Thursday, December 22, 2005

Catch by Will Leitch

Tim Temples is a high-school graduate. He has survived the four long gruesome years of hanging out with his posse, drinking, and meeting nearly every girl in their small town of Matoon. Okay, so it wasn't that wretched. Not only that but the Temples family are legend, for playing baseball. Tim's father, Bryan, played in the minor leagues and would have made it to the majors except for injuries. Tim's older brother, Doug, was drafted by the Cardinals, but went to collage instead. Now when Doug comes back from that four year scholarship Tim fears that it has ruined him. Since Tim is the next to go to college, he fears that he will also not finish, become fat, always be angry at everybody, along with an assortment of other things that changed his brother to the pathetic state he is in now. Tim is facing his last summer with his posse called the Horsemen, and the normal routine. At his summer job of carring crates, Tim meets Helena. Helena is 23, gorgeous (with a full rack), and hates his guts. This soon changes, and they become girlfriend and boyfriend. They spend every night together, and the Horsemen are forgotten. Things will change with college soon approaching. Will his relationship with Helena change? Will he end up like Doug, fat and lazy? Who knows until the last page.

Quick witted dry humor, cussing, romance, and the average legend in a small town. The closest thing that I can compare this novel to is J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye". I won't lie, there is quite a bit of cussing, and sex. But it is not so much that this is all that there is. It's also a realistic fiction story of a teenager heading off to college in the year 2005. It was one of those books where you just kept reading, always telling yourself that you will stop at the next chapter. Ten Chapters later you are still in the same position that you started in, saying you'll stop at the next chapter. You look deeper still. It's a story of friendship and family. Things will change but with the support of those close to you.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 10
Reviewer Age: 14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Belton, Missouri USA