Stand Off

Citation:

Smith, A. (2015). Stand Off. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Summary:

Ryan Dean West is not your average 15-year-old. For one thing, he is a senior at Pine Mountain, his boarding school. After having to fight his way through high school as the smallest guy, he is finally accepted by his rugby team and he has won the heart of his amazing girlfriend Annie. There are only two things standing between him and the perfect year. First, he must overcome living with his pesky new 12-year-old roommate Sam Abernathy who has his own set of annoying troubles. The bigger issue is that Ryan Dean is being haunted by Nate (which stands for next accidental terrible experience), a dark figure that Ryan Dean sees in his head and in his dreams, which is a manifestation of unresolved issues from the death of his best friend Joey. Somehow, Ryan Dean must figure out how to overcome living with Sam Abernathy and Nate in order to make it through his senior year.

Response:

This book is more complex than it first appears. Smith does a great job with the first-person narration of Ryan Dean. He is entertaining, funny, and honest in a way that reflects how I imagine most 15-year-old boys feel. As the story unfolds, readers see that Ryan Dean is still struggling with the death of his friend Joey, which occurred in the first book of the series, Winger. Though I haven’t read the book, and I really want to know what happened to cause Joey’s death, this book picks up as Ryan Dean and his friends try to resume a normal life the following school year. Ryan Dean gets the chance to meet Joey’s family and his younger brother Nico, and the two forge a friendship. This book covers topics about feeling alone, losing friends, being picked on, worrying about appearances, recognizing true friendship, and struggling to admit when something is wrong. This book is suitable for a high school audience. Some groups that it may appeal to include boys since it is told from a male perspective, students interested in rugby, and those interesting in reading a story set at a boarding school.

Textbook Connections: Studies have shown that series books are great for fostering a love of reading amongst young adults. This is the sequel to Winger. I have not read the first book of the series, but the sequel does a great job of referencing and explaining important events from the first novel without losing track of its own plot. Smith made the sequel a book that any reader could enjoy, regardless of whether or not they had read the first of the series, by descriptive characterization of both old and new characters and a fresh plot that incorporates elements of what happened previously in the first book. After reading this book, I am interested in going back to read the first book of the series!

Other Resources:

Publisher’s website http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Stand-Off/Andrew-Smith/9781481418300

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