Life At These Speeds

Life At These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson

Wow did I enjoy this book. The writing was so witty and the characters so smart that I wanted to know them in real life.........or have to book go on. A HUGE downside is that by page 4 the F*** word showed up and didn't back off. I am so disappointed! This book is aimed at teens, about teens. I would surely not want my teen having profanity flashed in their face every page. It shows a true lack of ingenuity and creativity amidst awesome writing. If your characters are that great and smart, I'm sure they could think of a few better things to say.
The book is about an 8th grade track runner. Nearly his whole class at school belongs to the track team (small town). After a track meet one night Kevin (main character) rides home with his parents, while the rest of the team travels home in a van. The van crashes into a river and the whole team, coach, friends, and girlfriend of Kevin die. After this Kevin kind of loses touch with reality for sometime. But the tragedy also is some kind of catalyst that turns Kevin into a track phenom. He begins breaking records at his new school. (There wasn't a grade left for him to attend at his old school.) Sounds kind of lame if you aren't into sports. But the character development is quirky and witty. The supporting characters have really out there names, which I found odd and funny (Bobolink, Henny, Andanda, and Umber).
I can't recommend the book based on the truly crappy language for the audience it is aimed at....but if you don't care about that then give it a try.
Rating 4. I would have given it higher but I am SO disappointed in the language.
Rating R for the unwarranted use of serious swearing.