Cracking the Bell

by Geoff Herbach

Friday Night Lights meets Concussion in this powerful and important novel by Geoff Herbach, author of the Stupid Fast series, exploring the dangerous concussion crisis in football through the eyes of a high school team captain.

Isaiah loves football. In fact, football saved Isaiah’s life, giving him structure and discipline after his sister’s death tore his family apart. But when Isaiah gets knocked out cold on the field, he learns there’s a lot more to lose than football.

While recovering from a concussion, Isaiah wonders what his life would look like without the game. All his friends are on the team, and Isaiah knows they can’t win without him. The scholarship offer from Cornell is only on the table if he keeps playing.

And without football, what would keep his family together? What would prevent him from sliding back into the habits that nearly destroyed him?

Isaiah must decide how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the sport that gave him everything, even if playing football threatens to take away his future.

Genres: Sports, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Family, Audiobook, Teen

Audible Audio

Published September 10, 2019

About the author

I am the author of the YA title, Stupid Fast (June 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire). I also wrote The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, a Novel from Three Rivers Press. When I'm not writing books, I'm writing for Radio Happy Hour or developing ridiculous musical bits.

When I'm not writing, I'm teaching writing at Minnesota State, Mankato, which means I write a lot of comments about writing on student writing.

Writing a lot of writing and reading about writing and writing on reading.

Reviews

[Matthew Landis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a book about football--not really. It's about surviving apocalyptic loss and doing so without being miserable--or in Isaiah's case, falling into nihilistic criminality or militant (and potentially dangerous) adherence to the structural safety of football.

Precision subtlety is a hallmark of Herbach's writing (Stupid Fast series, Hooper), and has helped me enjoy "the sports book" again. Geoff also just gets real life authenticity. His characters are always flawed, likeably unlikable, deeply unpredictable, usually weird, and altogether interesting. I can never predict what they will say--Geoff excels at dialogue. No eye-rolling moments.

There are many quotable lines in this book that explore the struggle of living after loss, of making meaning of sadness, of not losing your mind as you try to not lose your grip. I won't drop any here--read them yourself.

In sum: Isaiah's journey and ultimate decision on whether or not to pursue a football scholarship due to potential injury intertwines beautifully with his larger journey of seeing light in the darkest moments of life. I loved this book, as I am want to love Geoff's writing, for the sole purpose that what the story is about is never what the story is about--like much of life.

Poignant, layered, and with an interesting narrative structure, this book is recommended for all YA audiences--especially those who love football, but also those seeking to find solid ground in the world after they have lost a piece of it.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love YA sports novels and Geoff Herbach knows exactly how to write one that is on-trend, poignant, realistic, gritty and doesn’t pull its punches. And that’s exactly what I got from Cracking The Bell.

Isaiah lives for football. It’s what keeps him busy and away from the temptations that come with down time. It saved him when he fell into bad habits and did things he wishes he could forget. It helps keep what remains of his broken family together. It keeps him from mourning too deeply his sister. But when Isaiah sustains a serious concussion, the lifeline of football may be removed from him and Isaiah must decide if the safety of football are worth the risks.

Cracking The Bell doesn’t delve too deeply into the concussion issue surrounding football. Yes, it is about a football player sustaining a concussion and then needing to decide if he is going to continue playing football, but this book is about Isaiah. Isaiah’s concussion and Isaiah’s decision, not about the issue on a larger, grander, whole-country scale. I think it was a great way to raise the issue without taking a side or becoming research-based or argument based. It stays as Isaiah’s story.

Isaiah is an intriguing character. A male protagonist who is honest with himself, even if that means he acknowledges that he sometimes is not honest with himself. Written in first person and third person journal entries he writes, this book’s perspective is firmly situated in Isaiah’s head and voice. He is a relatable teen guy, I felt. Flawed, scared, searching for answers and trying desperately not to mess up again, even as he kamakazies into another dangerous, out-of-control situation.

With themes of friendship, romantics relationships and the complications of family breakdown and grief, this YA book is an excellent book to place into young readers’ hands, especially for teen guys who are looking for something engaging and current, as well as sports related.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Find more reviews, reading age guides, content advisory, and recommendations on my blog Madison's Library

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to EdelweissPlus and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

I was so very excited to see that Herbach had another sports-themed book coming out after I fell in love with his novel Hooper last year. This book tackles football and football-related head injuries, while also dealing with a family's grief process, the sadness of not knowing what to do next, and the pain that comes when you have to realize you can no longer continue on in the way that you always have.

