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    Boy21
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    Boy21
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    Boy21
    Audiobook5 hours

    Boy21

    Written by Matthew Quick

    Narrated by Ben Lukens

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    You can lose yourself in repetition – quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of this at a very young age.

    Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in broken-down Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, his dad works nights, and Finley is left to take care of his disabled grandfather alone. He's always dreamed of getting out someday, but until he can, putting on that number 21 jersey makes everything seem okay.

    Russ has just moved to the neighborhood, and the life of this teen basketball phenom has been turned upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he won't pick up a basketball, but answers only to the name Boy21 – taken from his former jersey number.

    As their final year of high school brings these two boys together, a unique friendship may turn out to be the answer they both need.

    A Hachette Audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJun 10, 2014
    ISBN9781478930242
    Unavailable
    Boy21
    Author

    Matthew Quick

    Matthew Quick is the author of The Silver Linings Playbook, which was made into an Academy Award-winning film, and the young adult novels Sorta Like a Rock Star, Boy21 and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, among other accolades. He is married to the novelist and pianist Alicia Bessette.

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    Reviews for Boy21

    4/5

    169 ratings25 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I read with a 10 year old boy that up until two years ago...thought he didn't like to read and no one in his family taught him any differently. He is now choosing his own books and enjoys reading them aloud to the dog, the cat, the goldfish...anything that will lie still long enough to listen or at lease pretend to. We usually take turns reading chapters and this was our latest one. I have to admit, I didn't think I would enjoy this book. It got off to a slow start, and I initially didn't enjoy the author's writing style, which is slow and methodical. However, as my little reading buddy and I kept reading, I grew to love the characters, especially Russ. Matthew Quick is brilliant at writing in the voice of troubled teenagers, especially those who are different, and showing them growing throughout the story. This is the type of book that sneaks up on you, and breaks your heart slowly and painfully. I highly recommend it even if you are not a teenager or ten years old.
    • 3/5
      Finley is a high school senior who lives in a town that's run-down, largely taken over by drugs, and ruled by the Irish Mob. He lives with his father and grandfather and is the only white kid on the high school basketball team. He's mostly a quiet and reserved kind of guy, who lives for basketball season. When the coach asks him to take a "new" kid under his wing, he does so, but doesn't quite realize what he's in for. The new kid, Russ, is supposedly a basketball phenom, but due to a family tragedy, has developed some odd mannerisms and has become obsessed with outer space, wanting to be known only as Boy21.As with a lot of young adult books, this one has a good underlying message. It's a little unconventional, somewhat quirky and odd. I found it just "so-so". The real meat of the story didn't occur until near the end, and then I wanted to know more, but then it was just over. Seemed like there was a lot of potential here, but it wasn't fully developed.
    • 5/5
      Finley loves basketball! His mom is dead and he lives with his dad and Pops (grandpa) who lost his legs below the knees. He also loves Erin, his basketball playing girlfriend. They live in a racially divided town where there are Irish and there are African Americans. It's a dangerous situation where you need to keep on the right side of people and issues. Basketball brings the two groups together at the high school. Finley works hard to be the starting point guard on the team. His job is to feed the star players to ultimately win. When coach asks him a favor, Finley's life is about to change. Russell is from CA and has gone through a dramatic situation. He is moving to town to live with his grandparents and his family is old friends with coach. Finley's job is to help Russell with the transition and get him to tryout for basketball (Russell is one of the best high school players). If Finley helps, he would lose his starting job. But Finley has character and will do what the coach asks. As Russ & Finley hang out Finley sees just how troubled Russ is. Finley has trouble expressing himself due to events from his past. As the story unfolds you learn about Finley's past, will Russell make it, and can Finley balance basketball, his girlfriend, and the challenges of the neighborhood. Surprise ending. Excellent read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! Originally I had misconceptions about this story. The cover is odd and it appeared to be about basketball (I'm not really a sports enthusiast, no offense). But the story ended up being so much more! The characters are quirky- not your typical- and I enjoyed that they weren't the most popular kids in the school, but they also weren't made out to be the bottom of the totem pole. They were just average, and that wasn't a bad thing! This book was a fast read that I really enjoyed!
    • 5/5
      It is rare to find a YA novel geared towards boys that is this lovely. The story involves sports, gangs, relationships, and teenage worry. There is minimal cursing (really none), no sex, but still intensity and passionate. The characters are lovable and flawed. There are so many things that I loved about this book that I can hardy say anything about. Go read this book.
    • 5/5
      Finley and his girlfriend, Erin, are both looking forward to their senior year of high school, where they both expect to contribute to the successes of their respective basketball teams. Living in a racially tense and impoverished town near Philadelphia, they dream of escaping Bellmont together. Then his coach asks Finley to do a favor for him. Seems a young man he knows must spend his senior year in Bellmont, also. Coach wants Finley to befriend him, and show him the ropes. Only problem is this young man is a star ball player, who plays Finley's position, and even wears the same number. Finley, being the amazing kid he is, agrees to take on the challenge. What he doesn't know is that Coach's friend has been traumatized, and to cope has taken on the persona Boy21. This is a story of courage, of friendship, of relationships (both family and romantic) . and loyalty. Although it is told from Finley's point of view, all the people in his life feel real--like folks you would meet in your town. The author never falters--Finley's voice is consistent and honest throughout. The ending may feel tacked on and unlikely--but who's to say that it couldn't have worked out this way? Highly recommended to all!
    • 5/5
      This is a poignant story told through the matter-of-fact eyes of Finley, a high school basketball player growing up in a rough neighborhood. He and his girlfriend Erin survive amidst the violence by keeping their heads down and focusing on the game that they both love. But when Finley's coach asks him to befriend a new student who is dealing with the effects of violence in his own life, Finley has a lot to lose, but perhaps even more to gain. Quick drops us right into the middle of Finley's world and only gradually reveals all of its realities. This is best - learning the truth all at once would be too much. My admiration for Finley grew throughout the book as I learned the challenges that he had faced in his short life. But I admired him even more because of his relationships. He is a loyal son and grandson, a sensitive boyfriend, and a caring friend. There are so many specific details that will stick with me - like the time that some of the players were making fun of Finley's friend Wes for reading Harry Potter, so Finley went and checked out a copy too. It was because I cared so much about Finley that I was in tears at the end of this book. Quick isn't sentimental, but he cuts to the heart of difficult situations, leaving a deep impression on me. This one was perhaps even better than The Silver Lining Playbook.
    • 5/5
      A completely engrossing, superbly written story.
    • 5/5
      Matthew Quick's prior novels focus on damaged characters that end up relying on their network of friends and family to overcome emotional as well as practical problems. Be it his adult debut The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel (soon to be a major motion picture directed by David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper) or his Young Adult debut Sorta Like a Rock Star, Quick crafts unique voices that carry readers through tribulations.

