One Shot Away: A Wrestling Story - Hardcover

Coughlin, T. Glen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062083236 ISBN 13: 9780062083234

Publisher: HarperTeen, 2012

Synopsis

They're all just one shot away

It's senior year and the last season for Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor on the Molly Pitcher High School varsity wrestling team. And they all want the same thing: to win.

But Diggy's got to compete with his older brother's legacy, and now he's in danger of losing his spot to the newcomer, Trevor. Not to mention he's got girl problems. Jimmy's got the cops on his tail and a girlfriend who looks down on him. Then Diggy does the unthinkable—he betrays a teammate. Can the team forgive him? And can he forgive himself?

With the pressure building and loyalties splintering, Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor have got one shot to make weight and get onto the mat. Because pinning your opponent is about more than just winning.

About this title

About the Author:

T. Glen Coughlin is the acclaimed author of two novels, The Hero of New York and Steady Eddie, as well as a number of short stories. An avid wrestling enthusiast, Glen began attending matches and tournaments in 2002 when his son started wrestling as a high school freshman. He still actively follows high school and college wrestling. He was raised in New York and currently lives in New Jersey with his family.

From Booklist:

In this intense but cheerless tale, dead or bad fathers shape the emotional landscapes of three high-school wrestlers. Trevor’s determination to make the varsity team after a previous failure is fueled by grief for his father, killed in a traffic accident—but mostly he wrestles with anger over his mother’s growing attachment to a local businessman. Jimmy, team captain, suffers weeks of silent agony about the repercussions of helping his father steal a load of lumber. A weight issue and a physically and verbally abusive sports dad push Diggy into a prank that nearly leads to the death of a teammate. Written in brief, alternating-point-of-view chapters of present-tense narrative, the multistranded story features a disappointingly small amount of wrestling action—just one match between Diggy and Trevor, and one meet halfway through—but does include some dramatic peaks, slice-of-life domestic and sexual encounters, and character portraits of adolescents feeling their way toward futures that look to go in very different directions. Grades 9-12. --John Peters

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0062083236
• ISBN 13: 9780062083234
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336