Before The Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

It's 1999 and ten-year-old Zachariah Jr.'s (ZJ) father is a famous football player who has won several Super Bowl championships. His famous father, a tight end, is known as "Zachariah 44" Johnson.

ZJ has three best friends: Ollie, Daniel and Darry. Ollie who loves math, who has green eyes and a red Afro was left outside a Texas church as a baby. He was adopted by a preacher and his wife. His mother, Bernadette is a widow and sometimes visits ZJ's mom for a cup of coffee.

ZJ's life begins to change when the new millennium comes. While celebrating New Years Eve, December 31, 1999 with Ollie, Darry and Daniel at his home, ZJ's father becomes angry over the noise. They are listening to Prince's 1999 and his dad comes into their room, yelling and asking who the boys are. ZJ and his friends at first think he was joking, but ZJ's father didn't seem to know who they were.

The next Friday after school, when ZJ asks his friends to come over, they each find an excuse not to come. However, on Sunday Daniel shows up and the two boys work together on a puzzle during the rainy afternoon.

ZJ's father says his head hurts all the time. Other times, everything seems fine. ZJ and his parents have a delicious dinner, his father and mother dancing in their living room. As his father's headaches worsen, he is told he has to stop playing football and eventually can no longer drive. As the doctors struggle to determine what's wrong, ZJ struggles to cope with what this means for his father and their family.

Discussion

Before The Ever After tells the story of a young boy whose life begins to unravel as his father starts to experience symptoms of what is now called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a degenerative brain disease that often occurs in people who have suffered concussions and other repeated head trauma over a period of time. Athletes such as football and hockey players, boxers, and soldiers who have experienced brain injury from explosive blasts on the battlefield are at risk, but so are those who suffer head injuries in other settings as well. These injuries result in a build up of a protein called tau in the brain. This protein which smothers brain cells, affects the areas of the brain that are responsible for memory, the regulation of emotions and other important functions. 

CTE was discovered by Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born doctor who studied the brain of former NFL player Tim Webster whose mental health had seriously deteriorated prior to his death of a heart attack in 2002. Omalu found tau proteins in Webster's brain. Omalu named the condition Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and in his paper to the medical journal, Neurology, in 2005, he suggested that Webster's health issues were directly related to the hits he had taken as a football player. 

His paper was not well received by the NFL, which suggested his research had serious flaws. Undaunted, Omalu examined the brain of a second NFL football player, found the same proteins in his brain and wrote a second paper to Neurology. Again the NFL refused to accept his findings, but further investigations on the brains of more ex-football players continued to support Omalu's conclusions. His work caught the attention of the media and eventually CTE gained acceptance as a real and serious disease.

In Before The Ever After, ZJ's father, Zachariah is an outstanding tight end with a professional football team and has won Super Bowl championships. The story is set in late 1999 into the year 2000, before Dr. Bennet Omalu's research and the discovery of the effects of repeated injuries to the brain. Zachariah's story is told through the eyes of his twelve-year-old son, ZJ as he remembers how his father's illness began, the events leading up to his beloved father's hospitalization and how he, his mother and his friends struggled to cope.

 In the poem, Before the Ever After, ZJ describes life before his father, "Zachariah 44" who is only thirty-four years old and in the prime of his career, became ill. Before the ever after there was going to Village Ice Cream, people recognizing his father, pointing and smiling, picnics on Sunday afternoons in Central Park, and ZJ and his father making up songs. ZJ's father calls him "little man" and often endearingly refers to ZJ's friend Ollie who was abandoned at birth as "my son from another mother and father."  These descriptions portray ZJ's father as a kind, involved father who cared about those around him.

But as his illness progresses, there are changes, subtle at first, like the shaking hands and the incident on New Years Eve 1999,  the headaches and the memory loss. It soon becomes apparent that ZJ's father is not quite well.  In the poem, The Trees, about the trees in their front yard that ZJ and his father named, he describes his father:

"Some days he seems just like that tree.
Like he's not his whole self anymore. Like one by one
somebody or something
took his branches."

