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Catch
Everything comes easy for Tim Temples. He’s got a sweet summer job, lots of love from the ladies, and parties with his high school buddies. Why does he need to go to college?
Then Tim falls hard for Helena—a worldly and mysterious twenty-two year-old. Their relationship opens his eyes to life outside the small town of Mattoon, Illinois. Now Tim has to Will he settle for being a small town hero, or will he leave it all behind to follow his dreams?
Then Tim falls hard for Helena—a worldly and mysterious twenty-two year-old. Their relationship opens his eyes to life outside the small town of Mattoon, Illinois. Now Tim has to Will he settle for being a small town hero, or will he leave it all behind to follow his dreams?
286 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2005
18 people are currently reading
433 people want to read
About the author
Will Leitch
17 books437 followersWill Leitch lives in Athens, Georgia with his family and is the author of seven books, including the novels Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride, How Lucky and The Time Has Come. He writes regularly for New York, MLB.com, The New York Times and the Washington Post. He is the founder of the late website Deadspin. He also writes a free weekly newsletter that you might enjoy at williamfleitch.substack.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
November 15, 2012
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
There is a trend among young adult literature to stage the proceedings in big cities, well-known towns of glitter and glam such as Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles. And although there are books out there that feature the small towns of America, they usually feature made up burgs and use euphemisms to get small-town life across. This is not the case with CATCH, and for that I can be grateful. I can be even more grateful that the author set his story in Mattoon, Illinois, a place that actually exists, is where Mr. Leitch grew up, and that is located only about two hours from both where I myself grew up and where I now reside.
Mattoon is a city, not a town, and is larger than my own hometown and yet smaller than the place I now call home. But when I opened up my copy of CATCH and immersed myself in the life and times of Tim Temples, I was immediately brought back to my own adolescent years. The Hardees parking lot where the high-school kids gather could be the same Hardees lot that I knew intimately from weekend cruising. The Lender's Bagels plant could be the reincarnation of the Quaker Oats plant that once resided in a neighboring town during my youth. Jacob Kuhns, the small-bit actor who is the most famous person ever to come from Mattoon in CATCH, and Tim's dad, who played Minor League baseball for a St. Louis Cardinal's affiliate in his younger days, could be dead-ringers for the celebrities of my own small hometown.
Tim's brother, Doug, attends the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, a college I myself once considered attending. Jessica, the good-girl of Mattoon, could be any number of girls I went to school with. Could be, in fact, me. The "Buck Fush" bumper sticker can actually be seen, to this day, on the rusted out pick-up trucks I still see when I go back to my hometown for a visit. The yearly Bagelfest, with it's parade through downtown, mimics the ones I saw as a child.
In a word, CATCH brings to life small-town America in a way that no other book has ever done. Although it's the story of Tim Temples, of the summer between high-school graduation and probable college admittance, it's a lot more than that. It's the story of what it's like to grow up with everyone in town knowing your name; of the cops understanding that you're not a bad kid for having an open container of alcohol in your moving vehicle; of people expecting you to follow in the footsteps of a semi-famous father and brother that you know you'll never have the ability--or desire--to fill.
This isn't growing up in New York City, or L.A., or the gigantic metropolis that is Chicago. This is real life, real America, the ups and downs of growing up, of falling in love, and of wanting to be the kind of person you can be proud of. This is the story of a guy who wants to break out, not necessarily of small-town America, but of small-town thinking. This is Tim's story, and my story, and the story of hundreds of thousands of teenagers throughout Midwest America.
You can't go wrong reading CATCH, and Mr. Leitch can never go wrong by accepting who he is, where he came from, and who he's become--which is the author of one hell of a great book.
There is a trend among young adult literature to stage the proceedings in big cities, well-known towns of glitter and glam such as Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles. And although there are books out there that feature the small towns of America, they usually feature made up burgs and use euphemisms to get small-town life across. This is not the case with CATCH, and for that I can be grateful. I can be even more grateful that the author set his story in Mattoon, Illinois, a place that actually exists, is where Mr. Leitch grew up, and that is located only about two hours from both where I myself grew up and where I now reside.
Mattoon is a city, not a town, and is larger than my own hometown and yet smaller than the place I now call home. But when I opened up my copy of CATCH and immersed myself in the life and times of Tim Temples, I was immediately brought back to my own adolescent years. The Hardees parking lot where the high-school kids gather could be the same Hardees lot that I knew intimately from weekend cruising. The Lender's Bagels plant could be the reincarnation of the Quaker Oats plant that once resided in a neighboring town during my youth. Jacob Kuhns, the small-bit actor who is the most famous person ever to come from Mattoon in CATCH, and Tim's dad, who played Minor League baseball for a St. Louis Cardinal's affiliate in his younger days, could be dead-ringers for the celebrities of my own small hometown.
Tim's brother, Doug, attends the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, a college I myself once considered attending. Jessica, the good-girl of Mattoon, could be any number of girls I went to school with. Could be, in fact, me. The "Buck Fush" bumper sticker can actually be seen, to this day, on the rusted out pick-up trucks I still see when I go back to my hometown for a visit. The yearly Bagelfest, with it's parade through downtown, mimics the ones I saw as a child.
In a word, CATCH brings to life small-town America in a way that no other book has ever done. Although it's the story of Tim Temples, of the summer between high-school graduation and probable college admittance, it's a lot more than that. It's the story of what it's like to grow up with everyone in town knowing your name; of the cops understanding that you're not a bad kid for having an open container of alcohol in your moving vehicle; of people expecting you to follow in the footsteps of a semi-famous father and brother that you know you'll never have the ability--or desire--to fill.
This isn't growing up in New York City, or L.A., or the gigantic metropolis that is Chicago. This is real life, real America, the ups and downs of growing up, of falling in love, and of wanting to be the kind of person you can be proud of. This is the story of a guy who wants to break out, not necessarily of small-town America, but of small-town thinking. This is Tim's story, and my story, and the story of hundreds of thousands of teenagers throughout Midwest America.
You can't go wrong reading CATCH, and Mr. Leitch can never go wrong by accepting who he is, where he came from, and who he's become--which is the author of one hell of a great book.
January 15, 2008
I've read a lot of YA novels; I've read a lot of YA novels written for a teenaged sports-obsessed male population. A LOT. And this was objectively one of the best: the writing's good, Tim's a legitimately sympathetic character (even when he's being an ass, and he often is, I absolutely understood the social constructs that made him that way, because Leitch sets it up so well), and it doesn't get a perfectly happy ending. I've read YA novels for teenaged, sports-obsessed, male audiences that weren't as good as this, but got far more press and praise. Which, frankly, I just don't understand. This wasn't perfect, but it was really, really good.
Plus it was vaguely gay and featured Mormon jokes and lots of nit=picky obsession about the St. Louis Cardinals, so I know that Will really did write it himself, not some ghost writer. It's like Will was looking into my soul before writing his YA book! I approve subjectively, too.
Plus it was vaguely gay and featured Mormon jokes and lots of nit=picky obsession about the St. Louis Cardinals, so I know that Will really did write it himself, not some ghost writer. It's like Will was looking into my soul before writing his YA book! I approve subjectively, too.
April 14, 2008
Small town jock meets eccentric older girl who teaches him a thing or two about the world and the way he'd been wired by those around him. A quick read and an entertaining coming of age story.
My doctor saw it the other day and said "the only coming of age story he needed to read was catcher and the rye." But I like revisiting those paths of my life. This book put me back to my own youth.
I picture this book being read by those around the world who then say "that's America?"
My doctor saw it the other day and said "the only coming of age story he needed to read was catcher and the rye." But I like revisiting those paths of my life. This book put me back to my own youth.
I picture this book being read by those around the world who then say "that's America?"
January 12, 2018
In this book, by Will Leitch, he tells the story of a normal high school graduate/college guy. Tim just graduated high school, and he decides he doesn't need to go to college because he's one of the best baseball players in Illinois, where Tim lives and works. Over the summer, Tim likes to go to college parties and hookup with girls. Although he has no interest in going to college, he works with one of his good friends at an office building instead. At this new job of his, he meets someone and instantly gets attracted to her. At first, she plays hard to get but they start to evolve feelings towards each other throughout the book. As they get more intimate, Tim must decide whether he wants to stay in Illinois loving Helena or risk going to college, once summer is over.
I personally liked this book because it was a really interesting plot and I like books like this. I found this book so similar to "Catcher in the Rye", and I liked that book.
I personally liked this book because it was a really interesting plot and I like books like this. I found this book so similar to "Catcher in the Rye", and I liked that book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2014
I only made it half way through this book. What I did read was littered with homophobic comments and rude stereotypes about Italians, Mexicans, and black people. I stopped reading after the n-word came out of the mouth of the main character -- a jock white boy from the country. The author showed more of himself than he planned in this book.
Want to read
January 20, 2008four stars from A.
July 17, 2013
19 October 2005 CATCH by Will Leitch, Penguin/Razorbill, December 2005, ISBN: 1-59514-069-7
"She takes a deep gulp from her beer and emits a tiny burp. 'Oops!'
" 'Four years of sitting in your room reading, and now you're out here with the common folk,' I say. 'What did inspire you to suddenly make the trip?'
" 'I would have come sooner,' she says, brushing her hair out of her face. 'You just never invited me.'
"I can't decide whether this is true or not. 'Well, if you had spent as much time out here as I have, you wouldn't have been valedictorian, that's for sure.'
" 'Whatever.' She shrugs. 'Besides, you're looking at this all wrong. Being here is studying--Socialization 101. I hear they have this booze thing going on at college, too.'
"I grin. 'Cheers to that!'
"We clink bottles again."
I remember as a little kid, back when I was just beginning to feel competent about my ability to read, back in the days of returnable beer bottles and of glass bottles of milk that the milkman would deliver before sunrise into that little gray-silver insulated box that sat out on the front steps, Mom helped me understand a slogan I found on a milk cap. I don't remember exactly what it said, just that it had something to do with going to college. That's the school you go to after high school, she explained. You go to junior high school, then high school, then college.
