Pub Date: April 22, 2025
Dewey: FIC
LCCN: 2024047088
Lexile Code: 0510
Target Age Group: 14 to 18
Physical Info: 0.90" H x 8.00" L x 4.90" W ( 0.60 lbs) 272 pages
Description: A teen baseball star who "has it all"--looks, wealth, and a pro-MLB father--grapples with an impossible choice: reveal his abuse at the hands of his father and risk being separated from his younger brother in the foster care system, or remain silent and risk his brother experiencing that same abuse.
Brief description:
T. L. Simpson is an award-winning journalist and novelist living in Arkansas. He is currently the editor of his hometown paper, The Courier. His fiction draws from his experiences growing up in the Ozarks, covering both sports and crime. Simpson lives in the Arkansas River Valley, between the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, with his wife and four children. His debut contemporary YA novel, Strong Like You, released in 2024.
Review Quotes:
"With wrenching emotion, an authentic voice, and a clear-eyed take on the impossible decisions and brutal circumstances that often face young people, Simpson's sophomore novel, after Strong Like You, is a powerhouse. . . . Heartbreaking, hopeful, and near pitch-perfect." --School Library Journal, starred review