HIGH

by Mary Sullivan

Meet Ceti, almost fifteen, who tells her story of growing up in shelters, learning soccer from her Gramps, and sleeping in her Mom’s red truck where they listened over and over to Rolling Stones discs someone left behind. Following in the steps of her hero, Lionel Messi, Ceti is a shooting star on the field. A U.S. scout is coming to watch her play in the State Championship; she has Ruby, her best friend since kindergarten rooting for her, and a crush on a boy who lives in her building, Will. But at home, she’ll find a spoon in the sink, a ball of tin foil and a needle in the trash. Her Mom, who used to be beautiful with her long honey hair and green eyes is now wasted and track-marked. And she is pregnant.

Ceti’s life goes up and down with a mother who wants only the next high. Her Mom’s menacing and goofy boyfriend Foxface is always hounding Ceti; their junky friends start a fire in Ceti’s apartment; and on the day of the semifinals, Ceti finds her Mom bleeding profusely. She steals a new iPhone for her Mom but is caught and disqualified from playing in the Championship game. Then Ruby decides on private school for next year, and Will stops hanging out with Ceti. When her Mom promises they can start over in New Hampshire, Ceti is hopeful. Instead, she finds her Mom has overdosed. Ceti, too, would be one more dream slipping away if she didn’t have the courage to hold on to what she loves the most.

Genres: Young Adult, Poetry, Sports, Novel In Verse, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Mary Sullivan is the author of the forthcoming YA novel in verse HIGH (Fitzroy/Regal House Publishing). Her other books include: Dear Blue Sky, a MG novel for which she won the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Award, Ship Sooner, and Stay, and she has ghostwritten for the Beacon Street Girls series. She is the also the recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant for Literature, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Award, and a St. Botolph’s Award. She was chosen as one of the Border’s Original New Voices. She is a freelance editor and teaches at Harvard Extension and Summer School. Mary lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and their four children.



(http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/...)

Reviews

[Monica Hills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, I truly have no words. It has been a long time since I have cried this much while reading. I teach middle school but I highly recommend this book for high school aged children and above. Ceti is a soccer star but she has a secret. Her mom is a drug addict. This is her story about how she is trying to survive and thrive in a very unsettled world. Told in verse this book is extremely powerful and moving!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up to preview for my teenage daughter. Thought I'd skim through it quickly just to be able to recommend it and ask a few questions. But I got sucked in after a couple of pages and couldn't put it down. (Unfortunately, my rave review to my daughter made her doubt it, so she has yet to read it!). It is brilliantly crafted and and important.

[Sarah Abel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent YA novel in verse!

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obsessed with this story and would love to teach it! My two complaints: it doesn’t need to be in verse and it’s too short. I read 20 pages one night and then the rest of it in one sitting. I wanted more and I wish it was prose so we could get even more details, but it’s still so well written and poignant. I got a good sob out of this one.

[Diana Renn · Rating 5 out of 5]

14-year-old Ceti is a rising soccer star on the field, a good friend and student, and the keeper of a dark secret: her mom is a heroin addict, and her home life couldn't be more different than that of her good friends Ruby and Will. Keeping up appearances and staying in the game at school and in her sport became increasingly difficult as her mother spirals deeper into her addiction, and frightening men - Foxface and Sugarman - show up at their apartment. The stakes are high for Ceti, as she has a chance to play in front of a scout at the State Championship - a path to brighter future. But her mother's condition is worsening, and the promises that she'll get help, move away, start over, become increasingly hollow. Mary Sullivan portrays Ceti, Ceti's mother, and her friends with deep compassion, showing not only their flaws but also their humanity; the great tragedy for Ceti is that we can glimpse the mother she had in brighter days, before drugs took over her life. In Ceti, too, we see both great resilience and tender vulnerability. Ceti's frequent refrain is "I'm good," but that is not always the case. The verse format of this novel is perfect for the subject matter. The white space on the page gives us space to process the tough images and emotions. The verse is beautifully written, and many lines (including some lyrics from Rolling Stones songs, deftly woven in!) demand re-reading or reading aloud. Despite the pull to linger over the verse lines, the pace is intense, and the novel is a page-turner. Soccer games are depicted with speed and energy, and the suspense as Ceti's goals come into sight while her home life deteriorates makes for a riveting read. Ceti is a strong and appealing narrator you will root for. HIGH is an important novel about how addiction impacts families; it's also about the power of staying true to yourself and finding support and hope in community.

[Marion Mariotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read M. Sullivan's "High" before gifting it to my 12 year old nephew and 15 year old niece. The novel is written in verse, a different format to what my nephew and niece are used to and I wondered whether it would work with young, busy minds. Yet its short pithy sentences hooked me immediately and before I knew it, I was deep into the sordid, tragic reality of a young girl living with her heroin-addicted mother. Ceti's character is richly illustrated with conversations she has with her mother about how things were in the past and the hope for the future when her mom will get "clean" as well as with her friends, Ruby and Will and her love for her Gramps. Ceti has the optimism that every young adult should have yet it is eroded little by little by her mom's relapses and her junkie boyfriend, the grotesquely tattooed, Foxface. But Sullivan paints this heartbreaking reality onto a canvas of hope, a canvas of love and the saving grace of an impassioned hobby, in Ceti's case, soccer. So I gave this original novel to my nephew and niece knowing they would get a glimpse into the tragic destruction that accompanies addiction but also the importance of friendship, of never giving up hope, and of the saving grace a hobby/passion/sport can bring. Its message is ultimately one of high hope.

