Winger by Andrew Smith

This one concludes my awesome 3-day weekend reading spree!

Ryan Dean West is 14 years old. He is also two years younger than everyone else in his grade. This year he has promised things are going to be different. Of course there are the usual and unusual problems a kid his age faces at school: he is in love with his best friend who thinks he is a cute little boy, and his roommate is a massive block of stupidity with bullying tendencies.

At the beginning I found myself wondering if I had, yet again, picked up another overhyped book. It was catchy and fun, yet not much different from books like Spud. The protagonist was also really smart and also at a disadvantage compared to the other boys in his class. But the difference was that Winger was a fighter - if that is the right word.

I giggled through many frivolous parts, wondered multiple times how the hell boys ever learn anything at school if they are that obsessed with sex, and found myself rolling my eyes with frustration as once again, Winger did something really dumb. But there were definitely some scenes that put this book into the rare 5 star category for me - scenes that not many other YA books I have read dare tread on. Yes, there are many YA books that have gay characters in them, but I have never read one that viewed it quite like this. I thought it had some really mature moments that were really quite thought-provoking.

I found most of the characters interesting. They were really a mismatched bunch: the good, the bad and the ugly. I am not sure if I quite got the vibe from some of the characters as to just how far they could go, but I suppose that had a lot to do with the first person narration and Winger not knowing - or believing it.

I would really recommend this book to teen readers - and some adults too, if they can get past pages and pages of a horny teenage boy's dialogue. In particular, people who enjoyed Spud by John van de Ruit would probably enjoy Winger - or vice versa.

This is the 19th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads for YA readers. For an adult, I think this might be closer to a 4 star rating, although there are some very mature parts that could warrant the 5.