Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally - Juhina

Title: Catching Jordan

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Publication date: December, 1st, 2011

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary - sports)

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Source: Bought (Paperback)

Pages: 288

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though - she leads them as the captain and quarterback on her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate.

Catching Jordan was such a fun, sporty and hilarious read. i always love it when there is a theme in contemporary novels, such as music, or sports. The book revolves around Jordan, a senior high school student, who is the school star quarterback for  the guy's team, and is GOOD at it, and you know what else? Jordan is a girl.  

I loved how her teammates respected her, and weren't intimidated by a girl being their leader, but at the same time other people and universities treated her like the poster girl for the team, which frustrated her and I; Even her dad was against her playing; reason being he doesn't want her to get hurt. Her dad and older brother both play in teams. While this frustrated me, it's how reality is. The author didn't draw a pretty picture of it, in truth sexism and discrimination against women exist, even in the most advanced countries.  

Now back to the story; What was unrealistic is how her guy friend, Henry, who is 17 like her, sleeps over at her house, in her room, and sleeps on the same bed. What family would allow a hormonal teenage boy to sleepover in their daughter's room? What was also brought to my attention was the amount of, lets just say, explicit talk going on in the book. Since Jordan always hangs with the "boys" you can guess where the conversations usually end up; so much vulgarity going on, but I guess that's a realistic drawing of how some guys are nowadays, unfortunately. 

The story was cute, fun, and a nice change from how contemporary novels usually are. I loved how strong, confident, and independent Jordan was, but at the same time you get to see her vulnerability, and how hurt she is by her father's rejection to her playing. This book is definitely for older teens; and i hope more books are written with sporty themes, they're just so much fun! Fans of Shut Out by Kody Keplinger should definitely read Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally. 

A pretty fantastic tune