Isaiah is a football star, a strong defensive player who is being recruited by some D1 schools, who knows that without football he'd be back in a juvenile detention center. He likes the structure of football and school, the knowledge that by working hard and keeping to his intense routine and schedule, he can keep his demons at bay and be successful. But now, after an intense hit and the resulting concussion, he worries that this part of his life might be over. If he can't play football, what can he do to deal with his feelings from his sister's accident all those years ago and his grandfather's murder? His parents' divorce? His mom's manipulations? His dad's abandonment? Told over the course of a week, in first person vignettes and third person journal entries, this is the story of growing up.

Highly recommend, for sports fans AND realistic fiction fans. Great story. Some minor language throughout, but no sexual content. Main character is an 18 year old senior. Recommended for grades 8 and up.

[Gary Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although Geoff Herbach’s young-adult novels are consistently satisfying, his new book Cracking the Bell digs a little deeper and delivers a story as important as it is engaging.

High school senior Isiah is moving on from his rough life of a few years ago. Isaiah’s family disintegrated when his sister and grandfather both died violently, one from a drunk driver and one as a murder victim. Isaiah turned in all the wrong directions trying to find myself, and his girlfriend Grace was just as messed up as him. But football saves Isaiah. He throws himself into every aspect of the game, and as football becomes the magnetic center of Isaiah’s tenuous existence holding everything else in place, he also focuses on academics and abandons his previous vices. But when Isaiah takes a brutal hit while playing football, he suffers a concussion that probably isn’t his first. Then Isaiah must decide whether to continue playing the game that may either create or end his future.

Herbach’s narrative powers are shown in several ways in Cracking the Bell. First, Herbach gets the football right. The opening chapter and several other scenes show Isaiah’s mind at work on the field as he makes split-second decisions and uses his body to physically deliver his strategies. Readers who know the game will enjoy the authentic action and Isaiah’s interior monologue. After the concussion, Isiah’s mind and imagination are damaged, and Herbach effectively conveys Isaiah’s dysfunctional mental processing. A third narrative device comes from Isaiah’s journals in which he writes about troubling episodes from his life in third person to objectify them for himself. Wrapped around all of this is a first-person point of view in past tense that is a welcome break from the first-person-present-tense point of view that is so ubiquitous in YA fiction these days.

Teens generally feel indestructible, and they do not like being lectured about what is good for them. As Isaiah considers the life-or-death implications of continuing to play football after suffering concussions, Cracking the Bell honors those attitudes while leading young readers to consider how and when to move on and how to prioritize their commitments.

This review appears in slightly different form on my What's Not Wrong? blog.

[Isaac Durham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach is about a kid named Isaiah and how he had to deal with a good amount of PTSD from the last time he played football and almost couldn’t walk for the rest of his life. He was playing a game in middle school and he got hit in a very wrong way that ended up paralyzing him from the waist down. It wasn't permanent but it still took a huge toll on his physical and mental health. He had to go through a huge recovery cycle just to even walk. The book is very detailed and great at the beginning leading up to the climax. It’s just that once it hits the climax it falls off tremendously. I think that it could have had a much better ending. The ending was kind of anticlimactic. This book is more of a book to set up for future books which if that’s for you then it’s good but personally I don’t like that. This is because it is forcing me to read a whole new book full of information I don’t really care about just to find the ending of this book.

[Deborah Zeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a football mom, one whose son played nose tackle, if what happened to Isaiah happened to him, I’d probably make him quit. This book isn’t necessarily focused on football but the repercussions and what can happen to a person when their bell is cracked. I liked how it also focused on Isaiah‘s pre-football days and post football days. Football definitely gives a troubled kid focus, however, Isaiah‘s trouble stemmed from the devastating loss of his sister Hannah. He was acting out and the only way for him to straighten up and get some structure was for his father to force his hand and make him choose football. Unfortunately there were repercussions to being so focused and playing as hard as Isaiah did. The relationship with Grace almost seemed secondary. Overall it was a good book,

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that will do well with teen readers who love sports books. But it is more than a story about football. The book will also appeal to rebellious teens because that was the main character before he found football. But this book does not glorify football; the boy in the book has sustained a serious head injury during a game. One that will make him explore what his life would be like without football or kill him if he continues.

