Gutless

by Carl Deuker

Nobody on the varsity knew me, but I know what they thought: I was the guy who had good hands and could run like lightning, but who also had a yellow streak down his back.

The wide receiver best able to hang on to his quarterback’s passes, Brock Ripley would be a star for the varsity team—if he could just bring himself to put his body on the line. But he can’t. Just like he can’t bring himself to stand up for his friend Richie Fang, who has been targeted by the quarterback, known for his brutality in the school’s Suicide Alley and beyond. As events spiral out of control, Brock is faced with a true test of character. Can he find the courage to step up and do what is right?

Genres: Sports, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Football, Teen, Contemporary, Fiction

329 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2016

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey, I wrote it--can't give it less than five, can I? (:

[Carol Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

GOLDEN ARM was okay, but this football saga had a much tougher story line, more action scenes, and a lot of issues kids need to think about.

Brock the narrator is a good kid who respects his parents, cares about school, and has the talent to be a great wide receiver. But he's afraid to get hit. When he tries out for football, he runs into bullying, peer pressure, and prejudice. Most of it connects to his best friend Richie, the oddball Chinese kid who always seems to be getting pushed down stairs and shoved into trash cans by the school's evil jock supervillain, Hunter Gates.

Brock's story and the action on the football field both held my interest, but Hunter Gates and Richie Fang are characters that needed a lot of work. Arrogant Hunter Gates is just like every other stuck up high school quarterback in every other movie and book. The author makes him so obnoxious and cruel that it's impossible to believe anyone would want to hang out with him. He even sexually abuses a mentally challenged girl between classes just to keep up his evil mojo!

Richie Fang was even more problematic. He's supposed to be an underdog, but his personality is so unpleasant that you can really see why Hunter and the gang want to shut him up. He's shrill, boastful, and arrogant, and his jokes are terrible. The author makes him into more of a stereotype than the evil jocks. Fang sends all the wrong messages about what Asian kids are like. This guy couldn't carry Kwai Chang Caine's medicine pouch, let alone his hat or his flute!

Now I want to discuss the ending, and there are massive spoilers below, so stop here if you haven't yet read the book. (SPOILERS BELOW!)

The whole school-shooting plot was a total disappointment. It's set up in a clumsy, silly, obvious way. "Wanna see my gun?" And then nothing happens! I didn't like Richie much, but I certainly hated Hunter and Colton and the rest of the guys. And I wanted to see them pay! The irony of this book is that it's supposed to teach you that bullying is bad. Yet by the end you're not thinking of ways to be non violent. You're just cheering for Richie to pile up as many bodies as possible before they take him down! Instead he somehow corners the whole football team inside a bathroom (how is that even possible?) Then our crazed shooter just stands there babbling till Brock can disarm him. This ending doesn't teach any lessons, Hunter and the gang aren't punished, and any teen who reads the ending will just feel insulted and ripped off. The real ending should have been on the football field anyway, because this is a football book!

[Joseph DeCarlo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gutless is a story about Brock Ripley who is going through High School and dreams about being one of best players on the varsity football team. He has a father that is very ill all through out the story, and has a very caring family. He had many friends on his team and had trouble reaching his goals even though he was trying his hardest. He has a friend that he needs to stand up for and he needs to find the courage to do it. From the start, one of my biggest issues with this story is that it was very hard to get into. The characters were uninterestingly boring teenage stereotypes, the dialogue was cheesy, and the plot was something you see out over every story about High School football. The main character in the story is Brock, and he is trying to be the best athlete on varsity football. He has a personality that is in every main character in every football story. He has to do things for his team, he has to make decisions for his family, he has to make decisions for his friends, and he has to be in high school, I am sick of hearing this same old story. In the book the characters would say things that people think high school students say, they don't really say that. Brock is messing around with is friends when one of them said, "who let the dogs out?. . . . Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof," (Deuker 279). In this quote it shows how the wording in this story is very cheesy, and very off putting. The plot of these stories are all the same, they all add unnecessary drama to try and engage the reader. I went through four years or football and there really is not as much drama as these stories make it out to be. In the end I personally didn't care for the story, I would recommend it to other people who like the classic football story, but I couldn't get into it.

