Review of 'Strong Like You' by T. L. Simpson:

Not to be redundant, but after reading this book, I just had to give a review, even though Kellie R. has already done so! Walker Lauderdale and his cousin Sawyer Metcalf are about to play in their first varsity football game, and neither of their dads is there to watch this rite of passage. Walker is a physically strong young man, so strong that when he and Sawyer sandwich the opposing quarterback in the first play of the game, they break his leg!

The boys are sure that the dads would be proud of this, but neither man is there. They disappeared just over a month before, and most people believe that Walker's dad is dead, due to his past exploits. "Men don't cry; they never show weakness" is a mantra that Hank Lauderdale has instilled into his son, but there was no teaching about another kind of strength, strength that doesn't come from the toxicity of violence in the poverty of rural south. Anger, danger and true courage come together to teach these young men the real meaning of manhood. This is the pick for teens in All Iowa Reads for 2026.

Relax and read!

~Connie, Library Assistant