"I lean back on the hood of the car and look at the clear sky above us. The stars are brighter in Mattoon than anywhere else in the world.
" 'You probably won't get many nights like this in Champaign,' I say. 'And I doubt the campus cops are as big pushovers as Lieutenant Grierson.'
" 'That's probably true,' she says, leaning back next to me. 'It does seem a little easier to escape here.'
"Whatever Jessica's escaping from, I have no idea."
As the first-born grandson on Dad's side, I heard my grandfather Rex and my mom religiously repeat that "going to college" mantra until "high school-to-college" seemed as natural a progression as going from third grade to fourth. Mom hadn't had the opportunity to go to college, despite skipping two grades and graduating second in a large class. Meanwhile, Dad was lucky to have outlasted his third high school. I was going to be different from them and go right off to college like my oldest maternal cousin Tony, who'd already conquered two universities and was joining IBM just as I was heading into my freshman year of high school.
"I point out the Big Dipper. Jessica points out a constellation called Orion. I glance over at her, and for a moment I want to say things I haven't told anyone. About how I'm afraid to leave my friends. I want to tell her how I am king here, and there I would be just another faceless nobody. I want to tell her that college seems to have ruined my brother and I'm afraid it will ruin me.
"But I don't. I look at the stars and say, 'Yep.' And then Amy pukes again, and this night fades into the rest of them."
Despite a career that ended in the minors with a groin injury, Tim Temples' dad remains "the best baseball player this county ever saw." Tim's older brother Doug had been a high school pitcher with a good enough fastball to get him drafted in the 32nd round and offered a decent signing bonus. But Tim's mom had held fast to her conviction that Doug needed to go up to Champaign, take advantage of the four-year full athletic scholarship he'd been offered there, and hone his skills playing college ball. Now, after the four years of free college, Doug is no longer a ballplayer, is way out of shape, hasn't completed his degree, and seems volatile, bitter, and rudderless. What is Tim getting himself into by going to college up in Champaign?
CATCH by Will Leitch explores the days and nightmoves of Tim Temples' summer between high school and college. Tim, if not the star his dad and brother were, was nevertheless a pretty decent high school catcher, and is certainly known fondly to most everyone in town. He is going to spend these summer days before college picking up some money lugging cases of Lender's bagels (fresh off the line) over at the Kraft plant where many of his friends and fellow high school graduates will be settling into their new "careers" in the workforce.
"No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me."
--John Mellencamp, "Small Town"
The small, southern Illinois town of Mattoon, plays a major role in these proceedings. While in real life there must be thousands of Mattoons across America, with the equivalent of its Hardee's where all the high school kids hang out in the parking lot late at night, the well-known secluded spot to go parking with a sweetheart, or the special little place to go be by one's self and think about the future, Will Leitch does an impeccable job of painting this particular community as a unique, all-by-itself small town. It's a place where Lieutenant Grierson lets the "good" kids he knows like Tim and Jessica get away with just about anything, and where everyone knows your name.
With the author having created such a memorable setting, we are well able to find Tim's frequent naivete to be credible and amusing, such as when he and Jessica head up to Champaign for the weekend to attend Freshman Orientation and he meets--for the first time in his life as far as he's concerned--someone who is Jewish as well as someone who is gay. And then there is Munesh, the student leader of Tim and Jessica's orientation group who is "a tall skinny Indian guy" with the "Buck Fush" sticker on his backpack:
" 'So, Munesh...wait, is that the right pronunciation of your name?' I say.
" 'Yep, that's it,' he says, chewing some leftover french fries the bartender gave us.
" 'So, um, where are you from?' I say. 'Like what's your homeland?'
" 'My homeland?' he says, smirking again. 'Uh, let's see...Chicago. Well, Naperville, actually, but I think you get my point. You're obviously from downstate.' Jessica laughs and Eric gleefully conveys my first-ever-Jew anecdote, cackling. I blush, but I laugh too. 'Sorry.'
" 'Oh, hey, not a big thing, man,' he says. 'Whole different universe out here. Wait until you start meeting'--his voice lowers to a sarcastic whisper--'the black people. They're just like us, except taller.'
" 'Yes,' Eric puts in. Shame they can't dance, though.'
"The table explodes with laughter, and Eric claps me on the shoulder. In that moment, I decide I do like him. And all told, I like being the butt of the joke. It's a refreshing change of pace."
In fact, Tim Temples will come to see the other side of any number of things in very important ways this summer. And as Tim undertakes this summer journey to discovery, Will Leitch's CATCH provides us an abundance of humor, tension, and truth each step of the way.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
"She takes a deep gulp from her beer and emits a tiny burp. 'Oops!'
" 'Four years of sitting in your room reading, and now you're out here with the common folk,' I say. 'What did inspire you to suddenly make the trip?'
" 'I would have come sooner,' she says, brushing her hair out of her face. 'You just never invited me.'
"I can't decide whether this is true or not. 'Well, if you had spent as much time out here as I have, you wouldn't have been valedictorian, that's for sure.'
" 'Whatever.' She shrugs. 'Besides, you're looking at this all wrong. Being here is studying--Socialization 101. I hear they have this booze thing going on at college, too.'
"I grin. 'Cheers to that!'
"We clink bottles again."
I remember as a little kid, back when I was just beginning to feel competent about my ability to read, back in the days of returnable beer bottles and of glass bottles of milk that the milkman would deliver before sunrise into that little gray-silver insulated box that sat out on the front steps, Mom helped me understand a slogan I found on a milk cap. I don't remember exactly what it said, just that it had something to do with going to college. That's the school you go to after high school, she explained. You go to junior high school, then high school, then college.
"I lean back on the hood of the car and look at the clear sky above us. The stars are brighter in Mattoon than anywhere else in the world.
" 'You probably won't get many nights like this in Champaign,' I say. 'And I doubt the campus cops are as big pushovers as Lieutenant Grierson.'
" 'That's probably true,' she says, leaning back next to me. 'It does seem a little easier to escape here.'
"Whatever Jessica's escaping from, I have no idea."
As the first-born grandson on Dad's side, I heard my grandfather Rex and my mom religiously repeat that "going to college" mantra until "high school-to-college" seemed as natural a progression as going from third grade to fourth. Mom hadn't had the opportunity to go to college, despite skipping two grades and graduating second in a large class. Meanwhile, Dad was lucky to have outlasted his third high school. I was going to be different from them and go right off to college like my oldest maternal cousin Tony, who'd already conquered two universities and was joining IBM just as I was heading into my freshman year of high school.
"I point out the Big Dipper. Jessica points out a constellation called Orion. I glance over at her, and for a moment I want to say things I haven't told anyone. About how I'm afraid to leave my friends. I want to tell her how I am king here, and there I would be just another faceless nobody. I want to tell her that college seems to have ruined my brother and I'm afraid it will ruin me.
"But I don't. I look at the stars and say, 'Yep.' And then Amy pukes again, and this night fades into the rest of them."
Despite a career that ended in the minors with a groin injury, Tim Temples' dad remains "the best baseball player this county ever saw." Tim's older brother Doug had been a high school pitcher with a good enough fastball to get him drafted in the 32nd round and offered a decent signing bonus. But Tim's mom had held fast to her conviction that Doug needed to go up to Champaign, take advantage of the four-year full athletic scholarship he'd been offered there, and hone his skills playing college ball. Now, after the four years of free college, Doug is no longer a ballplayer, is way out of shape, hasn't completed his degree, and seems volatile, bitter, and rudderless. What is Tim getting himself into by going to college up in Champaign?
CATCH by Will Leitch explores the days and nightmoves of Tim Temples' summer between high school and college. Tim, if not the star his dad and brother were, was nevertheless a pretty decent high school catcher, and is certainly known fondly to most everyone in town. He is going to spend these summer days before college picking up some money lugging cases of Lender's bagels (fresh off the line) over at the Kraft plant where many of his friends and fellow high school graduates will be settling into their new "careers" in the workforce.
"No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me."
--John Mellencamp, "Small Town"
The small, southern Illinois town of Mattoon, plays a major role in these proceedings. While in real life there must be thousands of Mattoons across America, with the equivalent of its Hardee's where all the high school kids hang out in the parking lot late at night, the well-known secluded spot to go parking with a sweetheart, or the special little place to go be by one's self and think about the future, Will Leitch does an impeccable job of painting this particular community as a unique, all-by-itself small town. It's a place where Lieutenant Grierson lets the "good" kids he knows like Tim and Jessica get away with just about anything, and where everyone knows your name.
With the author having created such a memorable setting, we are well able to find Tim's frequent naivete to be credible and amusing, such as when he and Jessica head up to Champaign for the weekend to attend Freshman Orientation and he meets--for the first time in his life as far as he's concerned--someone who is Jewish as well as someone who is gay. And then there is Munesh, the student leader of Tim and Jessica's orientation group who is "a tall skinny Indian guy" with the "Buck Fush" sticker on his backpack:
" 'So, Munesh...wait, is that the right pronunciation of your name?' I say.
" 'Yep, that's it,' he says, chewing some leftover french fries the bartender gave us.
" 'So, um, where are you from?' I say. 'Like what's your homeland?'
" 'My homeland?' he says, smirking again. 'Uh, let's see...Chicago. Well, Naperville, actually, but I think you get my point. You're obviously from downstate.' Jessica laughs and Eric gleefully conveys my first-ever-Jew anecdote, cackling. I blush, but I laugh too. 'Sorry.'
" 'Oh, hey, not a big thing, man,' he says. 'Whole different universe out here. Wait until you start meeting'--his voice lowers to a sarcastic whisper--'the black people. They're just like us, except taller.'
" 'Yes,' Eric puts in. Shame they can't dance, though.'
"The table explodes with laughter, and Eric claps me on the shoulder. In that moment, I decide I do like him. And all told, I like being the butt of the joke. It's a refreshing change of pace."
In fact, Tim Temples will come to see the other side of any number of things in very important ways this summer. And as Tim undertakes this summer journey to discovery, Will Leitch's CATCH provides us an abundance of humor, tension, and truth each step of the way.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
May 4, 2017
Book Review: Catch by Will Leitch
He we go again another jock with feelings and you actually have sympathy for him. NOT!!.