Many of the poems in the novel emphasize what ZJ's  father is experiencing and how ZJ and his mother struggle to understand what is happening as the the man they love fades. ZJ often describes his father, a big man at 233lbs as looking small when he is experiencing his memory problems and confusion. Each of these memories remain strong for the young ZJ.  In the poem, Call Me Little Man, ZJ remembers the first time his father forgot the name he always called him by. 

"The first time you forgot my name
feels like yesterday. Feels like an hour ago.
Feels like I blink and you forgetting
is right there in front of me."

Another poem, Audition, drives home how ZJ's father at times couldn't managed even the simplest of tasks. This poem relates how it took seventy-two unsuccessful takes for a commercial. His father was unable to remember his line, "I'm Zachariah Johnson, and this is my car." and get into the car.

Many poems highlight the difficulties medical doctors were experiencing at this time to understand what was happening to football players like Zachariah. In the poem Waiting, ZJ talks about how they are always waiting. 

"We're always waiting.
Waiting for another doctor.
Waiting for more tests. Waiting for test results.
Waiting for new treatments."

It is evident the doctors don't know what is wrong with his father. In the poem, The Broken Thing, ZJ describes how the doctors don't know what is wrong.

"There's not a name for the way
Daddy's brain works now.
The way it forgets little things like
what day it is and big things like
the importance of wearing a coat outside
on a cold day. There's not a name
for the way I catch him crying
looking around the living room like
it's his first time seeing it." 

Before The Ever After is also a novel about friendship and how friends can help one another deal with loss and the difficulties of life. At first ZJ's friends abandon him when they witness his father's unusual angry outburst on New Years Eve. It is more out of fear, as they don't understand what is happening. However, as his father's condition deteriorates, ZJ's friends rally around him. He is still part of their circle, going for bike rides and snowball fights. When his mother holds a birthday party for his dad's thirty-fifth birthday, his friends arrive to celebrate. In the poem, "Company", Ollie, Daniel and Darrie meet ZJ in the schoolyard after his father is hospitalized.

"We heard about your dad, they say.
You know we got you, ZJ.
Ollie even gives me a hug, bro style, pounds my back,
then Daniel and Darry do the same.

This is a whole nother kind of pigskin dream
to have your boys surrounding you,
telling you they got you,
their hands on your shoulders,
their arms around your neck."

Professional football has offered many young men a chance to escape poverty and difficult circumstances. Before The Ever After simply and effectively highlights the price many of these men and their families have paid for such a chance. With Dr. Bennet Omalu's research, perhaps some families will be spared such a price. Jacquelline Woodson has crafted a deeply touching novel that explores this issue for younger readers.

Book Details:

Before The Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
New York: Nancy Paulsen Books      2020
161 pp.

Restart by Gordon Korman

Chase Ambrose, star of the football team was the most feared kid at Hiawasse Middle School. Chase along with his buddies, Aaron Haikiman and Bear Bratsky, terrorized just about everyone in the school and in their town. Their prime target was Joel Weber, a gifted pianist.

But Chase's life changes drastically when he falls off the roof of his house. The fall results in a separated shoulder,  a severe concussion and acute-retrograde amnesia.  He doesn't remember his mother or father or his older brother Johnny who's a college student home for the summer, and he can't quite remember his name. The only memory he has is of a little girl. Chase, who's also star of the Hiawasse football team, is told by Dr. Cooperman that he is out for the year. 

When Chase returns home, he meets his father's new wife Corinne and his four-year-old half sister Helene, both of whom seem wary of him. "They look at me like I'm a time bomb about to go off in their faces. What did I ever do to them?" This is Chase's first hint that he's not been a very nice person.

