Rob Durham, language arts teacher, said he’s currently reading “Fadeaway,” a compelling sports mystery novel, by E. B. Vickers.
“Not a lot of time passes in the book; it’s flashbacks,” Durham said.
Though he still has a chunk left to read, Durham is beginning to discover who kidnapped the main character and the reasons behind the dark situation.
E. B. Vickers will visit Thursday, Dec. 14 in the library to discuss the content and inspiration behind “Fadeaway,” along with discussing her work as an author.
“It’s a really good sports mystery story about a basketball player who, right after the biggest game of his high school career, goes missing,” Ray Holmes, librarian, said. “The big mystery of the book is what happened to him.”
Holmes said “Fadeaway” is on this year’s Gateway Readers Award book list.
The book deals with important, real-world issues like opioid addiction, Holmes said, which students and staff should learn about and discuss because of its massive nationwide effects.
Holmes said Fadeaway jumps to a different perspective in each chapter, and there are many characters students could relate to. Readers also may gain a perspective they had never seen before.
“We think Vickers has written a great book that engages a lot of readers and we want to share that with as many people as possible,” Holmes said.
The library staff is currently giving away copies of “Fadeaway.” Henry Chen, junior, decided to pick one up since he was looking to start a new book.
“It looked really interesting,” Chen said. “It’s a pretty cool read so far.”
Chen plans to attend the author’s visit.
Parker Hartman, junior, read “Fadeaway” after learning about it his freshman year in language arts. He said the book focuses on the main character’s dedication to basketball through all his struggles.
“It inspires me to go out and play my sport at practice every day,” Hartman said.
Parker said he plans to attend the author’s visit to learn what inspires Vickers to write powerful and thought-provoking novels like “Fadeaway.”
Durham said the young adult reader can see how friendships and relationships change in the novel and learn the value of forgiveness.
One of the themes of the novel is to be upfront with the truth, Durham said. The lack of honesty and transparency among the characters makes it difficult to solve the troubling mystery.
“Some of the characters saw trouble coming in one of their friends and didn’t say anything,” Durham said. “If I see someone that I’m close to going down the wrong path, I need to step in and say something.”
Anyone interested in high school drama, romance, sports or mystery/suspense would enjoy “Fadeaway,” Durham said.