      It is important to understand this -- despite what you may believe you prefer in a good book (plot, romance, drama, humor) none of it matters if the VOICE doesn't work. If the narrator irritates you or lies to you or withholds information without reason, you may become frustrated. If you understand what the narrator cares about -- even if they keep secrets -- you will be engaged.

      In Boy21, Quick continues his tradition of troubled characters with strong voices. A self-professed 'minimal speaker' (he literally responds with nods and gestures early on, but does speak), main character Finley is harboring a tragedy that occurred before the first page of the novel. He loses himself in the rituals of basketball and his loving, true relationship with Erin. We know from page one what and who he cares about, and it's one of the prime rules of fiction: show the reader what the character cares about and the reader will care, too.

      Set in the fictional town of Belmont -- a blue collar Philly suburb populated by Irish and African Americans -- Finley has no sense of the possibilities of the world. Basketball, family, Erin -- these are the things that matter. Or, simply the things that exist and do not wound.

      Quick then introduces the brilliant, fascinating titular character: Boy21. The setup involves Finley being asked to mentor Boy21 as he transitions from a well-to-do lifestyle in California after a tragedy of his own, but doing so risks Finley's basketball season and his relationship with Erin. Because Boy21 believes something crazy. About outer space. I can't give more away without truly ruining some of the first few scenes of Boy21's appearance in the novel -- but it is hilarious and nearly surreal.

      To be clear: this is not a sports book. It's easy to say but needs to be stressed since reading about sports can be a dull experience for non-sports fans. As with The Silver Linings Playbook (where football dominates the main character's mind but not the plot), basketball here is part of the landscape and experience of the characters. It's important to them, but Quick isn't forcing us to read about 4 periods of HS basketball. I admire Quick's ability to describe sports in a way that makes fans and non-fans understand the true importance of the activities. It's not about whether Finley scores a winning shot or succeeds in practice. It's about Finley's need for a ritual to ensure he does not crumble beneath the stress of life, his town, and his tragedy.

