BRADY'S WAY

A struggling high schooler learns to trust himself as he breaks away from everything that is holding him back in Thompson’s YA novel.

Brady Judd is a 10th grader at Edison High School who lives with his hardworking grandmother. Encouraged by his “friends” Hector and Carlton, Brady has begun to skip class and, as a result, his grades are plummeting. When the trio decides to drink alcohol under the school’s football stadium bleachers, Brady is the only one who gets caught. Sentenced to two weeks of cleanup crew with the elderly Mr. Damon, Brady doesn’t see a reason to change his self-destructive ways. That all changes when his grandmother is diagnosed with Parkinson’s and forced into an early retirement. The shocking diagnosis, combined with a teacher’s encouraging note (“Keep thinking for yourself and be strong”) pushes Brady to reconsider what he wants out of his life. He distances himself from Hector and Carlton, begins regularly attending class, and strikes up a friendship with the studious Faye. When tragedy strikes, Brady will have to draw upon all of his inner strength to help those around him who need it most. The text’s simple vocabulary and sentence structure makes it ideal for early to middle-grade readers. While the dialogue is painfully stiff at times (“I was scared about your future. But you have come a long way”), Brady’s inspirational journey of self-discovery makes it easy to overlook. Thompson also explores generational trauma through the youthful troubles of Brady’s own mother, which adds nuance to an otherwise straightforward tale. Brady’s decision to ditch his friends doesn’t come easily, but it almost immediately results in drastic life improvements (better grades, a genuine friend in Faye, a special award). While the rewards come a little too quickly to be completely realistic, the story succeeds in its heartfelt mission to spur young readers to stand up for themselves.

A candid morality tale that reminds kids of the power that comes from thinking for one’s self.