Cracking the Bell

Name: Cracking the Bell
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Geoff Herbach
ISBN: 9780062988041

Author: Geoff Herbach

Narrator: Graham Halstead

Unabridged: 6 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 09/10/2019

Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Sports, Football, Health & Daily Living, Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries, Family

Synopsis

Friday Night Lights meets Concussion in this powerful and important novel by Geoff Herbach, author of the Stupid Fast series, exploring the dangerous concussion crisis in football through the eyes of a high school team captain.Isaiah loves football. In fact, football saved Isaiah’s life, giving him structure and discipline after his sister’s death tore his family apart. But when Isaiah gets knocked out cold on the field, he learns there’s a lot more to lose than football.While recovering from a concussion, Isaiah wonders what his life would look like without the game. All his friends are on the team, and Isaiah knows they can’t win without him. The scholarship offer from Cornell is only on the table if he keeps playing. And without football, what would keep his family together? What would prevent him from sliding back into the habits that nearly destroyed him?Isaiah must decide how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the sport that gave him everything, even if playing football threatens to take away his future.

About Geoff Herbach

Geoff Herbach is the author of Hooper and the award-winning Stupid Fast series, as well as Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders. His books have been given the Cybils Award for Best Young Adult Fiction and the Minnesota Book Award, selected for the Junior Library Guild, and listed among the year’s best by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, and many state library associations. In the past, he produced radio comedy shows and toured rock clubs telling weird stories. Geoff teaches creative writing at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He lives in a log cabin with a tall wife. You can find him online at www.geoffherbach.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Matthew

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

Goodreads review by Madison

I love YA sports novels and Geoff Herbach knows exactly how to write one that is on-trend, poignant, realistic, gritty and doesn’t pull its punches. And that’s exactly what I got from Cracking The Bell. Isaiah lives for football. It’s what keeps him busy and away from the temptations that come with......more

Goodreads review by Amy

Many thanks to EdelweissPlus and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title for review. All opinions are my own. I was so very excited to see that Herbach had another sports-themed book coming out after I fell in love with his novel Hooper last year. This book tackles football and foo......more

Goodreads review by Gary

Although Geoff Herbach’s young-adult novels are consistently satisfying, his new book Cracking the Bell digs a little deeper and delivers a story as important as it is engaging. High school senior Isiah is moving on from his rough life of a few years ago. Isaiah’s family disintegrated when his sister......more

Goodreads review by Isaac

Cracking the Bell by Geoff Herbach is about a kid named Isaiah and how he had to deal with a good amount of PTSD from the last time he played football and almost couldn’t walk for the rest of his life. He was playing a game in middle school and he got hit in a very wrong way that ended up paralyzing......more