I first met Frances O'Roark Dowell’s writing with Dovey Coe, (recommended to me by an eighth grader) which I loved, so an offering of an ARC of her newest work by Net Galley was an automatic answer. Hazard, her latest offering is very different but equally outstanding.
Hazard Stokes, named for the town where he was born in Kentucky, has been kicked off the football team for unsportsmanlike conduct. He tells his story primarily through his own emails to his therapist – with attachments as needed – interspersed with a few text messages to other people. This method builds a closeness and empathy to Hazard as the reader has a feeling of reading his personal mail.
Protesting his ousting from the team and insisting that he doesn’t really need any therapy only assures the reader that both were necessary. Hazard is a military kid whose father has returned from Afghanistan with an injury that will ultimately mean a prosthetic leg. His mother has left him with Granny so she can be with his father in the hospital.
Hazard is the best defensive back in Cumberland County. Just ask him, and he’ll tell you. He will also tell you that it is not his practice to play dirty. So why did he make a bad hit and lose the chance to play ball? And why does his dad refuse to let him come visit in the hospital? What are both of them dealing with beyond the happenings in their lives that has brought change to their personalities?
This book takes the reader into the reality of being a military kid with a parent who is dealing with PTSD and all its ramifications. In spite of its sharp look at the reality, the book is laced with subtle humor and compassion. It will be a mirror to the military kids and a window to the other middle schoolers for whom it was written. As usual, I will also recommend that if you have aged past middle school, don’t let that stop you from a really good read.