at this time. I found the characters to be well developed (which makes or breaks a book for me) and the story was compelling. Hadley was a scrappy girl who was not going to give up on solving this social puzzle. She put herself in harm's way to get the information she needed and did not let her place on the social hierarchy stop her. This book deals with some heavy subjects. The parties that take place in the book involve drinking to excess, sexual assault, and violence against others. None of this is explicitly described. There is a theme of privilege and cover-ups when it comes to athletes and the adults who are behind this protection. This was a compelling read, but I did get confused at some points with all the characters involved and the parts they played in the mystery. All in all, it was a good book that I would recommend for older audiences, grades 10 and up.
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