Boy 21 by Matthew Quick

by:  Matthew Quick
published by:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
publish date:  March 5, 2012

Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in gray, broken Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish Mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, he takes care of his disabled grandfather, and at school he’s called “White Rabbit”, the only white kid on the varsity basketball team. He’s always dreamed of getting out somehow with his girlfriend, Erin. But until then, when he puts on his number 21, everything seems to make sense.

Finley lives in a rundown town.  He lives with his father and grandfather who have been beaten and broken by the Irish Mob.  Despite the racial tensions, and being the only white player on his basketball team at school, Finley feels comfortable in his world.  Then his coach asks him to take a new kid under his wing and it turns his entire world upside down.  Finley's position on the basketball team is no longer secure, his relationship with his girlfriend becomes strained and even his family's position in the neighborhood becomes questionable.

I've had this book for a while, I don't know why it took me like 2 years to read it.  It was a really good book.  It seems like anything Matthew Quick writes is amazing.  This book would appeal to wide variety of YA and adult readers.  This would be an especially good book for the kids interested in sports, because it deals with the stresses that athletes face.