Sway

Don’t let the cover fool you: this isn’t a light, fun, or romantic story, it’s actually a story with a lot of grit.

Sway
by Kat Spears
320 p. St. Martin’s Griffin. September 2014.
Gr 9 Up

High school senior, Jesse Alderman, known as Sway, is a street-smart, influential, and damaged character.  He has very few close friends and doesn’t even remember what it is like to feel anymore. He lives a no-consequences lifestyle and profits from his others by running a lucrative business of making things happen.  He specializes in getting people what they want–for example, he frequently is brokering term papers and delivering “party favors” for parties.  (The principal even hires him to help him get a juvenile delinquent kicked out of school!)  But when Ken Foster, “captain of the football team, leading candidate for homecoming, and all-around jerk” hires Jesse to help him win the heart of angelic Bridget Smalley, Jesse becomes a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac, falling hard for Bridget while still trying to manipulate her into dating Ken.  To learn the intimate details of Bridget’s life, Jesse begins following her around.  As a result, he finds himself in an accidental friendship with Bridget’s brother Pete, who has cerebral palsy, and hanging out with elderly Mr. Dunkelman, who Jesse pretends is his grandfather.  Told with unapologetic truth and humor and untempered by empathy or compassion, is it possible that Jesse can confront his quiet devastation and feel something again?

The Feels

Okay, mild feels.  What makes this story compelling is really how terrible Jesse is.  He’s so smart, and you just want to keep reading to see how much he will actually get away with.  However, the story is predictable, and I didn’t feel personally connected to any of the characters.