Chase's mother doesn't fill him in on his life before his accident. At school Chase is accosted by Aaron and Bear who are eager for him to return to the football team. Chase also meets with the school principal, Dr. Fitzwallace who urges him to see this as a "chance to rebuild yourself from the ground up, to make a completely fresh start." Chase wonders "What was so wrong about the old me that now I have to be somebody else?" At lunch Brendan Espinoza is terrified when Chase sits down at his table. He is immediately bullied by Chase's friends who force Chase to sit with them.

More incidents reveal to Chase that he was just not well liked, but in fact most people were terrified of him. When he first meets his half- sister Helene, she is completely terrified of Chase. At school when Chase tries to help a girl, she flees in terror. Students act odd, conversations end when he walks by, and people turn away from him as he walks down the hall. From Aaron and Bear, Chase learns they are assigned community service at the Graybeard Motel on Portland Street, helping the elderly residents. They were arrested and assigned community service for planting several cherry bombs in the piano at open house. Aaron and Bear dismiss what happened, telling Chase they do what they want and the adults can't do much. Their conversation leaves Chase doubting his removal from the football team for the season. This leads Chase to confront his mother about not telling him he was assigned community service. When he tries to downplay what happened, his mother's account at the school open house makes Chase feel ashamed.

Meanwhile Brendan Espinoza can't get anyone from the video club to help him make his video. Brendan is a nerd, honor roll student, president of the video club, and Academic Decathlon champ. With Joel Weber gone, Brendan is certain Chase and his friends will target him now. But Chase seems friendly and different. So when he sees Chase in the hallway, Brendan invites Chase to help him shoot his video. Brendan's video of him riding a tricycle through the Shiny Bumper car wash almost gets Chase in trouble again. But Brendan diffuses the situation and Chase acknowledges that it was Brendan's good reputation and not his bad one that saves him. Because they had so much fun together, Brendan invites Chase to join the video club. Shoshanna Weber and the other members of the club are horrified when they hear this. Shoshanna's brother Joel was the victim of Chase and his friends cherry bomb prank. It was the reason he has left Hiawassee to attend another school. But Brendan insists Chase is not the same person as he tells the group, "...He was helpful. He had good ideas. He was even nice. He's different."

Ms. DeLeo tells they club they must accept Chase. At the meeting, they discuss working on entries for the National Video Journalism Contest which will feature profiling a senior citizen. They are also working on producing a video yearbook which includes student interviews and information on school clubs and teams. Chase is assigned to cover the football team. Shoshanna refuses to believe that Chase is a different person. "No. Amnesia can wipe out the details of your past, but it can't change the kind of person you are. "

Chase decides to accompany Aaron and Bear to the Portland Street Assisted Living Residence where they  are assigned to take snacks to the residents. Chase watches as his two buddies eat most of the cookies  on the cart and refer to the residents in disrespectful ways. Chase is upset by how his friends behave and starts to really help, adjusting beds and helping find TV remotes.At the home Chase meets Julius Solway who was awarded a Medal of Honor for his service during the Korean War. Chase finds Julius to be a "cool" guy and begins to develop a relationship with him. His interest in  Julius's medal leads the elderly man to admit he can't find his medal. At a meeting of the video club, Chase suggests to Shoshanna that she video Mr. Solway for her entry in to the video contest.

Chase joins Shoshanna as she interviews Mr. Solway. As time passes, Chase finds himself struggling against being pulled back into his old bullying ways by Aaron and Bear. The choice to be a new person means gaining new friends and losing old ones. And it offers Chase the unexpected opportunity to confront and right a wrong that the old Chase did.

