by Collin H.
The book I read was Boy21. When I started to read Boy21 I assumed it was just an ordinary basketball book that takes you from one game to the next. As I read, I realized that basketball isn’t even very prevalent in the story. It’s always a topic of conversation, but there always seems to be something deeper going on in the story that the main characters are much more worried about. Boy21 takes place in a town called Bellmont where gangs, drugs and poverty are spread throughout.
The first song in my playlist is “Don’t stop Believin’” by Journey. This song is about two people that leave their home in search of a better life described by the lyrics “Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere.” This song fits the section where Finley receives a letter from Erin after she has been gone in witness protection for 6 months. This letter gives Finley new hope and shows him that not all is lost. Finley then gets on a train to Erin in search of a new and better life.
“300 Violin Orchestra” by Jorge Quintero is the second song on my list and it greatly describes the feeling I think Finley is having before his first basketball game of the season. This is basically a great pump-up song and I can easily imagine finely listening to it. He feels that he has been waiting for basketball season far too long and is definitely ready to get started.
The third song in my playlist is “Rumor Has It” by Adele. Though the only lyrics in the song that even remotely describe this scene are “Rumor has it,” I think just those three words do a good job at describing this “Rumor” from his coach. Finley’s coach has told him that Boy21 is extremely good at basket ball, but he hasn’t seen Boy21 show any skill. While Boy21 is reluctant to play basketball, Finley can’t help but to constantly wonder how good Boy21 actually is.
“Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven fits both a certain scene in the book and also a large part of Finley’s personality. Finley is quiet; sometimes he’ll try to talk but just can’t manage to speak. Moonlight Sonata fits his personality in the way that it is slow and without lyrics. The second part that “Moonlight Sonata” describes is when Finley and Boy21 go to a place designed for stargazing. Stars are a very important memory to Boy21. Before his parents were murdered, Boy21 spent a lot of time with his father looking through a telescope. This is a big reason that Boy21’s mental breakdown had to do with aliens and space.
“Use Somebody” by the band Kings of Leon is fifth on my playlist. It describes when Erin asks Finley to reunite and become her boyfriend again. Every year, Finley and Erin break up in able to completely focus on their basketball season. Erin asks when she is in the hospital after being hit by a car. Use Somebody is about a guy that really likes a girl and wants her to notice him. Though that doesn’t completely fit, it describes the feeling of longing that for Erin has for Finley. She agreed to the break up but was not happy about it, she wanted to stay together, like an ordinary couple. Now that she had been through this traumatic experience, she wants extra support from Finley to help her manage the pain.
The sixth song in my playlist is “Basketball” by Bow Wow. It is about a guy that really likes basketball and helps picture Finley and Erin’s daily basketball workout. The guy in “Basketball” says that basketball is by far his favorite hobby and he works to improve. Finley and Erin practice a lot. Their workout consists of multiple shooting and dribbling drills followed by weights and running. In order to be good at basketball you have to practice, and the more you practice the better you should get. This is exactly Finley and Erin’s determined mind set going into the season. They have to out work every one in order to perform better.
My seventh song is “Mad World” by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. The real essence of the song despite the lyrics is to create a sad and disheartening image. The lyrics “I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had” capture the depressing feeling this song creates. This sad theme fits when Finley is telling Boy21 the story of how his mother died and how his grandfather lost his legs. Finley likes to pretend that playing basketball in his backyard is his earliest memory. Reason being that playing basketball was and has always been his method of getting away and keeping his mind off of the tragedies that have occurred.
“Cinema” by Benny Benassi is the eighth song in my playlist. The song is about a guy that is fascinated by the great looks of a girl and describes it by saying “You’re a cinema, I could watch you forever.” The song does a good job at describing the very first page when Finley and Erin are eating dinner with his dad and grandpa. Finley decides checking Erin out is a much better use of his time than eating. While he still finished his meal, it just took him a little bit longer than the others.
Boy21 was a good read and almost always stayed interesting by adding new incidents that would change the story from there on out. Once the story gets a little boring, it will throw something else at you, and in my opinion that definitely makes the book worth reading.
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