[Arav Agarwal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is absolute trash. I don't understand why anyone would bother to read it, especially as it just drips with stupid testosterone. This is why men are sometimes called stupid and dumb - narratives where literally nothing progresses except bloody stupidity!

[Lisa Nocita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great choice for sports fiction fans. There’s plenty of sports jargon that sounds real enough to me, but then again I’m not too knowledgeable about football. Brock is beginning high school and although he’s a pretty good athlete, he doesn’t have the killer instinct. Brock struggles with dreams of athletic what ifs and high school stardom. After a chance encounter at the park over the summer, Brock finds himself helping the star quarterback practice. Although he has never played before, his soccer ability helps him play receiver for Hunter. He decides to tryout for the football team. He desperately wants to shine but on and off the field he holds back, lacking the confidence and nerve to be more forceful. On the first day of school he meets a new student, Richie, who is quirky and offbeat, but the two become friends. Richie is a wunderkind, excelling at chess, violin, math, architecture, and soccer. He’s unapologetic and goofy. And a magnet for the biggest bully in school. Hunter. What’s Brock to do? How can he ally with Richie and still be the star receiver if he stands up to Hunter?

There’s a lot going on in the story. It is a story about friendship, about pervasive bullying, family struggles, finding your voice, and grappling with self doubt and the need to conform or to stand up for what’s right. Brock feels like an authentic character who vacillates between being a good friend and being a sucky friend who is a bystander to the bullying Richie endures. Brock doesn’t want to rock the boat or draw fire to himself. His motivations are real and middle grade readers are likely to see some of themselves in him. By the climax of the novel, things have taken a predictable but terrible turn for the worse. Brock finally finds his voice, but will it be too late?

[Cody Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book because it is about football and football is my favorite sport. This book is about a teenager Brock who is on the varsity football team but gets cut because he doesn't like to hit people. He doesn't like to confront anyone about anything. He's pretty quite. But he's fast and catch a football, but the not hitting people is not cutting it and he's getting made fun of.
A good friend of his or so he thought Hunter now makes fun of him and his new friend Richie. Just because Richie is really smart. Really Hunter is just a bully to everyone that is not in his circle of friends.
Finally one day Brock stands up to Hunter and tells him he's a bully and it needs to stop. It takes a lot for him to do but he does. He doesn't want to feel gutless anymore.
I think most of us can relate to Brock. We all hate being bullied.

[Austin Hubler]

The book I read was Gutless. It is about a kid that had good hands and stuff would be really good at football but he didn't want to get hit. His dad was in the hospital. He had steinert disease they said the medicine would fix him but it wasn't. He loses strength slowly. It will take a long time but it will happen he hopes they find a cure. He was really sad when he had to have his dad stay in the hospital. But he knew it was for a good thing to get the medicine and help him. After awhile he came home it wasn't all normal but I knew it would get better.

[Tayden Christians · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely amazing I loved it sports fans you should definitely read this. It was one of those books that you can't stop turning the page.this book really showed you how far people can go if they are bullied. I didn't think that that would be the end. There was a lot of foreshadowing that brings you to the end. I liked the conflict and the ending how he saved they're life. It was just enough balance between drama and sports.

[Aiden Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a white blond white quarterback and his whole future was focused on football. He has a high pressure dad. Richie fang couldn’t be any more different then him. He’s a little dumb kid who loves the attention and has such bad jokes and the bullies always target him even though he’s good at some sports. He’s so competitive in everything he does and has so many achievements goalie violinist. The quarter back ends up befriending the goalie Brock discovers he might be a good wide receiver with good hands and amazing ball sense. They develop an relationship on the field but Brock doesn’t like hunters bullying especially Richie unfortunately he does nothing about it. Richie is pushed beyond reason and it builds up tension and you can see it all happen on the field over the next two years. Also the race is very important to what happens in this story. In a game he ends up scoring a touchdown and his whole life turns so much different everyone starts talking to him and nodding to him and he thought he’s somebody now. Although he felt guilty for the way they were treating Richie if he would have dropped the pass they would’ve lost the game. They would’ve looked for a reason to throw him down the stairs in a trash can. He felt so bad for Richie because it was his best friend however he just kept doing what he was doing. Will he keep doing it? Read the book and find out.

