The Game Can't Love You Back by Karole Cozzo - OPTIONAL

The Game Can’t Love You Back by Karole Cozzo, 312 pages.  Swoon (Macmillan), 2018.  $18.

Content: Language: R (219 swears; 21 “f”); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG. 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

When a fire at Eve’s school leads to Eve’s school having to share with their rival school, nobody is happy with the change.  Soon baseball season starts up, and Eve, as one of the best pitchers from her school, tries out for the team.  Being the only girl on the team, she is underestimated and challenged a lot by the other players, especially the handsome yet annoying team captain Jamie (who is also a pitcher).  Will Jamie and Eve be able to work out their differences and form an alliance to ultimately help the team? 

I loved that through the game and their teammates, the characters learned who they were and what they wanted to become.  I think the author did a good job making the world feel real and I felt like I was there with them.  I liked Eve’s friends and the character development of the minor characters.  The mature content includes teen partying, vandalism, hanging out in underwear in public and mention of a friend having unprotected sex.  

Student Reviewer, Isabelle, 9^th grade.