This Book somehow got my attention by me thinking every number that met me every two pages meant that I Completed a chapter, "If only". Tim Temples is on his way to college and he is trying to figure out what to do with his life BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Tim Temples has it "All" and everything is going his way but then a taste of reality hits him harder Than Mr T. did Rocky. He is a Time bomb ready to go of at anytime. The book does have its symbolic moments like his brother dropping out of school(violin play) then it really shows some similarity between the two. But this book continues to repeat the same thing over and over and over again like a stuttering parrot.
To be Honest I've never really liked Will Leitch's books "Life as a loser,Are we Winning, Etc. the list goes on and I tried to to give this book a chance ,but again I've failed to realize what a idiot I am for picking up this book.
Another concerning thing that bothered me was the horrible side characters that Leitch invented and I really tried to get over but again another error that is met in this book reminds me of the previous books he writes. I am for sure that Will's Attention was good but is just another repeat of the other mountains of books iv'e Read. But this book just continues to remind me of the movie(and book) "Gone Girl".
Like Tim his character reminds me of Nick Dunne and like him they are not happy with there lives but they seem to get trapped in the people around but honestly the story is true in peoples lives but the again Will Leitch should stop getting advice from a broken record.
He we go again another jock with feelings and you actually have sympathy for him. NOT!!.
This Book somehow got my attention by me thinking every number that met me every two pages meant that I Completed a chapter, "If only". Tim Temples is on his way to college and he is trying to figure out what to do with his life BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Tim Temples has it "All" and everything is going his way but then a taste of reality hits him harder Than Mr T. did Rocky. He is a Time bomb ready to go of at anytime. The book does have its symbolic moments like his brother dropping out of school(violin play) then it really shows some similarity between the two. But this book continues to repeat the same thing over and over and over again like a stuttering parrot.
To be Honest I've never really liked Will Leitch's books "Life as a loser,Are we Winning, Etc. the list goes on and I tried to to give this book a chance ,but again I've failed to realize what a idiot I am for picking up this book.
Another concerning thing that bothered me was the horrible side characters that Leitch invented and I really tried to get over but again another error that is met in this book reminds me of the previous books he writes. I am for sure that Will's Attention was good but is just another repeat of the other mountains of books iv'e Read. But this book just continues to remind me of the movie(and book) "Gone Girl".
Like Tim his character reminds me of Nick Dunne and like him they are not happy with there lives but they seem to get trapped in the people around but honestly the story is true in peoples lives but the again Will Leitch should stop getting advice from a broken record.
Read
September 5, 2023This book was so weird to read as someone born and raised in the town the main character is gearing up to move to for school. I recognized the names of so many cities mentioned, besides the main two of Champaign and Mattoon, so many places, restaurants, bars, places on campus, to the point where I caught a few errors (Murphy's Pub is alive and well, thank you kindly, and as far as I know, there has only ever been a Tumble Inn in Champaign, not in Mattoon, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I was still little when this book came out). What also made this a weird reading experience was realizing that all the small minded things that Tim said or did were actually so accurate to how someone in Mattoon would probably act. I don't mean that in a mean way, it's just that there were certain moments where I couldn't even be mad at the things that were written (aka said/thought by Tim) because it was too accurate.
Anyway, certainly not a bad book, not sure I can recommend it because the whole reading experience was too weird, I can't decide whether the book was actually good or not.
Anyway, certainly not a bad book, not sure I can recommend it because the whole reading experience was too weird, I can't decide whether the book was actually good or not.
June 5, 2017
I kind of liked this book and it was okay. What I liked about it was that I like how the main character and the girl met at work but i forgot their names. The main character likes the girl but the girl is very sassy and mean. He tries to be nice with her but she would be mean and throw him stuff. When it was her birthday, the boy gave her flowers and the girl was nice for the first time and he was surprised. Then they went to a club and hanged out and thats where they started to hang out every night. The boy's parents were always busy so it gave him time to spend the nights with the girl. What I didnt like about the book was that some parts were confusing and the first part also and I was confused but once you start reading more of it then you will understand it better.
August 5, 2023
Since I had already read his two other fiction books, and really enjoyed both of them, I wanted to read his first one. But it wasn’t available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book, so I had to purchase a used physical copy.
Once I started, it was hard for me to put it down as I wanted to know what was going to happen. I called it a coming-of-age story to my wife as the narrator and main character has just graduated from high school and is working a summer job before he heads off to college. Had has his high school friends who he hangs out with a lot doing stuff, but while on the job, he meets a woman who is a few years older. They end up in a relationship, and he has to make a decision; girl or college or both!
Once I started, it was hard for me to put it down as I wanted to know what was going to happen. I called it a coming-of-age story to my wife as the narrator and main character has just graduated from high school and is working a summer job before he heads off to college. Had has his high school friends who he hangs out with a lot doing stuff, but while on the job, he meets a woman who is a few years older. They end up in a relationship, and he has to make a decision; girl or college or both!
Read
April 30, 2020Tim Temple has always been able to catch whatever life threw at him.
High school - OK.
Baseball team catcher – great.
Big man about town – cool.
Girls – bring em on.
But college – oof.
Yeah, I mean Tim got into U of I easy, but why does it not seem so easy to leave his comfortable life in Mattoon, IL.
A wild pitch to his easy life also comes in the form of Helena, a 20-something who works at his summer job. Wanting to be with Helena could totally make Time drop the catch.
High school - OK.
Baseball team catcher – great.
Big man about town – cool.
Girls – bring em on.
But college – oof.
Yeah, I mean Tim got into U of I easy, but why does it not seem so easy to leave his comfortable life in Mattoon, IL.
A wild pitch to his easy life also comes in the form of Helena, a 20-something who works at his summer job. Wanting to be with Helena could totally make Time drop the catch.
April 3, 2024
I picked this book up forever ago, and I'm happy I finally finished it. It was a simple story, but sometimes, that's all a story needs to be. I think that the one complaint I have is that Tim's development felt, at times, fast and unearned. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times it made sense. But sometimes, things just seemed to work out for him. Still, it was a good book, and I liked it.
4/5, good for teenagers about to go to college or make another big change
4/5, good for teenagers about to go to college or make another big change
December 29, 2024
This is an example of a book written in 2005 and did not age well. It is a story about a young white male that is a jock living in a rural white community, and by the end of the book there is zero growth in the character except he is going off to college to maybe expand his horizon? As someone who grew up in a smaller predominantly white community in Illinois, this book just reminded me of the close-minded, ignorant people I grew up with.
September 14, 2017
This was a fun read because it's set in a small midwestern town right next to my own hometown. It was very reminiscent of many Midwestern teens experience! I enjoyed it!
September 29, 2017
3 stars
- Ms. Jenn
- Ms. Jenn
March 5, 2020
a great read for the kid who doesnt know what to do after high school
January 11, 2015
This one was required for “Contemporary realistic fiction” week.
I. Hated. This. Book.
Although Will Leitch can write. Keep this in mind. I mean, REALLY WRITE.
This book tells the story of the summer before college of Tim Temples, small town sports dynasty kid from Mattoon, IL. I checked on a map; this small town is an hour south of Champaign-Urbana, two hours west of Indianapolis, and according to Google Maps, a three hour drive from Chicago. And yet, these small town hicks have never been outside county lines, for some unknown reason.
Set in 2005, the book follows Tim and his band of near-delinquent friends through their summer. Tim’s older brother Doug is back home after dropping out of college and losing his baseball scholarship. Tim’s father is busy organizing the “Bagelfest,” an annual parade/festival thing celebrating fake rolls-with-holes bagels in a town that doesn’t appear to have realized they have appropriated a Jewish cultural food. Tim and his friends work at the local plant, and spend their free time driving aimlessly around committing illegal acts and generally being a public nuisance.
Like I said, Leitch can write. His characters are wonderfully described, sometimes fleshed out, and believable as small-town people. Their antics are relatively timeless, and if you want to read a story about small-town teenagers in IL, this might be an enjoyable book.
But I hated these characters. I hated them from page two, and kept on hating them. You feel bad for the adults who are “stuck” in Mattoon, but the young people just make me disgusted. They are racist, sexist, homophobic, entitled assholes. They drink while driving (and drink terrible beer), smoke constantly, and literally do nothing to try and become more/better than their parents. They have the chance to “get out” and they don’t. They are the reason I want to only live in cities and make friends with liberal vegan activist types and art gala attendees.
And side note–they aren’t even isolated! “Getting out” is LITERALLY a three-hour drive to Chicago! That’s not HARD. That’s not even expensive. They are not geographically isolated; they are teenagers who, judging from their insane consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, junk food, and wasted car fuel, clearly have disposable income. They could go to college, or move to Chicago and get a job, or go somewhere and do something with their life. They could experience culture and other people. (The main character goes to a college orientation at UIUC and meets two Jewish boys and an Indian-American from Chicago and is SO AMAZED).
Oh, I guess the plot is that Tim is a small-town god because of his family sports dynasty and he knows his place in town and is afraid to go to college and become a nobody, especially after seeing what college “did” to his older brother. And he gets involved with this bad girl at work, who everyone but him can see is going nowhere with her life. His falling-in-love story is believable and nice to see from a boy perspective. And at the end of the book he “decides” to go off to school, although REALLY, was he going to “choose” anything different? If you’re going to summer orientation you’ve already paid for at least half, and most of that is non-refundable, and you’ve started shopping for dorm stuff and planning holiday travel plans and looked at classes and majors.
But me? I hate these people. I hate their mentality about life. I hate their entitled asshole perspective. I hate that going AN HOUR AWAY to college is THE BIGGEST THING EVER. Newsflash? It’s NOT. If Tim was a small town nobody and went away to UCLA or an art school in New York or somewhere that was, you know, ACTUALLY far away, then I could see him worrying. But one hour?! By car?! And he has a car?! GAH. I groaned (out of pain, frustration, and that wonderful dislike-of-humanity that usually only comes from a particularly juicy episode of Bridezillas) almost every other page.
