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Winger

by Andrew Smith (Goodreads Author)

4.43 of 5 stars 4.43 · rating details · 200 ratings · 90 reviews

Ryan Dean West is a fourteen-year-old junior at a boarding school for rich kids. He’s living in Opportunity Hall, the dorm for troublemakers, and rooming with the biggest bully on the rugby team. And he’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, who thinks of him as a little boy.

With the help of his sense of humor, rugby buddies, and his penchant for doodling comics, Ryan...more

Hardcover, 448 pages

Published May 14th 2013 by Simon & Schuster

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Printz 2014

3rd out of 11 books — 22 voters

How My Summer Went Up in Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

May 2013 YA FICTION

29th out of 34 books — 19 voters

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Community Reviews

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Nov 04, 2012 Jen Bigheart (I Read Banned Books) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

How can one story make you literally crack up laughing on one page and the next you find yourself bawling your eyes out. If I could give this more than 5 measly stars I would. 440 pages of genius.

11 likes · like · see review

May 03, 2013 Linda Cohen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, ya

This was a 4 star book, but the ending---OMG---I can't say anything because spoiler city!! But the ending pushed it right over the top and made it great. Never thought it would head that way in a million years. I loved it!

Buy this title from Powells Books.

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 08, 2013 S.A. Bodeen rated it 5 of 5 stars

If this one doesn't have a bunch of shiny stickers on it come the end of January, there's something heinously wrong with the system.

3 likes · like · see review

May 13, 2013 Natalie (Natflix&Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: edelweiss

You can find this review on more like it on my blog: Natflix&Books

I was initially turned-off by this hideous cover when I first saw it on Edelweiss. Then I started seeing 4-5 star ratings pop up and words like "hilarious" were being bandied around, so I went back and downloaded it. And I am so, so glad I did. Winger is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. It is funny and honest and heartbreaking and just...wonderful.

Winger follows Ryan Dean West, or "Winger", an extremely intell...more You can find this review on more like it on my blog: Natflix&Books

I was initially turned-off by this hideous cover when I first saw it on Edelweiss. Then I started seeing 4-5 star ratings pop up and words like "hilarious" were being bandied around, so I went back and downloaded it. And I am so, so glad I did. Winger is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. It is funny and honest and heartbreaking and just...wonderful.

Winger follows Ryan Dean West, or "Winger", an extremely intelligent 14 year-old junior attending a private boarding school. Ryan Dean plays (right or left) wing on the rugby team (hence the nickname). This gives him a coolness factor another boy who skipped two grades may not have. Ryan Dean has landed himself in "Opportunity Hall" (the dorm for so-called troublemakers) after hacking a teacher's cell phone. O-Hall is filled with boys older and bigger than he is. His own roommate, Chas Becker, is one of the biggest bullies in school, but luckily on the rugby team with Ryan Dean. Soon Ryan finds himself connecting with the other boys in O-Hall, especially Joey, a un-stereotypical gay boy who is also on the rugby team (and who is easily one of my favorite characters).

Ryan is in love with the beautiful Annie whom he considers his best friend. While she obviously cares for him, too, at 16 she has a hard time seeing the 14 year-old as anything other than a kid. Ryan Dean does everything he can to break down her defenses and the novel is filled with those sweet little moments that are so poignant at that age.

Even though Ryan Dean is in love with Annie, he cannot help but hook up with the ultra-hot Megan, who just happens to be his roommate's girlfriend. He knows this is a bad decision, of course, but he's 14.

Other cast members include his former roommates/rugby teammates, JP and Seanie. Seanie is a hilarious character who does thinks like posts balls on their football nemesis' FB page. JP and Ryan Dean have a bit of a falling out when it becomes apparent that JP is trying to make a move on Annie.

I truly adored this book. Ryan Dean's voice was so authentic. I loved him. He is funny and self-depreciating and real. The book is written in an extremely personal and conversational tone. I loved the comics and graphs that he draws that are interspersed throughout the novel. This book made me laugh out loud, but it made me cry too. Don't let this (seriously ugly) cover fool you, this book is filled with awesome-sauce and you should definitely pick it up.

*I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review.*(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 14, 2013 Warnie B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, realistic-fiction, young-adult, plano-public-libraries, faves-from-2013, coming-of-age, cover-candy, all-time-faves

Guhhhhhhhhhhh. Seriously.

So, even before I knew anything at all about this book I knew I was going to be forced to give it 5 stars, because I am ALWAYS forced to give Andrew Smith's books 5 stars. It's not like they're flawless, but my gosh. The way he writes his dialogue, his characters...I absolutely fall in love with them every single time.

Ryan Dean Mario "Winger" West is definitely no exception. Neither is Seanie or Joey or jeez, even Chas. Okay, there are things that happen in this book t...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 12, 2013 Jennifer Haight rated it 5 of 5 stars

Andrew Smith has knocked it out of the park with Winger. It can be painfully honest peeking into the inner-workings of the sex obsessed, Ryan Dean West who is both arrogant and self-hating, confident and terrified. He is quite honestly one of the most genuine teen character that I've read in years.

"And I realized that all those movies and stories about how clearly a guy's thoughts and perceptions materialize in the expanding moments just before death were actually true, because I couldn't help...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 10, 2013 Pascal Schuppli rated it 3 of 5 stars

I agree with the reviewer who said there was a tragic twist way too late in the plot. For one, it was completely unneeded; the main theme of the story was already resolved and everything that followed did feel tacked on. It was also not in keeping with the rest of the book's tone. The narrator makes you believe you are in a comedy for about 400 pages when actually he's narrating a tragedy. Plus it's not really relevant to most of us cause that kind of thing basically doesn't happen.(view spoiler ...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 19, 2013 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction, read-in-2013

"You know, nothing ever goes back exactly the way it was. Things just expand and contract. Like the universe, like breathing. But you'll never fill your lungs up with the same air twice. Sometimes, it would be cool if you could pause and rewind and do over. But I think anyone would get tired of that after one or two times."

Gut. Punch.

Ryan Dean West is 14, and he's a junior at his private boarding school. After a few incidents in the past, he's been assigned to living in O Hall, where all of th...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: guys-read, humor, life, voice, ya

Fairly early in Winger, narrator and protagonist Ryan Dean West describes a Venn diagram that would look something like this:

Even though the overlap is great with only a little sliver of each person being notable, all too often the only thing everyone notices about anyone is the bit of them that doesn't fit in.

For Ryan Dean West, it's his age that stands out. He's not only the top student in his class, he's two years ahead, a scrawny, undersized 14-year-old high school junior. But he's determine...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 12, 2013 Richie Partington rated it 5 of 5 stars

Richie's Picks: WINGER by Andrew Smith, Simon & Schuster, May 2013, 448p., ISBN: 978-1-4424-4492-8

"How many friends have I really got?
You can count them on one hand.
How many friends have I really got?
"How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?"
-- Pete Townshend (1975)

"'You know, nothing ever goes back exactly the way it was. Things just expand and contract. Like the universe, like breathing. But you'll never fill your lungs up with the same air tw...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2013 Frederick Garing rated it 5 of 5 stars

Winger is the best novel that I have read in 2013 so far.

The premise was not something that I could call extremely majestic, but it was enough for me to secure a copy the first time I saw it on the shelves of a local bookstore. I can say the cover was just as important, even though it does not really match up to the main character’s facial features.

This witty, deeply-moving, inspirational coming-of-age tale is about a boy named Ryan Dean West. Ryan Dean is a fourteen-year-old junior who spends h...more Winger is the best novel that I have read in 2013 so far.

The premise was not something that I could call extremely majestic, but it was enough for me to secure a copy the first time I saw it on the shelves of a local bookstore. I can say the cover was just as important, even though it does not really match up to the main character’s facial features.

This witty, deeply-moving, inspirational coming-of-age tale is about a boy named Ryan Dean West. Ryan Dean is a fourteen-year-old junior who spends his days living in Opportunity Hall or O-Hall (a dorm for the delinquents/troublemakers in his school). He is intelligent, too imaginative for his own good, sometimes perverted, and a winger in his school’s rugby team. Plus, he is truly and madly in love with his best friend, Annie.

Think of it as The Catcher in the Rye meets Looking for Alaska, with the narrator resembling a typical John Green lit male protagonist that is oozing with bravado, can kick some serious ass, and knows how to fight for the girl of his dreams. This novel was packed with humor. I cannot count how many times I laughed while reading it. It also had a lot of serious moments which I think made the book more relatable.

The writing was incredible. The illustrations added a great depth to the pages and gave more life to the story. What made this book really stand out was that it does not shy away from the details. Andrew Smith did a remarkable job of saying things straight up without having to cover up the simplest details. Add to that an array of secondary characters that were absolutely believable. It also featured a lot of twists that will undoubtedly turn the reader into an emotional mess. The book having 448 pages was not really a downside considering that the pacing never slowed down from start to finish. It was one of those books that you read without wanting the story to end, but then you realize it is over and your life is forever changed by the lessons you have learned from it.

Ryan Dean West-as he himself oft-suggested in the book-is a loser, but by the time you get sucked into the story, he would have already won your heart over. (less)

1 like · like · see review

May 23, 2013 Patricia J. O'Brien rated it 5 of 5 stars

Just finished reading. Heart-broken. Gut punched. Need some process time before reviewing this extraordinary novel. (Next day: okay, processed. My review follows)
I had to go for a long walk after I finished WINGER by Andrew Smith. I can’t say I was sucker-punched by the ending because I’d guessed what was coming. I was still gutted and distraught, because the characters are so real I felt like something terrible just happened to a friend.

And somewhere on our planet that terrible thing (I won’t g...more Just finished reading. Heart-broken. Gut punched. Need some process time before reviewing this extraordinary novel. (Next day: okay, processed. My review follows)
I had to go for a long walk after I finished WINGER by Andrew Smith. I can’t say I was sucker-punched by the ending because I’d guessed what was coming. I was still gutted and distraught, because the characters are so real I felt like something terrible just happened to a friend.

And somewhere on our planet that terrible thing (I won’t give away the spoiler) has happened to someone’s friend, their loved one, and it will never be okay and we must never forget. I believe that books like WINGER matter. They can open eyes and hearts.

But, that said, there’s a ton of witty, laugh-out-loud humor, love and hope in this story of a brilliant fourteen-year-old boy who is the youngest junior at a private boarding school for kids of very rich, too-busy parents. He’s been moved to the dorm for troublemakers, full of boys much bigger than he is. Some of them are dangerous, and some of them are his rugby teammates, who are tough, courageous and tight-knit.

The protagonist Ryan Dean is smart and cocky—this gets him into and out of trouble again and again. I loved him except when I sometimes wanted to yell at him, like his friend Joey does, to get his shit together.

His relationship with his best friend Annie is a perfectly penned story of young love—rocky, uncertain and pure despite Ryan Dean’s missteps. In one scene, he draws a Venn diagram (the book is sprinkled with his often hilarious drawings) to show Annie that he wishes people wouldn’t always focus on what’s outside the overlapping circles, which in his case is his age.

If you don’t like cussing or being in a teen boy’s head when his hormones are raging, this may not be the book for you. But I recommend it to anyone who likes storytelling that shakes up the world, that makes you both feel and think. The emotions and the consequences in this are very raw and very real. I have a feeling I won’t forget these characters for a long, long time. If ever.

Here are some writing samples. The first one is the prologue. I’m not always a fan of prologues but I really like the set-up of this one:

“Joey told me nothing ever goes back exactly the way it was, that things expand and contract—like breathing, but you could never fill your lungs up with the same air twice. He said some of the smartest things I ever heard, and he’s the only one of my friends who really tried to keep me on track too.
And I’ll be honest. I know exactly how hard that was.”
*
“It took about five minutes for me to unpack. That’s all. I didn’t have anything. Of course Chas wasn’t there. He’d be out goofing around with his friends, or sneaking off somewhere with Megan Renshaw, who I also thought was unendurably sexy, but not in a mature, Annie kind of way; it was more like an intimidating and scary female-cop-that-arrested-me-in-Boston way. But she was still hot. And, yes, I did get arrested in Boston when I was twelve. It’s what inspired my parents to enroll me in Pine Mountain Academy in the first place.
I know you’re going to ask, so I might as well tell you: It was for breaking into and trying to drive a T train.”
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 28, 2013 Jordan Gregory rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Humans

Recommended to Jordan by: Linda Cohen

This is really more of a 4.5 than a 4. Not a 5, though, because it annoyed me sometimes, and the cover is nasty. Yep, those are my petty reasons.

But holy fuck, this is one hell of a book.

Ryan Dean West is a 14-year old junior at Pine Mountain, a boarding school in Oregon (hollaaa!) for obscenely rich kids whose parents do not have the time to deal with their bepimpled problems. He plays rugby; he has a healthy mix of friends, enemies, and frenemies; he loves Annie Altman, the super-hot-16-year...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 23, 2013 Lelia Nebeker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, contemporary-ya, lgbt, read-in-2013, ya, boarding-school, male-pov

Wow, what a hilarious and honest book. Ryan Dean is a lovable, flawed character who you can't help but root for, even when his actions are somewhat facepalm-inducing. The interspersed cartoons and funny diagrams make this hefty book easy to breeze through. At first it might look like just another cute, clever, coming-of-age story, but, like Ryan Dean, there's a lot more substance to 'Winger' than meets the eye. It reminded me a lot of John Green's 'Looking for Alaska,' partly because of the boar...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 08, 2013 Emily Blanquera rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

For being so unremarkable, Winger left me with an unexpected feeling of awe when it was all said and done. The premise itself is nothing groundbreaking, a coming-of-age novel about a boy in boarding school, but the way the story is told earns the book a full five stars. Everything is said simply, but it seems that every moment is well planned and meticulously detailed, resulting in a very thoughtful book that leaves you somewhat disheveled. The big, shocking ending was put so bluntly I wasn't su...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 04, 2013 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I am rounding up to a 4-star review, although I would really rate this 3.5.

I enjoyed the teenage boy prespective (unsurprisingly, lots of thinking about sex and how hot girls are) and the interactions with his friends and rugby teammates, although hearing about how Ryan Dean West was two years younger (he's only 14) than the rest of the junior class got a little tired after the first 30 mentions. Plus, the age difference was never really addressed (that I can remember). We can assume that Ryan...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Tierney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

Also posted on Tierney Reads YA.

Rating: 3/5

I'm just going to say upfront what I didn't like about this book: the twist came too late in the book. I felt as though the story should have been winding down and coming to a close when suddenly something brand new came up. After this tragic twist, the ending felt abrupt. The author chose to rush through the aftermath of the tragedy instead of fully exploring it. It was disappointing to be left feeling like the author could have and should have done mo...more

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May 29, 2013 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, library

Normally I can't read books with a male protagonist on the young side of the YA spectrum, because, let's face it, these guys tend to do embarrassing things and are kind of perverted in their thoughts.

Winger was different, though. While Ryan Dean is a youngin' and he does some things that make you want to say "Oh, Ryan Dean, you idiot," and he does do some thinking with his other brain, so to speak, there was just something about him that was captivating. It's rare to find someone his age who ex...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 16, 2013 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 14-16, lbgt, sports-rugby, school

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 27, 2013 Megan Huang rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is great for teens though the language is a little profane. It added to the feel of the book and made it more relatable. As someone who can relate to being younger than most of the people in your grade (though no by two years) I can say it was just a book that have me that "homey" feel. It definitely grabs your attention and is a tough one to put down. (Finished it in a couple of hours) the writing is fantastic and plays with your emotions quite a bit. Though I don't want to give it aw...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 16, 2013 Isabel (Sab The Book Eater) rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review and more at Sab The Book Eater

I don't know why people find the cover so hideous. I don't think it is. I actually like how it captures the overall feel of the book. It's different and raw and funny and painful and oh-I-have-so-many-ands-now. The cover looks different than most YA books, the title's different, the plot.... okay maybe the whole nerd-makes-something-out-of-his-loser-life plot isn't that different but hey, the main character's voice is entertaining enough for me to enjoy...more This review and more at Sab The Book Eater

I don't know why people find the cover so hideous. I don't think it is. I actually like how it captures the overall feel of the book. It's different and raw and funny and painful and oh-I-have-so-many-ands-now. The cover looks different than most YA books, the title's different, the plot.... okay maybe the whole nerd-makes-something-out-of-his-loser-life plot isn't that different but hey, the main character's voice is entertaining enough for me to enjoy the cliche of it all.

So let's get down to what made me love the book immediately: the humor.

"I said a silent prayer. Actually, silent is probably the only type of prayer a guy should attempt when his head's in a toilet.

And, in my prayer, I made sure to include specific thanks for the fact that the school year hadn't started yet, so the porcelain was impeccably white - as soothing to the eye as freshly fallen snow - and the water smelled like lemons and a heated swimming pool in summertime, all rolled into one.

Except it was a fucking toilet.

And my head was in it."

This was the first thing I read and it literally made me laugh out loud. I enjoyed reading the story through the eyes of Ryan Dean - yes, he has two first names. It's not just Ryan. Not Ryan-Dean either. Ryan Dean. It's weird and awkward but I love it. Ryan Dean was very witty and funny. The narrations and dialogues were highly entertaining. However, and this is a common problem I noticed with overly intelligent protagonists, there were instances where I felt like his humor was getting annoying. For example, I love that he poked fun at himself by saying he had a "skinny bitch" body but when that term got used repetitively, it wasn't as funny anymore. Not to worry though because that didn't really do much to influence my rating.

Aside from Ryan Dean's voice, I also liked the dynamics between Ryan Dean and his friends. It's hard imagining a 14-year old trying to fit in when he's 2 years younger than his batch. He may have the intelligence to keep up in class but everyone still considered him as a kid and that made him feel like an outsider. But seeing how Ryan Dean eventually fit in with the boys from O-Hall, his friends outside O-Hall and girls was quite interesting. He felt more authentic whenever he'd push himself to do something, anything, to fit in because his mind would go on overdrive trying to figure things out. You can just see how insecure he actually was despite the confidence he displays for everyone. The honesty in his thoughts was definitely a plus for me.

While most of the book was highly entertaining because of the protagonist's wit and the generally light feel of the story, the ending took a quite abrupt and dark turn. I didn't really like how heavy the ending got because there wasn't much added to it to make the sudden change sensible. True, you can kind of see it coming but to end it so abruptly like that wasn't really enough. At least to me it wasn't.

Abrupt ending or not, this book is still great. It sort of has that John Green feel to it so I think fans of that author would definitely enjoy Winger. The characters were real, the message was solid and it's definitely entertaining from the first page up to the last. Readers shouldn't miss out on this one.

(I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is based solely on my opinion.)(less)

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Jun 07, 2013 Adrienne C rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is what you would get if Justin Case grew up and met Looking for Alaska. The narrator could be awful and I was so sick of him repeating "I am a loser" all the time, but sometimes he was funny and he had an interesting voice. It read like the diary format of Justin Case (or better-known Wimpy Kid) with character-drawn illustrations and plenty of self-effacing humor, but was definitely teen.

What happens to Joey was a little out of left field, not because there weren't hints leading up to...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Life is tough when you’re the only 14-year-old 11th grader in your school. Ryan Dean West juggles rugby, life in the delinquents’ dorm with the biggest bully in school as his roommate, and general girl craziness – especially with one girl – in this funny, engaging, entertaining novel punctuated with wonderful drawings and comics that had me laughing out loud throughout. The book has a shocking turn of events near the end, which left me in tears, something I hadn’t expected after laughing so much...more

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May 06, 2013 ExLibris_Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was my first Andrew Smith book and after reading it I finally realized why he has so many devoted fans. Winger was heartbreaking, honest, and hilarious. I don't mean smile while you're reading funny, I mean that I laughed so hard at parts of this book that I woke up my husband because my laughter was shaking the whole bed. (Any book that has a haiku about getting kicked in the balls will always be number one in my heart, ok?) The hilarity is artfully combined with moments of painful honesty...more This was my first Andrew Smith book and after reading it I finally realized why he has so many devoted fans. Winger was heartbreaking, honest, and hilarious. I don't mean smile while you're reading funny, I mean that I laughed so hard at parts of this book that I woke up my husband because my laughter was shaking the whole bed. (Any book that has a haiku about getting kicked in the balls will always be number one in my heart, ok?) The hilarity is artfully combined with moments of painful honesty that go perfectly with Ryan Dean's raw and unapologetically hormonal narrative voice. The book is also filled with the cartoons and infographics that Ryan Dean creates, which adds to the humor and overall experience of reading this book. For me, it brought me even further into the story because I wasn't just reading about the cartoons that Ryan Dean was drawing for his friends, I was getting to see them, as well. (I would like a graphic novel that tells Screaming Ned's back story, please.)

The thing about Ryan Dean that I loved was that even though he is riddled with a lot of self-doubt, he really doesn't let it hold him back. He's younger and smaller than all of the guys, but he plays rugby with everything he's got, anyway. He's rooming with the biggest bully on the team, but that doesn't stop him from crushing on said bully's girlfriend. The girl he loves thinks of him as a "little boy" but he never gives up. Although some of his decisions made me cringe, I could not help but fall in love with the way he just decided to go big or go home. Although Ryan Dean alone was entertaining enough, the people he interacts with at school were a big part of the reason why I loved this book so much. Every relationship in this book was a treasure. Even the most unsympathetic residents of Opportunity Hall eventually found a place in my heart, which I think is a testament to Andrew Smith's writing and his ability to flesh-out the characters. That ability to make you care about everyone is the reason why, more than halfway through the book, you will find yourself going from laughing to crying. I wasn't prepared for that and it made the book a very intense read, but if anything, I think it made me love it even more. In my mind, Winger was ultimately a story about love and acceptance that was framed within the context of the complicated and confusing feeling of a hyper-intelligent teenage boy. There are very few books that get it right the way that Winger does. I am so glad that I read this story. Read this book and you won't be sorry. Trust me on this one, folks.(less)

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May 15, 2013 Aiden rated it 5 of 5 stars

First off, I'd like to say that this is one heck of a book. The plot, characters, and their feelings are what really makes this book great. It gives you an incredibly honest look inside the mind of 14 year old boarding school junior Ryan Dean West. Ryan Dean would be cool if he simply wasn't 14. He's smart, funny, healthy, and has the balls to stand up to bigger and stronger kids, but he is often overlooked by the ladies for his age. And that's a big problem for him, because he is in love with A...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 01, 2013 Mary Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Whip-smart and full of laugh-out-loud moments, WINGER seamlessly blends everyday life, young love, and heartbreaking loss in a perfect coming-of-age novel I wish I could send back in time to my teenage self.

1 like · like · see review

May 26, 2013 Brandon Taper rated it 2 of 5 stars

Most contemporary YA books are screen treatments posing as novels, packed tight with dialogue and scene setting. What's amusing to me is that YA authors fail to grasp one of film and television's basic tenets: you need not write down everything that happens to your character. If your teenage hero is traveling from an upper floor in his building to a lower floor, you don't have to narrate each step. If nothing is gained about character or plot, why tell us?

Sadly, most of this novel is just that:...more

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Jun 01, 2013 Serena rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lol-awesomeness, contemporary, reality-bites, ya

NOTE: Do not read this book while eating. I almost choked and/or spit out my food because I was laughing so hard.

This was almost a 5 star book. But I hated the end. Really effing hated it. Because it was so unnecessary. And not completely out of the blue, but no build up.

There should have been more afterwards. I know Smith was going for stark, but it wasn't enough. It seemed to trivialize the situation. I should have cried. I didn't. It was such a waste. The topic could have been dealt with more...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Wendy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was actually one of my favorites! It has humor, really true, and is also very touching at times.

Ryan Dean West is a 14 year old junior at a rich kid school that gets bullied and made fun of. He is also on the Rugby team. (He is the winger)

He is also in love with his best friend Annie and only thinks of him as a little kid. Ryan Dean goes through a lot of adventures to try and survive his junior year in school.

This book is really fun to read because once you start to read it.... Trust m...more

1 like · like · see review

May 26, 2013 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

I have so many feels for this book. I've never laughed, seriously laughed out loud through the entire book and then cried like a baby. Full review to come.

1 like · like · see review

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About Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is the author of GHOST MEDICINE, a 2009 ALA/YALSA "Best Books for Young Adults," and IN THE PATH OF FALLING OBJECTS, a 2010 ALA/YALSA "Best Books for Young Adults."

In November, 2010, Andrew Smith's THE MARBURY LENS will be released by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan.

I won't rate books by other authors here on Goodreads. I think there are obvious reasons why an author might...more

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11861815-winger?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367927656l/11861815.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11861815-winger?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Winger by Andrew Smith[/url]

Winger

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