Despite my series junkie status, I looked through the TBR pile for a series I was behind on and couldn't find any. Not that I am not behind on any series, but I was apparently all caught up on the ongoing series books in my possession, with the exception of series I hadn't yet started. So, with this we have Sharon Draper's Battle of Jericho which is the story of a teen boy, who along with his fellow classmates is selected to pledge a club called the Warriors of Distinction. This takes place in high school, so it's not a fraternity per se, it's a club that does service projects in the community and the high school and has been going on for some time, such the Jericho, the titular character's uncle was a member. As you might expect, some of the pledging activities get out of hand and Jericho and his fellow pledges (which include the first female pledge) must look at how far they are willing to go.
I have to tell you that I started this book back in October. Normally a book that takes me this long to finish is not working for me. In this case it was the opposite. Draper did such a great job of displaying the warring tensions of what it's like to be in high school and try to fit in and find yourself and be the person your parents and teachers want all at the same time that I had to take breaks. And I put it down about two thirds done in November and then kept picking up other stuff instead. They were all safe when I had stopped and I wanted to keep everyone that way, so I kept not reading, sort of the reader equivalent of sticking a blanket over my head. Well, I finally started it back up and wow.
So, now I'll have to get the rest of the trilogy.
The book came out in 2005, but it only went into my tbr pile last year, so it hasn't been there that long really, but still progress.
Rants About New (and old) Things
