Raiders Night

By Robert Lipsyte

Reviewed by Marsail J., BCCHS student

“Matt measured the distance across the kitchen table as if Dad were a tackler who needed to be avoided or leveled.”

This book is a very good book; a lot of interesting things happen. This book is about real things that really happen in football in high school, from players getting played favorites to taking steroids to get them musclcular. There’s always that one group that thinks they’re cooler than everybody else; in this book it’s called the Backpack group. They are the juiceheads on the team; all they do is lift and try anything to get bigger and be the best on the team, and they think taking steroids is the key to getting bigger and badder.

There is an incoming freshman that plays tight end/ wide receiver and he is really good, but there is a senior that is starting already, and the senior knows that his spot is in jeopardy, so he decides to do something heinous to the incoming freshmen. The leader of the team finds out and he doesn’t know what they should do: tell or keep it quiet. He ends up with a lot on his plate trying to figure out what he should do. Out of 10 I give this book a 9.57.  I recommend this book to all students in grades 9-12.  Even though some of you may not be into football or like it, I think you guys will still enjoy Raiders Night.