As a librarian, I would put this book in the collection depending on my population; it’s well-written, believable small-town YA fiction, and would have appeal to younger small-town teens, older college kids from small hick towns…and maybe other people? I may hate it, but that’s personal, and I’m allowed to hate some books as much as any teen/adult is allowed to hate some books. You reserve the right to hate any of the books I have previously raved about, and I’ll hate this one. Deal? Deal.
TL;DR – 2/5, but only because I despise these characters and don’t care about their story. Well-written, sometimes funny tale of Tim Temples, small town high school hero, as he enjoys his last summer before college. His friends and family and new relationship all work towards helping him decide between the king-of-the-world life he knows and the “big wide world” he doesn’t.
I. Hated. This. Book.
Although Will Leitch can write. Keep this in mind. I mean, REALLY WRITE.
This book tells the story of the summer before college of Tim Temples, small town sports dynasty kid from Mattoon, IL. I checked on a map; this small town is an hour south of Champaign-Urbana, two hours west of Indianapolis, and according to Google Maps, a three hour drive from Chicago. And yet, these small town hicks have never been outside county lines, for some unknown reason.
Set in 2005, the book follows Tim and his band of near-delinquent friends through their summer. Tim’s older brother Doug is back home after dropping out of college and losing his baseball scholarship. Tim’s father is busy organizing the “Bagelfest,” an annual parade/festival thing celebrating fake rolls-with-holes bagels in a town that doesn’t appear to have realized they have appropriated a Jewish cultural food. Tim and his friends work at the local plant, and spend their free time driving aimlessly around committing illegal acts and generally being a public nuisance.
Like I said, Leitch can write. His characters are wonderfully described, sometimes fleshed out, and believable as small-town people. Their antics are relatively timeless, and if you want to read a story about small-town teenagers in IL, this might be an enjoyable book.
But I hated these characters. I hated them from page two, and kept on hating them. You feel bad for the adults who are “stuck” in Mattoon, but the young people just make me disgusted. They are racist, sexist, homophobic, entitled assholes. They drink while driving (and drink terrible beer), smoke constantly, and literally do nothing to try and become more/better than their parents. They have the chance to “get out” and they don’t. They are the reason I want to only live in cities and make friends with liberal vegan activist types and art gala attendees.
And side note–they aren’t even isolated! “Getting out” is LITERALLY a three-hour drive to Chicago! That’s not HARD. That’s not even expensive. They are not geographically isolated; they are teenagers who, judging from their insane consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, junk food, and wasted car fuel, clearly have disposable income. They could go to college, or move to Chicago and get a job, or go somewhere and do something with their life. They could experience culture and other people. (The main character goes to a college orientation at UIUC and meets two Jewish boys and an Indian-American from Chicago and is SO AMAZED).
Oh, I guess the plot is that Tim is a small-town god because of his family sports dynasty and he knows his place in town and is afraid to go to college and become a nobody, especially after seeing what college “did” to his older brother. And he gets involved with this bad girl at work, who everyone but him can see is going nowhere with her life. His falling-in-love story is believable and nice to see from a boy perspective. And at the end of the book he “decides” to go off to school, although REALLY, was he going to “choose” anything different? If you’re going to summer orientation you’ve already paid for at least half, and most of that is non-refundable, and you’ve started shopping for dorm stuff and planning holiday travel plans and looked at classes and majors.
But me? I hate these people. I hate their mentality about life. I hate their entitled asshole perspective. I hate that going AN HOUR AWAY to college is THE BIGGEST THING EVER. Newsflash? It’s NOT. If Tim was a small town nobody and went away to UCLA or an art school in New York or somewhere that was, you know, ACTUALLY far away, then I could see him worrying. But one hour?! By car?! And he has a car?! GAH. I groaned (out of pain, frustration, and that wonderful dislike-of-humanity that usually only comes from a particularly juicy episode of Bridezillas) almost every other page.
As a librarian, I would put this book in the collection depending on my population; it’s well-written, believable small-town YA fiction, and would have appeal to younger small-town teens, older college kids from small hick towns…and maybe other people? I may hate it, but that’s personal, and I’m allowed to hate some books as much as any teen/adult is allowed to hate some books. You reserve the right to hate any of the books I have previously raved about, and I’ll hate this one. Deal? Deal.
TL;DR – 2/5, but only because I despise these characters and don’t care about their story. Well-written, sometimes funny tale of Tim Temples, small town high school hero, as he enjoys his last summer before college. His friends and family and new relationship all work towards helping him decide between the king-of-the-world life he knows and the “big wide world” he doesn’t.
March 1, 2010
This story is about Tim Temples summer in small town Illinois, Mattoon, after high school graduation, before he leaves to Champaign for college. He is popular, his “posse” is called the Horseman, his father and older brother are the town’s best baseball players, Tim likes to party, drink beer, and have meaningless “hookups” (your typical jock). Tim takes a summer job at the Kraft plant and there he meets Helena, a very bitchy 22 year old who drinks way too much. When Helena is stood up the night of her 23rd birthday and runs into Tim at a bar, they start talking and end up in bed together, which begins an intense summer romance. “There is something about a girl who casually calls you an asshole, I guess.” (p.46) Tim’s first love, “I’m not sure how to explain these past two weeks, except to say it’s the fist time I’ve ever really wanted to hang out with a girl – not for a hookup, but because I actually like her more each day than I did the day before; each day is a different adventure. Everything about her is different from anyone I’ve ever been with before – everything.” (p.102) Helena has had a very hard life (nothing like Tim’s), her dad died, her mom is sick and has to be taken care of, she can’t leave town, she didn’t go to college, she’s an alcoholic… (but Tim wants to fix this, to protect her). “I want to change Helena’s life. And mine. There is no question. I want them to change together.” (p.157) Tim starts doubting whether he really wants to go to college or not. “’I mean, what’s college going to do for me, anyway? Doug look like college stole his soul. I mean, here, I’ve got this great job that pays a ton of money, I’ve got a home I don’t have to pay a cent for, everybody know me, I can get into any bar I want to, all that. When I get there, I’m going to have to make all new friends and a whole new life. But I kind of like my life here, you know?’ Another thought: I like my life here with you.” (p.143) Then Tim goes to his orientation and he gets wrapped up in the idea of college that night and forgets to call Helena. When he gets home the next day and goes to her house, he finds her passed out and half dressed in bed. It turns out, she had sex with his brother Doug (they graduated together and have had a sexual relationship going back for years, which Tim was unaware of). “’I don’t know how I can make this any clearer to you. It’s not happening… Did you really think we had a future?’” (p.243) “She had walked out of my life. And I wonder if she was ever there in the first place.” (p.244) Tim is brokenhearted, but weeks later, the night before he leaves for college, finds Helena waiting for him at his favorite spot. They talk and she admits that she did really like him, but it wasn’t meant to be. He was meant to get out of that town. “Just my turn. Something about that makes me feel better. Everyone goes through heartbreak. And separation, and displacement, and confusion, and the aching suspicion that they have no idea what they’re doing – at all. It’s just my turn.” (p.283) This is truly a touching story of first love, love that wasn’t meant to be, moving on, and finding courage. “She bends down and kisses me on the forehead. ‘Be safe, Tim,’ she says. I start to say something; I start to tell her that she’s wonderful, that my life is different somehow for having her in it. I start to tell her that I think she’s amazing. I start to tell her that I’ll never forget her. I start to tell her something, anything. But she’s already down the hill, to her car, to whatever awaits her.” (p.284) The story ends with Tim’s dad throwing the car keys at him as they leave for Champain and “I catch them because, as I’ve said time and time again, I can catch anything you throw at me.” (p.286)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2010
My independent novel, Catch, was a very good book. Will Leitch, the author of the book, did a great job of keeping me guessing about what was going to happen next. He also did a great job of showing people what most young adults go through in making tough decisions in their lives, such as college, love, work, and leaving home. Our narrator and main character Tim Temples shows his struggles on going about things from beginning to end. During the story Tim meets a girl, Helena, at work who he really likes. After meeting Helena and getting to know more and more things about her, Tim’s viewpoint of the way he makes his choices and does his actions changes. He actually changes from just having one-night-stands to actually having a relationship with one girl. He also goes through another change of having to leave a place that was emotionally attached to him.
Tim has a tough time making decisions about college. He wants to go to Illinois University in Champaign, Illinois just like his brother and live out his dreams. There is just one problem, Tim is afraid of leaving a place where he has been “king” for most of his life. He is also afraid that college will turn him into someone like his brother. He was talking about his changed brother with Helena when he says, “…, he looks terrible. He’s got this nasty facial hair that probably has bugs in it, and he’s even getting kind of fat, which I never thought I’d see….I look at him now and I think about the big brother I remember, and they’re two different people…And I feel like college did it to him or something”(Leitch 123). Tim eventually learns to let go of the fact that he would just be another fish in a big pond, so he went to Illinois University for the next four years of his
Tim encounters a woman at his workplace, Helena, who shows Tim to see the world in many ways. Tim at the beginning of the story was a carefree man.
He just wanted to get girls and hang out with his friends for the last summer he is in Mattoon. He doesn’t want to have long lasting relationships; he just wants to have fun.
During the summer his dad made him get a job at a local plant carrying boxes. At his workplace he meets a woman, Helena who is sexy and he likes her. At first she is mean to Tim and doesn’t like him a whole lot. One day, playing as a joke to make Helena mad, Tim got her a rose from a local gas station for her birthday. Surprised she took as a gift he was giving her from the heart. Things started taking off from there; a relationship was developed and Tim started spending most of his days and nights with Helena. Along the road there is a bump in their relationship and Tim didn’t know what to do. He was afraid he’d lose her for the rest of his life. He’d never encountered anything like this before. He had to find ways to manage to save the relationship. He talks about saving his relationship when he says, “A plan. For some reason, I hadn’t thought of it like that. Needing a plan. A course of action. Maybe that’s the main reason Helena was mad. I didn’t have a plan” (Leitch 221). Eventually they resolve their issues, they end up ending the relationship.
