by Tim Tharp
First published 2006
Hampton controls every play on the football field, but his life beyond the stadium spirals out of his hands. The Kennisaw Knights linebacker anchors a team chasing their fifth consecutive perfect season in small-town Oklahoma, where Friday night games matter more than anything else. His father abandoned the family years earlier. His mother cycles through boyfriends weekly. His best friend Blaine, who first taught him the game, grows increasingly ruthless in his hunger for victory and demands Hampton's complete loyalty. Hampton finds himself drawn to an intelligent, unconventional girl at school, exactly the type of person a star athlete isn't supposed to notice. The weight of carrying the Knights' legendary reputation presses down on him as the season progresses. Every decision Hampton makes will determine what kind of person he becomes, both as a teammate and as a man.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, sports, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, sports
Setting: Kennisaw, Oklahoma
Period: Friday Night
240 pages · Library Binding · Knopf Books for Young Readers