Middle Grade Monday: A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner

Image: Macmillan Publishers

A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner. 288 p. Farrar Straus Giroux (BYR)/ Macmillan Publishers, February, 2020. 9780374312732. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Sixth grader Silas Wade lives for baseball. He's devoted to his Little League team and hustles in both practice and games. He loves to crack jokes and make his teammates laugh. He's also a devoted student of the sport-the psychology, the strategy and the history. When researching Glenn Burke for an oral report, Silas learns more than the fact that Burke was the inventor of the high five. He learns that Burke was gay. This is earth-moving for Silas, who is coming to realize his own identity. He's thrilled to be sharing his enthusiasm for Burke and his invention, but also terrified that his teammates and classmates will connect the dots. 

He comes out to his best friend, Zoey, and swears her to secrecy. This puts a bit of a strain on their friendship, but then he betrays her, rightfully earning her wrath. His lie explodes in his face and, as the pressure builds, his baseball suffers. 

Phil Bildner nailed it with this engaging novel. In High Five for Glenn Burke, we have a narrator who is endearing as well as irritating. His energy just crackles off the page and that can be a bit exhausting. We all know kids like this.

We also have superb baseball - history, as well as the mechanics of practice and games. We have a stressed out family that is doing their best. We have a best friendship that has hit the skids. Most of all, we have an author who skillfully combined these ingredients to realistically portray an adolescent's coming out in all its messy glory. Highly recommended!