I am not a big fan of sports books but this one really got to me. This boy is overcoming the loss of his sister, having a troubled youth, and then finding out that he may not be able to do the only thing he wants to. The story shows what it is like to make the difficult decisions and how to explore other options. It’s a very complex but a very realistic story and would do very well with our teen readers.

[Christine Lucia Asha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I thought it would be....more serious that the protagonist has realized and admitted that football could cost him his life BUT still making unhealthy decisions that the adults are not swaying because he is still in high school football......I'm just not going to play in college but I will finish out in high school.

[Kristine Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sports novels aren’t my genre but this one did a nice job of getting into the main character’s head and exploring identity beyond the game.

[SevieReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I can say that sports books aren't normally my thing. And to be honest, I think I've had a bit of snobbery thinking that sports books were less then. Somehow written about sports to get non-readers interested in a story just because they already like the sport. I regret this outlook. Cracking the Bell had me hooked from the very beginning with the story of Isaiah and his love for football, family, and writing. Isaiah's story is bigger than football, but football is also at the center of this story and Geoff Herbach made me think about the importance of team and structure to kids who are struggling. See Isaiah has lost his sister Hannah to a tragic accident. And his Grandpa. And everything is going to hell. Football saves him. And football also has the potential to destroy him. This is one of the best books I've read in a while. This book has changed my mind about sports books. This book will be on my 7/8 classroom shelf and I’m considering adding it to the 8th grade novel groups.

[Sally Kruger]

After Isaiah's sister Hannah was killed by a drunk driver, Isaiah fell apart. He had worshipped his older sister, and her loss ruined his parents' marriage and sent him barreling in the wrong direction. His delinquent behavior ended in his father offering him a choice - join the football team or return to the juvenile detention facility that hadn't worked for him the first time. Isaiah chose football, and his life turned around.

Now a senior and about to turn eighteen, Isaiah is a star player, star student, and seemingly a star son. In the game against Lancaster, Isaiah messed up. Headed for a tackle, he put his eyes down and slammed into his opponent. He was out cold. He came to and jumped to his feet before his teammates suspected the severity of his injury. Despite the fact that he heard what he described as "witch whistles" and a constant deadly shriek, he went through the motions at the end of the game and headed home.

By the next morning it was clear Isaiah was hurt. A trip to the emergency room with his parents revealed the diagnosis as a severe concussion. It also became evident that this was not his first concussion. NO MORE FOOTBALL! At least that's what his mother declared.

Since Isaiah believed that football had brought him back to life after losing his sister, the idea of not playing sent him over the edge. How could he survive without the game? Would the promise of a scholarship from Cornell University disappear? What was the point of hard work, good grades, and good behavior if what he lived for was gone?

CRACKING THE BELL explores the dangers of sports injuries, specifically concussions. The threat of second impact syndrome is real, and players, parents, and coaches around the country should be concerned. Thankfully, fictional Isaiah had a strong support system of family and friends, and the strength of his determination to see him through a physical and emotional struggle.

Anyone who plays football or cares about someone who plays football should read CRACKING THE BELL. Author Geoff Herbach's smooth flowing style makes reading ten pages feel like barely reading two. He makes Isaiah and his story leap off the page and demand to be read.

Thank you to the author for generously sharing this ARC. Release date - Sept. 2019.