      The other strength in this and Quick's other novels is the spikes of humor. While not a comedy, plenty of images and dialogue exchanges had me laughing out loud. Like this: HA ha! or ha HA! or HAHA! While you are not asked to laugh at the mental health issues the characters suffer from, you are reminded through the humor that even the troubled, tragic people in this world exist on a day-to-day level. They can be depressed but smile; they can be sad but make a joke.

      If you're already a fan of Quick's work -- even if you've only read Silver Linings -- this novel will definitely satisfy you. Adult readers have nothing to fear as there's a complexity to the structure of the novel that makes the book rewarding beyond the story (I mention this for people who might think Quick writes a simpler type of fiction for YA readers -- he doesn't.)

      If you're new to Quick, you cannot go wrong by starting with Boy21 -- there's humor and truth and love and conversations that have to be re-read to be appreciated. I suspect lots of readers will start here and happily jump to Silver Linings or Sorta Like a Rock Star. Huzzah!
    • 5/5
      Basketball is almost everything to Finley. He lives in Bellmont, a poverty-ridden, mob-ruled hole near Philadelphia, where he works out almost constantly with his basketball playing Irish girlfriend Erin. Finley has been the starting point guard for the past two seasons, and has somewhat realistic hopes to lead his squad to a state championship. But before the start of his senior year, Finley's coach asks him a huge favor. A new senior is moving in, but there is a big secret that must be kept: the new kid is Russell Allen, a nationally known high school hoopster who is talented enough to skip college and jump straight to the NBA. But Russell isn't his name anymore. He's now calling himself Boy21, and he believes he is from outer space. Russell's parents were murdered in LA, and he has moved in with his grandparents in Bellmont. Coach says no one can know who the boy is, and Coach asks Finley to stay close to Boy21 as he transitions to the new school, regardless of whether Boy21 decides to play basketball for the school.Author Matthew Quick, who wrote the adult novel The Silver Linings Playbook and the young adult novel Sorta Like A Rock Star, has crafted a wonderful, emotional novel that hits most of the right chords. The sports aspect and male protagonists will appeal to young men; the strong female lead Erin is someone young women will look up to. Like Rock Star, Boy21 seems to have a somewhat implausible ending, however in Boy21 the resolution works out more believably. More importantly, Finley and Boy21 are easy to root for-- they're good guys who, despite not wanting to talk much, are able to say a lot about their individual losses, heartache, and family. This is the rare book where two male athletes talk honestly about their feelings, or at least think about them on the page as neither Boy21 nor Finley are very talkative.Quick hides key facts long enough to keep readers guessing as to some of the character's motives, which gives the story a bit of mystery. At 250 thin pages, this will get much wider circulation than Rock Star did. With Boy21, Quick has a definite all-star of a book (of course the sports cliche had to come at some point). Highly recommended for middle or high school.Author Matthew Quick, who wrote the adult novel The Silver Linings Playbook and the young adult novel Sorta Like A Rock Star, has crafted a wonderful novel that hits all the right chords. The sports aspect and male protagonists will appeal to boys; the strong female lead Erin is someone young women will look up to. Like Rock Star, Boy21 seems to have an implausible ending, however in Boy21 the resolution works out much more believably. More importantly, Finley and Boy21 are easy to root for-- they're good guys-- and Quick hides key facts long enough to keep readers guessing as to some of the character's motives. At 250 thin pages, this will get much wider circulation than Rock Star did. With Boy21, Quick has a definite all-star of a book (of course the sports cliche had to come at some point). Highly recommended for middle or high school.
    • 4/5
      Finley is all about basketball. He is entering his senior year as captain and center point for his team and his girlfriend, Erin, plays basketball on the girl's team. During the summer they train and talk about leaving Belmont and the drugs, poverty, and depression. Typical teens, right? But Finley's coach has a special task for him. He introduces Finley to Russ, a young black man from Los Angeles who just lost his parents and is now living with his grandparents. Russ, who calls himself Boy 21, was a star on his team but has retreated to a fantasy where his parents are in outer space and will soon return to get him. Finley needs to be his friend and gently guide him back to the court. The problem is that 21 is his number and Russ plays his position so Finley just might be helping his biggest competition.Finley has his own demons. His mother is dead by mysterious circumstances and his grandfather is legless and an alcoholic needing Finley's assistance. His father works nights working in a toll booth. He is the only white kid on his team. Will he be able to share his secrets as he tries to get Russ face his?This is a great buddy story with two completely different boys sharing a common talent and losses.