Discussion

Restart is a thoroughly enjoyable account of a thirteen-year-old boy who gets a chance to change his life as a result of an accident. Korman deftly weaves his story using multiple narrators; Chase Ambrose, Shoshanna Weber. Brendan Espinoza, Kimberly Tooley, Aaron Hakimian, and Joel Weber.  Chase's memory is wiped clean, offering him a second chance. The old Chase was a bully who terrorized Joel Weber so much that his family was forced to send him to another school after a terrible prank. That prank resulted in Chase and his friends Aaron and Bear being arrested and assigned community service. But even there Chase and his friends continued their bad behaviour, treating the residents disrespectfully with Chase stealing Mr. Solway's medal. Besides Chase's story, Korman also includes a subplot involving Brendan Espinoza who attempts to attract the interest of Kimberly Tooley who only has eyes for Chase.

Following his accident, everything the new Chase uncovers about the old Chase is unsettling. He remembers how he gleefully ripped the head off of his half-sister Helene's teddy bear and when his brother Johnny left for college, Chase remembers the scorn he felt for his brother who's terrified and his mother who is sad. He learns that he seriously hurt Brendan by pushing his head into a drinking fountain, causing him to need three stitches. His friends Aaron and Bear tell Chase that he was the one who chose Joel to bully.

The new Chase is completely different, friendly, kind and helpful. He enjoys his visits to the assisted living center. "But I find the residents kind of interesting. They remember stuff in real life that you can only read about in history books." He is horrified when Bear takes twenty dollars from Mrs. Swanson who "isn't all there" and when Bear refuses to return the money, Chase uses his own money to right this wrong. He helps Shoshanna complete her video project for the competition partly out of interest and partly to repay what he did to her family and he apologizes to both the Weber family and to Brendan.

Chase's transformation from bully to good guy isn't without mistakes. Korman presents his journey as a process that Chase undertakes and that involves conflict and some mistakes. Chase experiences conflict over who he was then and who he is now. He wants to believe there was some good in him. Chase has flashbacks of what he describes as his "wonderful toughness -- punching and shoving kids, kicking their heels out from under them in the halls," Chase also remembers "feeling important and confident and powerful. Maybe some of that came from what a jerk I was, but surely not all of it...I was a somebody in this town." Chase makes mistakes as when he accidentally hurts Joel while trying to stop Aaron and Bear as they vandalize the music room,  and he lies to the principal about what happened, backing up his friends' lie. But he also looks outside of himself to see how what has happened affects those around him, his friends, the teachers and the principal.

Eventually Chase has to choose who he's going to be - the bully or the nice guy, and who he wants as his friends. After the incident with Joel, Chase realizes that he'd rather have the new Chase's life rather than his old one back. This is shown when Aaron and Bear reveal to Chase that he was the one who stole Mr. Solway's medal.  "As I run, hot tears of shame are streaming down my face. Since my accident, I've heard a lot about the person I used to be. Never did I imagine this." His shame and desire to do the right thing overcome the threats of his friends and Chase tries to return the medal. When his attempt results in a brawl, he comes clean, accepting sole responsibility for the theft. Although the consequences maybe be severe, Chase doesn't want to go back to being the person he was before the accident. His father recognizes his attempts to be a better person. "...It takes strength to eat the blame and not rat out Aaron and Bear, especially when they more than deserve it. Or to try to make things right with Solway or even the Weber kid, whether they appreciate it or not. You're strong, all right. And stupid. But everybody has stupid moments. The trick is not to let a few bad moments cost you the game."

Chase recognizes how angry and self-absorbed he was prior to his accident, in contrast to the shame and disgust he now feels. "Back then I had such a high opinion of the great Chase Ambrose that I considered myself untouchable. Now it's the opposite. I hate myself so much that there's no way any judge could hate me more." But Chase is in for a surprise from the very people he spent years tormenting, demonstrating the importance of forgiveness and the need to recognize that people can change.

Mr. Solway, the crotchety resident of the nursing home is a mirror character to Chase. He is disliked by almost everyone there; he's rude and mean. He has his own table in the dining room and his nickname is Mr. Happy Face. He is like Chase before his head injury.  Chase thinks Mr. Solway is the coolest person he's ever met. They are "memory-loss buddies" and this leads Chase to wonder "if I blocked out what a jerk I used to be because I can't face it." As the two become good friends, Mr. Solway undergoes a remarkable transformation, moving about again and showing an interest in life and even making the difficult journey in to the court to speak up for Chase. Like Chase, he's become less self-absorbed and focuses on doing what's right.

