Head Fake by Scott Gordon

Father of the Year said that if I didn't get this job, I was back out of the house and living on the street...tomorrow. Based on my interviewing skills, my time indoors was running out.

    "Do you have any experience with mental illness, Mr. Cannon?" Dr. Tambori said, absently tapping her fingernails on the desk.

    Wow. That was a question and a half. I wanted to tell her everything: about how I could hardly pay attention to what she was saying, how at times I had trouble controlling myself, about the negative thoughts, the depression, about wanting to sleep my life away, the horror show that was my father, about living both tired and wired, about how my hands wouldn't stop sweating, how if I didn't get this job I'd die on the streets. But if the floodgates opened, everybody in this building would drown, Besides, she might think it a bad idea to hire a crazy person to drive around crazy people. "Not really." 

Every instinct was telling me to get as far away from this school as possible, but I knew down in my bones that if I had any chance to make my twenty-sixth birthday, I needed to keep this job.

The plot:  With his father's help, Mikey Cannon gets hired as a bus driver at the Mary Friedman Alternative High School for high risk offenders--students grappling with mental health issues from depression and suicidal thoughts to schizophrenia. Despite his own struggles, Mikey connects with these outcast kids, especially when he unexpectedly becomes their basketball coach. And he's determined to help them win at least one game this season...if he can keep them from fighting with each other, or losing their cool, or freaking out during every game. Because Mikey and his team of underdogs could really use a win.

My thoughts:  Quirky. Funny. Poignant. Emotional. And compelling. I loved how Mikey used humor to get through awkward and uncomfortable situations, and how he found ways to connect with all the members of his team despite his own inadequacies. Their stories and struggles were so heartbreaking.  But I loved how they all came together over the game of basketball and became like a family. Which was ironic considering basketball is one of the things that drove Mikey and his own father apart years ago. Their relationship plays a large part in this book, too, and it's an unhappy one. This book drew me in on page one and I did not want to put it down. It's a wonderful read. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

How fun is this bookish tee?

 

I also really love this one: 

(I found both of these on Amazon; and the bottom one will soon be found in my closet.)

Happy Reading!

Now this is a reading nook!

 

Isn't this cool? It's a treehouse reading nook! I could spend many happy hours in a space like this. 

(Free image from StockCake.)

What I've been reading...and viewing

This post was supposed to be a review of one of the many library books I checked out this month. And while I have been reading, I just couldn't make myself actually sit down and write a review. So you get this rambling post instead. 

I've been binge watching the first few seasons of Cobra Kai...and completely loving it! So fun to see Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence back together, still sparring. I also love all the homages to the original Karate Kid movie, which has been a favorite of mine since it first came out. All the 80s music in it is great, too. I'm looking forward to watching the last three seasons soon. 

I also just finished reading Eric Jay Dolin's well-researched book Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution. I did not know how big a role privateers played in the American Revolution or their importance in helping to defeat the British armies. This book was very informative, and I learned a lot. I thought Dolin did a good job of making all these facts and historical figures interesting, and the book is very readable, though there were a few long chapters at the end that I found myself kind of skimming. Still a 4-star nonfiction read for me. 

I've been slow reading Hosanna Wong's lovely book Uncomplicate It. It's wonderful. I love her views on how anyone can connect with God in their own way. So many of the chapters seem to speak to me and where I'm at in my life right now. It was Cindy's review that first brought this book to my attention and I'm so glad! It's one I think I need to own and read again and again. 

And in a completely different vein, I just started reading Rob Hart's second Assassins' Anonymous book, The Medusa Protocol. I'm not very far in it yet, but am liking it so far. I also have Nick Petrie's latest Peter Ash thriller, The Dark Time, waiting for me to read next. Along with Her Time Traveling Duke by Bryn Donovan and Love At First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi. So maybe I'll manage to review one of these books next week. But I make no promises. 

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews...

 

Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart

One year, no kills. Mark 

is making amends. Then a

killer comes after him.

Action/Thriller .... 306 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Loved the main character and the dark humor. Can't wait to read the sequel.)

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

Sasquatch. Cthulhu.

Black Witches. A missing town.

And werewolves. Oh, my!

Urban fantasy .... 358 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Anna and Charles head to the mountains in Northern California to investigate an ancient mystery; lots of magic and suspense. I loved it.)

Tell Me True by Carina Taylor

Can this marriage of

convenience take two roommates from

"just friends" to much, much more?

Sweet romance .... 316 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Cute, clean and humorous. While I do not love the cover, I did love Miles's and Lucy's friendship, and their banter. Miles's family was pretty great, too.)

Happy Reading!

April's Bookish Art...

 

Edwin Harris -- A Quiet Moment

"Throughout her life, books had always been welcome companions, offering wisdom, inspiration, and a wondrous sense of adventure as one journeyed to the world of imagination."

--Andrea Penrose, Murder at Somerset House

Sarah's Orphans by Vannetta Chapman

 

The plot:  First her father dies, then her mother leaves. And 23-year-old Sarah Yoder must care for her four younger brothers and manage their household, too. Though two of her brothers, Andy and Henry, are grown enough to work the farm. But there are debts to pay. And they are struggling. Then Sarah discovers a young Hispanic boy and his 3-year-old sister living on their own in town, and she decides she and her brothers have room for two more. Luckily, they are not alone. Their Amish community is there to help, as is their new neighbor, Paul Byler, a 30-year-old bachelor who finds he might have room in his life not only for Sarah, bur for all her charges. 

My thoughts:  This is a lovely novel about found family, community, God, faith, and love. That Amish setting is one of my favs, and I liked Sarah and her brothers and their interactions with young Mateo and his little sister, Mia. Paul was a great character, very thoughtful and kind. I enjoyed the quiet romance between him and Sarah. All in all, this is a charming and heartwarming novel.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!