This book was a good follow-up to JUMPING OFF SWING. It was an extremely inward book in what it focused mostly on Josh's interiority and feeling about his past and his attempts to reconcile himself to it. While it kept me reading, not a lot actually happened. There was a lot of repetition of stuff we already knew and I felt like things dragged a little in the middle. However, looking at teen pregnancy from the boy's POV is unique and I think Knowles handled it really well. This book is a very emotional read and while there's not a lot of action, there is a lot of heart.

Das Buch hatte ich mir vor 3 Jahren zum Geburtstag gewünscht, weil ich eine Geschichte ala Karate Kid erwartet hatte. Irgendwie bin ich dann aber doch nie zum Lesen des Buches gekommen und jetzt als die Karate Kid als Serie herauskam und ich sie mir ansah, griff ich dann auch endlich zu dem Buch.
Der Anfang hat mich wirklich mitgerissen. Man erfährt nicht alles aber immer kleine Fetzen. So weiß man nicht wirklich was passiert ist, dass Josh zu seinem Onkel zieht und an einer neuer Schule sein Abschlussjahr beginnt. Man weiß aber schon, dass es etwas mir einem Baby zu tun hat und man kann sich dann natürlich einiges denken und zusammenreimen. Nach und nach erfährt man mehr wie alles passiert ist und was in seiner Familie los ist. Josh's Onkel Larry ist ein großartiger, geduldiger Charaktere. Er ist Karatelehrer und daher spielt Karate hier auch eine recht große Rolle. Stella ist ein Mädchen, dass Josh in der Nachbarschaft kennenlernt und die auch auf seine neue Schule geht. Mit ihr baut sich eine etwas komplizierte Freundschaft auf.
Themen wie Erwachsen werden, sich selbst verzeihen und Vertrauen spielen eine große Rolle. Aber auch andere Dinge. Vor allem was eine gesunde Beziehung ausmacht und wie eine Beziehung nicht sein sollte. Alles sehr wichtige Themen, vor allem für eine Jugendbuch.
Leider war es aber auch sehr langatmig. Es wiederholte sich viel, die Handlung kam nur schleppend voran und irgendwann war ich es leid über Josh's Selbstzweifel und Selbstmitleid ohne dass groß etwas spannendes oder unterhaltsames passiert. Zum Ende hin änderte sich das dann noch einmal und da saß sich das Buch dann auch wieder sehr flüssig weg.

Story 3,6/5
Schreibstil 3,4/5
Charaktere 4,0/5
Spannung 2,4/5
Gesamt 3,4/5

It has been years since I've read this book but it's the only one that has always stuck with me. It's the first book I think of when asked "what's your favorite book?" It was such a good and easy read that it easily bonded with me. I recently found it packed away and can't wait to read it again.

Unable to deal with his past mistakes, Josh decides to leave the town where he grew up and move in with his uncle to finish his senior year. Uncle Larry is obsessed with karate and all things Jackie Chan and wants to help Josh deal with his demons. Josh thought that starting a new school in a new place would cure him of the pain that he's been feeling since Ellie gave birth to his baby and gave him up for adoption. Running away hasn't changed anything. It doesn't help that there is a baby living in the apartment above theirs that wakes Josh up with his cries, reminding him over and over again of all the pain. He begins taking karate classes from his uncle, which neighbor-girl Stella just happens to be taking the class too. They become friends and Josh even starts feeling something more for her, but there are 2 problems: 1. Stella has a boyfriend (a jealous one at that), and 2. Josh is so ashamed at what happened to him last year, he doesn't possibly feel he deserves love.

My Thoughts:
I read [b:Jumping Off Swings|6378239|Jumping Off Swings|Jo Knowles|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320401740s/6378239.jpg|6236364] in 2012 and didn't love it. I did really enjoy the writing though, so I wanted to give this book a try. Plus I had always wondered WHY Josh never discussed what had happened with Ellie. It really really bothered me in that first book. He finds out he got a girl pregnant and then proceeds to get his friends to ask her if she wants his help.... ummm???? MAN UP! Anyway, when I found out that this was about his journey post-baby, I decided to give it a shot. Plus that title weirdly made me curious.

So Josh decides to leave town and move in with his uncle Larry. And Larry is something-else. He's this super corny annoying over-the-top dude that probably needed put down. (Did I go too far there??) Ok but he was like this big, happy lap-dog, slobbering all over Josh and super rah-rah about life. But the thing is he freaking GREW on me. How can you NOT like a guy who tries as hard as Larry? I found it impossible to keep up my annoyance with him and honestly now I'm thinking about trying to be more positive. (If you haven't noticed I'm not the most rah-rah person you'll ever meet).

Beyond that, this book had a lot of the same problems as the first book for me. It still seemed to send the message that sex=death. Okay maybe not death, but that bad things happen to teens who have sex. Also I had a hard time believing that someone would beat themselves up so much over a mistake like that. Maybe Josh was just more sensitive than the average guy... but clearly what happened with Ellie was just as much her fault as his.

There was a lot of internal reflection but with nothing new happening. Just Josh going over and over how he didn't want to deal with his problems or ever go home and how great Larry was being. At some point I was like okkaaayyyy what's next, move along. The first book was super short, but this one went too long for the amount of nonhappenings that there were.

I really liked the what is a true karate man stuff. I can see how doing karate could be extremely cathartic to someone with a lot of things going on in their head. I really enjoyed reading about how karate was more than just physical activity. It became more or less an example of the kind of person Josh wanted to be.

OVERALL: An okay book that looks at looks at the guys' perspective in an accidental pregnancy/adoption scenario post-adoption. I enjoyed it more than Jumping Off Swings, but still felt like it was too internal and judgey.

My Blog:

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was great to get things from Josh's perspective. He was a compelling character and I loved the struggle that he had and how it was presented. I wish we had seen more of his ending chat with Ellie, but I thought the ending was fitting.

A good read!

I'm quite obviously not a guy, but I think the Josh's emotions were spot-on. The writing was beautiful and intriguing and Josh was a great main character. He was hurting from his decisions and his loss, yet didn't want to exhibit those feelings to the world. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts. The secondary characters were perfectly done and the plot was relevant. One of my favorites this year.

Originally posted at www.apatchworkofbooks.com

Okay, this book. This book had me feeling all kinds of “feels.” Seriously. As soon as I get my hands on a hard copy, I am adding it to my classroom library.

What a story; what storytelling.

I will say that I was not sold right away on this novel—and by that I mean within the first chapter. But I really enjoyed Josh as a character and hung in there with him. But really, it was wanting to see how the author would broach this subject. Truth time—brilliantly.

After all, pregnancy doesn’t just happen to the mother. Adoption choices don’t just happen to the mother. And now add in the element of a relatively young age. How does one move beyond the past to build a promising future?

Josh struggles the entire novel. As readers, we are given snapshots into what has his soul. What has torn such a part of him away and led him to leave his own school his senior year?

This slow build is what kept me hooked; and his relationship with his uncle; and his budding friendship with Stella, which I will get to in a minute.

Read my full review on my blog, here.