Press Play

by Eric Devine

Overview

Pound by sweaty pound, Greg Dunsmore's plan is working. Greg is steadily losing weight while gaining the material he needs to make the documentary that will get him into film school and away from the constant jeers of "Dun the Tun."


But when Greg captures footage of brutal and bloody hazing by his town's championship-winning lacrosse team, he knows he has evidence that could damage as much as it could save. And if the harm is to himself and his future, is revealing the truth worth the cost?

CCSS-aligned curriculum guide can be found online at http://www.rpcurriculumguides.com/curriculum_guides.html

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762455126
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	10/28/2014
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	HL570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Eric Devine is a writer, high school English teacher, and educational consultant. He is the author of Tap Out, Dare Me, and Press Play. He lives in Waterford, NY with his family.

Editorial Reviews

This is definitely a Devine novel; there's so much sweat, blood, and adrenaline that you almost need to wring out the pages. . . . A tough, smart look at weight issues, self-respect, and our intrinsic desire to belong at all costs.”
—Booklist

“[A] page-turner.”
—VOYA

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From the Publisher

12/01/2014
Gr 10 Up—At nearly 400 pounds, Greg is determined to shed his excess weight while making a documentary of the process. One day, Greg and his friend, Quinn, witness the lacrosse team involved in brutal hazing rituals, which Greg captures on film. Quinn wants to go to the principal, who is also the coach, but Greg convinces his friend that they need to record more evidence. Eventually, fellow film-geek, Ella, is drawn into the affair, as is Ollie, another boy desperate to lose weight. Devine describes the hazing and other bullying in explicit detail, making the book feel nauseatingly voyeuristic. The violence ranges from threats, insults, and web smears to beating victims unconscious, repeated blows to the genitals, "teabagging," finger-breaking, and force-feeding excrement. Greg has credibility problems due to his past attempts to create a Michael Moore-style documentary about the school and community. Still, it is difficult to understand why he never considers going to the police, or his parents. The primary characters are overloaded with background complications. Greg's mother is on a passive-aggressive quest to keep him fat. Ella has survived a suicide attempt triggered by bullying at her last school. Quinn is intimidated by his father and by his father's clients, who have sexually harassed him. Ollie's beloved grandfather is dying of obesity-related illness while his family members comfort themselves with food. Plot and character development are slow moving in a predictable direction. An additional purchase for libraries looking to strengthen their collections on bullying.—Rachel Anne Mencke, St. Matthew's Parish School, Pacific Palisades, CA

School Library Journal

2014-07-16
An intense cult surrounding an all-state high school lacrosse team is slowly exposed by the school's largest student. Under the guidance of his best friend, Quinn, Greg "Dun the Ton" Dunsmore has been slowly chipping away at his 352-pound body with intense workouts in the school's weight room. One day, Greg and Quinn mistakenly discover the lacrosse team's hazing rituals, led by team captain Alva and head coach/school principal Mr. Callaghan. Greg, a budding film student, slowly captures various hazing incidents on film and, with the help of fellow fattie Ollie and fellow filmie Ella, creates a documentary with the purpose of taking the lacrosse team down. The book is structured like a conspiracy thriller, but the problem here is a bit obvious: Readers know from the outset that Callaghan is the head of the snake. Coupling this knowledge with repetitive scenes of Greg capturing footage and deciding it isn't enough evidence, which leads to capturing more footage, makes for a real drag. Like Greg, this book could stand to lose some excess weight. There's simply not enough story here. Making matters worse, the filmmaking teens are presented as types rather than actual characters, with their bullies so cartoonishly drawn that their problems have the level of complexity of an after-school special. Too long, too simple. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

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