    • 5/5
      Boy21 is a teenager who has recently lost both his parents. He is now living with his grandparents, but has developed an alternate persona (boy21) to help get him through the days. In his previous life, he was an all-star basketball player. The coach of the local high school asks another teenager, Finley, to help watch over Boy21 and get him acclimated to the new school and hopefully bring him back into basketball. Both Finley and Boy21 seem to help each other in their own unique quiet ways. Then the tables turn after Finley's girlfriend is severely injured in a hit and run and then leaves town without a word. Now it's Boy21's turn to help Finley.
    • 5/5
      I read this book a couple weeks ago, and I still don't know if I can properly convey the beauty of this book. While the story is told from Finley's perspective, Boy 21 is the story of two boys, both of whom have worn the number 21 on their basketball uniform. Finley is the quiet kid who works hard to maintain his starter position on his team, and he sees a future with his girlfriend. Russ, on the other hand, is a genius basketball player, and he has taken on the name Boy21 in dealing with his parents' murder. When his coach asks Finley to take care of Russ, Finley guesses that it is because he's the only white kid in a team of black kids whereas Russ was the only black kid on a team of white kids.In truth, the two boys need each other more than they can guess. Finley listens to Russ and doesn't push him for facts that he doesn't want to share, giving him time to heal. Russ teaches Finley what is really important to him. The two of them haven't lived easy lives. They have both retreated into their respective defense mechanisms: Russ through his extravagant alter ego of Boy21, and Finley through silence. Somehow, the two of them develop an understanding and, together, the two try to make the best of their respective circumstances.Boy21 is about friendship, relationships (friends, love, and family), and priorities. It is about working through difficult situations and finding your place in life. I have been a fan of Matthew Quick since I read Sorta Like a Rock Star. Boy 21 has made me an even bigger fan. I definitely recommend his books to readers and look forward to reading his next work!
    • 5/5
      Finley has poured his heart and soul into basketball and his relationship with Erin. Those are the only things that help his make his way through the rough life surrounded by gangs, drugs, and a racially charged run-down neighborhood. When Boy21 moves to town due to his own family tragedy, Finley's basketball coach asks him to take the basketball phenom who has adopted the identity of Boy21 as a coping mechanism. As Finley gets more of Boy21's story, he begins to uncover his painful past as well especially as its ugliness starts to manifest itself in his present life. A complex, interesting read where minor characters and their motivations lead the story in unexpected directions.
    • 3/5
      That twist was... okay. But hate how quick Boy21 snapped out of it. And that ending was just...ugh.
    • 3/5
      very good until the end which felt a bit constructed
    • 3/5
      3.5
      Actually, it is a 4star ending, I welled up a bit in the end.... But everything just went too fast in the last few chapters, it is the most eventful part of the book and I want more of it. For example, I haven't realised the gravity of the community gang until the very last bit, I think the story is refreshing though, and touch on the topic of emotional impacts in a very different way.
    • 4/5
      Did not expect to like it. The plot is deeper than it seems.
    • 5/5
      I didn't even read the description, I saw it was written by Mathew Quick and I started reading. Two hours later I was crying in a bathtub and screaming at my cat. This book is intense. I was quite literally hooked from the very first sentence. I started reading it at dinner and I couldn't put it down, so naturally I took it in the tub with me to continue. An hour later I was crying in freezing cold water and yelling at the kitten to shut up and stop headbutting the door. It was so good I couldn't even stop for a moment to get out of the tub.This book almost defies description. It's about basketball, growing up in the hood, mental health, family, relationships, integrity, the final frontier, and soo much else. Finley was one of the only white boys in the slummy town he grew up in, but that didn't stop him from playing basketball. His earliest memory is playing basketball in the backyard with the neighbor girl, Erin, and working hard to please his dad and his pops. His whole life has been spent trying to move forward and get out of Belmont, away from the Irish mob and the drugs. But Coach has just asked Finley for a favor. Boy21, has just moved to the neighborhood and Coach thinks that Finley is just the man to help break him out of his shell and play basketball. But will Boy21 stop Finley's momentum or maybe, just maybe, help him realize that looking back at the past doesn't have to be paralyzing. I can barely describe this book without giving anything away. So just read the damn book and message me about it so we can talk and cry together. It's well worth the read!