SE Reading Buffs 1st discussion

Pinned
Sharon G. Flake
2012
230 pages

Pinned, written by Sharon G. Flake is a fiction novel. It is filled with a combination of love and hard work. The story explores the relationship between two high school students. The two were very different in a way but they were also very much alike. Told in alternating viewpoints, the story explores the idea of friendship and the means of individuality.

The setting takes place at Beacher Academy, a high school. With the story being told from two different viewpoints, it alters from Autumn, a teen girl and Adonis, a teen boy. They both stumble with their disabilities. Autumn is an outgoing person who is well known for being the best female wrestler. People come up to her and tell her how great she is but little do they know, autumn is struggling in reading, she is three years behind her class. On the other hand Adonis is shy and keeps to himself. He is doing exceptionally well in school, he loves books and loves to read. Due to a birth defect Adonis has no legs and is confined to a wheelchair. He still manages to keep a positive attitude and strive for academic excellence.

Autumn is completely in love with Adonis but he tends to just overlook her. He is more interested in being worshiped by his teachers than trying to construct relationships or friendships with his fellow peers. Throughout the whole story Autumn was focused on wrestling and trying to get Adonis to love her. Distracted by the two, Autumn was falling more and more behind in reading. She was constantly battling with trying to solve algebra and learning how to become a better reader. Since her parents didn’t strive for her to do better, she took advantage of that and decided to give up altogether. Adonis did not like Autumn, he ignores and tries to avoid her. What Adonis seem to hate the most, was that Autumn couldn’t read. Although he’s not willing to admit it he thinks about her all of the time and sometimes has dreams about them being together. As the story takes its course, Adonis began to gain feelings for Autumn, his last words to her were “I love you Autumn Knight”.

“Pinned” has a lot of love and dedication behind it, that’s one of the reasons I enjoyed reading it. It takes the perspective of two teens and the challenges that they have to face. Both of the characters have something that they suffer from. Autumn is a talented female wrestler who struggles in reading, and Adonis is academically ambitious but has trouble making friends and is faced with a physical disability. One thing I dislike about the story is I felt as if it was dragged out. There weren’t any character changes, up until the last few pages of the book. Everyone was the same throughout the whole story. I would recommend the book to young adults who are interested in a love story. I say this because ‘Pinned” is based off of what the characters love and are aspired by and in the end the two fell in love with each other.

Good review! Are you into romance novels ?

I enjoyed your book review. I think that this is a good example of opposites attract. If someone is good at reading, and the other is not, their opposites help each other. The person who is good at reading helps the other who isn't, and the other may have a hidden trait to help the other person with. This also is a good example of taking a negative trait and making something positive with it. Overall I think that it is a great book, and I hope to be able to read it one day.