[Kye Weinzierl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaiah is a high school student whose love for football keeps him out of trouble. Unfortunately, his season has been postponed due to a potentially career-ending injury. Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach is a great sports book about a teenage boy that many people can relate to. This book is full of ups and downs. Isaiah has to make crucial decisions that could strongly affect his future. This book is amazing because the author always keeps the reader engaged. The story is filled with hooks and turning points.
When Isaiah is playing in a high school football game, he suffers a bad concussion. At that point, he is faced with a tough decision. If he no longer plays football he could lose his scholarship to Cornell. This could cause him to fall back into his old trouble-making ways. On the other hand, if he decides to keep playing, his injury could become more severe than it already is. The risk of more injury could cause lifelong medical issues.
This book is best for high school boys. Isaiah is a very relatable character to any male high school student. Isaiah is a high school boy himself. His story can be compared to everyday life. There are comparisons to sports, parents, and high school. He also has to make tough decisions. He goes through many of the same things high school kids have to deal with today, like getting into trouble.
Once readers pick this book up, they will find that it is hard to put it down. Readers will also become engaged in the drama that is a part of Isaiah’s life. Readers will get caught up in the suspense of Isaiah’s complicated backstory and feel the pressure he feels to make a life-altering decision. Will Isaiah decide to quit playing football after his concussion? Readers will have to read the book to find out. Readers will not be disappointed by this book. This book is thrilling and full of intriguing points throughout the whole story.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I received an advance copy of the book from the author.

I was finishing this book as news broke about Andrew Luck's sudden retirement from the NFL, and I couldn't help but see the connections. Isaiah in Cracking the Bell isn't a multimillionaire with a degree from Stanford—he's a high school senior with a history of concussions in his life. Literal concussions from hitting and being hit in football. Figurative concussions from the deaths of family members and the unresolved grief that follows.

But like Andrew Luck, Isaiah grapples with questions of what is worth risking for football. Questions of what we walk toward and what we walk away from. And Herbach raises the bigger societal questions of football's role in our culture and our construction of masculinity. To Herbach's credit, Cracking The Bell is not simply a jeremiad against football—the novel recognizes how concussive young lives can be, inside and outside of football, and how football has served as a place of recovery as well as a place of pain.

As a conflicted football fan myself, I appreciate how well Herbach captures the game—too many novels involving sports fail this first hurdle. Cracking The Bell is thoughtful, timely, and more lyrical than I expected. I will be sharing it with my high school freshmen tomorrow.

[Samantha (WLABB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Isaiah was on a downward spiral following the death of his sister and grandfather, but football provided a way for him to channel his pain. With many college coaches knocking on his door, he suffers another concussion, one he was unable to hide. As he processes the possibility of his life without football, he also confronts his grief regarding the losses his family suffered and the subsequent fallout.

This was an interesting journey. I sort of wish I had read instead of listened to the book, because there were a few times I got lost in the back and forth. Isaiah was an interesting and rather deep character. There were a few times I really felt his pain, and cried for him. This young man had some big choices to make, and he really didn't have much of a support system to help him. I really appreciated his struggle, and was proud of how far he came over the course of this book.

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[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the book to Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach, Isaiah is dealing with a lot through his sister dying, family fights, relationship issues, friends issues, and school issues. This book does not give Isaiah the upper hand in his eyes. Yet when he figures out that people cared for him more then he thought he had a reliezation that life can look bad from the angle you look at it from.

I belive Herbach did a great job on showing how a life can changed based on the factors of you life, he show that sometimes you need to learn how to grow up faster than you were told you had too. In the book Isaiah is dealing with his Grandfather dying, his sister dying, his parents separating, his love of his life getting farther away. This all causes him to start writing in a journal, In this journal he writes all of his thoughts, his dreams, this causes him to hold on to the bad memories. These memories are the thing that started him changing back to when he was an inmature kid. Yet in the end I say Herback did an amazing job on how he made the book.

[Jeffrey G · Rating 2 out of 5]

The very beginning of this book got me slightly emotional, and I was thinking from the start that this was going to be a very good book. After that, it sort of devolved into meandering interior monologues, poetic journal entries, and the sort of affected dialogue that you get in books by Benjamin Alire Saenz.

Mostly this is dull and I found myself skimming some of the longer passages. But there is also some very good stuff in here. The football stuff is great, better than just about anything you will read in a book with a football setting. The book tries to describe what a serious head injury feels like and it's done in an unusual and engaging fashion. The author also gives us a portrait of an angry young man who is capable of violence and destruction and he lets us in at some very low moments and that works pretty well.

So this is a mixed bag. Even though I didn't enjoy it that much, it is well-written, and it did not put me off this author. I will probably read more books by him. I would not particularly recommend this one, however.