Overall, I though this book was really good. The writing style was consistent and very funny. I think Will Leitch wrote this novel off of past experiences because on the inside of the front cover of the book it mentions that will grew up in Mattoon, Illinois. I also like reading young adult fiction books, like this one, because I am usually able to relate to them.
Tim has a tough time making decisions about college. He wants to go to Illinois University in Champaign, Illinois just like his brother and live out his dreams. There is just one problem, Tim is afraid of leaving a place where he has been “king” for most of his life. He is also afraid that college will turn him into someone like his brother. He was talking about his changed brother with Helena when he says, “…, he looks terrible. He’s got this nasty facial hair that probably has bugs in it, and he’s even getting kind of fat, which I never thought I’d see….I look at him now and I think about the big brother I remember, and they’re two different people…And I feel like college did it to him or something”(Leitch 123). Tim eventually learns to let go of the fact that he would just be another fish in a big pond, so he went to Illinois University for the next four years of his
Tim encounters a woman at his workplace, Helena, who shows Tim to see the world in many ways. Tim at the beginning of the story was a carefree man.
He just wanted to get girls and hang out with his friends for the last summer he is in Mattoon. He doesn’t want to have long lasting relationships; he just wants to have fun.
During the summer his dad made him get a job at a local plant carrying boxes. At his workplace he meets a woman, Helena who is sexy and he likes her. At first she is mean to Tim and doesn’t like him a whole lot. One day, playing as a joke to make Helena mad, Tim got her a rose from a local gas station for her birthday. Surprised she took as a gift he was giving her from the heart. Things started taking off from there; a relationship was developed and Tim started spending most of his days and nights with Helena. Along the road there is a bump in their relationship and Tim didn’t know what to do. He was afraid he’d lose her for the rest of his life. He’d never encountered anything like this before. He had to find ways to manage to save the relationship. He talks about saving his relationship when he says, “A plan. For some reason, I hadn’t thought of it like that. Needing a plan. A course of action. Maybe that’s the main reason Helena was mad. I didn’t have a plan” (Leitch 221). Eventually they resolve their issues, they end up ending the relationship.
Overall, I though this book was really good. The writing style was consistent and very funny. I think Will Leitch wrote this novel off of past experiences because on the inside of the front cover of the book it mentions that will grew up in Mattoon, Illinois. I also like reading young adult fiction books, like this one, because I am usually able to relate to them.
October 21, 2010
I found this novel to be really appealing. The book is a young adult fiction novel. In the book, Catch, it relates to many high school students thinking about college and the future. The theme is repeated over and over again overlapping with some themes of young love and betrayal. The author, Will Leitch, presents this book with an easy to follow order, in first person. Using first person, the reader is able to feel the experiences of Tim and is able to make inferences into what Tim is thinking. The underlying theme of leaving your childhood and loving someone make this book an interesting read.
The protagonist, Tim, doesn't think of College as anything special. If anything, it is somewhere that ruins the lives of people. Tim's brother, Doug, who attends college at University of Illinois, finally came back and he doesn't resemble his past self at all. From then on Tim feels that College ruins the lives of people,"Every time I'm around him, he's scowling around in a pissy mood, bitching at my parents, really angry and shit. And I don't know what his problem is. he's even yelling at me now, and he didn't even do that when we were kids. I know he didn't like college much, and I guess it's hard to blame him, but I mean, he looks terrible. He's got this nasty facial hair that probably has bugs in it, and he's even getting kind of fat, which I never thought I'd see. I dunno. I look at him now and I think about the big brother I remember, and they're two different people (Leitch 123)". Tim starts to avoid the topic of going to College, and he starts wondering about what he wants to do himself with his life. Being the golden boy, the pride of his hometown, he finally starts thinking about going somewhere else to expand his horizons or he can stay here and drown in his celebrity status for what it is worth.
Then there is the love between Helena and Tim. Their relationship is something special and for the first time, Tim has finally met a girl that he wants to stick around with. She is everything to him; he is in his own terms whipped. The theme of love in these young adult books usually develops a characters personality. For the chick magnet Tim Temples, having a one night stand is the norm. Having a relationship with them is out of the question, it's all about sex, sex, sex. That was before he met Helena, a secretary at his workplace. Helena captivates Tim completely; he is now head over heels for her. It is really ironic that the number one playboy in high school is now in love with a girl. It gets pretty cheesy after a while when Tim is completely obsessed with Helena and kind of becomes a stalker. The humour is written perfectly by Will Leitch keeping the light heartedness of the novel all the while keeping the serious events full of emotion.
Catch is written in a way that it appeals to a lot of teenagers, mainly ones who are about to graduate. That is probably because of the theme of leaving for college/university or the way the characters are laid out, and the way they are imagined relate closely to how teenagers are in reality. It is a good read, showing the struggles of a golden boy with the pressure of his family and friends, while trying to keep his intimate relationship with the girl who he thinks is his better half. The reader of this book will always be questioning themselves just like Tim Temples, searching for the answer that is right.
The protagonist, Tim, doesn't think of College as anything special. If anything, it is somewhere that ruins the lives of people. Tim's brother, Doug, who attends college at University of Illinois, finally came back and he doesn't resemble his past self at all. From then on Tim feels that College ruins the lives of people,"Every time I'm around him, he's scowling around in a pissy mood, bitching at my parents, really angry and shit. And I don't know what his problem is. he's even yelling at me now, and he didn't even do that when we were kids. I know he didn't like college much, and I guess it's hard to blame him, but I mean, he looks terrible. He's got this nasty facial hair that probably has bugs in it, and he's even getting kind of fat, which I never thought I'd see. I dunno. I look at him now and I think about the big brother I remember, and they're two different people (Leitch 123)". Tim starts to avoid the topic of going to College, and he starts wondering about what he wants to do himself with his life. Being the golden boy, the pride of his hometown, he finally starts thinking about going somewhere else to expand his horizons or he can stay here and drown in his celebrity status for what it is worth.
Then there is the love between Helena and Tim. Their relationship is something special and for the first time, Tim has finally met a girl that he wants to stick around with. She is everything to him; he is in his own terms whipped. The theme of love in these young adult books usually develops a characters personality. For the chick magnet Tim Temples, having a one night stand is the norm. Having a relationship with them is out of the question, it's all about sex, sex, sex. That was before he met Helena, a secretary at his workplace. Helena captivates Tim completely; he is now head over heels for her. It is really ironic that the number one playboy in high school is now in love with a girl. It gets pretty cheesy after a while when Tim is completely obsessed with Helena and kind of becomes a stalker. The humour is written perfectly by Will Leitch keeping the light heartedness of the novel all the while keeping the serious events full of emotion.
Catch is written in a way that it appeals to a lot of teenagers, mainly ones who are about to graduate. That is probably because of the theme of leaving for college/university or the way the characters are laid out, and the way they are imagined relate closely to how teenagers are in reality. It is a good read, showing the struggles of a golden boy with the pressure of his family and friends, while trying to keep his intimate relationship with the girl who he thinks is his better half. The reader of this book will always be questioning themselves just like Tim Temples, searching for the answer that is right.
April 13, 2014
What is a person to do in his or her last summer before leaving for college? This is the situation that Tim Temples, the protagonist of Catch by Will Leitch, must face as he prepares to go to college after graduating high school. The way in which Tim chooses to spend his final summer is how most teenagers spend their last few weeks at home--with friends, working, and finding a summer romance. These relatable choices along with the humor that Will Leitch uses throughout the novel makes Catch such an outstanding book.
Catch is a tremendous read that has become my new favorite book. A key factor in the greatness of this novel is the humor that the author, Will Leitch, constantly uses. Right away, Tim thinks to himself how graduating high school is not impressive at all, and the only people who don’t graduate are the druggies and the girls who get knocked up (Leitch 3). Immediately after this, Tim thinks how his interests of breast and baseball have diverged from Jessica’s interests of school and unicorns (4). Next, Tim describes the night employees of Hardee’s as “teenage moms, meth addicts, and the mentally retarded” (49). Lastly, Denny’s first rule of keeping a woman happy is “You are always wrong” (149). These instances along with many others throughout the book serve to give readers a good laugh, and they also help to keep them entertained.
Catch is not just humorous; however, it is also has many aspects of its protagonist, Tim Temples, that are very relatable for many high school students. These similar aspects add to the greatness of the novel, and they are a reason why I would recommend this book to kids in high school. The first of these characteristics is that Tim has a group of friends that he always hangs out with called the Horsemen (6). Next, Tim gets a summer job at the Kraft plant (16). Later, Tim and the Horsemen go cruising for fun all the time (42). Finally, Tim is scared to leave his home to go to college (53). These features of Tim help make him a sympathetic character that readers can identify with.
Throughout Catch, Will Leitch seems to be trying to describe what he considers the typical teenage romance. He achieves this purpose by using Tim’s relationship with Helena. First, Tim makes an advance on Helena, but she denies him (26). Then Helena shocks him by returning his advances, and she gets him to make love to her (95). Later, Tim stops hanging out with his friends because he spends all his time with Helena (128). After this, he falls in love with her, and he tries to find anyway that he can to make their relationship last (151). Finally, Helena dumps Tim by saying, “Get out of my life. I don’t want you” (243). These examples illustrate the typical teenage romance because they contain the rejection, sudden passionate start, the relationship consuming their lives, the hope to make it last, and the nasty break up.
In sum, Will Leitch’s Catch is a fantastic book that I firmly recommend to all high school students. A relatable protagonist along with some humor will keep readers entertained and interested. Leitch does not just try to amuse readers; though, he also uses the relationship of Tim and Helena to show the typical teenage romance.
