Julian Winters

Amultiethnic group of Midwestern teenage boys contend with soccer and sexual identity in this coming-of-age novel.

Recently dumped by his college-age girlfriend, rising senior Sebastian Hughes nonetheless is looking forward to his final summer at soccer training camp, where he intends to become team captain and immerse himself in the game he loves with teammates who are like family. The arrival of Emir Shah, a handsome British-Pakistani recruit who happens to be Sebastian’s former best friend, throws him into a tailspin. Emir has talent but a bad attitude, and if he wants to bring his team together, Sebastian must find common ground with a player to whom he is attracted and who’s not quite ready to overlook their complicated history. The most beautiful element of Winters’ debut novel is the construction of the camp as a teenage mecca where gay and straight coaches teach the players that team cohesion only happens when they are comfortable with themselves. The author knows his subject matter intimately, and the easy jocular dialogue between the players feels completely authentic. While the third-person perspective occasionally feels awkward, the author’s earnestness, which pops off the page, more than makes up for it.

A heartwarming freshman novel from an author poised to be a modern Matt Christopher for an older audience. (Fiction. 14-18)

-Kirkus Review… (more)

4.5 / 5 ⭐️‘s

"As You Walk On By" by Julian Winters

“Rule number one to accepting any dare: never agree to something you're not 99.5 percent positive you can complete.”

This was a heartwarming young adult novel that explores the complexities of family, friendship, and love.

Winters does an excellent job of weaving together themes of grief, love, and self-discovery in a way that feels both authentic and relatable. The characters are well-developed and nuanced, and the relationships between them feel genuine and complex. Winters also does a great job of exploring the experiences of queer and BIPOC characters, highlighting the intersections of their identities and the unique challenges they face.… (more)

Theo and his friends have been daring each other to do ridiculous things once a month since freshman year, but it takes everything going wrong for him to dare to be the person he really wants to be.

Seventeen-year-old Theodore Jamal Wright isn’t as well off as many students at Brook-Oak, his Louisville, Kentucky, magnet school. He works hard academically to meet his single dad’s expectations; trains hard on the track team to keep up with best friends Darren and Jay; and tries his best socially as a less-than-popular, more-than-awkward, out Black kid. A dare from Jay pushes Theo out of his comfort zone: attending an exclusive party and asking Christian, his crush, to the prom. At the party, Theo reconsiders some of his closest relationships: Discovering Jay possibly already knew Christian had a boyfriend and the dare was destined for hurtful failure exacerbates the growing tensions between him and the wealthy friend who hasn’t always treated him well. This in turn puts things into perspective as Theo reconciles with a friend he treated poorly in middle school. The novel excels emotionally in its portrayal of intimate moments with a small cast of vulnerable, honest, queer characters who connect meaningfully, exploring friendship in mature, thoughtful, high-stakes contexts. When the party ends, Theo must put what he’s learned into practice, realistically stumbling before he can walk away from hurtful relationship patterns and toward genuine ones.

An authentically adolescent novel seriously concerned with friendship in honest, resonant ways. (Fiction. 12-18)

-Kirkus Review… (more)

Three stars - good, engaging. If you enjoy YA, you'll probably enjoy this.

I personally found it a bit choppy, and while I appreciated the haphazardness as a legit artifact of teens, it was annoying. I've read YA novels just as full of angst and heart but with less... sloshing back and forth, I guess. I feel bad writing this, but I promised myself I'd be honest in reviews. I also returned the ebook because it's overpriced and I have no further use for it. There are other books I need more.… (more)