Dare You To

Starred review from May 6, 2013
Tattooed, pierced “skater girl” Beth and high school baseball star Ryan narrate alternating chapters of this coming-of-age love story that begins with a dare and escalates into a gritty and erotic trust-building exercise. The staid suburbs of Louisville, Ky., and the city’s perilous underbelly provide divergent backdrops to the story’s emotional and physical dangers. Raised on opposite sides of the tracks, both teens contend with selfish, manipulative parents who use their children to satisfy their own desires; both also have mentors and family members offering guidance and support. While threats to undermine the couple’s growing affection come in multiple forms (Ryan’s appearance-obsessed community, Beth’s compulsive efforts to rescue her drug-addicted mother) McGarry (Pushing the Limits) captures their greatest obstacle: the aching vulnerability underlying Beth’s tough exterior: “Fairy-tales happen, just not to me. Time to tell the prince he rescued the wrong girl.” Sex, drugs, profanity, and violence, as well as subplots about loved ones who escaped town for emotional survival, heighten the dramatic tension but don’t disguise the wholesome, girl-next-door quality of this well-paced, satisfying romance. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Starred review from May 1, 2013
A hard-bitten street girl and a seemingly perfect baseball hero fall for each other. Through alternating chapters, readers immerse themselves in the lives of Ryan and Beth. Ryan lives in a small town outside Louisville, Ky., where he's an ace baseball pitcher with real prospects for a professional career. Beth, 17, has been taking care of her addled, drug-addicted mother ever since they moved to Louisville when she was a child. Beth has found solace with two friends, Isaiah and Noah, avoiding her mother's squalid apartment and her mom's violent boyfriend. When events lead to Beth's arrest, her wealthy, retired baseball-pro uncle Scott takes custody of her, bringing her into Ryan's orbit. Despite an inauspicious start, the two begin a secret romance in defiance of their families and friends, until circumstances lead to a crisis. McGarry incorporates the two main characters from her debut, Pushing the Limits (2012), Noah and Echo, and mirrors its approach. (The author plans a third book that will follow Isaiah.) At first, readers may find Beth's story the more compelling, but as Ryan's too-perfect-to-be-true, community-leader family and controlling father reveal themselves, both characters spring to life. As in the first book, these two protagonists differ on the surface but have many similarities under the skin. Everything--setting, characters, romance--about this novel works and works well. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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July 1, 2013

Gr 10 Up-Narrated from alternating viewpoints, this contemporary novel tells the story of 17-year-old Beth, a troubled "skater girl" with a hard past, and Ryan, a high school jock with a seemingly perfect life. It all starts at a Taco Bell in Louisville, Kentucky, when Ryan's friends dare him to get Beth's phone number, and she turns him down. Their lives become intertwined after she is uprooted from her abusive home by her uncle and is forced to move to a small town and transfer to Ryan's school. At first he sees it as an opportunity to win the dare, but she resists his offers of friendship. Nonetheless, the two gradually fall in love and learn to trust each other with their secrets, which is equally difficult for both of them. The characters are well developed. The use of drugs, profanity, and violence make this title edgier than a typical teen romance. The plot often feels drawn out, and Beth's constant attempts to run away throughout the book will likely frustrate readers. However, young romantics should find the story engaging.-Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Hartford Public Library, CT

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