Restart is classic Gordon Korman, with a likeable main character and a great cast of supporting characters, particularly the witty Shoshanna Weber and the nerdy Brendan Espinoza. The novel has a strong plot that's well executed with a dash of Korman humour. The novel is chock full of themes; forgiveness, redemption, the meaning of friendship, identity and how change is possible. Restart would have made more sense set in high school and the characters a bit older. Overall, Restart is a spectacular novel and highly recommended. It's nice to see good, solid fiction for younger readers and one that will especially appeal to boys.

Book Details:

Restart by Gordon Korman
New York: Scholastic Press    2017
243 pp.

Movie: Concussion

Concussion tells the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian neuropathologist working at the Alleghany County Coroner's office in Pittsburgh under the direction of Cyril Wecht and his discovery of CTE - Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. 

Omalu was assigned to Mike Webster, a former center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, when he was brought into the morgue. Webster, only fifty years old, had died after suffering from depression, amnesia and other problems. Omalu wanted to know why a man whose CT scans showed normal, had behaved so bizarrely.

The movie begins by showing Dr. Omalu working in the Alleghany County Coroner's office, focusing on his rather eccentric mannerisms including talking to the dead bodies before doing autopsies. He is not disrespectful but assures them that he wants to learn the truth about them and asks for their help. 

The scene alternates to Pittsburgh Steeler great, Mike Webster, behaving bizarrely. He is seen by Dr. Julian Bailes, former doctor to the Steelers, who tries to calm him. Webster has no idea what is wrong with him but he knows something is wrong; he can't sleep and he hears voices. He begs Bailes to help him. Days later Webster dies and his body is taken to the Alleghany County Coroner's office.

Initially Omalu's colleagues tell him to leave the body alone and not to do an autopsy. However, Omalu is intrigued and puzzled as to why a man with a normal brain should have acted so bizarrely. Before his death we are told Webster was pulling his own teeth and supergluing them back in. The autopsy shows nothing seriously wrong with Webster so Omalu decides to order sectioning and slides of Webster's brain. He does this to strong opposition by his colleagues and is told he must pay for this out of his own pocket. His mentor, Dr. Wecht endorses the tests that Omalu requests even though Omalu reveals he has no idea what he is looking for. Omalu is shocked at what he finds - Mike Webster's brain shows serious damage. He discovers plaques of protein have formed around areas damaged by violent blows to the head. These plaques disrupted Webster's brain function affecting emotion, mood and cognitive functions.

Believing Webster to have dementia pugilistica common to boxers who received numerous blows to the head during their careers, Omalu watches football games on television and even attends various practices. What he sees are numerous instances where athletes receive blows to the head. These "hits" are rated and lauded during the games. Finally Omalu decides to talk to another doctor, Dr. Ron Hamilton who brings in Dr. Steven DeKosky. DeKosky is also shocked by the slides of Mike Webster's brain. Omalu tells him Mike Webster's position as a center was the most dangerous in football, exposing him to a constant barrage of blows that eventually permanently and seriously damaged his brain. Omalu tells Dekosky he believes there are more injured players whose doctors incorrectly believe they have early onset Alzheimers.  DeKosky decides that this research should be published and tells him to find a name for the condition he has uncovered. Omalu comes up with the name CTE - Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.  However, the NFL refuses to accept Omalu's research as legitimate science stating there is an "absence of clinical information." and they want Omalu to retract his statements.