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Meine dreizehnjährige Tochter und ich haben es beide gelesen. meine Tochter fand es super und denkt, es sollte den Jugendliteraturpreis gewinnen. Sie hat wohl die letzten 50 Seiten nur geweint, und zwar so, dass sie z.T. nicht weiterlesen konnte (oder wollte). Da sie Handball spielt, konnte sie nach eigenem Bekunden sehr gut nachempfinden, was es heißt, wenn man nicht mehr in der Mannschaft ist und auch welch hohen Anteil der Sport im Leben einnimmt.Mir gefiel es auch. Was ich enorm fand, war die Wucht des Lebens in diesen mafiösen Strukturen einerseits und die Leichtigkeit der Jugend andererseits. Dieser Kontrast wurde vielfach deutlich. Sinnfällig wurde das z.B. am Symbol "Harry Potter" - dass Finley am Ende in den Zug steigt, alles zurücklässt und in ein völlig unbekanntes Leben aufbricht - gleichzeitig aber denkt, vielleicht würde es ihm wie Harry Potter im Hogwarts Express gehen und er würde bereits im Zug neue Kontakte knüpfen- das rührte mich enorm.Also: Ein schönes, spannendes und ungewöhnliches Buch, ich bin froh, dass ich es gelesen habe.
    • 4/5
      Two boys, both identifying with their basketball jerseys’ number “21”, are thrown together during their last year of high school. Their unique friendship may just help them through the difficult situations they both have been trying to escape. Finley, an up-and-coming high school basketball player, lives with his loving, but dysfunctional Irish family in a Boston suburb ruled by the Irish mob. Russ, an established high school basketball star from California, becomes Finley’s friend as they both try to deal with horrific loss. Told from the perspective of Finley, author Quick gives readers an authentic voice that lovers of basketball will gravitate towards.
    • 5/5
      I ended up loving this book, which is not at all what I expected. I hadn’t heard if it before being assigned it for class and when it arrived at the library, the cover immediately put me off. Boy21 tells the story of Finley, an Irish-American kid just about to start his senior year of high school. He and his girlfriend have been practicing all summer, so he’s really excited for basketball season to start. Just before the start of the school year, his coach contacts him and wants him to befriend a new kid in school Russ, who goes by Boy21. Finley doesn’t really know why coach chooses him, but goes along with it. Boy21 has moved back to Bellmont to live with his grandparents after his parents were murdered during a car-jacking in California and is having a really hard time dealing with it, hence the nickname. He convinces himself that he’s from space and his parents are going to come back to get him. as Finley and Russ become friends Russ is able to put aside his space fantasies and become a real person again. Sadly for Finley, that involves taking his spot on the basketball team. As Finley is dealing with losing his favorite sport, his girlfriend Erin is in a tragic car accident and ends up moving away. The book ends with Finley leaving Bellmont, probably forever. Long story short, I ended up in tears.
    • 5/5
      I put off reading this forever. From the blurbs I thought: boys, basketball, drugs, violence, ugh. But there were competing pressures: (1) the author is Matthew Quick, who wrote Silver Linings Playbook; (2) I keep seeing rave reviews for this one; and finally (3) the cover kept calling out to me, with its promise that something really, really good was somehow in this book. And it was!Finley McManus is a high-school senior who lives in a working class Irish and Black mob-dominated town outside of Philadelphia with his depressed single father and his amputee alcoholic grandfather (“Pop”). We don’t know how they got into those straights, but Finley, the narrator, isn’t talking about it. He doesn’t like to think about unpleasant aspects of his life and so instead, he plays basketball, practices basketball with his girlfriend Erin (who also is a good player), and makes out with Erin when it's too dark to play. Erin and Finley are not harassed by local gangs only because Erin’s older brother Rod provides protection for the whites in the neighborhood.Everything in Finley’s life changes when his coach insists he befriend a new kid, Russ Washington, who is the son of friends of the Coach. Russ’s parents were recently murdered, and Russ has taken on the persona of “Boy21” from Outer Space. Coach wants to help him get back to “real life” and especially, to basketball, because back in LA, Russ was a big basketball phenom. But Russ not only plays Finley’s position, he wears Finley’s number. Can Finley give up what is so vital to his sanity to help someone else? Can Boy21 return to Earth?Discussion: This is the first book in a long time that, for me, approached the quality of a John Green book. It has heart and soul and characters you just fall in love with. At times it’s hilarious. It skirts around being heartbreaking but never really falls over the cliff, because the love and hope and faith of the characters keep both them and you from tumbling over the edge. Does the girl, Erin, remind me of Jennifer Lawrence in the movie "Silver Linings Playbook"? Well, yes, but that’s not a bad thing! And the young boy, Finley, is a doll. Erin, who is his girlfriend, is trying to explain to Finley why the troubled Boy21 likes him:"It’s because you’re a good person. It’s because you’re easy to be around. It’s because you are you. You don’t put demands on people and you never say anything negative – ever. So many people suck the life out of everyone they’re around, but you don’t do that. You give people strength just by being you.”I wish I were like that. But since I’m not, it’s great to “get to know” characters who are, in a book like this.Evaluation: Matthew Quick wrote Silver Linings Playbook, and you can recognize many of its same qualities in this book: warmth; quirky humor; love and loyalty of family and friends; the role sports plays in cementing relationships; and the tragedy and beauty of the human condition. Highly recommended!Note: While sports plays a role, this is not a sports story!
