'Winger' by Andrew Smith

Smith, Andrew. Winger. New York: Simon and  Schuster, 2013. Print.

Photo by: Simon and Schuster

If you read the blurb on the back of the book that summarizes Winger, a few thoughts might run through your head.  It describes Ryan Dean West, a fourteen year-old junior at Pine Mountain, an exclusive boarding school in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon.  A few of the thoughts that went through my head were: #poorlittlerichboy and #firstworldproblems.

Ryan Dean (yes, that's his first name) doesn't mind attending Pine Mountain.  He doesn't have the best relationship with his parents to begin with, and his father is a politician in Boston.  Ryan Dean is a bit precocious and, as Pine Mountain is in a remote location, it effectively removes any chance of scandal back home.  Before you get the idea that Pine Mountain is a refuge for poor little rich kids, here are a few of their rules: no cell phones, no iPods, uniforms -- at all times, and all the students are required to participate in at least one sport.  Oh, and there's existence of Opportunity Hall, the dorm for "troublemakers".  Opportunity Hall, or O-Hall, is no picnic.  There are no locks on the doors, the shower curtains in the boys' bathroom are on the grungy side, and scary Mrs. Singer oversees the vacant girls' floor of O-Hall.

Ryan Dean has been assigned to live in O-Hall because of an incident the previous school year, and his roommate is none other than Chas Becker, a large, menacing senior, who Ryan Dean is convinced wants to kill him.  The book follows Ryan Dean and his exploits over the first few months of the school year at Pine Mountain.  Ryan Dean tries to not rouse the ire of Chas, fit in with the much older boys in O-Hall, keep his position on the varsity rugby team, and get his best friend Annie to admit she's mad about him.

Smith writes the book from the point-of-view of Ryan Dean, so we're privy to all his inner thoughts about girls, his classes, rugby, girls, the inhabitants of O-Hall, girls...  Smith captures Ryan Dean in all his adolescent glory.  His inner voice can be quite profane, but Ryan Dean is a sweet kid at heart, who can recognize his mistakes.  Ryan Dean is a wonderfully complex character, who struggles to find his niche at Pine Mountain.  He's too mature for the other fourteen year-olds, but still a kid in many ways to his classmates in the eleventh grade.  Ryan Dean has a wry, amusing take on life, perhaps especially when life decides to make situations as humiliating to Ryan Dean as possible.

Other characters are less well-drawn, especially the girls.  At first glance, it's possible that Smith ventured into Mary Sue territory, because all the girls are, in Ryan Dean's word, "hot".  Two girls in particular, Annie and Megan, are almost too perfect so that it hurts to look at them.  On further reflection, perhaps it's because we're looking at them through Ryan Dean's eyes, so of course they are presented in the burnished glow of Ryan Dean's admiration.  Chas is a grunting, seething, looming presence in the book.  Nick and Casey, two of the other boys in O-Hall, are painted as stereotypical aggressive jocks.  One of the characters that has the potential to be as complex and interesting as Ryan Dean is Joey Cosentino, who is a stereotype-defying gay teen, often serving as the voice of Ryan Dean's conscience.  Joey gently guides Ryan Dean into being a better man, while Ryan Dean wholeheartedly accepts Joey as one of his best friends.

Ryan Dean is an artist, so the book is littered with his illustrations that depict his rich imagination or his current state of mind as presented in various graphs.  The overall tone is endearing, engaging, and often hilarious.  There is a dark turn toward the end of the book, and Smith cuts things short with that event.  There is a sequel, Stand-Off, that should be published next fall.  Hopefully, Smith will let us see how Ryan Dean has coped with the events that marked the end of Winger.  

To borrow a phrase from Ryan Dean, I give Winger a four-out-of-five-chicken-potpies-on-the-Lisa-scale-of-you-should-read-this.  It makes a welcome departure from the glut of vampire and dystopian novels cluttering the YA shelves.