Customer Reviews

The Comeback Season

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When their father passed away in an accident, Ryan was only nine years old and her sister Emily was a toddler. Now a freshman in high school, Ryan is pretty much just treading water, her head and heart firmly planted in the past as she watches everyone else move on. Her old friends aren't really in touch with her. Her mother has remarried and is expecting another child. Her sister adores her stepfather and knows him better than she ever knew her father. Ryan feels as though she's the only one who honors his memory anymore.

On the fifth anniversary of her father's death, Ryan leaves school early to attend the first game of the season at Wrigley Field. It's more of an impromptu decision than a rebellious moment. She loved going to the games with her father. Because he supported the Cubs, so does she, even if they aren't the winningest team. They went to the games more out of love for the team than for love of the game itself. Ryan doesn't play baseball herself, nor does she have interest in any other teams or sports.

While at the opening game, she bumps into a kid from school. They start talking, and she is instantly at ease with him. His name is Nick, and his presence will change her life. Without looking for loyalty, love, or friendship, all three have found her. Nick has his own reasons for being guarded, yet he remains optimistic about the future.

Ryan's relationship with Nick teaches her to have hope. From their first encounter and throughout the book, their silences say as much as their dialogue. After feeling lonely for so long, Ryan finally connects with someone, someone who makes her want to move forward instead of backward. Shortly after she takes that first step forward, life presents her with a series of new challenges. Again scared and unsure, she stumbles into the bargaining phase of grief.

Jennifer E. Smith's debut novel is poignant and memorable. The premise will grab sports fans, but the story is for everyone. You needn't be a baseball enthusiast to enjoy this book. It's far more about loss, hope, and trust than about pitches and innings. The Comeback Season will appeal not only to fans of the Cubs, but also to fans of Sarah Dessen and Nicholas Sparks.

Ryan Walsh is a girl who loves the Chicago Cubs. It's not just about baseball to her, though. It's more about her dad, who passed away when she was ten years old, who sparked her love for the team. She's a freshmen in high school now, and the year didn't turn out quite how she wanted it to, with her drifting further apart from her grade school friends, Kate and Sydney.

Everything changes for Ryan on Opening Day, when she goes to Wrigley Field to try and scalp a ticket. Though she ends up having to enjoy the game outside of the stadium, it's all worth it, for that day is when she really meets the new kid at school, Nick.

From then on, they have a relationship that builds quickly based on things like baseball and knowing when to just be silent together. Things are finally starting to look up for Ryan, when it all starts to get out of her control again. The feelings of helplessness. The fear. In the end, Ryan will have a hard lesson to learn. How to move forward, without forgetting the past.

THE COMEBACK SEASON was an amazing story about getting through the tough times in life to make it to the other side. The friendship between Ryan and Nick is warming and hilarious at the same time, reflecting the lives of friends all over the world. Jennifer E. Smith mixes life...love...death...strength...and baseball in a beautiful way that will keep you flipping the pages and ready to tread through the journey alongside Ryan. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be happy, you'll be mad. But most of all, you'll love this book, whether a fan of sports or not, because more then that, it's simply a story of learning how to live and thrive during the good and bad times.

Reviewed by: Lauren Ashley

I loooooved this book. A lot happens, and I don't want to spoil the plot, but the basic story is about a fifteen-year-old girl and what happens during a year of her life (backstory: her father died when she was ten). The author perfectly captures what it's like to be that age -- the changing friendships, the school dance, dealing with your parents in a new way, coming to grips with bigger issues. There are a lot of books on just these subjects, of course, but this book makes them fresh and fascinating. I ripped through the book in two sittings.

It would also make a terrific gift -- no need to worry about age appropriateness.

Five years ago, Ryan's father died, and since then she's felt as if she's been living life in a fog, never truly awake. All that changes on opening day of the Chicago Cubs' season, when she finds herself skipping school and on a train headed to watch the game. Here is where she feels her father the most, eagerly cheering on the worst team in the league, and making that timeless bargain of "If the Cubs win, then..." Here is where she also meets Nick, new to her school. Nick shares her passion for baseball and the Cubs, and soon the two are fast friends, and maybe even more. But do they have the courage to look beyond what may happen and live their lives the way they want?
Smith takes a deep look at death at how the human spirit deals with the tragedy in this novel. Ryan is an admirable character and the reader will find themselves empathizing, crying, and rejoicing with her as this beautiful story unfolds. Though some readers might find the thorough history of the Chicago Cubs team history dull, it is cleverly interspersed throughout the book so as not to slow down the story. The Comeback Season is a heartwarming mix of love and acceptance, life and death, and humor and sadness that you will not soon forget. Jennifer E. Smith is definitely an author to watch.

