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Brian Katcher

Author of Almost Perfect

6 Works 918 Members 51 Reviews

Works by Brian Katcher

Almost Perfect (2009) 528 copies
Playing with Matches (2008) 171 copies
Deacon Locke Went to Prom (2017) 29 copies
Everyone Dies in the End (2014) 16 copies
Marley's Ghost (2022) 1 copy

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Marley may be dead, but he's as much a character as anyone in this book. In fact, he reminds me of folks I've sat in AA meetings with over the years, crusty on the outside, but scratch them and you find they're filled with the marshmallow of regret. If our dead loved ones live on through our memories, then Marley is alive as anyone in the story. His unexpected death in a motorcycle accident hit his nephews the hardest. They, along with the Vanessa and Jessica, semi and not so semi love interests, all suffer from what I'll call the Fizbin of self-doubt. Aaron is held hostage by fear...fear that his beliefs aren't enough, fear that his adoption might somehow dissolve, leaving him alone. Kyler's albatross is his having been sickly in his infant years ailments that still have his mother keeping him in metaphorical diapers.
When the two boys spend time at Marley's fishing camp, a fond place for Kyler, but one Aaron never got a chance to visit, they're surprised by a scruffy dude who doesn't know they're there, and after they chase him off, Kyler finds an envelope with numerical clues. It's Jessica who realizes they're GPS coordinates and what ensues is a road trip to a park in South Carolina that unfolds like a Hope and Crosby road picture crossed with PG rated Bonnie and Clyde.
All four teens come to interesting realizations during this adventure and, while it at first seems like they've lost, the opposite is true and the book ends with a neat teaser. I hope that turns into a second book.
… (more)
 
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sennebec | Dec 26, 2022 |
A beautiful novel, but also heartbreaking, and possibly triggering to anyone who is, or loves, a trans teen. It made me very sad, probably because it is so very real and honest.
 
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kenf | 25 other reviews | Sep 10, 2022 |
Cute and fun enough. It reminded me of The Sorcerer's Apprentice (movie) minus the "sorcery", and One Day.

No wonder he wants me to read this. XD
 
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Emmie199x | 9 other reviews | Jul 25, 2022 |
Leon Sanders wants a girlfriend desperately but he has low expectations about his prospects. He also has low self esteem and when he makes Melody Hennon smile, he overcomes his squeamishness about her looks and becomes friends with her. Melody was severely disfigured in a fire when she was four years old. As their friendship grows, like any teenage boy Leon begins to notice her nicer physical attributes and begins to have romantic feelings for her, but he cannot overcome his fear of what others will think of him for dating her, after all she’s the school pariah. To complicate matters, Leon saves his crush, Amy, from a suspension and then she begins to show some interest in him. Leon is torn between his growing feelings for and intimacy with Melody and his opportunity to date a girl who, in his view, is a living angel. The character development is strong, especially of Leon and Melody. Katcher writes about Leon’s struggles and Melody’s strength poignantly but it is hard to accept that a boy as insecure as Leon would ever become involved with Melody in the first place. The book raises important questions about looks, how people treat those who look differently, popularity, and relationships.… (more)
 
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Dairyqueen84 | 10 other reviews | Mar 15, 2022 |

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Works
6
Members
918
Popularity
#27,946
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
51
ISBNs
36
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3

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