Damage

KLIATT

A grippingly realistic novel.

Publishers Weekly

Written in the second-person, Jenkins's (Breaking Boxes) engaging novel depicts a high school senior and football star who is afraid to let anyone know he's depressed and suicidal. Austin Reid's small town life, which involved drinking beer in the back of his pickup and dating pretty girls, now makes him want to "slide down to the floor, lay [his] head down on the white tile and just quit feeling, totally." These vulnerabilities contrast sharply with the cruel drills of his militant football coach, successfully demonstrating just how intolerant male culture can be of weakness. Readers will know that the 17-year-old's present outlook has something to do with losing his father to cancer when he was a child, but they might be confused as to when the depression actually began. Still, Jenkins handles the heavy subject matter sensitively with memorable scenes such as the one in which his mother shares a bittersweet memory from his childhood, or when he finally opens up to the best friend and neighbor who's shown his loyalty and concern all along. Readers will be riveted by the second-person narrative voice, which effectively conveys the hero's distance from himself and others, and the pacing will keep even reluctant readers glued to the book. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A high school football star is afraid to let anyone know he's depressed and suicidal. "The author handles the heavy subject matter sensitively, and the pacing will keep even reluctant readers glued to the book," wrote PW. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

Austin and his girlfriend, Heather, have little in common outside of sex and hidden feelings of depression. Both are damaged by the loss of their fathers at an early age-Austin's father to cancer and Heather's to suicide. Now Austin feels as if he only is going through the motions, although on the surface, he appears to have it all as a star athlete with loyal friends and the beautiful Heather. Secretly, he is planning to kill himself. Then Heather tells a secret. She was the one who found her father's body. Unable to have controlled the events surrounding her father's death, she takes charge of her relationships, giving herself sexually but not much further. When Austin shares his suicidal thoughts with her, she cannot handle it and breaks up with him. He will survive, but readers will not be so sure about Heather. Austin's depression is somewhat hard to understand. Apparently, his mother has never spoken of their life before his father's death, and he misses knowing about it. Sadly, the one memory he has proves to be a false one. It is difficult to like either Austin or Heather. He ignores his friends, allowing Heather to mock them without defending them. Until her revelation, Heather's life seems to center on sex and looking good. The story is written in second person from Austin's point of view—"you touch," "you remember." This technique might have worked had there been alternate chapters told from Heather's perspective, but here it is only annoying and distracting. PLB $15.89. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, HarperCollins, 192p, $15.95. Ages 15 to 18. Reviewer: Pam Carlson

KLIATT

To quote KLIATT's September 2001 review of the hardcover edition: Austin, a small-town football hero, tells of his experiences in an unusual form: using second person, e.g., "You pull on your helmet and head into the middle of all those eyes." From the first pages, the reader can sense Austin's depression and the distance he experiences from his own feelings and actions. It's like he is watching himself go through the motions of living. And this is in the midst of what most teenagers would call an exciting life: Austin is handsome, a star athlete; he has a best friend, many other friends, and he is having an affair with the most beautiful girl in the school. Yet he thinks all the time about his own father, who died of cancer when Austin was three years old, a man Austin really can't remember. Austin suffers from depression and he thinks about suicide frequently. His love affair with Heather gets him out of the worst of it for a time, but her own problems finally destroy whatever promise they may have together, and once more Austin is on the edge of his own destruction. At the end of the novel, various addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses are given for further information about depression and three hotline 800 numbers are listed for those with suicidal thoughts. There is a gritty truth in this book not often found in YA novels, frankly, especially the descriptions of sex and how impossible it is to separate sex from emotions. It is revealed that Heather, for example, enjoys arousing her male lover and giving him pleasure, but when Austin tries to touch her and satisfy her sexually, she is angry and disturbed: she needs to be in control and she likes the power she has over herlover but can't accept loving in return. Why? A terrible story from her own childhood finally tumbles out of her, a tale that actually helps Austin understand that if he kills himself, others will be affected long after his own death. These sexual passages, obviously not included to titillate, are essential to the story and to an understanding of sexuality—but some younger YAs may not be able to handle them. The football sequences, the vicious coach and his methods, the male friendships are all elements of the story that will attract readers. Austin's lifelong friendship with Curtis is truly a marvelous thing, and how each can support the other when life becomes impossible is told by Jenkins superbly. Not only is this a grippingly realistic novel, it gets across to YA readers how devastating depression is and how hard the struggle may be to avoid suicide. The dedication reads: "For those who are struggling; for those who have made it through; for those who have been left behind." An ALA Best Book for YAs. KLIATT Codes: S*—Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students. 2001, HarperTempest, 186p.,
— Claire Rosser

Children's Literature

Austin Reid, "Pride of the Parkerville Panthers" football team, has it all going for himself. He is a star wide receiver, boyfriend to the most beautiful girl in town, and he has good friends he can trust, like Dobey and Curtis. Why then does he sometimes have trouble making himself get out of bed? Why does it seem an enormous effort just to breathe? This realistic portrayal of adolescent depression walks us step-by-step, day by grinding day, in the shoes a young man who feels a heaviness that he can't get out from under. Perhaps most striking is the author's all-too-true observation that often depression has no underlying cause, no watershed event that one can point to as its catalyst. Jenkins makes expert use of a rare technique in modern fiction, the second person point of view, to adroitly pull the reader into Austin's mind. The result is an affecting, finely crafted novel. Included is a list of organizations providing further information and help for those suffering from depression. 2001, HarperCollins, $15.95 and $15.89. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Christopher Moning<%ISBN%>0060290994

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-High school senior Austin Reid is a star of the Parkersville Panthers football team and dates the prettiest girl in the school. Everything would seem to be going great for him; yet, at its core, this novel is about Austin's depression. Jenkins brilliantly reveals it with a subtle, deft touch, dropping small clues to the state of the protagonist's mental health throughout the book. The most striking feature of the novel, however, is that it is told in the second person: "Last year, you scored fifteen touchdowns. After each you were so pumped you almost danced off the ground, raising your arms and yelling with the crowd." This unusual technique succeeds, giving the book energy and immediacy. This bold stylistic choice is helped along by dialogue that perfectly captures present-day teen speech patterns and by a skilled rendering of small-town life and the sometimes-brutal world of high school football. Austin's relationship with his girlfriend, Heather, is also handled with skill and subtlety, although some readers may be startled by the graphic descriptions of their sexual relationship. Appropriately, the book's ending is somewhat ambiguous, with Austin just beginning to understand his fragile mental state. A brave, truthful, stylistically stunning young adult novel.-Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

This highly realistic portrayal of a high school boy nearing suicide draws readers into a personal experience of severe depression. Austin is 17 and a star football player, handsome and popular, yet he must force himself to go through the motions of daily life. He has difficulty getting out of bed and has no appetite, eating in front of his friends only to hide his condition from them. Austin responds only to his best friend Curtis, and to Heather, the femme fatale of the school who claims him as her senior year boyfriend. Heather becomes Austin's lifeline with her ability to excite him sexually. He feels an unrequited bond with her because both lost their fathers in early childhood, but Heather's need is to retain control of their relationship. The loss of a football game due to Austin's mistake and the tension that develops between Heather and Austin push him toward a decision to kill himself. Jenkins uses a powerful first-person point of view that places the reader directly in Austin's mind. Better still, the cast of secondary characters is nearly as richly developed. Although he never makes the reasons for Austin's depression clear, it is perhaps a better story for it. He includes a list of organizations that offer help to those with depression. Seductive, chilling, and ultimately satisfying. (Fiction. YA)