Teen Tuesday and Arc Review: Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach. 256 p. HarperCollins Publishers, September, 2019. 9780062453149. (Review of arc)

I try to have a system to manage my arcs and book purchases. Sometimes books get buried in my tbr pile. I was rearranging piles late this summer and uncovered this one. I immediately felt guilty because I adore this author's books and here it had been out nearly a year! My apologies.

Teen Tuesday features Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach. Isaiah lives for football. Getting into football literally saved his life. He loves everything about it - the feeling of being part of a team, the strategy, the adrenaline, the action and, the hitting, especially. But after getting his bell rung in a crucial game, Isaiah can barely stand without feeling dizzy and can't hide the severity of his injury from his mother. His doctor tells her that he should stop playing for his own safety. Isaiah can't do that.

This complicated story is compelling from the very first page. Isaiah has a difficult back-story that readers slowly learn over the course of the book. Isaiah is a sympathetic character with understandable anger issues, making poor life choices before finding himself in football. There are no easy answers here and readers will root for him as he tries to find his way. Highly recommended.