Raiders Night
Robert Lipsyte, Michael MileticBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
What's it mean to think team? It means you don't talk team business with anybody who isn't on the team. It means whatever happens inside the team stays inside. It means you can only trust a brother Raider. Any questions?
At Nearmont High School, football stars are treated like royalty, and Matt Rydek has just ascended to the throne. He's got it all: hot girls, chill friends, plenty of juice to make him strong, and a winning team poised to go all the way. If he can keep his eye on the ball now, his future will be set. But when the team turns on one of its own, should Matt play by Raiders rules, or should he go long alone?
Synopsis
What's it mean to think team? It means you don't talk team business with anybody who isn't on the team. It means whatever happens inside the team stays inside. It means you can only trust a brother Raider. Any questions?
At Nearmont High School, football stars are treated like royalty, and Matt Rydek has just ascended to the throne. He's got it all: hot girls, chill friends, plenty of juice to make him strong, and a winning team poised to go all the way. If he can keep his eye on the ball now, his future will be set. But when the team turns on one of its own, should Matt play by Raiders rules, or should he go long alone?
Publishers Weekly
Lipsyte's (The Contender) latest sports drama is a riveting and chilling look inside contemporary high school football, starring captain and wide receiver Matt Rydek. Matt's intense focus on winning a scholarship is driven in equal measure by his love of the game and his desire to escape from his maniacal father. As the novel opens, the local gym owner injects a syringe of "all-pro cocktail" into Matt's buttocks. Steroids use, however, is not the most frightening aspect of the book. The real action begins during the last week of football camp, before the start of the season. Nearmont High's coaches are excited by the arrival of Chris Marin, a talented sophomore transfer student. Less thrilled is Matt's co-captain, Ramp, a brutish homophobe, whose starting position Chris could win. On the last night of camp, the traditional hazing turns into a sexual assault, which all the seniors witness. The adults, fearing scandal, hear rumors but adopt a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, mirroring their stance on steroid use. As co-captain, Matt knows he would risk everything his friends, his senior season, his future if he goes to authorities. Lipsyte exposes the underbelly of high school sports where racism, drug use, misogyny and bullying are shrugged off so long as the team wins. Matt has a soul-crushing choice to make and Lipsyte's careful rendering of the world in which Matt moves gives his story an awful and terrifying ring of truth. Ages 14-up. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Almost all his classmates at Nearmont High envy senior Matt Rydek. It is easy to see why: He is the co-captain of the Raiders football team, on track for a winning season and a scholarship to a Division I college. For Matt, the field of glory is more intense and bumpy than what it seems from the outside, but he never imagines that he will soon be forced to make a decision that affects his entire season — indeed, his entire future. An arresting novel about steroids and peer pressure from the award-winning author of The Contender.Publishers Weekly
Lipsyte's (The Contender) latest sports drama is a riveting and chilling look inside contemporary high school football, starring captain and wide receiver Matt Rydek. Matt's intense focus on winning a scholarship is driven in equal measure by his love of the game and his desire to escape from his maniacal father. As the novel opens, the local gym owner injects a syringe of "all-pro cocktail" into Matt's buttocks. Steroids use, however, is not the most frightening aspect of the book. The real action begins during the last week of football camp, before the start of the season. Nearmont High's coaches are excited by the arrival of Chris Marin, a talented sophomore transfer student. Less thrilled is Matt's co-captain, Ramp, a brutish homophobe, whose starting position Chris could win. On the last night of camp, the traditional hazing turns into a sexual assault, which all the seniors witness. The adults, fearing scandal, hear rumors but adopt a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, mirroring their stance on steroid use. As co-captain, Matt knows he would risk everything his friends, his senior season, his future if he goes to authorities. Lipsyte exposes the underbelly of high school sports where racism, drug use, misogyny and bullying are shrugged off so long as the team wins. Matt has a soul-crushing choice to make and Lipsyte's careful rendering of the world in which Matt moves gives his story an awful and terrifying ring of truth. Ages 14-up. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.KLIATT
Former sports journalist and YA author Lipsyte tackles the dangers of hazing and steroids in this raw and thought-provoking tale of a high school football star faced with some tough choices. The Raiders have a shot at the state title, and Matt, co-captain of the team, is expected to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. That includes shots of "juice" to make him stronger, but does it include overlooking what happens at football camp, when Chris, a new teammate, is raped with a bat by Matt's out-of-control co-captain? Everyone, even Matt's tough-guy father, wants the incident to be swept under the rug. Then Chris shows up in the locker room with a gun, revenge on his mind. The sports action here is as convincing as the off-field action, which includes Matt's home life with a developmentally disabled brother he protects from his bullying father, lots of partying, a shallow, nasty ex-girlfriend, and an understanding new girlfriend. (The vocabulary is equally realistic; if this were a movie, it would be R-rated.) In an afterword, Lipsyte briefly refers to the values, good and bad, of jock culture and its "dark corners" as well, and provides websites for himself and a sports psychiatrist if readers want to share their own experiences. KLIATT Codes: S—Recommended for senior high school students. 2006, HarperCollins, 240p., Ages 15 to 18.—Paula Rohrlick
VOYA
Raiders Rule! Raiders Rule! Raiders Rule! Chanted at team meetings and growled by players to motivate hesitant teammates, these catchwords pressure an entire community to come in line with the team mindset. Star receiver Matt Rydek embraces the madness, selfishly planning to parley his talent to a Division I scholarship. Veteran author Lipsyte knows sports and his book's football scenes are spot on. More important, a believable tone describing the reckless macho behavior penetrating high school athletics weaves throughout the novel. Players juicing their bodies with steroids, partying hard with drugs and alcohol, and hazing underclassmen are things brushed off because boys will be boys. What is good for the team is good for everyone, and adults simply accept the dangerous conduct as a trade-off for wins. Chris, a sophomore transfer and gifted player, becomes a threat to the team's inner ring leadership, and Raiders Night-an initiation for newcomers-spins out of control. Seniors justify the abuse-involving definite homosexual undertones-as Raider Pride. As a result, Matt becomes emotionally torn between the decision to rat out his teammates or maintain the status quo. The novel's flaws are minor. Adult characters are mostly one-dimensional and several pop in but disappear, and readers never get to know them. Graphic descriptions of steroid use tantalize readers, but they fall off the pages when the main conflict kicks in. In the past year, several realistic sports books have made a splash in the young adult market, and this one continues a developing trend. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, HarperCollins, 240p., and PLB Ages 12 to 18.—Rollie Welch