No Effect

Tyler finds adolescence even more difficult when he falls in love with his teacher, who is dating the wrestling coach, and in an effort to win her love, he tries out for the wrestling team.

Grade 6-8-Eighth graders Tyler and Lymie, who appeared in Hayes's The Trouble with Lemons (1991) and Eye of the Beholder (1992, both Godine), try out for the high school wrestling team, which needs competitors in the lower weight divisions. In the meantime, Tyler, who provides the first-person narrative, falls hopelessly in love with his young science teacher. After drumming up the courage to invite her to his house for Thanksgiving dinner, he's crushed when she unexpectedly arrives with a date-his wrestling coach. He's also facing the stress of his first meet, which is coming up quickly. Lymie, Tyler's affable sidekick, provides constant comic relief throughout the story. Hayes adeptly portrays the concerns and insecurities of adolescent boys and also brings out the humor in their self-perceived darkest moments. The dialogue rings true to the age group, and Tyler's feelings, which range from euphoria to depression, are thoughtfully drawn. Here's hoping that we haven't seen the last of these boys.
Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tyler McAllister, earlier seen in The Trouble with Lemons and Eye of the Beholder , has gone out for the high school wrestling team, even though he's only in eighth grade. Little does he anticipate that far more strenuous contests will occur off the mat. A teacher's fatal stroke and a coach's injury call up disturbing questions about mortality, but the appearance of a new teacher, the beautiful, young Miss Williams, inspires Tyler's first love. Hayes masterfully blends humor and heartache, casting Tyler as the understated narrator of his own tumultuous affairs. Perceptive, funny and, above all, believable, Tyler struggles to strike a balance between emotional extremes as he endures the confusion and chaos of early adolescence. Hayes has a rare understanding of his characters' milieu, and readers will particularly appreciate his canny descriptions of school functionaries, such as the overeager social worker who presides over the "crisis intervention center" set up to help the essentially untroubled student body deal with the death of "Old Lady Waverly." The author's steady hand allows the reader, like Tyler, to see serious or disturbing events for what they are--part of life. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In his third novel about Tyler (who lives in upstate New York with his widowed actress mom, a housekeeper, and big-brother surrogate Chuckie, ex-Marine and present ``groundskeeper''), Hayes turns from the melodrama of The Trouble with Lemons (1991) and the farce of The Eye of the Beholder (1992) to a better balanced, more realistic story about the eighth grader in love- -with his new science teacher, Miss Williams. Hayes manipulates events freely: Miss Williams's predecessor is conveniently carried off by a stroke; immediately after, the obnoxious wrestling coach throws his back while demonstrating a move and is replaced by Chuckie, who turns out to be a former state champ. Totally smitten, Tyler invites Miss Williams to Thanksgiving and his first meet and is overjoyed at her ready acceptance; she turns out to be dating Chuckie, but Tyler's discovery of this predictable fact is neither as comic nor as shattering might be expected. Pluckily surviving his peers' hazing and establishing a more appropriate friendship with the teacher, Tyler goes on to win his meet by a fluke. Hayes understands young people, and captures their thoughts, concerns, and repartee very well, while his characters here (especially sidekick Lymie) are more consistently drawn than before. He still overburdens his narrative with detail; though it's vividly presented and mostly germane, there's far too much of it, and of explaining instead of showing. But Tyler's a likable guy, and kids his age will enjoy spending time with him. (Fiction. 11-14) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 6-8. Last seen in Eye of the Beholder (1993), Tyler McAlister is still brightly commenting on the vagaries of eighth-grade life. This time out, his attention is focused on two very different but equally absorbing topics--love and wrestling. Love has come in the form of an older woman, his science teacher, Miss Williams. Wrestling isn't nearly as pleasant as love, at least not at first. After Ty discovers Miss Williams isn't interested in him as a boyfriend (a few incidents had been pointing in that direction, at least in Ty's mind), he finds wrestling a more than adequate substitute for romance. Ty speaks in a wonderfully wry voice that could easily turn adult, but happily, still retains its essential adolescent sensibility. Certainly, young people--and yes, especially boys--will identify with both longing for the unattainable and getting into something physical to work off all that excess energy. This one's a page-turner, but readers may also have some things to think about after they close the book. Ilene Cooper