the storyline plays both offense and defense with perfection. Can the hero of a sports story be an overweight, ignored, nonathletic team mascot plucked from obscurity to land in the limelight? You bet! A winner.' - Kirkus Reviews, starred review, *A Junior Library Guild Selection* 'Readers don't have to like football in order to love this book. And that's where the real gut check sometimes is.' - Horn Book, 'Readers don't have to like football in order to love this book. Football action sequences are vivid and testosterone-fueled locker room fights (and talk) brutal, but ultimately this novel is less about football and more about people getting by in a town on the verge of collapse. Even football neophytes will root for this winningly heartbreaking, humorous, and hopeful story.' - Booklist, starred review 'The protagonists, the town, and the culture of high-school football are richly developed with keen insight and pithy prose. It's filled with memorable characters, especially Nate, Wyatt's smart, acne-prone best friend. Can the hero of a sports story be an overweight, ignored, nonathletic team mascot plucked from obscurity to land in the limelight? You bet! A winner.' - Kirkus Reviews, starred review 'Like Friday Night Lights, this compelling debut breaks the fourth wall at times.

*A Junior Library Guild Selection* 'Readers don't have to like football in order to love this book.

Gut Check by Eric Kester