Word Count: 564
Catch is a tremendous read that has become my new favorite book. A key factor in the greatness of this novel is the humor that the author, Will Leitch, constantly uses. Right away, Tim thinks to himself how graduating high school is not impressive at all, and the only people who don’t graduate are the druggies and the girls who get knocked up (Leitch 3). Immediately after this, Tim thinks how his interests of breast and baseball have diverged from Jessica’s interests of school and unicorns (4). Next, Tim describes the night employees of Hardee’s as “teenage moms, meth addicts, and the mentally retarded” (49). Lastly, Denny’s first rule of keeping a woman happy is “You are always wrong” (149). These instances along with many others throughout the book serve to give readers a good laugh, and they also help to keep them entertained.
Catch is not just humorous; however, it is also has many aspects of its protagonist, Tim Temples, that are very relatable for many high school students. These similar aspects add to the greatness of the novel, and they are a reason why I would recommend this book to kids in high school. The first of these characteristics is that Tim has a group of friends that he always hangs out with called the Horsemen (6). Next, Tim gets a summer job at the Kraft plant (16). Later, Tim and the Horsemen go cruising for fun all the time (42). Finally, Tim is scared to leave his home to go to college (53). These features of Tim help make him a sympathetic character that readers can identify with.
Throughout Catch, Will Leitch seems to be trying to describe what he considers the typical teenage romance. He achieves this purpose by using Tim’s relationship with Helena. First, Tim makes an advance on Helena, but she denies him (26). Then Helena shocks him by returning his advances, and she gets him to make love to her (95). Later, Tim stops hanging out with his friends because he spends all his time with Helena (128). After this, he falls in love with her, and he tries to find anyway that he can to make their relationship last (151). Finally, Helena dumps Tim by saying, “Get out of my life. I don’t want you” (243). These examples illustrate the typical teenage romance because they contain the rejection, sudden passionate start, the relationship consuming their lives, the hope to make it last, and the nasty break up.
In sum, Will Leitch’s Catch is a fantastic book that I firmly recommend to all high school students. A relatable protagonist along with some humor will keep readers entertained and interested. Leitch does not just try to amuse readers; though, he also uses the relationship of Tim and Helena to show the typical teenage romance.
Word Count: 564
December 29, 2008
Tim Temples has just graduated from high school and he’s getting ready to go to college at the University of Illinois. He’s a little nervous about it – doesn’t know if college is right for him (it certainly doesn’t seem to have been right for his brother, who got a scholarship to play baseball, and hasn’t managed to graduate or go on to the minor/major leagues like he’d intended). Tim’s just hanging out this summer, working, being with his friends, hitting on the hot older woman at work – Helena. It’s Helena who really makes him think about where he’s going and what he’s doing with his life. She’s wild, she’s in her twenties, and he can practically taste her shattered dreams when he’s around her. Tim, naturally, falls for her, wants to make a life with her, has to realize that that’s one more thing that’s never meant to be.
I was really impatient with this book. I didn’t like Tim Temples, the golden boy, who always got exactly what he wanted and was accustomed to people paying him some kind of tribute for being generally good-looking, a decent athlete (ball-player), and a good student. He was really full of himself. He doesn’t do anything meaningful – just spends all his time cruising around with his friends, drinking, playing cards, hanging out. Maybe I’m just sick of the “normal” teen pursuits, or maybe Mattoon, Illinois, really is that boring. It’s slightly more interesting once Tim goes down to U of I and meets some people who don’t know who he is, who don’t think he’s anyone special. It starts opening his mind, and even he can see that he’s going to have to work to be someone when he gets to school. And it doesn’t intimidate him. He even likes it – the part where he gets to start over and experience new things. That’s refreshing. But it takes over 100 pages to get there.
There are some books that can make me care about characters, lives, situations, things that I wouldn’t have thought I’d had any interest in. This wasn’t really one of them. I felt way too much like a kid with an assignment – something I had to do, read this book I have to finish. I wonder if high school guys will like this? It certainly seems like they might spend their time doing the sorts of things Tim does with his free time. Do they want to read about it, though, or would they rather just do those things? This might go over with the kids who are having second thoughts about college, who are trying to have that one last hurrah before the end of life as they know it. It does offer a little perspective about the kids who stay behind – the ones who end up working full-time right out of school and don’t see themselves having any other prospects. But, man, what happens to them? Can they find happiness, can they break out of the pattern? It’s hard to say. And obviously (just look at Tim’s brother) not everyone who goes to college makes it either. So what’s the secret of happy and wildly successful? Will anyone who reads this want to think about that?
I was really impatient with this book. I didn’t like Tim Temples, the golden boy, who always got exactly what he wanted and was accustomed to people paying him some kind of tribute for being generally good-looking, a decent athlete (ball-player), and a good student. He was really full of himself. He doesn’t do anything meaningful – just spends all his time cruising around with his friends, drinking, playing cards, hanging out. Maybe I’m just sick of the “normal” teen pursuits, or maybe Mattoon, Illinois, really is that boring. It’s slightly more interesting once Tim goes down to U of I and meets some people who don’t know who he is, who don’t think he’s anyone special. It starts opening his mind, and even he can see that he’s going to have to work to be someone when he gets to school. And it doesn’t intimidate him. He even likes it – the part where he gets to start over and experience new things. That’s refreshing. But it takes over 100 pages to get there.
There are some books that can make me care about characters, lives, situations, things that I wouldn’t have thought I’d had any interest in. This wasn’t really one of them. I felt way too much like a kid with an assignment – something I had to do, read this book I have to finish. I wonder if high school guys will like this? It certainly seems like they might spend their time doing the sorts of things Tim does with his free time. Do they want to read about it, though, or would they rather just do those things? This might go over with the kids who are having second thoughts about college, who are trying to have that one last hurrah before the end of life as they know it. It does offer a little perspective about the kids who stay behind – the ones who end up working full-time right out of school and don’t see themselves having any other prospects. But, man, what happens to them? Can they find happiness, can they break out of the pattern? It’s hard to say. And obviously (just look at Tim’s brother) not everyone who goes to college makes it either. So what’s the secret of happy and wildly successful? Will anyone who reads this want to think about that?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2010
Catch, was a satisfying read. From a small town of Mattoon, Illinois, Tim Temples is a young boy who just graduated from high school and spends his last summer before heading off to college. He is a popular, well educated and athletic teenager. He spends his summer working at a local bagel factory and spends long nights hanging out with his posse, the horsemen. As summer is coming to an end, he has to make the decision of staying at Mattoon, living the life where everybody knows his name because of his father played for the Cardinals or going to Champaign for college.
I absolutely approve this book to everyone who would like to read about a young teenager making the decision that would change his life completely. The book takes place after graduating from high school to where he has to make the decision of going to college or not. I believe that people could relate to this situation because they are also given the choice to go to college as well and I also have to make the choice of going to University or College in the future. The writing style of this book is easy to read and is presented clearly. The author goes well in-depth of the main character’s feelings as he falls in and out of love with his co-worker, Helena Westfall. For example, “It feels like I’m sliding down an incline made of ice, grasping for any kind of crevice to latch onto.” This shows the despair that Tim is going through when Helena is breaking up with him. I could also relate to this sentence because I too, had my heartbroken before and it is a common problem experienced by average teenagers. In addition, average teenagers experience the pressure and uncertainty of going away to college, having our own desires for our future, and pressure from our parents which are all extensively covered in the book, this is why, I could comprehend to what Tim is feeling, when he is going through all these ordeals.
The book also contains much humour which balances well with Tim`s seriousness. Will Leitch`s ability to incorporate much detail and his relaxed writing tone makes it much more stupendous. Characters such as, Larry who talks in third person contribute much of the humour in the book. For example, ``Whoa he says. Larry seems to have drunk a wee bit much. Larry needs to lay down.``
I could relate and connect to everything in the book such as going out late at night with my friends for a late night snack, playing card games with drinks-which I would not comment and trying to get over a relationship that once hurt me, but made me stronger in the end. In the end, I believe that anyone who reads this book could reminisce about their past and too, could connect to Tim`s adventure in the book.
I absolutely approve this book to everyone who would like to read about a young teenager making the decision that would change his life completely. The book takes place after graduating from high school to where he has to make the decision of going to college or not. I believe that people could relate to this situation because they are also given the choice to go to college as well and I also have to make the choice of going to University or College in the future. The writing style of this book is easy to read and is presented clearly. The author goes well in-depth of the main character’s feelings as he falls in and out of love with his co-worker, Helena Westfall. For example, “It feels like I’m sliding down an incline made of ice, grasping for any kind of crevice to latch onto.” This shows the despair that Tim is going through when Helena is breaking up with him. I could also relate to this sentence because I too, had my heartbroken before and it is a common problem experienced by average teenagers. In addition, average teenagers experience the pressure and uncertainty of going away to college, having our own desires for our future, and pressure from our parents which are all extensively covered in the book, this is why, I could comprehend to what Tim is feeling, when he is going through all these ordeals.
The book also contains much humour which balances well with Tim`s seriousness. Will Leitch`s ability to incorporate much detail and his relaxed writing tone makes it much more stupendous. Characters such as, Larry who talks in third person contribute much of the humour in the book. For example, ``Whoa he says. Larry seems to have drunk a wee bit much. Larry needs to lay down.``
I could relate and connect to everything in the book such as going out late at night with my friends for a late night snack, playing card games with drinks-which I would not comment and trying to get over a relationship that once hurt me, but made me stronger in the end. In the end, I believe that anyone who reads this book could reminisce about their past and too, could connect to Tim`s adventure in the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2009
The novel “Catch” by Will Leitch is a story about Tim Temples, a fresh graduate of high school who is going to college next fall. But, he must work a job over the summer. At his workplace he meets a girl named Helena and they end up spending the whole summer together. Near the end of the summer, Helena’s past bad experiences cause her to do some bad things and she breaks up with Tim right before he goes off to college.
I think that Catch was an enjoyable novel to read, and has a very emotional storyline. The reader is pulled deep into the world of Tim Temples as many events add up to create an in depth emotional experience. This novel has a lot of realism to it and as other readers have noted, Mattoon is a real place where Leitch grew up, and the local landmarks are very accurate. Because this novel is so realistic, it is relatively easy for almost anybody to relate to a character in the book, thus creating a more enjoyable experience for the reader.
