Losers Bracket by Chris Crutcher
It's that time of year again. The TAYSHAS list was released last week, so in my effort to read at least fifteen, I got started. If they hadn't changed the way they did the nomination list this year, I likely would've gotten started earlier, but they did so I didn't.
I opted to start with this one because I discovered I really like Chris Crutcher. Usually, it seems, he writes books that appeal more to teenaged boys, which is awesome, but this time, he wrote about a girl. Crutcher also tackles social issues, and at the crux of this book, there is a social issue. On top of all that, it was just a really good read, which is what I have come to expect from this author.
It is the summer before her senior year, and Annie is in a basketball tournament with her friends. She purposely loses, at first, because it means that she will have more opportunities to play. She loves basketball, so you may not be surprised that she wants to play as much as she can, but the real reason she starts in the losers bracket is because it gives her biological family more opportunities to see her play. She was placed in foster care at a young age, and doesn't get to see her "real" family terribly often because her foster father has more or less forbidden it.
Annie's family is a mess. Her biological family, as well as her foster family, but for different reasons. Her foster father is a narcissist, so everything has to be his way or the highway. He threatens to "give her back" of she doesn't follow his rules to not see her biological family. Her biological family is messed up because her parents and older sister are into drugs and other unsavory activities.
Annie's older sister, Sheila, has a son, Frankie, who goes missing at one of Annie's swim meets, and Annie feels like it is up to her to find Frankie and make sure he is ok. A large chunk of the book is devoted to this.
What is important about this book, I think, is that it gives a glimpse of the foster care system. Maybe the more people who read this, the better the system can become.
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