Teenage boys are the hardest audience to convince that reading fiction books is worthwhile. While girls will be happy with almost any topic, boys are much harder to please. Hit Count by Chris Lynch is the perfect novel to scratch that itch. It should be on the shelf of every high school library.
This book revolves around a family with two teenage boys, a mother, and father. Both sons are obsessed with football. The older son Lloyd Brodie, although tough, never advances beyond the Jayvee level and quits his Senior Year. It's all downhill from there, as he drops out of school and spends his time smoking pot and bumming around the house. The reader isn't sure if his denseness is drug induced or due to brain injury, but the author portrays him as a …show more content…
At first it refers to Arlo's list of future accomplishments he would like to achieve. Many of the items are easily crossed off prior to his Senior Year in High School. Then the Hit Count is the number of people Arlo successfully targets to smash, until finally he considers himself to be a walking Hit Count. In the end, Coach Fisk reveals the correct definition. A hit count is used to limit the frequency of repetitive head trauma and concussions to improve the safety of youth athletes in competitive sports. Arlo's mother keeps "The File" full of articles and photographs which both sons are forced to read to remind them of the dangers of concussions and subconcussive injuries prevalent in contact sports. While Arlo's dad is proud of his son's power and success on the field, Arlo's mom refuses to attend the games and watch her son be clocked as he pulverizes the other team's roster. She cringes when reading the nickname Starlo in the local newspaper, intuitively knowing that such a designation is only earned after brutal actions. Eventually Arlo's girlfriend Sandrine (Sandy) comes to agree and refuses to have "contact" with her boyfriend until the season is
This book revolves around a family with two teenage boys, a mother, and father. Both sons are obsessed with football. The older son Lloyd Brodie, although tough, never advances beyond the Jayvee level and quits his Senior Year. It's all downhill from there, as he drops out of school and spends his time smoking pot and bumming around the house. The reader isn't sure if his denseness is drug induced or due to brain injury, but the author portrays him as a …show more content…
At first it refers to Arlo's list of future accomplishments he would like to achieve. Many of the items are easily crossed off prior to his Senior Year in High School. Then the Hit Count is the number of people Arlo successfully targets to smash, until finally he considers himself to be a walking Hit Count. In the end, Coach Fisk reveals the correct definition. A hit count is used to limit the frequency of repetitive head trauma and concussions to improve the safety of youth athletes in competitive sports. Arlo's mother keeps "The File" full of articles and photographs which both sons are forced to read to remind them of the dangers of concussions and subconcussive injuries prevalent in contact sports. While Arlo's dad is proud of his son's power and success on the field, Arlo's mom refuses to attend the games and watch her son be clocked as he pulverizes the other team's roster. She cringes when reading the nickname Starlo in the local newspaper, intuitively knowing that such a designation is only earned after brutal actions. Eventually Arlo's girlfriend Sandrine (Sandy) comes to agree and refuses to have "contact" with her boyfriend until the season is