Plot:

Show Them You’re Good explores senior year of high school for several different boys in Los Angeles. They are from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, attend two different high schools, and come from different levels of privilege, but they share the common journey of applying to college and preparing for life after high school. We see not only college applications, but the real life issues these kids face – immigration, sick parents, stable and unstable home environments, parental illness, relationships with girlfriends, relationships with each other. 

What I Loved Most:

This is a beautiful, quiet work. It is a meditation on a single year in these boys’ lives. This book is not only a reflection on the American journey of collegiate education, but also asks the reader to consider the similarities and differences between the boys’ journeys. The end of high school and beginning of college is such a weird year, fraught with both so much excitement about the future and so much nostalgia for the moment before it even passes. Hobbs does a great job of both showcasing the boys’ individual stories, and looking at the larger issues that impact them, like the political system, the college system, and how one finds their identity in a culture that places expectations on them from the moment they are born.

Read this book if you like:

Learning people’s stories, appreciating both differences and commonalities, reflection

Book Details:

• Author: Jeff Hobbs
• Publisher: Scribner
• Date of Publication: August 18th, 2020
• Age Recommendation: 11th Grade – Adults
• Look up Show Them You’re Good on Worldcat to find it at a library near you!