Boy21 - Matthew Quick ---------------- 3.5 Stars

I would have never planned to read Boy21 if my son had not read the book and exclaimed it was the "greatest book I've ever read." Now, for context, he's not really read that many books but it certainly piqued my interest, and he was hoping that I would read it too.  So, I think I'd give it a try and pretty happy I did.

Some more background as most are probably not familiar with this book. The book is about 10 years old and is considered young adult fiction. Knowing it was YA, I did change my mindset going into reading it. That being said it was enjoyable. The story is told from the first person perspective of a teenage basketball player who befriends, a very talented player, who is struggling with some trauma in his past (he names himself Boy21). Also, fun fact, the author was the writer of Silver Linings Playbook.

There was a few things I really enjoyed about this book. First, it's really engaging. The plot moves quickly and there is not a lot of excess (negative too - see below). Second, as a YA book and related to the above, it's a short, quick read and easy to get through. Finally, I found plot very accessible, along with the characters, and enjoyed the many basketball and school connections.

On a downside, the book doesn't develop characters and plot as more typical adult novels. I figure this is mostly because the author is worried about keeping a young reader's attention, but it is a detriment to the story. Nowhere is this more on display than in the final 20-25 pages. The book was moving at a quick pace but nothing unreasonable and really doing a nice job to move the story forward. Oddly, a TON of things happened in the last chapter or two that really hurried the ending and left a bad taste in my mouth.

On the whole, fun book and happy I read it.