Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles - PUBLIC

Elkeles, Simone  Wild Cards, 290 pgs.  Bloomsbury, 2013.  $17.99  Content: R (148 swears; 30 “F”; 8 God); Mature Content: R (on page sex and crude topics); Violence: PG-13. 

Derek feels unanchored since his mother’s death and his father’s current tour of duty.  After pulling a prank at his private school, he finds himself expelled and living in Chicago with his new young stepmother and her family.  He doesn’t expect to fall for his stepmother’s little sister Ashtyn.  Ashtyn, as a kicker, is the team captain for her high school football team and is dating the star quarterback.  She wants to be annoyed with Derek and the way he has weaseled his way into her circle of friends and the way he takes care of her little nephew, but she also can’t help but be attracted to him.  When Ashtyn’s boyfriend leaves the team to join their rivals, Ashtyn finds herself overwhelmed with the hopelessness of her situation and Derek starts to realize that maybe it’s time to move on from the death of his mother.  

This book is a fast read with teenage drama and romance.  The characters are believable and likable, but the sexual content and language is too much for any school library.  The ending was a bit too perfect and not as realistic as the rest of the book, but overall it was an enjoyable read. 

HS-PUBLIC ONLY.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.