While Omalu's superior, Dr. Wecht supports him, he warns Omalu that he is taking on the Goliath of sports in America, the National Football League. Considered America's national game, he will face grave difficulties in having his discovery recognized and accepted by the NFL because it is a corporation with 20 million people who are addicted to the fame of football. Omalu is shocked as he naively believed that the NFL would want to know that players are being seriously injured. Omalu confirms that a second Pittsburgh Steeler player, Terry Long who committed suicide also had CTE. They decide to go public with Long's results and Omalu warns that there are many other players at risk. At this point Omalu begins to receive threatening phone calls and his house is watched. Despite this, he remains undaunted in his quest to get his discovery accepted by the NFL.

It is at this point that Dr. Julian Bailes contacts Omalu and tells him he wants to help because he knows of at least twelve Steelers who have died young. He tells him the NFL has known about the concussion injuries for years but has hidden it through faulty research. Bailes tells Omalu he has uncovered the NFL's dirty secret but that he must keep going. Because CTE does not show up on a CT scan, Omalu tells Bailes this means more men have to die in order for him to prove it exists. Working together the two not only find that evidence but eventually force the NFL to accept that CTE is a legitimate disease caused by repeated concussive and sub-concussive injuries incurred by playing football.

Discussion

Concussion has received mixed reviews but this movie is really quite well done. The focus is not on the football players as many might have thought, but rather on the doctor who brought to the attention of both doctors and the NFL, the serious brain damage being done to NFL athletes. Concussion offers viewers one of Will Smith's best performances. His performance is understated but convincing as Dr. Omalu whom he portrays as a dignified, intelligent and determined researcher who cares about the people who enter his morgue. They are not bodies but human beings whose bodies allow him to learn the truth about their lives and how they died. Smith is supported by a fine cast including Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Prema Mutiso who plays his girlfriend and future wife, Alec Baldwin as Dr. Julian Bailes, Albert Brooks as Dr. Cyril Wecht and Eddie Marsan as Dr. Steven DeKosky.

The film seems to suggest that part of the problem Dr. Omalu had in getting his findings accepted was due to the fact that he was a black man and not an American citizen. It's probable this played a part but also that other factors as suggested in the film were more significant. Pro football in the United States is a hugely lucrative business and anything even hinting at the dangers of playing the sport would be considered a serious threat to a multi-billion dollar sports industry. In the end, Dr. Omalu is seen giving a presentation at an NFL players meeting where he tells those in attendance that he understands the excitement and the power of the game, but that there are also dangers that need to be recognized. To this day he remains convinced that the way America plays football is different from years ago and it is leading to serious head injuries. There's no doubt the much larger athletes in the sport have played a critical part in changing the nature of the injuries suffered from tackles.

Although the film has caused some to question Omalu's claim that he discovered CTE, there is no doubt that the film, Concussion comes at a time when the seriousness of concussions is being re-evaluated. Doctors are discovering that concussions, whether incurred in sports or in accidents, have long-term consequences. It is an area of research with many unanswered questions. There is significant recognition that the brain needs time to heal, that rest is imperative. Hockey player Sidney Crosby, ironically also a member of a Pittsburgh sports team, suffered two significant hits to his head in January of 2011 and was diagnosed with a concussion.  Crosby initially experienced no symptoms after the first hit, but a second hit coming four days later resulted in a serious concussion. He was off ice for three months but when he tried to return to train, he again suffered concussion symptoms and was forced to discontinue his training. Crosby attempted to return to play in November of 2011 but his symptoms returned and he was sidelined again. He did not return to regular play until March of 2012. Eric Lindros, considered a huge hockey talent never really lived up to his potential due to at least eight serious blows to his head. Lindros spoke about how the concussions affected his career and his life outside of hockey in an article from Macleans Magazine in 2011.

In 2016 we recognize concussions as the serious injury they are thanks in part to the work of doctors like Omalu. Trainers and coaches are required to follow specific protocols after a head injury and doctors now treat concussions seriously. Thanks to a film like Concussion, even more young athletes will become aware of the potential for serious injury in contact sports like football, rugby and hockey.