[Lake]

Hunter Gates is long time soccer player, hes been playing for the past ten years of his life, when his coach tells him he would be better at football because hes fast and can catch because he played goalie. Hunter asked his dad but his dad told him to do what he wants and don't look back. So hunter tried it he started his senior year with all the high school kids thinking he was nothing to the team until he showed his speed and how he can catch. Then the team had a couple games and everytime hunter got the ball and jump on the ground because he was scared of the contact against everybody. The team never believed in him until the QB throw hunter the ball in the endzone to win the game hunter caught the ball held onto it even threw an illigal hit on him and they won the game, btw since hunter couldnt catch a ball in a game he got bullied by the teams linebackers. When he went to school the next week everything changed he became one of the most popular kids at school.

[Noah Gama]

I really liked this book. It talked about courage and I could relate to this book. I can relate because my parents don't want me playing football either. This kid was really brave. I couldn't believe he did this. I've tried getting my friends to do different sports also. Most of the time it doesn't work as well as this did. I liked the main boy. He tried even though his father was ill. It takes a lot of effort to take care of someone like that.

[Aidan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gutless was a novel that had tons of uplifting and eventful moments during it. The two main characters had a special bond that no other friendship has ever had. The two went from playing football together in the fall then in the classrooms being scholar students. Then in the spring playing soccer stars.

[Preston Ozenbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Gutless was a great book but had a few mistakes in it. The book was predictable in a few spots. For example, at the end of the book when Richie's dad said he left early for school you could tell Richie was going to do something bad. The big events were almost to predictable because Brock had similar years as a Freshman and Sophomore for sports. This is why I only gave the book 4 stars and not 5.
The book had many great details to. The way the author, Carl Dueker, described some of the events was amazing. The imagery was perfect for the book. The way he could describe how the plays were happening on the football field was very good. You could see the game happening in your head. I also like how the two main character were so similar but so different at the same time. They both had parents that were battling diseases, so they could connect that way. This is why I believe the book deserves 4 stars.

[Jack Vazquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent

[Jack Dexter]

I am a big fan of this text by Duker. I like how his main plot points were friendship, bullying and a good amount of sports which I am a fan of. This book represents coming of age due to Richie's experiences with bullying and how he got through with it. The ending of the novel caught me so off guard and I was not ready for Richie to try and take the lives of others. But overall its a good book and I recommend.

[Jake Tyrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book it made me think sometimes but it still was great.

[Rigoberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I️ loved this book. As a sports fan it tackled the excitement feeling like I’m currently in the book playing. When I️ was reading I️ could not stop reading feeling lost in the book. The ending to the book felt like a cliffhanger but left you with relief.

[Julia (Pages for Thoughts) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gutless replays a scenario that we know all too well, and shows teens what can happen when you pretend that everything is okay. It really angers me that these people never get what they deserve. This book teaches people to always speak out if someone is in danger, regardless of the social consequences with their peers. Gutless teaches the readers what to do differently, how to support and stand up for someone before things get taken too far. It's a story of triumph over fear and learning how to do the right thing even when it doesn't seem to be the right thing at all. Read my full review of this book at http://pagesforthoughts.blogspot.com/...

