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Overview
After an eventful freshman year and a disastrous summer, fifteen-year-old Will Carter returns to Merrian High none the wiser. The year starts off pretty normally. He's back on the football field (the bench area of the field). He and his boys start a fight club to defend themselves against Scary Terry Moss, who is out of juvie and hunting Carter. And he goes to homecoming again with Amber Lee. The good news: she's really into him this year. The bad news: she's all kinds of pregnant (not with his kid, but that probably goes without saying).
When his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Abby, is accepted to the New York Drama School, Carter's world is thrown upside-down. She wants him to apply to the school, too. He knows it would be awesome, and he's pretty sure Abby would let him see her naked in New York. But what about his boys? And with his sister headed to college, can his parents survive without him? Plus, the application is really long.
It will take a lot of soul-searching (and in-school suspensions) for Carter to make his decision. In the meantime, there are plenty of classes to be late to, parties to avoid, and cops to run from.
The laughs and good times continue in Carter's Unfocused, One-Track Mind, the third book in the Carter series.
Editorials
VOYA -
Will Carter, fifteen, an athletic and gifted actor who is wildly, yet sweetly, horny, funny, and insecure, is now a sophomore at Merrian High. He and his equally goofy posse of devoted “boys” are involved in many of the same hi-jinks that saw them all through the first two entries in this series (Carter Finally Gets It [Hyperion, 2009], and Carter’s Big Break [Hyperion, 2010/Voya June 2010]). Hormones and bloodletting rule the day. They participate in a fight club, improving dramatically when a fellow thespian, who is grateful for Carter’s defense of his sexual orientation, shares some of his martial arts secrets. Carter renews wooing gorgeous Abby, who is on her way to the prestigious New York Drama School and wants Carter to come with her, a slim possibility due to his wretched grades. There is also the matter of the murderous Scary Terry, from the first book in the series, who seems determined to break every bone in Carter’s body. By turns laugh-out-loud hilarious, groan-out-loud gross, and head-shakingly appalling due to the utter lack of responsibility in some of the actions (binge drinking, unprotected sex, and oh yes, a near-forest fire), Crawford nevertheless adds an appealing level of self-examination and tender insight into Carter’s unexpectedly courageous efforts to turn his life around. Crawford nails his intended audience’s world with a book that will make parents cringe, even as they will be surprised by the decency of the adults portrayed in Carter’s world. Ages 12 to 18.Children's Literature -
In the third book of the "Carter" series, fifteen-year-old sophomore Will Carter is back at Merrian High School. He keeps himself busy as a member of the football team, the fight club that he and his friends started to defend themselves against Scary Terry, and the drama club. He has a girlfriend named Abby, who is also in the drama club. She is thinking of attending New York Drama School, and she wants Carter to apply and attend. A conundrum indeed as this would mean leaving family and friends. Not to mention he has unfinished business with Scary Terry, whom Carter allegedly put in jail, and now Scary Terry is out and back for revenge. Will things ever go right for Carter? Written for high school boys, this book teaches readers life lessons while maintaining humor throughout. Carter attempts to be macho in front of his friends, but on the inside, he is sensitive, independent, and has a good heart. It is not necessary to read the first two "Carter" books, Carter Finally Gets It and Carter's Big Break, to understand this book. The author does a fine job of summarizing prior incidents. Reviewer: Tina ChanBook Details
Published
August 6, 2013
Publisher
Disney Press
Pages
304
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781423144502