The novel is interesting because of the way it is formatted. It is divided into sections, each for one month of the summer. In these sections there are many short chapters, one as short as one line (244). The novel is written in first person, helping you feel like Tim through all his experiences. These ways of writing create the effect to the reader that the summer is rushing by, and emphasize the importance of Tim’s last summer in small town Mattoon.
The diction in the novel emphasizes the most emotional parts for the story. For example, when Helena is giving her break up speech, it says that “It feels like I’m sliding down an incline made of ice, grasping for any kind of crevice to latch onto.”(238) this shows the despair that Tim is in, and how desperate he is to stop what’s coming next.
The internal conflicts within Tim’s mind are stressful to him throughout most of the book and at some times almost unbearable. He has to decide whether to spend time with Helena or The Horsemen, his group of friends who will not be going to college with him. He has to deal with his brother, whose life was torn apart by the same college that he is about to embark to, and he has to prepare himself for the transition from the centre of attention in his town, known by everyone, to just another face in the colossal world of college where, as other readers have stated, he finally knows that he’ll have to work hard to be a somebody.
Reading the novel, I was barely able to put it down. Its uniqueness and storyline take you away to Leitch’s world and Tim Temples’ last, adventurous summer, in which he makes the mental transition from a boy to a man.
I think that Catch was an enjoyable novel to read, and has a very emotional storyline. The reader is pulled deep into the world of Tim Temples as many events add up to create an in depth emotional experience. This novel has a lot of realism to it and as other readers have noted, Mattoon is a real place where Leitch grew up, and the local landmarks are very accurate. Because this novel is so realistic, it is relatively easy for almost anybody to relate to a character in the book, thus creating a more enjoyable experience for the reader.
The novel is interesting because of the way it is formatted. It is divided into sections, each for one month of the summer. In these sections there are many short chapters, one as short as one line (244). The novel is written in first person, helping you feel like Tim through all his experiences. These ways of writing create the effect to the reader that the summer is rushing by, and emphasize the importance of Tim’s last summer in small town Mattoon.
The diction in the novel emphasizes the most emotional parts for the story. For example, when Helena is giving her break up speech, it says that “It feels like I’m sliding down an incline made of ice, grasping for any kind of crevice to latch onto.”(238) this shows the despair that Tim is in, and how desperate he is to stop what’s coming next.
The internal conflicts within Tim’s mind are stressful to him throughout most of the book and at some times almost unbearable. He has to decide whether to spend time with Helena or The Horsemen, his group of friends who will not be going to college with him. He has to deal with his brother, whose life was torn apart by the same college that he is about to embark to, and he has to prepare himself for the transition from the centre of attention in his town, known by everyone, to just another face in the colossal world of college where, as other readers have stated, he finally knows that he’ll have to work hard to be a somebody.
Reading the novel, I was barely able to put it down. Its uniqueness and storyline take you away to Leitch’s world and Tim Temples’ last, adventurous summer, in which he makes the mental transition from a boy to a man.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2011
Catch is a humorous and touching coming-of-age story. Told as a first person narrative, it is story that is so easy to fall into and it had me wanting to keep turning the pages.
Tim Temples is the narrator of this story. He is eighteen and this is his last summer before he goes to college. At the beginning of the story he is, quite honestly, a bit of an idiot. And yet, there is an endearing quality and likableness about him but that could be just because he tells us there is. Tim lives in the small town of Matton where his dad is the local hero – he was once in a minor league baseball team. So Tim is treated by everyone around him like royalty. The police wave him on when they catch him drink driving for instance. Girls are powerless to his charms. He is Mr Popular and enjoys playing the field.
Every night Tim and his posse – The Horsemen – take his Blazer around town. They do the circuit until they find some girls. They make out, eat hideous fast food and then they do it all again the next night. So how does this character make you like him? Well, in part it is because he recognises these things of himself. He is the one telling you this is what they do for a good time. And of course, it is the beginning and you know that Tim will change. His journey is honest, hilariously so at times and touching too. If there is a moment that Tim gets your sympathy, it is the introduction of his older brother Doug who has returned from college. Tim is worried about Doug because he thinks college has ruined him. Doug didn’t get his diploma; he didn’t succeed at college baseball. He has none of his usual spark and *gasp* he has a bit of a belly.
Beneath all this humour and Tim’s adolescent urges, there is the story of a boy who isn’t sure what the future holds for him or even if he is ready for it. While the town prepares for the annual Bagelfest event, Tim spends his summer days carting boxes of those inedible things at the plant. He finds a solace in the repetitive manual nature of the task and he also meets Helena. She is twenty-three and is the meanest girl in town. So of course Tim can’t help but find her an exciting new challenge. Helena’s story is much darker than you might expect. Despite their instant dislike for each other when they first meet, their relationship sets them both on a journey of self-discovery.
I think this book is the perfect pre-college/university read. It has a universal appeal with the matter of fact narrative and the situational humour. I found Catch unexpectedly uplifting. It has a bizarre charm all of its own. Like all good coming-of-age stories, you’ll learn a little bit about life along the way too.
Tim Temples is the narrator of this story. He is eighteen and this is his last summer before he goes to college. At the beginning of the story he is, quite honestly, a bit of an idiot. And yet, there is an endearing quality and likableness about him but that could be just because he tells us there is. Tim lives in the small town of Matton where his dad is the local hero – he was once in a minor league baseball team. So Tim is treated by everyone around him like royalty. The police wave him on when they catch him drink driving for instance. Girls are powerless to his charms. He is Mr Popular and enjoys playing the field.
Every night Tim and his posse – The Horsemen – take his Blazer around town. They do the circuit until they find some girls. They make out, eat hideous fast food and then they do it all again the next night. So how does this character make you like him? Well, in part it is because he recognises these things of himself. He is the one telling you this is what they do for a good time. And of course, it is the beginning and you know that Tim will change. His journey is honest, hilariously so at times and touching too. If there is a moment that Tim gets your sympathy, it is the introduction of his older brother Doug who has returned from college. Tim is worried about Doug because he thinks college has ruined him. Doug didn’t get his diploma; he didn’t succeed at college baseball. He has none of his usual spark and *gasp* he has a bit of a belly.
Beneath all this humour and Tim’s adolescent urges, there is the story of a boy who isn’t sure what the future holds for him or even if he is ready for it. While the town prepares for the annual Bagelfest event, Tim spends his summer days carting boxes of those inedible things at the plant. He finds a solace in the repetitive manual nature of the task and he also meets Helena. She is twenty-three and is the meanest girl in town. So of course Tim can’t help but find her an exciting new challenge. Helena’s story is much darker than you might expect. Despite their instant dislike for each other when they first meet, their relationship sets them both on a journey of self-discovery.
I think this book is the perfect pre-college/university read. It has a universal appeal with the matter of fact narrative and the situational humour. I found Catch unexpectedly uplifting. It has a bizarre charm all of its own. Like all good coming-of-age stories, you’ll learn a little bit about life along the way too.
Read
April 30, 2009“Catch” was a pleasurable book to read. The story of a small-town boy leaving his childhood behind for the bigger world is a scenario which many people can relate to. The writing style of the book is easy to follow and cleanly presented. The way it is written makes it seem as though we are part of Tim and are journeying through the process of maturity alongside him. The attention to detail of Tim’s life as a young teenager, like him and his friends playing the card game “asshole” or them going to Hardee’s, the only place in Mattoon open past 11 p.m. for a drink, neither takes away from the focus of the story nor affects the pacing of the book. Rather, I think it is Leitch’s ability to incorporate such details that make this story so much more dynamic.
Though the story takes place in Mattoon, a small town known for its bagel production, it is relatable to a wide range of audiences, and not just to small-town heroes who’re similar to the character, Tim. The problems Tim Temples face are common problems that average teenagers also experience. Issues like Tim being pressured by his parents to attend college, and him being uncertain of his own desires for education and the future, are all topics applicable to our own lives. Whether it is about struggling in a relationship with a first love, or feeling a loss of self, the book “Catch” is able to share a deep connection with its readers.
The book contains the right doses of humor and seriousness. The carefree and relaxed relationship between Tim and his friends maintain the lightheartedness of the story. The introduction of Tim’s lazy and quirky coworker Larry, who commonly regards himself in third person, also contributes to the humorous side of the novel. However, Leitch balances all the lightweight qualities of the book with some heartbreaking and serious scenes. The breakup between Helena and Tim is upsetting, but because Tim has such a resilient personality, he is able to move forward, and mature along the process. The author does a good job of complimenting humor with thoughtfulness and doesn’t go overboard with either.
All in all, “Catch” was not a disappointment. It is suitable for those seeking for comfort and familiarity. After reading the novel, it will leave adults reminiscing about their childhood and teenagers aspiring to achieve a better future. It is a simple and refreshing read, and warms your heart to the close relationship between Tim and his family and the passionate romance between him and Helena.
Though the story takes place in Mattoon, a small town known for its bagel production, it is relatable to a wide range of audiences, and not just to small-town heroes who’re similar to the character, Tim. The problems Tim Temples face are common problems that average teenagers also experience. Issues like Tim being pressured by his parents to attend college, and him being uncertain of his own desires for education and the future, are all topics applicable to our own lives. Whether it is about struggling in a relationship with a first love, or feeling a loss of self, the book “Catch” is able to share a deep connection with its readers.
The book contains the right doses of humor and seriousness. The carefree and relaxed relationship between Tim and his friends maintain the lightheartedness of the story. The introduction of Tim’s lazy and quirky coworker Larry, who commonly regards himself in third person, also contributes to the humorous side of the novel. However, Leitch balances all the lightweight qualities of the book with some heartbreaking and serious scenes. The breakup between Helena and Tim is upsetting, but because Tim has such a resilient personality, he is able to move forward, and mature along the process. The author does a good job of complimenting humor with thoughtfulness and doesn’t go overboard with either.
All in all, “Catch” was not a disappointment. It is suitable for those seeking for comfort and familiarity. After reading the novel, it will leave adults reminiscing about their childhood and teenagers aspiring to achieve a better future. It is a simple and refreshing read, and warms your heart to the close relationship between Tim and his family and the passionate romance between him and Helena.
