CATCH by Will Leitch
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  12/1/05
    Publisher:  Razorbill
    Reviewed by:  Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
    Rating:  5 Stars


    There is a trend among young adult literature to stage the proceedings in big cities, well-known towns of glitter and
    glam such as Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles.  And although there are books out there that feature the small
    towns of America, they usually feature made-up burgs and use euphemisms to get small-town life across to the reader.  
    This is not the case with CATCH, and for that I can be grateful.  I can be even more grateful that the author set his
    story in Mattoon, Illinois, a place that actually exists, is where Mr. Leitch grew up, and that is located only about two
    hours from both where I myself grew up and where I now reside.

    Mattoon is a city, not a town, and is larger than my own hometown and yet smaller than the place I now call home.  But
    when I opened up my copy of CATCH and immersed myself in the life and times of Tim Temples, I was immediately
    brought back to my own adolescent years.  The Hardee's parking lot where the high school kids gather could be the
    same Hardee's lot that I knew intimately from weekend cruising.  The Lender's Bagels plant could be the reincarnation
    of the Quaker Oats plant that once resided in a neighboring town during my youth.  Jacob Kuhns, the small-bit actor
    who is the most famous person ever to come from Mattoon in CATCH, and Tim's dad, who played Minor League
    baseball for a St. Louis Cardinal's affiliate in his younger days, could be dead-ringers for the celebrities of my own small
    hometown.

    Tim's brother, Doug, attends the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, a college I myself once considered
    attending.  Jessica, the good-girl of Mattoon, could be any number of girls I went to school with.  Could, in fact, be
    me.  The "Buck Fush" bumper sticker can actually be seen, to this day, on the rusted out pick-up trucks I still see when
    I go back to my hometown for a visit.  The yearly Bagelfest, with it's parade through downtown, mimics the ones I saw
    as a child.

    In a word, CATCH brings to life small-town America in a way that no other book has ever done.  Although it's the
    story of Tim Temples, of the summer between high school graduation and probable college admittance, it's a lot more
    than that.  It's the story of what it's like to grow up with everyone in town knowing your name; of the cops
    understanding that you're not a bad kid for having an open container of alcohol in your moving vehicle; of people
    expecting you to follow in the footsteps of a semi-famous father and brother that you know you'll never have the
    ability--or desire--to fill.

    This isn't growing up in New York City, or L.A., or the gigantic metropolis that is Chicago.  This is real life, real
    America, the ups and downs of growing up, of falling in love, and of wanting to be the kind of person you can be proud
    of.  This is the story of a guy who wants to break out, not necessarily of small-town America, but of small-town
    thinking.  This is Tim's story, and my story, and the story of hundreds of thousands of teenagers throughout Midwest
    America.

    You can't go wrong reading CATCH, and Mr. Leitch can never go wrong by accepting who he is, where he came
    from, and who he's become--which is the author of one heck of a great book.
Catch
by Will Leitch