If You're Reading This by Trent Reedy

If You're Reading This is Reedy's fourth novel, which focuses on a young teen who begins receiving his dead father's letters written to him seven years earlier while he served in Afghanistan. His father, worried he might not survive his time in Afghanistan wrote letters so his son would have something to remember him. These letters motivate the young man to change his life and help him come to terms with his father's death years earlier and in doing so to help his family heal.

For fifteen-year-old Mike Wilson grade ten is starting out similar to the past seven years - without his father. His father Mark, died seven years ago on August 28, 2005 in Afghanistan, leaving behind Mike, his younger sister, Mary and his mom, Allison, who has never recovered from the loss of her husband. Mike is a good student who has left behind his football playing days to focus on academics. But now that he's in his sophomore year he's been thinking of returning to playing. At lunch one day, Coach Carter, also Mike's history teacher, tells him time is running out, that he's missed the first set of practices and that he needs to join before the first game on Friday.

Mike works on Derek Harris's farm, helping him with various chores. Mike tells Derek that he really wants to play football but that his mother won't allow him to join. Ever since his father's death, him mother has been overly protective. She works constantly, struggling to provide for Mike and Mary, and has given up on her dream of becoming a nurse.

Mike arrives home to thirteen-year-old  Mary telling him that a letter has arrived in mail for him. When Mike opens the letter he is astonished to discover that it is a letter from his father written when he first arrived in Afghanistan and to be sent to Michael only if he was killed in action and prior to his sixteenth birthday. The letter dated May 29, 2004 tells Mike about what his father did in the Army National Guard where he is a combat engineer, trained in battle tactics with the M16 and other weapons.  He writes that his buddy, Marcelo Ortiz has promised to deliver the letters to Mike. The first letter tells Mike a little about his father's teen years, partying at Nature Spot and giving him advice on high school. He gives Mike his first mission, to go for whatever it is he's been wanting to do. Mike sees this as his father telling him to go for the spot on the football team, so he fakes his mother's signature and hands in the form to Coach. Although his father's first letter mentions that his buddy Ortiz would send the letters, Mike discovers that Ortiz died the same day as his father meaning that someone else has taken on this task.

What follows is a series of five more letters dated from June 12, 2004 until Mike's birthday on September 22, 2004. Each letter reveals to Mike more about his father, who he was, how he met his mother and what he believes in. In each letter Mike's father sets out a mission for him to accomplish including doing something nice for his mother or sister, taking a chance on a girl he might like and working on getting a good mark in a school assignment.  His father also introduces him to the "cowboy way"  telling Mike,  "Out here  in the middle of nowhere, we've had to figure out how to handle things on our own, like cowboys on the range. We might not always be completely sure how to solve a problem or carry out a mission, but we do it anyway. It's the Cowboy Way." 

Besides joining the football team, his father's letters lead Mike to gradually figure out how to handle a bullying teammate, Nick Rhodes, who continues to confront Mike because he is chosen to replace him on the team. The letters also encourage him to take a chance on a relationship even though it might mean getting hurt. In Mike's case it is Isma Rafee, whose parents are from Iran and whose father teaches mathematics at the University of Iowa. He also tries to be patient with his overwhelmed mother who works at a nursing home and seems to be coping poorly with what happened seven years ago.

His father's letters create a sense of conflict in Mike and open more questions about his father. He feels he never really knew his father and it bothers him that he never knew how he died. Because the letters have revealed new things about his father, Mike is determined to find the mystery sender hoping this person will be able to fill in more of the gaps. Repeated online searches of those whom his father mentions in his letters turn up little information. Even a call to his father's old engineer company armory reveals few leads except that the mysterious sender of the letters wants to remain anonymous and is simply following the wishes of Mike's father. Sergeant Andrews who speaks with Mike tells him, "Everyone who knows what you want to know promised your father that we'd let you get through all his messages first, and we promised to let the man sending the letters do this his own way. In the Army, we keep promises..."