August 26, 2011
I usually don't read books like this. When any type of sport comes up, I stay as far away as possible. I also stay away from realistic fiction where a guy is the main character because the first four I ever read, all I wanted to do the entire book was punch the guy in the face. I picked this up in a fit of rage. I had found a book that sounded interesting, but, like basically every book I see nowadays, it was the first book in a SERIES. Sometimes, all I want is to read a book, maybe two books, where everything comes to an end at the end of the book. It doesn't even have to happy. I just don't want their to be ten sequels I get wrapped up in, just to read some barely-written, cr*p ending. I saw it just said novel, so I picked it up without even reading the back and bought it.
And boy was I surprised. What I expected to be some stupid little book about some bratty kid who can't be bothered to learn right from wrong turned into so much more. Even when Tim was being a total dousche - which happens VERY often for the first part of the book - I couldn't help but like him. He reminded me of a few of my friends. He wasn't neccessarily a jerk. He was just confused and worried and lost. He grew throughout the book, but still managed to stay true to himself (wow, that was a cheesey line right there).
The hero wasn't the only relatable character. There is his college drop-out brother Doug, who found that the real world was a lot different than he thought. Everyone knows someone like him. There were his friends which reminded me so much of my own. The one who has been with the same person since they could talk, the one who thinks he's so cool but usually just winds up putting his foot in his mouth, the valedictorian who is trying to catch up on everything she missed. They were gross, they didn't pour their guts and feelings out to each other every other scene, and they felt so real.
And Helena, of course. Every time she spoke, I just wanted to hug her. She was smart, witty, sweet, bitchy, and amazing. She's got her own sad backstory that unfolds as the story goes on. The best thing was that while you felt bad that she had a rough life, never once did I feel like pity was being shoved down my throat. She didn't ask for your sympathy, and she didn't complain constantly that she had it so bad.
Of course, the book was not perfect, but it was pretty darn close. Defintely one of the better realistic fiction novels I've read and I'm excited to see what else Will Leitch is going to write.
And boy was I surprised. What I expected to be some stupid little book about some bratty kid who can't be bothered to learn right from wrong turned into so much more. Even when Tim was being a total dousche - which happens VERY often for the first part of the book - I couldn't help but like him. He reminded me of a few of my friends. He wasn't neccessarily a jerk. He was just confused and worried and lost. He grew throughout the book, but still managed to stay true to himself (wow, that was a cheesey line right there).
The hero wasn't the only relatable character. There is his college drop-out brother Doug, who found that the real world was a lot different than he thought. Everyone knows someone like him. There were his friends which reminded me so much of my own. The one who has been with the same person since they could talk, the one who thinks he's so cool but usually just winds up putting his foot in his mouth, the valedictorian who is trying to catch up on everything she missed. They were gross, they didn't pour their guts and feelings out to each other every other scene, and they felt so real.
And Helena, of course. Every time she spoke, I just wanted to hug her. She was smart, witty, sweet, bitchy, and amazing. She's got her own sad backstory that unfolds as the story goes on. The best thing was that while you felt bad that she had a rough life, never once did I feel like pity was being shoved down my throat. She didn't ask for your sympathy, and she didn't complain constantly that she had it so bad.
Of course, the book was not perfect, but it was pretty darn close. Defintely one of the better realistic fiction novels I've read and I'm excited to see what else Will Leitch is going to write.
October 21, 2010
Will Leitch is able to capture the best of Tim Temples in his moving novel called “Catch.” Catch is not one of your classic teen love stories that take place in familiarized large urban cities. Instead, it takes place in a small town called Mattoon situated in Illinois Midwest America. I can’t say I’m the first to grab books of the shelves about small-town charm, but its good once in a while and Catch served its purpose. Most books fail to get that countryside feel across, but on the other hand Catch seemed to do it just fine.
Tim Temples is popular, egotistic, and is one of those guys who are always able to crack a joke in any situation. Tim Temples is... in love? Once Tim begins his summertime job at a bagel plant, he meets Helena, a smoke show with an attitude. Tim likes this, playing hard to get, a girl with some fight in her. After some back and forth small talk and Tim’s knack for picking up ladies, they hook up. Now Tim must choose, spend the rest of his life lifting boxes in a bagel plant and stay with Helena, or go to college and become something even though college destroyed his older brother. The whole story seems to revolve around this relationship and Tim’s decision of what life has in store for him.
The author of the book does a great job conveying that small-town charm I was talking about. I might not be able to relate to this book like many others, but my friends and I find ways to have a good time. I did not grow up in the country, or in the U.S for that matter, but it seems like a neat place from what the author makes it out to be. The author did a great job making the book flow, and detailed descriptions of what drinking games they played wasn’t like reading instructions to a board game which is something to be grateful for. The author stretched the idea that Baseball was the talk of the town, literally. If you didn’t watch baseball or favoured the Cardinals for that matter, then you were a lost cause and most of your early morning greetings would be “nice weather we’re having,” instead of “great game last night, eh?”I’m not a baseball fan, in fact I hate baseball, but I’m going to keep an open mind and this will have no affect on the books credibility from my point of view. I love hockey and I grew up in Canada, they go hand in hand.
Catch is a great read and a real page turner. If you have the time, pick up this book and escape to Mattoon, Illinois. You won’t be disappointed.
Tim Temples is popular, egotistic, and is one of those guys who are always able to crack a joke in any situation. Tim Temples is... in love? Once Tim begins his summertime job at a bagel plant, he meets Helena, a smoke show with an attitude. Tim likes this, playing hard to get, a girl with some fight in her. After some back and forth small talk and Tim’s knack for picking up ladies, they hook up. Now Tim must choose, spend the rest of his life lifting boxes in a bagel plant and stay with Helena, or go to college and become something even though college destroyed his older brother. The whole story seems to revolve around this relationship and Tim’s decision of what life has in store for him.
The author of the book does a great job conveying that small-town charm I was talking about. I might not be able to relate to this book like many others, but my friends and I find ways to have a good time. I did not grow up in the country, or in the U.S for that matter, but it seems like a neat place from what the author makes it out to be. The author did a great job making the book flow, and detailed descriptions of what drinking games they played wasn’t like reading instructions to a board game which is something to be grateful for. The author stretched the idea that Baseball was the talk of the town, literally. If you didn’t watch baseball or favoured the Cardinals for that matter, then you were a lost cause and most of your early morning greetings would be “nice weather we’re having,” instead of “great game last night, eh?”I’m not a baseball fan, in fact I hate baseball, but I’m going to keep an open mind and this will have no affect on the books credibility from my point of view. I love hockey and I grew up in Canada, they go hand in hand.
Catch is a great read and a real page turner. If you have the time, pick up this book and escape to Mattoon, Illinois. You won’t be disappointed.
September 22, 2009
" Catch " was a wonderful read. I love small town books because I'm from a small town! I was able to visualize the characters and their surroundings. Will Leitch got me to read descriptions without me even realizing it- he was very detailed in his writing without being overbearing.
Even in the heartbreaking moments, Will was able to stay HUMEROUS and light-hearted. It made this read extremely insightful and memorable.
The main character, Tim, is just 18 years old and is at his last summer before going to college. In his small town, everyone knows him and loves him- not because he's an outstanding child, but because his father was a big baseball guy in the minor leagues about ten years back. Tim is effectively riding his father's coattails and no one seems to mind. The crisis on Tim's mind is- stay in little Mattoon and live the life of a King, but risk falling into the mindless work at the Plant for the rest of his life? or go to college a couple hours over, and become no one- but learn a zillion new things?
The story moves slowly with Will taking his time to describe things like, how to play the beer/ card game "As*hole", what a big guy's hanging-over belly is called: dunlap (cuz it "dunlap" over his belt), and the serenity of the night sky that can hold a million stars without the city lights. I've never been to Mattoon (which, by the way, APPARENTLY isn't pronounced Ma-TOON- I still don't know how it's said) but I FEEL like I've been there. I feel like I've met these people. I have had friends like these and the pranks we've pulled are similar. Great times! (stupid kids)
" Catch " was beautifully written. I love Will's style. It was so easy to read and follow along with. I wish I could meet "Tim" and give him a hug.
Great great story. I found it in a small used book store in Portland, ME that has books stacked from floor to ceiling in 13 foot walls (books EVERYWHERE, I WAS IN HEAVEN)- how's that for getting around, Will? I've already bought an extra copy to send to my cousin because I can't bear to part with my copy at the risk of him losing it. Wonderful.
Even in the heartbreaking moments, Will was able to stay HUMEROUS and light-hearted. It made this read extremely insightful and memorable.
The main character, Tim, is just 18 years old and is at his last summer before going to college. In his small town, everyone knows him and loves him- not because he's an outstanding child, but because his father was a big baseball guy in the minor leagues about ten years back. Tim is effectively riding his father's coattails and no one seems to mind. The crisis on Tim's mind is- stay in little Mattoon and live the life of a King, but risk falling into the mindless work at the Plant for the rest of his life? or go to college a couple hours over, and become no one- but learn a zillion new things?
The story moves slowly with Will taking his time to describe things like, how to play the beer/ card game "As*hole", what a big guy's hanging-over belly is called: dunlap (cuz it "dunlap" over his belt), and the serenity of the night sky that can hold a million stars without the city lights. I've never been to Mattoon (which, by the way, APPARENTLY isn't pronounced Ma-TOON- I still don't know how it's said) but I FEEL like I've been there. I feel like I've met these people. I have had friends like these and the pranks we've pulled are similar. Great times! (stupid kids)
" Catch " was beautifully written. I love Will's style. It was so easy to read and follow along with. I wish I could meet "Tim" and give him a hug.
Great great story. I found it in a small used book store in Portland, ME that has books stacked from floor to ceiling in 13 foot walls (books EVERYWHERE, I WAS IN HEAVEN)- how's that for getting around, Will? I've already bought an extra copy to send to my cousin because I can't bear to part with my copy at the risk of him losing it. Wonderful.
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