Jenkins, A.M. Out of order.

JENKINS, A.M. Out of order. HarperTempest. 247p. c2003. 0-06-447374-0. $6.99. S *

To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, September 2003: Colt, a sophomore, hates high school--except for baseball and his girlfriend, Grace. Schoolwork has always been a struggle for him, and Colt has been cheating his way through it to keep his grades high enough to be permitted to play ball, hiding what may be a learning disability. Meanwhile, even he knows that he and intellectual, humorless Grace are ill matched; when he blurts out that he loves her, he's left "feeling barefoot surrounded by broken glass." When she finally breaks up with him, he realizes that "I gave my heart away to somebody who never wanted it." Salvation lays in Colt's unlikely but growing friendship with a new classmate, a forthright girl with green hair who sees through his tough-guy facade and tutors him in English. In the end Colt acquires a different attitude toward learning, hard as it is for him.

Despite the baseball on the cover, this isn't a sports story, but rather a tale about learning to know oneself and to relate to others. Jenkins, the author of Damage and Breaking Boxes, writes convincingly and movingly about teenage boys in pain, struggling with their fears. Colt relates the story of these six pivotal weeks in his life, and his voice is often anguished and always credible, sprinkled with profanities as he battles toward hard-won realizations (there's also a bit of sex and rather more talk about it). There's humor as well as heartbreak, and Colt's confiding, honest tone and his plight will keep readers turning the pages. (An ALA Best Book for YAs.) Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.