The Second Base Club

Gr 9—11—Tenth-grader Elroy has a goal for the coming school year: to score. He wants a girlfriend, and he has very little idea of how to go about getting one. He tutors the Hot Girl in math and they share a couple of kisses on her porch swing, but the next day she confesses that she's not interested in him "in that way." With his own charms coming up short, Elroy joins the wrestling team (because athletes get girls), and when that doesn't pan out, he and his friends form a band (because girls also dig guys in bands). His friend sets him up on a blind date and implies that she's easy; when Elroy tears into her sweater after she's twice said no, he earns a punch in the face. He apologizes for being a jerk and the incident is dropped, dismissing his sexual assault as a "boys will be boys" learning experience. Later, at a party, he intercepts a female friend whom the popular jocks have slipped roofies and receives a beating for his efforts, but still fails to notice the parallels between the jocks' behavior and his own. Other plot elements, such as Elroy's new and changing friendships and his relationships with his divorced parents, could be a strong story on their own but are overshadowed by his all-consuming drive to touch a girl. Attempts at "guy humor"—insults and fart jokes—fall flat. Brent Crawford's Carter Finally Gets It (Hyperion, 2009) or Don Calame's Swim the Fly (Candlewick, 2009) are better executions of similar themes.—Brandy Danner, Wilmington Memorial Library, MA