2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stepping Up to the Plate- A Joyfully Recommended Title, March 4, 2008
This review is from: Stepping Up to the Plate (Paperback)
At the age of twenty, high school drop out Stacy Evans has been spending the last four years just getting by. At sixteen dropping out of school seemed like a good idea, but Stacy soon found his options limited. Living with Lamar, a verbally abusive friend with benefits was beginning to take a toll on him, especially when Lamar behavior starts to turn possessive. His friend Ange with whom he also enjoys a physical relationship with is the only thing he cares about as his life heads toward a dead end.
When Stacy's mother steps in and enrolls him into a program to help him get his GED, Stacy is not very acceptable to the idea. Just to prove those who doubt him wrong and to not disappoint Ange who aside from his mother is the only one who has any belief him, Stacy reluctantly agrees to attend. It's here where he meets Darian the woodshop instructor. Darian convinces Stacy to take his course and from there they begin one of the healthiest friendships Stacy has ever had.
Stepping up to the Plate is a wonderful drama about a young man (with way too much attitude) climbing out of the dead end rut of his life. Darian entered Stacy's life and befriended him at the right time. Even though there were many times in this story where I wanted to yell at Stacy and shake him, I still couldn't help but like him and hope for the best for him. That best just happened to be Darian, big, strong, compassionate and caring Darian. He was able to do what no one else could do, and that was to get Stacy to take his life serious and focus on the positive. And then there was Ange, I really liked him, out of the dysfunctional circle of friends Stacy hung out with Ange was the only who truly cared for him. I had bittersweet feelings regarding the conclusion where Ange was concerned but J.M Snyder being the brilliantly perceptive writer that she is wrote a short sequel that helped with that a lot. Stepping up to the Plate is not what I would call a romantic or highly erotic story even though there is strong sexual content, but it is a captivating story and one that I Joyfully Recommend.
Ley
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Stepping Up to the Plate by J.M. Snyder, December 4, 2010
This review is from: Stepping Up to the Plate (Paperback)
Stepping Up to the Plate is not an easy romance, since probably it's not even a romance, or at least it's not only a romance. When the story starts Stacy, the main character, is only 16 years old, but don't think that this is making the novel a cute coming of age story: Stacy's life is far from being cute or pretty or easy. He is a troubled kid, a working mum who loves her son but has not enough money, or courage, to pretend a better life for him; a step-dad who probably doesn't like Stacy and would be more than glad to see him gone; a circle of friends that instead of helping him going through these difficult years is dragging him down. It's probably only out of luck that Stacy ends only with leaving school.
Four years later a 20 years old Stacy is not much different: he is living with Lamar, but Lamar is not exactly his boyfriend; he has a crush on Ange, but neither Ange is exactly his boyfriend; he is having sex with both of them, and probably with other guys, but Stacy doesn't see where that is wrong when all of them are fine and good. Sex is nothing more than a scratching an itch and even if he thinks that maybe he in love with Ange, Stacy doesn't really know what love is. Moreover Stacy doesn't have much self-esteem, so if people, or Lamar, is treating him like trash, maybe he is not so wrong, maybe he deserves nothing more.
But Ange, and Stacy's mother, have not the same idea and they convince Stacy to get his GED and try to do something better in his life; if not for his immediately liking of the trade teacher, Darian, Stacy would have probably abandoned also this chance at a better life, but for once sex did something good for him. Darian is an Afro-American big guy who takes a liking for the scranny kid maybe since he wants to be for Stacy what his big brother was for him when he was that same age and needed direction. True, Darian's feeling for Stacy are not exactly brotherly, but as I said this is not exactly a romance, so don't expect a steamy story of sex between a student and his teacher: Darian has a better opinion of Stacy than Stacy himself. Darian uses sex as a carrot with an horses, he entices Stacy with it, but he has to do something good before being allowed to reach for it.
The story is very long and it's all about Stacy; it's a long journey, from being a kid to an adult, and Stacy is the right example of how sometime the school system is not able to save or comprehend the kids. Stacy is not particularly bad, he is not a criminal, but he is not even a diamond star, he is an average guy, with an average brighteness. Being in the middle, not bad, not good, he was almost forgotten and instead Stacy only need a little care and someone who believes in him. Darian is that man; I like him, he is good to Stacy, but probably I liked better Ange; unfortunately he was not the right man for Stacy, but nevertheless he was a wonderful character, and probably as generous as Darian, only with less chances to help Stacy.
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