Tim Tharp

Sutter Keely is not your normal YA novel teen: he's friendly, smart (-alecky), funny, articulate, adventurous, and an alcoholic. At turns, achingly self-aware and then obtuse, 'The Sutterman' stumbles through his senior year, learning a bit about his long-absent, deadbeat dad, befriending a "loser" girl, Aimee, and --most of all-- having a good time. The reader not only sees the bad choices he makes but cares enough to feel sad about them. But this is no After-School Special: Sutter is still show more "God's Own Drunk" at the end of the book.

The voice is authentic; the actions ring true = a more harrowing look at the dangers of drinking than any MADD pamphlet. show less

So different than all of the vampire/angel/werewolf books or the spoiled brat city kid dramas out there. I really enjoyed this book.

Hampton Green is the star of his high school football team. Not that Hampton feels like a star or even believes he deserves to be a star. Sure, he's a fantastic linebacker who has garnered the attention of college football scouts. But it's Hampton's best friend, Blaine, who is the real star. Until Blaine injured his knee during a game, he'd been the one show more everyone had cheered for. And it was Blaine and Blaine's father who taught Hampton all about football in the first place, after Hampton's own father abandoned Hampton and his mother years ago. So naturally Hampton feels a deep sense of loyalty to his friend.

However, Blaine's life is unraveling at a scary pace, and Hampton is starting to question things that had not so long ago seemed so simple. For example, why is it so wrong for him to want to date Sarah, a girl who might not look like the typical cheerleader/jock trophy girlfriend but seems to understand Hampton like nobody ever before. As Blaine loses his grip, Hampton has to figure out the difference between loyalty and blind obedience before his own world falls apart.

Tim Tharpe does an amazing job capturing Hampton's authentic voice. With a combination of Oklahoma dialect and Hampton's simple way of looking at things, he comes across as a real kid whose perception of himself is faulty and far too self-deprecating.

One aspect of this story that came as some surprise for me was the amount of suspense it contained. As an adult, I watched as Blaine's story unfolded through Hampton's innocent eyes - it was so clear to me what was happening and how Blaine was close to imploding while Hampton couldn't see it. I was terrified that Blaine would drag Hampton down with him and destroy Hampton's limited chances for a good future.

As a character, Blaine was hard to like. His motivations for acting the way he did are very clear and understandable, and I can totally believe his spiral out of control. However, the way he treated Hampton was hard to bear, especially given the amount of blind loyalty Hampton felt for his best friend. Many times I wanted to reach into the pages and give Hampton a good shake and tell him to ditch Blaine, that the guy was bad news and not a good friend at all. Hampton deserved so much better.

This is a great story for both boys and girls. There are some fairly descriptive passages about football games and plays, but these work fairly well and are easy to understand even for a non-football geek like me. Mostly, Hampton is an immensely likable character, and you just want so badly for things to turn out well for him. show less

A really good book with a really unlikeable narrator. I know I'm supposed to love Sutter--he's the life of the party! He's popular! He's friendly!--but he's also kind of an asshole, I thought, even aside from his alcohol problem--he's just so outgoing and everything's-a-joke that he really got on my nerves.

I enjoyed the book and I wouldn't be surprised if it lands on the Printz shortlist--but Sutter is not someone I'd want to spend any more time with than I already did.

Oh my God! Where has this book been all my life?! Why am I just now reading it?!? This is hands down the most honest look at teenage "romance." There aren't knights in shining armor. People have flaws, there is no perfect relationship. There is no happy ending, this is a real look at how many guys are... not perfect! Instead of the usual girl meets perfect boy (ie knight in shining armor) this is the story of a boy who isn't perfect. He's a funny likable guy and girls love him, but he's not show more a good guy and he knows it. The whole time you root for bad boy Sutter to turn his life around and be the boyfriend that Aimee loves and deserves. But life isn't always that cut and dry! People have real flaws to work with! Sutter is a high school student who drinks from sun up to sun down, he's always the life of the party. Girls love him, guys want to be him. He's so at ease with everything and takes nothing seriously. He has no life ambitions and just lives from day to day. Then comes Aimee a shy, quiet nerd, Sutter thinks that she can be his charity case and he'll give her the skills and confidence that she so desperately needs. But of course that's not how it works does it? They start to fall in love with each other. She brings out a new side in Sutter that he's not sure he likes.

Soo funny, witty, honest, and heartbreaking. I loved this book and the movie adaptation of it. Miles Teller was THE PERFECT choice to portray Sutter. A definite must read and a must see! show less