I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. It was a wonderful read. Its a coming of age story in a high school setting that is at turns hilarious and heartfelt.

Ezras life is changed forever when a reckless driver hits his car, shattering his knee. Ezras career as a star athlete is shattered, as is his social life in high school. He finds himself on the debate team, at a table with his elementary school friend, and suddenly in the company of misfits. Things start looking up though when he meets the quirky Cassidy, she is everything Ezras never had in a girlfriend before and she opens up a whole new world to him.

This is one of those high school coming of age books that is incredibly witty, funny, and heartwarming. Parts of the book are very inciteful and the story is very engaging.

Ezra is an incredibly smart kid who's given up his interests in hopes of fitting in and being popular. When he is forced out of the popular crowd because of a car accident he ends up back with his elementary school friends. There he finds the courage to be himself again and not worry about being cool.

Some of Ezras thoughts and comments are incredibly witty and inciteful. Hes obviously a smart kid who was misled by the urge to be popular. Those of us who are older can look back at this and remember the pressure to be popular and the choices you had to make in high school to be who you wanted to be or be who everyone else thought you should be. Its something that everyone young and old can relate to.

As part of Ezras life changing experience he meets a new girl named Cassidy. Cassidy however has mysteries and issues of her own.

The story is very engaging and moves at a quick clip. We follow Ezra through his senior year as he tries to figure out who he wants to be. It is a pretty typical coming of age story, but it is very well done and entertaining. This was a quick read that was just a lot of fun to read.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was at turns laugh out loud funny and heartrending. Ezra is a witty and smart character who is easy to engage with and very likable. The style of the book and the topic reminds a lot of Gayle Formans, John Greens, and David Levithans novels. If you are a fan of those types of books I would definitely recommend checking this book out.

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Summary:
Ezra Faulkner is the captain of the tennis team. He seems to have it all. He is given a brand new car, is popular, and good looking. Unfortunately, he is in a car crash that ends his tennis career and forces him to figure out what to do now. He switches gears and decides to try out debate. Through this switch, he finds out that he has more intellect than he previously acknowledged and some of the nerdy crowd are more than he expected. He even meets a new girl to both challenge and intrigue him. Overcoming tragedy is just one step in Ezra's overall path; his life is really just beginning to take shape.

My thoughts:
Schneider has done an amazing job with the writing! Ezra is an extremely relatable character, even if you were not popular in high school. He is down to earth, honest, and very positive (in most cases). The reader watches as Ezra completely redefines every part of his life, even with some grief over his pre-accident self. The struggle he goes through is engaging, but he grows to be a much stronger person than what he originally was. Schneider also throws in some twists that I didn't see coming. Much like the roller coaster, there are some turns that you clearly see coming, but those that you are also blind to. I really felt surprised with some things. It was nice to see that a YA novel could still surprise me in a coming of age type story. I highly recommend everyone taking a few hours to meet and interact with Ezra.

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