Running with Lions

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Duet
ISBN: 9781945053627
320 pages
Source: Little Shop of Stories

The summer before his senior year, goalie and team captain Sebastian Hughes, has a lot on his mind.

He is one piece of a well-oiled soccer team that has officially cast out the stigma around sexuality and sports, which is great. He also has made some pretty solid friendships which falls into the “great” category, as well.

In the not-so-great category, he has no idea what to do with his life after high school soccer ends, having defined himself by his team and his sport for his whole working memory. College seems terrifying, as does breathing a word of his bisexuality to his parents. Not that they would mind, necessarily; Sebastian just show more feels like coming out is some sort of statement, like running for president. an official announcement of candidacy for queerness.

In the “really not at all great” category?

His former best friend, Emir, has decided to show up as a 17-year-old rookie, to camp where he gets along with no one and doesn’t really seem interested in rekindling his former friendship with Bastian.

Now, Sebastian can either join the others in literally sidelining Emir, ignoring any past they share or, he can stand strong in his captain role, lending a hand to a very ambivalent newbie, adding to his already existing stress.

He makes the stoic choice to work with Emir which has some unintended consequences, not all of them negative.

For a bright and shiny, brand new debut, this book is a total home run (or, um, goooooooaaaaal).

I am so used to books about queer kids being about fighting homophobia. This book is gloriously different because, while Winters acknowledges the discomfort of being queer in a heteronormative world, he has also created a book in which gay athletes are a normal thing and being gay or bi is pretty normal. It allowed for the book to focus on the actual friendships and romantic feelings to be written at a deeper level as they were the focus, not just the identity piece.

The other themes that run through the book take on toxic masculinity, crying while male, body image struggles, and the normal, erratic ups and downs of being a human teenager. These are all things that are ever so needed in YA whether it’s straight or queer, and Winters just creates this epically perfect platform for all of it.

I had the pleasure of going to Julian’s launch party at which he did a deep and soulful Q&A about those issues and others. He talked at length about his desire to see the world of sports change in terms of openly gay athletes. It used to be a career ender and while it’s not a perfect utopia, now, it has gotten a lot better since we were kids. He also talked about an issue near and dear to my own heart, something I’ve talked about a lot on here and the rest of social media: representation.

When I was growing up, the heroes of books were mostly male, usually Christian, always white, and always straight. While we all know that that isn’t really the way we exist as humans, it can be a blow to anyone who doesn’t fit that straight, male, WASP mold. Julian Winters joins a new age of fiction writers and moving away from that prototype, allowing more than a select few readers to find themselves in the pages of his book.

If you can’t tell, I absolutely adored this book. It’s a must read and I can not wait to see what Winters has coming up in the next few years. show less

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. show more 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 show less

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.

This was a pretty solid read but the writing style didn't really do it for me? I think its would have worked better in first person. A lot of the sections came across as kinda preachy and most of the important dialogues kinda forced? Which was a pith because everything else really flowed.
Still, I loved the characters and I know miss playing football.

This was a super cute book. I just loved the characters. It was full of friendship and ridiculously sweet moments that just had me going ‘Awwww’ the entire time. I’m personally not a sports fan AT ALL, but thankfully while soccer is one of the main key points of the story it wasn’t overwhelming or boring with it. It didn’t stop me from loving the comraderie and relationships between all the characters There was a lot of diversity and representation in regards to sexuality, race, and even religion which is always amazing to see. Another huge thing that this book brushed on was issues with body image and especially male body image which just isn’t something that gets talked about enough. One of my complaints with the book is show more how the author broached describing the characters in the beginning. Every time a character was introduced the book immediately listed off their hair and eye color which made the writing feel kind of juvenile and choppy as it disrupted the story every time. But after all the characters were introduced it was no longer an issue and it flowed pretty well after that. Also, I didn’t really get why Emir seemed to hate Sebastian so much in the beginning? From the way he acted I assumed Sebastian had terribly betrayed him somehow, but then I guess Emir acted antagonistic toward everyone... show less

ok listen i had a bunch of issues with this book. i picked it up like seven books ago and had to leave it because i Simply Wasn't Connecting and i really thought i wasnt gonna finish it. these issues kept being there further on, but i immediately noticed that i was reading teenagers written by adults. you know that feeling? like the issues felt superficial and the banter didnt go anywhere, like it was there for the hell of it? a lot of whatever and shut up when someone can't push the banter further? a lot of that. so i quit.

but then i read All For The Game and my sports gays hormones were running high and i said you know what? fuck it we're just gonna power thru. coincidentally, i think i had abandoned right before things actually show more picked up, so this time i was actually able to genuinely enjoy it!

