Sunday, October 31, 2010

Carter's Big Break - Brent Crawford

Carter's Big Break by Brent Crawford
I loved the first book in this series, Carter Finally Gets It. In this follow up Will Carter has just finished his freshman year of high school. His plans for the summer are dashed when he finds out he's can't be a lifeguard at the local pool with his friends. Also, Carter's girlfriend Abby, breaks up with after a very stupid move on his part. Carter's summer starts to look better after being cast play the lead roll in the movie Down Gets Out.

Down Gets Out is Carter's favorite book and the only unassigned book he's read. Carter's getting cast in a major movie is very believable, thanks to his starring roll in the school play Guys and Dolls. C.B. Down author of Down Gets Out, loved Carter's performance. Carter's co star is Hilary Idaho, a famous teen star. The movie is being shot in Carter's small town. He must show Hilary around town and what show her what it means to be a regular teenager.

This was an okay follow up. Carter Finally Gets It, was so good it would be very hard to match that. I still loved Carter's honest and funny voice. One of the books many strengths is how realistic Carter's various relationships come across. There is such an ease to Crawford's writing when it comes to these scenes. The author plays Carter and Abby off of each other very well. The same goes for Carter and his group of guy friends.

I don't rate books on my blog, but I must when I place reviews on amazon. At the end Carter's Big Break went from a four to a three. I felt the author hit the reader over the head with lessons. From Carter understanding how lucky he was. To him feeling sorry for Hilary Idaho, the famous teen star with an addiction problem and parents who don't seem to care. All of this took some of the fun out of the reading. Though Carter's voice makes this well worth reading. (I will always want more Carter)

This series is highly recommend for teenage boys. Especially since its so far from required reading. ages 14 up

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