    • 4/5
      In the city of Bellmont, where mobs covertly rule the streets and it’s not safe to ask questions, Finley tries to lead a quiet existence of basketball, basketball, and more basketball along with his girlfriend, Erin, whose brother is part of the Irish mob. But the arrival of Russ shakes up Finley’s life—for Russ, who is a nationally ranked high school basketball player, has been through some pretty recent trauma, and now insists on being called Boy21. Finley doesn’t know how he, of all people, can help Boy21, but when terrible things befall him, Finley finds solace in this true friend.Set in an unsettlingly realistic world of poverty, violence, and racism, BOY21 gifts readers with the subtle magic that contemporary literature can possess.The setting of Bellmont may be one that some readers are not familiar with, a poverty-ridden city ruled by the invisible hands of mobs. BOY21 is not a “mob story,” but the presence of mobs in Bellmont does play a role in explaining characters’ behaviors. Neither is BOY21 a story about race: instead, race is a conscious presence in the story, but does not dictate its plotline. This kind of refreshingly realistic and relatable take on issues such as race and poverty will, I hope, be emulated in YA to come.But I haven’t yet begun to talk about the best thing about BOY21, which is…its characters! Finley is an easy protagonist to like, despite—or perhaps because of—his reticence. We like him partly because of his harmlessness—which is what other characters think of him as well—but also because we can see the potential in him to overcome his own tragedy and find his voice. Boy21 is believable in his mannerisms and you come to feel both sympathy and regard for this extraordinary yet humble young man.The ending feels a little bit like wish fulfillment to me, but it proved to be only a small dent in what was otherwise a satisfying reading experience. BOY21 may not be fast-paced in the way of action stories, but it’s hard to put down in its own right.
    • 4/5
      As always, Matthew Quick introduces us midstream into a quirky teen character's life, and almost seamlessly, we find ourselves complete enmeshed in the character's world, whatever it may be. This one involves a senior at Bellmont High, in a dicey neighborhood on the outskirts of Philadelphia: a senior named Finley McManus, a boy who loves basketball and Erin, his true love and a basketball star in her own right. Finley doesn't talk -hardly ever- and at first the reader may think him slow. But as the story unfolds, we quickly realize there's much in the McManus household and the neighborhood's past that may have deeply impacted Finley causing him to prefer silence - his mother is dead, but he's forbidden by his father to speak of her; his grandpa, perennially wheelchair bound with two missing legs grieves his wife's passing. And Erin's brother is part of the Irish mob, which hovers at the edges of their high school life, while the remainder of the community is black, with just as many struggling working class families and their share of criminals. His coach asks him to befriend a new arrival, a deeply disturbed black kid whose real name is hidden, living with his grandparents, and struggling to make sense of his parents' recent murder. Russ Allen was a basketball prodigy, a rising star destined for the NBA even while still in high school. But after his parents' violent death, and a stay at a psychiatric care facility, Russ wants to be called Boy 21, a visitor from outer space who has been sent to earth only for a time, until he's called back to his galaxy and his parents. The determination of Erin and Finley to be the best for their respective basketball teams, the growing friendship between Russ and Finley, the thinly veiled ambitions and pressures of the other student players, the coach, even Finley's counselor all ring true. Eventually we realize along with Finley that his much anticipated senior year in glory as a starter for the team will be usurped by his new friend, Boy 21, if he decides to unleash his true basketball greatness. Besides this conflict is the background tension of the neighborhood's gang affiliations, and the grinding conditions that cause so many like Finley's dad to remain hopelessly stuck in their neighborhood, and in the allegiances of the past. Several key conflicts are woven together, as usual, in Quick's upbeat, honest prose - with the thread of outer space, and the canopy of the many starry galaxies spinning above the characters, enthralling Boy 21 and capturing our imaginations as it does Finley's.