[Abhinav · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have, since I skipped to the end, with the school shooting before Richie was introduced. The characters were interesting, especially Richie. Overall it was a good book

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

in this book there is a kid named brock. Brocks dad has a disease that makes his muscles not function like they should. Brock really wants his dad to get better. Brock plays soccer but wants to do something else. One day he meets Hunter Gates the star quarterback at his high school. they play catch for a little bit and Hunters dad likes his speed. So he tries out for the football team. he doesn't make the varsity he makes the fresh soph team. At school he meets a kid named Richie. Richie is a Asian kid that is really smart and wins everything that has academics. Richie gets made fun of a lot because his last name is fong and they call him the fang. Richie has to deal with his dad illness and wants to but doesn't stand up to Hunter and his friends that make fun of Richie. I liked this book because it has to do with sports and it is relatable.

[Emanuel O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rated the book Gutless by Carl Deuker 5 stars because it was very well written and it had a lot of detail that described what was happening in the book.I have read other books by this author before cause i like the way he writes his books.This book is about a High school soccer player named Brock that wants to start playing football but his parents were concerned about all the injuries and concussions that come with the game of football another problem he has is that his new friend named Richie is getting bullied at school but he can’t bring himself together to stand up for this friend since his bully is someone on his team.The book does a really good job on keeping the reader reading there were no parts in the book where i got lost on what was happening.I would recommend this book to anyone that likes sports fiction.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book there is a kid named Brock. Brock's dad has a disease that unfortunately makes the muscles not work properly. Brock plays soccer but is wanting to pick another sport. Later on in this book Brock meets a kid named Hunter Gates, the high school Qb. Brock one day went to a football tryout and started to play catch with Hunter and his dad loved his skills he had. At Hunters school he meets a kid named Richie he is a very smart student who wins a lot of events and contest with his education. Richie is also made fun of a lot because of his last name Fong, but all the kids in the school say it as Fang. I Loved this book because it was all about football and football is my favorite sport. I could also relate this book to a lot of others that are with football, and people who play it would like it too. Out of all the football books I'd say this one is one of the better ones I've read and more interesting.

[Cade Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Football is one of the most toughest and mental sports of them all. You have to be willing to fight for team and your family, but when someones life becomes in danger, things start to get a little more interesting. "Gutless" by Carl Deuker is a book about sticking up for yourself and your teammates as well. Most importantly your friendship is the key to success. When your friend is down and sad, you need to pick him up and tell them everything is okay. This book tells a story about a young man named Brock and his journey through high school, and friendship. My rating for this book was four stars because as the story builds on Brock's relationships, things get more tense with his best friend getting bullied. It is also a great book because it has a lot of detail when it comes to the football games. It tells you about every play and it really sucks you into the story. My last reason for rating it four stars is that there is a giant plot twist at the end of the story, and it kind of makes you wonder what just happened.

Throughout this story, Brock finds out his true character when he has shoulder pads on. He can't shy away from contact in football and he can't shy away from standing up for his friends and himself. In the book Brock is one of the best soccer players at his school. The thing is that Brock hates contact, so he plays goalie. When he is playing at the soccer fields at the park, star quarterback Hunter Gates shows up.

Hunter is one of the top football recruits in the state, but he is going down the charts. When he has no one to through a ball to he asks Brock. Brock is also the fastest kid in school so he uses that as an advantage over other players. When Brock is asked to try out for football, he goes for it. That day at tryouts Brock was doing amazing. Catching long balls, hauling in first downs, it was until the contact when Brock wasn't so good. The first sight of contact was a linebacker sitting over the middle of the field waiting to hit Brock. Once Brock sees this he folds over like a turtle and falls to the ground. Brock's hopes of making the varsity were over.

A couple weeks after a new kid came to school by the name of Richie Fang. Richie was a energetic, cocky, Asian boy with family troubles. When he came to school him and Brock became best friends, but Hunter Gates and all of his friends were there to attack him and bully him. Richie is very talented at almost everything, so Richie tried out for football the next year.

Things would finally change, Brock and Richie were both on varsity and high hopes for the team were all around the school. When Richie became famous around the school being known as the all star kicker, Hunter was not a fan. Hunter through Richie in a garbage can and bullied him again. Brock tries to help but he is scared and his body takes control and tells him no. That is what Brock is known for, being "Gutless."