For more book reviews, author interviews, and contests, visit: http://thecompulsivereader.blogspot.com/

As a public librarian, I review a lot of books, particularly young adult titles so I can make useful suggestions to patrons. This is one of the best I've read in the past three years. The author blended angst, loss, grief, blended families, changing friendships, illness, the love of a baseball team and secrets to create a seamless story that grabbed me on page one and didn't let me free until the following evening when I finished it with a sigh. It has an ending that, unlike many books, is a bit ambiguous, just like real life. This is one I will really push to my YA summer readers as a great book that will both captivate and provoke feelings.

Carving out a few hours for myself on a lazy Saturday, I decided to give this book a shot and I have to say that I was impressed from start to finish. Being an on again off again fanatical baseball fan, the parallels between life and sport set an enjoyable backdrop for a story which comes across as both heartfelt and personal. You can tell that Smith is truly a fan of the game as her enthusiasm effortlessly blends into a story balancing the emotional difficulties and triumphs found in family, friendship, and love. On top of all this, the writing itself shows more eloquence and mastery of storytelling than one might expect from a first novel in the genre. I recommend this to anyone who has a few spare hours and enjoys coming away from novels feeling as though they were just entrusted with a touching story from a close friend.

I read this last summer and fell in love with it. It's not just for Young Adults. Every parent should buy it, read it, give it to their daughter or son and then they can talk about it together. It's a simple story of love, friendship, family and baseball. Jennifer Smith has a gift for story telling. She captures the feelings of young adults to a tee. You will not regret reading this! I can't wait for Jennifer's next book.

Ms. Smith has written a YA novel that doesn't talk down to her readers. She tells a good story with themes of friendship, loss, family relationships and social insecurities. Ryan Walsh is a sympathetic protagonist that readers will identify with as she deals with lonliness and sorrow as well as optimism for a winning season for the Cubs and a budding friendship with the popular new kid, Nick. Facts, lore, and history of the Cubs is cleverly woven throughout the story. Ms. Smith's affection for the team shines throughout the book as parallels are drawn between hope and acceptance for the Cubs's chances for winning and the events happening in her own life.
I recommend this book without reservation for any young adult reader as well as their parents. The story was told with honesty, and it made me cry without resorting to sentimentality. I hated to put it down. Hard to believe this is Ms. Smith's first novel. I look forward to more.

Title: The Comeback Season
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: March 2008
Pages: 256

Rating: B+
Plot - 16/20
Characters - 19/20
Writing - 18/20
Originality - 16/20
Entertainment - 9/10
Recommendation - 10/10
Total: 88/100

Summary:
The last place Ryan Walsh should be this afternoon is on a train heading to Wrigley Field. She should be in class, enduring yet another miserable day of her first year of high school. But for once, Ryan isn't thinking about what she should be doing. She's not worried about her lack of friends, or her suffering math grade, or how it's been five whole years since the last time she was really and truly happy. Because she's finally returning to the place that her father loved, where the two of them spent so many afternoons cheering on their team. And on this -- the fifth anniversary of his death -- it feels like there's nowhere else in the world she should be.
Ryan is once again filled with hope as she makes her way to the game. Good luck is often hard to come by at a place like Wrigley Field, but it's on this day that she meets Nick, the new kid from her school, who seems to love the Cubs nearly as much as she does. But Nick carries with him a secret that makes Ryan wonder if anyone can ever really escape their past, or believe in the promise of those reassuring words: "Wait till next year." Is it too much for Ryan to hope that this year, this season, might be her comeback season?

Review:
I had heard so many great things about this novel, and I had high expectations. And they were filled to the brim. Smith crafted a calm, heartwarming and moving novel that will take your breath away. With Smith's composed writing style and touching characters, this book will grip tight and not let go. I read it on Sunday in one sitting, I could not part ways with it.

Ryan is a brilliant and delicate in her beautiful way. Her character is truly a unique character. All the characters Smith fashioned were all well defined. Her story was strictly a stunning story of loss, love, and most of all hope. Hope for the Cubs and for Nick both.

The fact that Smith added baseball as a common interest between Ryan and her dad and also for Ryan and Nick, and with out having it labeled as a 'baseball' read was fantastic. It's not about baseball, it's about the Cubs, as Ryan says, but also, like I said above, loss, love, and hope.

Jennifer E. Smith created a wonderfully enjoyable and highly recommend novel that I am sure anybody would love, because what's not to love about this novel?