When ZJ was little, his dad was a football star, a hero. He loved the game, and the game loved him...until it didn't. ZJ's family is thrown off-kilter when his football hero dad starts having memory issues and headaches, and none of the doctors can figure out what's going on.
ZJ remembers when his dad was strong, loving, and playful, but as time progresses he's often confused and sometimes aggressive. ZJ still loves his dad, but he's a little afraid of him and of what the future might hold, too.
A lot of the attention his dad got in his glory days is gone now, but ZJ still has his crew, the Fantastic 4. His friends have always been there for him, and that hasn't changed even as life gets more difficult.
Contemporary readers may recognize the signs of CTE, a traumatic brain injury caused by multiple concussions, but this book is set in the late 90's-early 2000's before the effects of multiple head injuries were widely known. Jacqueline Woodson's new novel in verse is spare and beautiful. It describes the painful and lifelong effects that sometimes happen after a career in professional football, but it also highlights the power and family and friendship.
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