[Nathalie Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books you wish you could un-read just so you could relive the raw emotions for the first time again. I swallowed it whole on my two-hour flight home.

I love the “less is more” format and unique text structure. Every verse is purposeful, advancing the plot and/or revealing character with captivating imagery.

It’s a narrative that isn’t told often enough, especially through the perspective of a young teen. I became invested in the MC from the beginning, rooting for her until the very end.

I highly recommend this novel! Some of my favorite quotes are below:

“Her eyes are like the rain
streaming down our windows,
and she’s the glass.
I don’t want her to break.”

“Ruby was staring at Mom’s arm.
Gray-blue bruises blossomed
on her veins like black flowers
on a dark path.”

“I hid in the laundry room
and when I got hungry,
I opened my mouth
and ate the sweet air.”

“I can see her in the fluorescent lights
of the hospital, writhing and kicking
like she’s dancing in the spotlight.
Still getting all the attention…”

“Someday was going to be the busiest day ever.”

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

You're not a falling star. You're a shooting star. Remember that.

Lesson number one you learn when you are young, life just goes on and on and on.

There's gotta be something bigger than this.

Number one rule, if you can't get what you want, then you get what you need, which is definitely not this.

Why do grownups tell us we gotta tell THE TRUTH, when they don't?

I need to feel; I need to know; change is coming.

I falling through a crack between what's real and what I want to be real.

Sometimes words don't make any difference at all.

[Sandy (Sandy.Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sometimes words don’t make
any difference at all.
I’m done with talking and crying.”

Ceti is an amazing soccer player. From the outside her life looks pretty normal but she goes home each afternoon to her mom. Her mom, a heroin addict, who continually make Ceti the promise that she will get better, especially finding out she is pregnant.

Ceti lives to play soccer hoping that if she can make it big that she will be able to save her mom. Will that be enough?

Rating:
A solid 4.25/5 ⭐️

Ceti is a character that you will want to reach out and hug. To give her the strength and hop she deserves.

The story gives an inside look at how drug addiction can affect families. It was a tough read but a necessary one.

CW: drug abuse, overdose, child loss

[Deborah Zeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always remember, you can do it, you can shoot for the highest star and make it, with the support of friends, who become your family. This Novel in Verse pulled me and and didn’t let me go. It almost shattered me, so raw but so truthful. Soccer saves Ceti along with her friends, those who she was afraid to open up to. This book tells the reader it’s ok to talk, to let people in. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars! This one is going into my library collection asap!

[Jessicah Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I wish I had as a kid. Ceti escapes her drug addict mother by taking her anger to the soccer field where she excels. She had a shot at playing for the U.S team, and escape her mom’s boyfriend. But when she realizes her mom never showed to the meeting place, her world collapses. This is such a raw story of a kid who can’t help feeling like she’s responsible for her parent’s addiction. Such a relatable story for so many kids.

[D.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The effects of Ceti living with a momma strung out on drugs are disturbing and emotional but, like real life, there are gaps of lighter moments. Soccer is one of the only things that makes Ceti feel free. Narrative voice was very good, but some choices of the story were questionable. Pretty depressing overall.

[Donna Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The story of Ceti and her mother and the world in which they struggle is beautifully written and rang true for me on several levels. A YA novel written in verse, this book sang for me, and author Mary Sullivan truly understands the world of teens today, while managing to bring a certain timelessness to her story. Highly recommend!

[Jacki Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not have loved this book more. It is a beautifully written YA book in verse about a teenager struggling with her mom’s addiction. She finds peace in soccer and friendships and her character is beautifully developed. This book talks about how addiction affects families and I just wanted to give the main character a hug. I loved this book!

[kary · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is such an underrated book. I did cry, And i wanted to smash my head against a wall and do it until it felt like nothing. It was so sad and I only read it because my favorite sport was mentioned in the synopsis but no any little synopsis you’ll read about can be one of the most emotionally damaging breaking books.

[Kaylie Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible. I had been looking for a book that wasn’t a love story but was real- not necessarily nonfiction, just something real. This book was exactly that. It gave me a much needed reminder that things could be so much worse, and yeah that doesn’t mean things aren’t going to suck but it could be a lot worse. Also I didn’t skip through this book at all, so yay for that!

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written account of an often unseen, yet common, situation facing American families. Sullivan craftfully walks the fine line of hope and heartbreak in this very accessible and page-turning novel in verse.

[rhlibrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly sad, but the writing was beautiful

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A captivating novel in verse about a talented soccer player and her mother's drug addiction.

[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart just aches for Ceti in this novel in verse book. She deals with trying to keep it together while her mother's drug abuse spirals.

[Mary-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A raw, up-close view of the effects of drug abuse on your family members.

[Heidi Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel in verse young adult book is a terrifically tragic and compelling read. I was looking for more young adult books about soccer and this one delivered in a powerful way.

[Katy Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put High down. Written in verse, it is a page turner with a heart-breaking but uplifting story of a young girl who continuously overcomes and inspires. Ceti, the strong female protagonist, connects with the reader through her persistence and strength. We all need a lesson on how to face life's most difficult obstacles and continue to hope and dream. High has a powerful message and I recommend it for teens and adults.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the *moment* I began reading this book, I could not put it down. While I was in the middle of reading it, my spouse came home from a multi-day trip and was like, "Hey, pay attention to me!"