Ryan Dean West IS WINGER! A Novel by ANDREW SMITH - Review

TITLE: WINGER

AUTHOR: ANDREW SMITH

RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/448 pages

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS: 

A teen at boarding school grapples with life, love, and rugby in a heartbreakingly funny novel.

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan Dean manages to survive life’s complications and even find some happiness along the way. But when the unthinkable happens, he has to figure out how to hold on to what’s important, even when it feels like everything has fallen apart.

Filled with hand-drawn infographics and illustrations and told in a pitch-perfect voice, this realistic depiction of a teen’s experience strikes an exceptional balance of hilarious and heartbreaking. (From GOODREADS)

REVIEW: 


Ryan Dean West. We all knew a Ryan Dean West back in school. Oh yeah. The little guy who was 100% completely fearless. You wanted to be like him...to have the balls he possessed. Ryan Dean West, better known as Winger for the position he played on his private school's rugby team. He's the chihuahua who thinks he's a German Shepherd. Such a great character...whether you were Ryan Dean, dated Ryan Dean or you knew Ryan Dean, you'll love this book.


Ryan Dean comes off, initially, as a good boy. He's 14...practically a certified genius. You just know his parents are proud of him. But, at the story's onset, Ryan Dean finds himself in Opportunity Hall...the dorm for the baddies of his school. Pretty much every other baddy is bigger and meaner than Ryan Dean. He rooms with a bully he hates enough to spike his drink with **** (you'll have to read the book to know what he spikes the drink with!).

This story will have you laughing like crazy. But don't get comfortable. Ryan Dean steps into some pretty treacherous water throughout this novel. First of all, he's in love with his best friend, Annie. She's 16...and he's only 14. He feels that it will never happen. Great angsty moments ensue. As he shows his bad-boy side, by having heightened moments of passion with his bully roommate's girlfriend, you find yourself hoping he crashes and burns. But the anxiety and guilt he feels will make you hope he turns himself around. Under everything questionable and seedy, shines the light of a good boy who just wants to have the things he wants. He's confused. What 14 year-old boy isn't? Take this trip with Ryan Dean and I promise you...you won't regret it.

There is an epic moment of tragedy that sneaks up on you in this story. It will break your heart. Just when you think you can't laugh any harder, or feel any greater for Ryan Dean and his group of friends, BAM! You're thrown into a crushing scene...and so subtly you won't even see it coming.

This is a fantastic read! You have to get it now. It's one of those stories that has everything. AND...it has some pretty whimsical drawings...as Ryan Dean is a bit of a cartoonist...and as he tells some of his funnier tales, he includes some very cool comic-book accompaniment.

ENJOY THIS GEM!

Size: 5 1/2