The last letter arrives as part of a huge package that contains four video clips. These video clips reveal some startling revelations including the final minutes on the base before his last mission and the identity of the mystery mailer. By the time Mike has watched all the videos his life is in chaos; he's been forced to quit the football team, his relationship with Isma has collapsed and he's being bullied by Nick Rhodes. When he talks to the mystery mailer, someone close to him, Mike learns how his father died. This leads Mike to the realization that he needs to confront his mother  and get her to talk about what happened to his father. He decides to use the Cowboy Way to help his family towards healing and forgiveness.

Discussion

Trent Reedy was an English teacher in Riverside, Iowa before his Iowa National Guard unit was sent to Afghanistan in 2004. He had joined the National Guard like many other Americans, to help pay for his college education. The call to war was both unexpected and frightening. While on deployment, his wife, Amanda, sent him a copy of Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabitha. This book helped Trent Reedy recover some of the hope that he would survive his term of active duty. Reedy corresponded with Paterson who encouraged him to follow his dream of becoming a writer and who helped him gain entrance to Vermont College of Fine Arts' writing program. 

If You're Reading This definitely showcases the strengths of Trent Reedy- his understanding of the life of a soldier, the struggles families of soldiers deployed overseas encounter and the sense of loss and the difficulty in coming to terms with the death of a soldier. Authors successfully write about those things they know well and this comes across in Reedy's novel with respect to army life.

Reedy uses the vehicle of the letters from Mark Wilson to his son Mike, to portray life for the American soldiers in Afghanistan during the "war on terror" and as the means to establish a relationship between father and son. With regard to the latter, occasionally, Mark's letters lacked authenticity and bordered on mundane. In one letter he writes, "Anyway that brings me to the first thing I guess I wanted to tell you. Always have a book going. Always take it with you. That way, if you get stuck someplace...." In another he tells his son about a first date with too much description that makes it seem awkward. The letters also seemed coincidentally to synchronize almost perfectly with what was going on in Mike's life when he read them. Yet for the most part the letters felt very realistic for example when his father tells him about fighting honourably, about respecting women, taking care of his mother and sister or when he encourages Mike to work hard in school.

Reedy has created in Mike a character with depth and honesty that feels genuine. He's already a fairly responsible teenager in contrast to his younger sister, Mary. While Mike cleans the house and has a part time job, Mary is more concerned with clothing, being with her friends and trying to blackmail her brother for money. Yet for all his good qualities, Mike undergoes considerable growth throughout the novel as he learns about his father, deals with new situations at school and a girlfriend.

At first Mike is struggling under the smothering blanket of his mother's over-protectiveness - which resulted in Mike leaving the one sport he really loves and is good at, football.  Desperate to be a part of school and to focus on something other than academics, Mike lies to his mom about what he's doing and  forges her signature on the permission form. But by the end of the novel he begins to recognize that in doing so he lacks the very integrity his father has encouraged him to have and one of the values Coach Carter has been working on with the team. He mans up, telling his mother who is furious at his lies. Nevertheless he maturely faces the consequences which involve more than just his mother's wrath, but also rejection from his teammates who don't know his reason for quitting. Overall Mike matures remarkably through the novel, helping his family work towards healing and also gradually learning that he has to defend the girl he likes, Isma, if he wants to continue his relationship with her.

Young male readers will love the exciting descriptions of the football practices and the games. Reedy manages to capture the tension during the games as well as the rivalry and camaraderie of the young players as they work towards creating a cohesive team. The dialogue between the teenage boys feels realistic, although maybe a bit sanitized, which is quite acceptable! Some readers may find that  novels moves a bit slowly in parts, but the author weaves the letters from Mike's father in often enough to keep interest high. Well written with an appealing cover.

Book Details:
If You're Reading This by Trent Reedy
New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.    2014
296 pp.