Rhyming Season

The Rhyming Season by Edward Averett, 2005
Brenda, “Bren” to her friends, loves basketball. She loved her brother better, but her brother died in a single-car crash the year before, midseason his senior year, and now she’s the senior. Her senior year doesn’t go as expected. The town’s mill closes, leaving most of the town out of work; her dad and mom split; her coach takes another job; the new head coach wants to have the players recite poetry from the foul line; and her best friend, and best team player, wants to quit. When the ghost of her dead brother turns up, it’s mostly a comfort, even if she’s started fainting at the foul line and may be going crazy.

I enjoyed the parts of the story about the release that can come from a love of a sport, and the strength that comes through teamwork and friendship. Listing the events of the story, it seems a bit heavy on the unfortunate events, and the tempo is clipped and not extremely lyrical, even with the poetry thrown in. But I found that the book pulled me along enjoyably quickly.

Some memory-jogging tags: Grief, fiction. Basketball. Senior year. Parental separation. Poetry. Emily Dickenson. Death of a sibling. Brother. Small town. Washington state. Sawmill. Family feuds. Coach. Sexism. State championship. First romance. Trees.

MS Rating: OK. The character is a senior, but the writing level seems more suited for a young MS reader. Beehive Award 07-08 nominee.