Throwback

by Dave Conifer

It wasn't long before the new kid from North Carolina had made friends at his new high school in Jersey. Ben is the kind of guy that everybody likes and he's spending a lot of time with Judy Voorst. So what's the problem?

Ben Petrovic has a secret. He's not who everybody thinks he is. He had some problems back home that he had to get away from and Jersey looked like the right place to find out where he stood in the world of wrestling. Somewhere along I-95 Ben Pietrak morphed into Ben Petrovic.

Elation over his success on the mat is tempered by the strain of keeping his secret as well as a difficult relationship with Judy. On top of that, Judy's other suitor seems to know way too much about Ben and isn't afraid to use what he knows.
Ben's legal and romantic difficulties converge with his struggle for wrestling vindication at the state wrestling championships in Atlantic City. How can he end up with everything he wants: integrity, redemption and the girl?

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

410 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2004

Reviews

[Dennis Begley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t a super big fan of the ending, but the actual writing about wrestling was really solid and accurate. So I appreciate that.

[Sarah Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book on a Facebook page that I follow as a "freebie" book. I must have liked the synopsis that was given, because I found it on my Kindle to read.

A few pages into the book, I realized that it's about wrestling. I'm not really into reading books about sports, but figured that I would go ahead and keep reading this book. I'm glad that I did. It isn't just about wrestling in matches. The main character also wrestles with life issues.

Without giving away the story, let me just say that he has avenged a "wrong" that was done to his dad and moves away from it. He then meets a girl and wrestles with telling her the truth about his past.

It's a really good short read and I found myself not wanting to put it down.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 and I'm being truely generous.

Ok, this was a freebie on the nook, and typically not something that I would read. However, still going strong on my n New Year's Resolution to clean out lingering books on the nook, I made myself read 430 pages of this book. It is not the worst book I've ever read, but I felt like a junior high student wrote it. It just meanders and goes down useless, fluffy, or stupid avenues that isn't revelant to the plot. It's a short story blown WAY out of control.

I am proud I finished this one, but I won't be reading it again. Like ever.

[Leo Polovets · Rating 2 out of 5]

I downloaded this book because it was free, and then wasted time reading it. I guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch. It’s not clear from the Amazon page, but I think this is a book for young adults. Perhaps because of the intended audience, the characters are amusingly one-dimensional and the plot is thin. Disappointingly, the one plot element that seems interesting and promising is left unresolved at the end of the story.

[Starla B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I was a bit dissapointed in the ending...I felt that there were a number of things left unresolved. However, that happens a lot in life, so maybe the story was more true to life than most.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a wrestler from New Jersey who's name is Ben and he recently move from Colorado. He joins the wrestling team from New Jersey and he is trying to fit in because he is new to the high school. But he has a dark secret back

[ShawnLynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. Couldn't finish.