Jesus Jackson

Gr 8 Up—Jonathan Stiles, 14, just learned that his older, football star brother has died in a freak accident. He already struggles to understand his parents' divorce, how to survive his first year of high school, and his ever-increasing questions about religion. The first-person narrative will easily draw readers in and through a series of flashbacks, teens will come to understand older brother Ryan's previous role as mediator between Jonathan and their squabbling parents. Caught between their strict Catholic mom and Buddhist Dad, religion has become a bone of contention within the family. During ninth-grade orientation, Jonathan and his new best friend, Henry, take a shortcut through the woods where they find Ryan and his football buddies, and the brothers have a falling out. That's the last time Jonathan sees Ryan alive. It is while Jonathan is questioning what occurred with his brother that he stumbles onto the football field and meets Jesus Jackson. This is where the story cleverly travels in two different directions: there is the mystery about what actually happened to Ryan, and there is Jonathan's struggle to come to terms with his faith. Jesus is almost always out on the football field when Jonathan seeks him out. It's here that he questions and wrestles with his faith in God, in himself, and in the people he loves and respects. Jonathan is a multidimensional character who learns to make a leap of faith and must be willing to accept the consequences for his leap. An engaging, suspenseful read that teens will not be able to put down.—Julie Shatterly, W.A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC