Boy 21: A Struggle to Make It Out

Boy21 seems almost like a distraction when he is introduced. He’s the star basketball player in California and somehow ends up taking a ride with Finley and Erin to school everyday? Coach has brought Boy21 into the Belmont life due to his parents losing their lives. The boy has fallen into a deep mental depression and needs to be with his grandparents. Coach and Boy21’s grandparents are great friends and neighbors. Since the boy was gonna be staying with them, coach wanted Finley to be his only friend. 

This book has been a very inspiring and unique to read. It uses the rough city of Belmont to cause problems that all the characters must overcome to be able to make it out. This book is unique because when I read something like, “You can lose yourself in repetition—quiet your thoughts; I learned the value of this at a very young age” (218).  Coach grew up in Belmont just like everybody else in the novel. No one really makes it out either due to the struggles they are faced with. But coach has different plans for Erin and Finley. He tries to inspire them by saying how he learned so much at a young age just by the reality of Belmont growing up.

A target audience for this book is definitely people who are into inspiring sports come-ups. The best part of sports is seeing where people came from and how much they worked to be where they are today. “Boy21” is exactly that. It shows the come up story of Erin and Finley and uses human vs. society to really put into perspective how bad of an area Belmont is. 

I personally was very engaged throughout the whole entire book. At the end of the novel I was surprised because I felt like I had so much more to read. The book went by fast and every page I was itching for the climax. It makes me realize “making it out” is harder than everyone thinks.