All in all, when Brock faces hard challenges, he never takes the challenge. He folds over like a rag doll. When his friend Richie has had enough of Hunter's bullying, Richie tries to cause harm to Hunter. Brock finally steps in and stops being scared for one moment and he is the hero, but his friendship may be over and he might of lost everything. This book, "Gutless" by Carl Deuker was a great book for me. It was great because I love stories about sports and the action that happens in them. I also like stories about friendship and how important they are to you as a person. I loved it when Brock finally over came his fear of being gutless, but was it to late. Because now his best friend might leave him and all because Brock wasn't a good friend and stood up for Richie when he had the chances to.

[Matthew Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

to be brave even when it is hard to.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very interesting and inspiring for people that like sports to read. The book shows that no matter where you come from or what your skill level is you can still play sports. Brock's dad has a very bad disease that will not allow him to practice with his son. Brock is on his own for practicing for the sport he really wants to play, football. When Brock goes to High School he really wants to play football, but there is no one to practice with him. Nobody at the school realizes how fast Brock really is and how great he would be has a wide receiver. Brock's friend Richie is not very liked at the school but still overcomes his challenges. No person at the school really knows what he is like until a sports season comes along that Richie really likes. This book shows how friendship can get you through anything. I would recommend it for any person that is in High School or any person that likes sports. The book has great inspiration and motivation.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC from ALA

My teen readers get a bad case of the Deukers around April of seventh grade and can't get enough of his edgy sports books.

What I liked about Gutless for teen readers:

-short chapters
- an Asian-American major character (Richie) who was a little too unreal, but had some sassy dialogue and was both a student and a remarkable athlete
-a surprisingly sensitive MC (Brock) who didn't want to get hit in football
-Deuker is terrific at somewhat blunt stories where teen readers will feel smart for figuring out where the characters are heading
-harsh depictions of bullying

What I didn't like:
-I didn't need Richie's mom and Brock's dad to be suffering from illnesses, these things didn't add to the story for me
-abrupt character development and a lack of artful prose
- I had to skim the sports sections. my readers who know American football will be able to understand more of the scenes here, but I was totally lost at sea, and soccer books tend to be more in demand with my readers

My real question is how I can effectively hold off on recommending this book until my readers are a bit older. I fear that my readers are going to gravitate to this one for its cover if I put it in my classroom now, but it really has better late 7/early 8th grade appeal.

[Xander Schuett]

I really liked this book. I would have to say my favorite character was Richie. Richie was my favorite character because he wasn't afraid to stick up for himself even when the star of the school Hunter Gates was very mean to Richie. I also liked Richie for his soccer ability. It wasn't just his soccer ability that I liked I also liked how he was good at football, chess, violin, and how he was amazing at making his model. Another character I really liked was Brock. I really liked Brock because he was willing to become friends with Richie even though he seemed a little weird. I also liked how he helped Richie through all the dark times and the bullying. I thought it was really brave of Brock to confront Richie when he was about to kill Hunter and Colton. I liked how Brock kept trying to keep in touch with Richie when he moved back to China. Some characters I didn't like were Colton and Hunter because they were mean to almost everyone and how they beat up Richie for making a mistake. I didn't like how they would bully people until it pushed them to the edge. These are my thoughts on this book.

[Dana Fontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. This book is about a boy who is a freshman in high school and his relationship with sports. Brock is a middle of the road guy. His dad is sick, which makes his mother overprotective, but he is not super popular nor picked on. When he meets Richie Fang, the game changes. They play soccer together, and then they play football together. This books is simply written, and has a shocking twist near the end. I was captivated until the last page.

This book deals really well with cyber bullying, bullying, and standing up for someone. It also tells a lot about teachers and how some teachers try to sweep everything under the rug, but eventually it will explode and no one can hide it anymore. This book was wonderful.

[Thomas Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is better than Gym Candy! This is the best book i have ever read.

[Mi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My heart breaks for Richie