Book overview
"You can't play it safe when you're the captain."
From celebrated author Robert Lipsyte, this powerful coming-of-age follows high school football player Ronnie "Rhino" Rhinehart after a violent incident at school leaves him questioning everything he ever believed.
Ronnie Rhinehart, better known as Rhino on the field, is the captain of his high school team in Woodhaven, a small town obsessed with football. His only goal is to earn a Division I football scholarship so he can escape this town forever. Until the day he punches Josh Kremens in the face.
To avoid serious punishment and stay in school, Ronnie is forced to join Group, a cast of misfits who discuss their feelings with a counselor. At the same time, tensions are rising on the football team. Not everyone is happy that Ronnie, a junior, was named captain, especially Cogan and his friends the Berserkers. Other than his best friend, Andy, Ronnie struggles to find solace and support, even at home, where his dad puts pressure on him to maintain his role on the team. Reluctantly, Ronnie finds himself liking aspects of Group, even if he isn't always a welcome presence to the other members. Then one fateful day, Keith, another Group member, comes to school with a gun . . . and everything changes.
- Finding Your Voice: For a star athlete used to solving problems with his fists, discovering what he truly believes in is the toughest fight of his life.
- Toxic Masculinity: On a team where "warriors" are praised and weakness is punished, Rhino must confront the dangerous culture celebrated by his coaches and teammates like Cogan.
- Teen Mental Health: Forced into a counseling group with the school's outcasts, Rhino is confronted with the raw struggles of his peers--and the simmering rage that leads one of them to commit an unthinkable act.
- A Powerful Social Issues Novel: This gripping story tackles the complex issues of gun control, censorship, and social justice, asking what it means to stand up when everyone else wants you to sit down.
