Nailed

by Patrick Jones

Overview

The nail that sticks out farthest gets hammered the hardest.

Flint Southwestern High School is run by a cult: the jockarchy. And Bret Hendricks could never fit into their conformity cult. Bret doesn't mind standing out from the crowd when he's on stage acting or singing in his band. And he feels at home in his funky girlfriend's arms because sticking out together doesn't seem as hard.

But loyalties aren't what Bret thinks they are, as his safe havens seem to disappear one by one, and he learns that sometimes you just have to risk getting hammered in order to build a great future.

For any teen who feels that standing out is harder than just conforming. Patrick Jones's second novel nails the real truth about the high price of hiding one's true self.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802723840
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	04/10/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

PATRICK JONES received lifetime achievement awards from both the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association for his work motivating young people to read. He is also the author of many teen novels, including The Tear Collector, Stolen Car, and Things Change. Patrick was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
www.connectingya.com
PATRICK JONES received lifetime achievement awards from both the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association for his work motivating young people to read. He is also the author of many teen novels, including The Tear Collector, Stolen Car, and Things Change. Patrick was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and currently lives in Minnesota. www.connectingya.com

Editorial Reviews

Jones's (Things Change) forthright, message-driven novel explores the relationship between teasing and school violence. Sixteen-year-old Bret's life is becoming intolerable, both at home and school. He's ignored at home for not being just like his older brother (who "does oil changes for a living"), and tormented at school for not being a jock. Bret, who narrates, is not interested in working on cars or playing sports. Instead he'd rather act onstage or make music with his band, Radio-Free Flint (inspired by "hometown antihero Michael Moore"). As he grows frustrated at being harassed by the school's bully, he writes an essay expressing empathy towards the Columbine gunmen: "I... pointed out that how they had been treated at their school was wrong, too. I said they were the first victims." Teens will applaud Bret's spunk as he goes up against the school principal. But life takes a turn for the worse when Bret sees his girlfriend making love with bandmate Sean and reacts with violence, a response he's been taught to abhor. Eventually, with the aid of his father (who has a rather abrupt change of heart), Bret makes amends with Sean. Through the first-person narrative, readers see Bret's shortcomings and his struggle to fit in where he feels like an outsider. At times, however, it seems as though the author has set up his characters to serve his issues, even if his message is one that teens in a similar situation may find beneficial. Ages 14-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 9 Up-Bret does most things the hard way, according to his father, and the teen is sure his dad hates him. He's more interested in acting than sports and covers his long green-tinted hair with a fedora. It takes Bret most of his junior year to understand what his dad always told him: "the nail that sticks out the farthest gets hammered hardest" as he struggles to deal with the "jockarchy" at school and their constant taunts (mostly being called a faggot or a homo because he's a born artist). As in Jones's Things Change (Walker 2004), the father/son relationship is central to this story. While readers may feel a bit hit over the head with the nail imagery, tension and frustration build naturally. Subplot relationships are believable and well developed, such as tender sexual moments with Kylee, Bret's girlfriend, and language is realistically raw to reflect Bret's anger and frustration. Issues of free speech, conformity, and the power of the in-crowd all surround Bret as he begins to buck the school's establishment and to stand up for himself. References to pop culture such as WWF, The Green Mile, and Austin Powers will attract many teens. Without being too preachy, Jones gives Bret several mentors: his theater teacher, his school counselor, and, yes, even parents, who help him sort out the roller-coaster ride of his life.-Kelly Czarnecki, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg, NC Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Sixteen-year-old Bret loves three things: his band, his acting and his funky, free-spirited girlfriend. He despises three other things: his father's disapproving indifference, the "jockarchy" that rules his school and any possibility of settling for a "normal" life in working-class Flint. From these very familiar materials Jones builds a warm, wise and surprisingly witty tale about heartbreak, honesty and just holding on. Bret's voice is the magic that makes it all work: fresh, funny and filled with alliteration, allusion and aching self-awareness. For the most part the characters are many-layered and believable, and the frank depiction of sex and violence as teenage commonplaces is graphically honest but never gratuitous. Readers will hurt for Bret when he falls, cheer for him when he triumphs and feel glad for the privilege of getting to know him. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews