This book is about a young high school boy with a complicated yet exciting life. Jesse Alderman is a guy who can get anyone anything for a price. Essays, alcohol, answer sheets… anything you want, he can manage to get. Jesse also has a different outlook on life, he doesn’t have any emotions or hatred for it, in fact he feels nothing in the way he describes everything around him. However his pessimistic outlook starts to crumble when a known jock and bully pays Jesse to help him win a girl’s heart, a girl who Jesse is unwittingly starting to like.
The main thing I like about the book was the relationship between Jesse and Peter. Although Jesse is rude, ungrateful, and harsh, he often shows the reader of common human follies without the morality and bias that would normally obscure it. Also the battles between the two reminded me a bit about myself and a friend I have. Jesse and Peter’s friendship is quite complicated yet somehow at the same time very obvious and likable. I am not an avid romance novel reader, actually I have almost never read one, but Sway was different. It was more about human nature and the struggles of a teenager and love and romance.
One memorable thing in the book was when Carter was explaining the meaning of Sway to Peter. This moment defined Jesse in a nutshell and one is left to question why he doesn’t like the nickname Sway.
Reviewed by Jalaj, grade 10, Tuckahoe Area Library
Published by AdrienneTheLibrarian
ABOUT … Adrienne, Teen Librarian & Digital Media Lab Librarian at Libbie Mill Library.
Hi, I’m Adrienne, and I’ve been a Teen Librarian at HCPL since 2006. I started at Twin Hickory and moved to Libbie Mill in 2015. Come visit our Teen Room and check out all we have for you -- books, great study and hanging out space, free computers, free classes in 3D design & printing, Coding, Photoshop and soooo much more!
Random stuff about me:
* Favorite book: Hmmmm, this is hard, since it changes all the time as I read new stuff and depending on what mood I’m in. However, there is one book that I know will still make me snort with laughter even when I’m 80 years old — The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.
* Favorite food: perfectly made toast
* Favorite band/music: Cake. I will never get enough Cake.
* Favorite reference question: Q: How long does it take the galaxy to rotate once? A: It’s called a galactic or cosmic year and it takes about 225-250 million earth years.
* Pets: I have two cats and a dog. Marcus and Grey are the cats who were rescued from a box in the woods when they were just little puffballs. When they are not acting insane, they are very sweet and purr loudly. My dog is named Peter and he's a medium size poodle mix (we call him the substandard poodle). He's got floppy ears, snores and loves green beans.
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