Winger by Andrew Smith

Smith, A. (2013). Winger. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at Pine Mountain boarding school for rich kids. His intelligence has led him to skip ahead two grades. Due to a minor crime against the school’s rules he’s been reassigned to Opportunity Hall, the dorm for the school’s troublemakers. His new roommate is Chas Becker, a senior on the rugby team who Ryan Dean describes as a “friendless jerk” who is “big as a tree, and every bit as smart.” On the plus side, Ryan Dean can run like the wind, which allowed him to make the varsity rugby team, playing wing. His teammates usually call him Winger, rather than Ryan Dean. He’s smart, polite, and pretty good at talking to adults. He’s in love with Annie, his best friend. He also becomes best friends with Joey, which comes in his defense against Chas since Ryan Dean messes around with Megan, Chas’ girlfriend.

Ryan Dean plays his second round of poker with Chas, Joey, Kevin, and Casey, and the boys get drunk. He and Chas lose and must take up "the consequence." They are send to buy Halloween costumes for five of the players. Then, Ryan Dean asks Joey why he doesn't have a boyfriend, and he responds that he does in fact have a boyfriend, but keeps it private at school. He also reveals that Casey Palmer is secretly gay and wants to be with him. Ryan Dean runs into Casey and Nick and accuse him of being gay. Although Ryan Dean wants to reveal Casey's secret, he doesn’t, but Joey does. Casey then threatens to kill him. The morning after the dance, Joey goes missing. Ryan Dean informs officers of Joey’s disappearance. Joey is then found dead in the woods. He had been stripped naked, tied to a tree, and beaten to death by Casey and Nick. Following his death, Opportunity Hall is sealed off. Ryan Dean notes that he stopped talking after Joey's death, with the exception of whispering to Annie when he needed to. Ryan Dean and Chas become close friends.

As I read the novel, I learned that Ryan Dean thought about how he'd been on a journey of "reinventing" himself, and realizes that when you grow up, instead of sex, almost everything is about love. I can infer, he was extremely devastated with Joey’s death. Joey’s death took me by surprise as well. I believe this event was not given much attention in the novel’s conclusion and I’m saddened that he suffered a horrible death. I just realized that this novel has characteristics of a good book, as the plot is extremely unique, it was successful in character development, and the book reflects real-life events.

Any reading teacher could use this novel to teach elements of a good book starting with its unique plot. High School students could connect to the crazy consequences and actions this set of characters encounter, as many high school students act like these characters when it comes to the mischief, partying, and the drinking. This novel could be appropriate for students ages 14 through 18. Winger consists of 438 pages. I enjoyed reading this novel, therefore, I’m interested in reading other books from this author. Perhaps you may too enjoy reading 100 Sideways Miles also written by Andrew Smith.