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good YA realistic fiction...not overly focused on the sport per se but more about the fractured family and what the sport has done for the main character. It begins with a football game where Isaiah, tackles incorrectly and with much force that he knocks himself out...aka gets his bell rung. Being that football has given him purpose as he was always getting in trouble (BIG trouble), he doesn't want to admit that he's hurting with a concussion. The description of what he is feeling with the concussion holds true as many students do not want to give up/give in and a family with no experience does not know how to handle it (personal experience). In addition, the family is dealing with the death of his sister along with Isaiah's out of control behavior in response to the concussion. True, many teens do not know the reasons for actions as Isaiah learns in the aftermath. Football information is in the back drop providing readers with just enough if they are not a fan of the sport. How Isaiah deals in the end is worthy of YA attention.

[Carrie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing that amazes me about this book is that I, a person who knows nothing about and cares nothing for sports, really enjoyed it! This is true for all of Geoff Herbach’s books. He writes sports books. This is a “football book.” I didn’t understand 1/4 of the sports lingo he used. A blitz? Who knows! “A spread, gadget offense, with all kinds of shotguns and options and misdirections”? Sounds like Inspector Gadget’s evil twin to me. But ultimately it doesn’t matter. While Isaiah plays football, loves football, and the whole book is centered on his loss of football, that is not what the book is ABOUT. This is a book about a young man dealing with grief and learning that he is worth more than his ability to play a game. It is about learning to stand up again after life has (repeatedly) knocked you down. And Herbach’s ability to continually write “sports books” that are really LIFE books impressed me to no end. So whether you like football or not, you should read this book! It’s a story that will touch everyone’s heart.

[Julie Trapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaiah loves football. In fact, football saved Isaiah’s life, giving him structure and discipline after his sister’s death tore his family apart. But when Isaiah gets knocked out cold on the field, he learns there’s a lot more to lose than football. While recovering from a concussion, Isaiah wonders what his life would look like without the game. All his friends are on the team, and Isaiah knows they can’t win without him. The scholarship offer from Cornell is only on the table if he keeps playing. And without football, what would keep his family together? What would prevent him from sliding back into the habits that nearly destroyed him? Isaiah must decide how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the sport that gave him everything, even if playing football threatens to take away his future. [amazon synopsis]
What a relevant book given the attitude of many fathers and football playing sons. Would you rather be a star in high school and never make it to college? Or would you rather realize the harm to yourself in playing injured and have a life? Parents and coaches need to realize the harm they are doing to the children by ignoring injuries or downplaying them.,

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book, and I’m so glad I did. Generally, sports books are not my first choice, but having read Herbach’s Stupid Fast series, I knew the storyline would appeal to me anyway. As usual, his writing did not disappoint. The main character Isaiah has had a rough time following the loss of his sister and his parents’ subsequent divorce. He makes very bad choices and is on the verge of losing everything when he joins the team. Football is what saves him, but after a particularly brutal hit, it could be what destroys him as well. This book illustrates the dangers inherent in any contact sport and how the right decision may be neither clear nor easy. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geoff Herbach is one of my new favorite writers for YA---I came to the party late perhaps. His newest release is about a boy, Isaiah, who is a senior in high school. His family experienced a terrible tragedy, the death of his sister Hannah, and they are broken. After her death Isaiah spiraled downward during middle school and ended up in a boy's home for a while; however, football changed everything. It added structure and team to his life, and he was even being courted by Cornell University because he was a good student as well. Then he suffers a major concussion and the spiral starts again. Everything comes to a head, and the ending is believable.

I really liked the characters, especially his hippie friend Joe. I think kids will eat this up!

[Brenda Kahn]

Wow! This has been languishing on my monstrous tbr pile forever! I wish I could read faster and didn't have other responsibilities like cooking, cleaning and grading assignments. I loved the author's Stupid Fast Trilogy and did a double-take when I realized this book is also set in Bluffton. I also enjoyed his book, Fat-Boy vs. the Cheerleaders, except I think the title was changed, as well as Anything You Want. So, I'm a fan. I think this was his best book yet. Isaiah is so flawed, yet so compelling. The portrayal of brain injury/ post-concussion symptoms was accurate. I think this book would pair well with Chris Lynch's Hit Count. I might have stayed up to read the book in one sitting, but I'm getting too old to do that;-) Loved this one and highly recommend!