its not perfect alright? it isn't. especially not after the beast that is AFTG because those are. very complex and deep and this is more of a light summer read WHICH IS FINE but also that contrast highlighted some issues:

-the sports gays angle was... a lot of gays and not enough sports? i cant believe im saying this, a year ago i would have slappec myself across the face, but after AFTG (which made me literally fall in love with a sport that doesnt exist) and fence (which made me fall in love with fencing, which does exist) i have come to the conclusion that the sport must serve a purpose other than simply Be There. and i felt nothing for the soccer. i was ready to be like HELL YEAH GOAL THAT or whatever yall soccer people say, and yet i didnt. also, emir went from the Absolute Worst to the Absolute Best and we only get a glimpse of the reason and that makes me BITTER how tf did that happen mister

-i like that we discussed body dysmorphia, i dont love how lightly we breezed over it. i COMMEND the fact that it was there at all, but also, it fizzled and dissolved unsatisfactorily, and didnt show up when it needed to. are you really going to tell me this guy who regularly looks in the mirror and pinches as the "excess" did not have a glam of self consciousness when he slept with the boy he likes, that he considers absolutely perfect and stunning and out of his league? did not fuckin think so. so. good attempt, next time lets do more of it

-can we NOT do the "hes mean to you because he likes you" thing anymore? or at least call it out properly? because the way mason treats grey the entire time is UNCOOL man and shes a firecracker and deserves better and should have fuckin kicked his head like the football

other than that. cute! we LOVE pakistani gay emir and bi disaster bastian. its super cool to see a confident, secure, open bisexual character, we dont get a lot of those. also, i liked that we introduced emir's faith into it, although i dont know how accurate it is (and i really hope this was fact checked and shit with people who actually practice it). theyre really cute as a couple and though their falling out as kids wasnt exactly what i thought had happened, what actually did happen was satisfactory enough. i like them they get a pass. my absolute favorite characters, tho? willie and hunter. LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THEM WHERES THEIR BOOK SIR.

all in all: more soccer, more realism in the body dysmorphia, less mysoginy, but just the right amount of kissies in the lake and gay panic and hoodie stealing. and the title is pretty as hell. not mad at it! show less

Updated review 6/14/2018
Sebastian is an awkward teenage soccer player whose whole life revolves around his favorite sport. He is the one with the cool head in the team, a peacemaker and negotiator, total captain material but at the same time, he is also feeling lost because he doesn't have a clue what to do after graduation. He also turns into a clueless idiot when having to talk to Emir -- his British Pakistani once-childhood-best-friend-turned-noone -- whom he wants to help with the game.

Their relationship is the sweetest part of this book. It takes time for them to uncover their resentments about becoming apart during their early teens and now slowly have to start building up the trust again. There are lots of hurdles in the way - show more Bastian has to deal with his insecurities and low self-esteem issues and the shy introverted Emir has to come out of his shell and try to open up to Bastian and also the team. While they have some trouble in navigating their newfound feelings for each other, their sexuality is never an issue. Bastian may be a little terrified of telling his family he is bisexual, but his friends know and it's all cool with the team. Emir is a practicing Muslim gay teen who is totally comfortable with his orientation while also being true to his religious beliefs. They both are so cute together and I absolutely loved their morning runs, rainy soccer lessons and the adorable summer dates. Their feelings for each other are so obvious even though they never talk it out but everyone around them can totally see it.

This book has some amazing side characters. Bastian's group of friends are super cool - I loved Willie and Hunter and Grey. Mason and Zach act like douches sometimes, but are also very supportive of everyone in their team. They are also a very diverse group of teens but their races or orientations are never an issue in their friendships or team. Coach Patrick is the best example of how a mentor should be - tough, dedicated, motivating and also very inclusive and encouraging of all his players. His belief that anyone should be able to play on his team, purely based on merit and irrespective of their sexuality forms the crux of this story and that's the attitude he inculcates in all the boys. The parents in this book are also very accepting of their kids and their support shines through.

There is obviously not a lot of plot here. It's just about a boy finding his footing in life, falling in love and accepting himself for who and how he is. The whole vibe of this book is very positive with wonderful messages about being okay with feeling lost, letting life take it's course, playing sports not just for the sake of winning but for being a part of a family based on mutual respect, parents being the biggest champions of their kids, and not judging anyone based on social constructs and inherent prejudices.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves character driven, wholesome and heartwarming stories. Perfect summer sports romance with beautiful friendships.

6/13/2018
This book was lovely and cute and so heartwarming... Definitely another perfect summer read with the perfect atmosphere..
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