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book I would have picked up myself. It is one of the less than 250 page YA options I am giving my seniors a choice to read for literary analysis this analysis this year.

I am not a sportsketball person, and even though I’ve read a couple of books about football players, I still don’t always understand the terminology of the game.

What is easy to understand in this book is how Isiah, a senior in high school has used football as a way to cope with anger, trauma, and grief. Following his journey after he tackles an opponent and ends with a concussion was engaging. Isiah is forced to reconcile with all the feelings he had put on hold as he focused on football. And that is a journey I can understand.

[Amy Curtiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid YA sports/coming of age narrative. Even though you spend the book inside a 17 year old football player's head, it turns out that's not such a horrible place to be. The kid has really believable reactions to all that's going on in his life. The characters surrounding him are just as humanly flawed as he is, and just as relatable. I went in thinking that it was a book about the dangers of youth football, but the author elevated the subject with a great protagonist and a layered take on teenage life that really rings true. Not the kind of book I would have picked up on my own, so I'm glad this was nominated for the Abe Lincoln young reader's book award, otherwise I would have missed out on a great read.

[Megan Halko · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. This is a quick read about a high school senior who is forced to examine his choices about his future after suffering a terrible concussion while playing football. Isaiah has used football as an escape, and he had been considering playing in college as a means of financial support and a motivator to stay focused. When playing football may no longer be an option, Isaiah has to decide the direction his life will take. Isaiah’s family is still hurting from his sister’s unexpected death, so he is struggling with making the right choice to heal himself instead of simply doing what he thinks his family needs him to do. This book is more than a football story; it is a glimpse into the self-reflection that is crucial during the transition between high school and college/adulthood.

[Cathy Castelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan ever since Stupid Fast, and Cracking the Bell is another legendary addition to YA Sports. I know that the mark of a good book for me, is when I get so caught up in the story that I forget it's not real. In the novel, Isaiah has a green notebook where he writes his story. In the ARC I read, these stories are in italics. I found myself thinking, "Wow, that Isaiah is a good writer!" No, that Geoff Herbach is a great writer, and he totally had me gripped.

I'm thirilled for another YA sports book to be added to my school library shelves but especially one that deals with the truths of family loss, divorce, and the importance of communication.

[Eddie Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaiah Sadler knows things aren't right. They haven't been since Hannah died. They haven't been since his bell got rung.

This book does a great jump delving into the topic of concussions in football, particularly at the high-school level, and just how impactful the game of football can be to a young man.

There's a lot to unpack with family dynamics in this book, and how tragedy can alter more than just our emotions.

I'd say Cracking the Bell should be a book a lot of high school athletes read, especially boys, as it touches on the reality that life doesn't work the way we want it to, and we have to react to that reality in a healthy way.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isaiah was always a kid that got into everything and after his sister died in a car accident, Isaiah started drinking and getting in trouble with the law. His Dad gave him an ultimatum--either try out for football or go into a group home. Football gave Isaiah a focus in his life and he is great at it! His days are structured and he's also doing great in school. For after Isaiah suffers one concussion too many, he has to make the tough decision to give it up, along with his good life and a college scholarship, or to keep playing. If he gives up football, will he also be giving up the life he's worked so hard to create for himself?

[WKPL Children's/YA Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Lori read and "enjoyed"? this book that hints that it is about football, but is really so much more. I say "enjoy" with a question mark, as this was not an easy read but one I wanted to find out how it ended. This story shows what happens in a young person's life when tragedy strikes and they have no way to express their feelings but through dangerous behaviors, looking for attention.

The ending wrapped up a bit too quickly/nicely, but I'm not complaining! I only wanted the best for the young MC in this book! This is a read for high school students due to some subject matter and language.

[Ethan Rothstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach. I thought the start was great because it got right into the action and got me hooked right off the bat. Another reason I enjoyed this book so much was that it's about football, one of my favorite sports. I found it interesting when Isaiah hit a kid really hard and got a major concussion and he had to decide whether or not he could continue to play the sport that has carried him through life. I also liked how simple and easy to read the plot was, it reminding me of other football shows like "All American", "Last Chance U" and "QB-1". Overall, I would give it a 9.5/10 and I highly recommend it to whoever enjoys the sport of Football.