The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson by Sean Kennedy

Title: The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson

Series:  N/A

Author:  Sean Kennedy

Genre: Young Adult/ Sports

Length: 190 pages

Publisher: Harmony Ink Press, Dreamspinner Press (7 April 2013)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts

Blurb: There is no Plan B.

After being outed in an especially brutal way and briefly running away from home, Micah Johnson has sworn to get his life back on the straight and narrow.  Well, not so much straight, but you know what he means.

Unfortunately the path to redemption is not an easy one.  With fights at school and on the football field and an all-round snarky attitude as his number one defense mechanism, will Micah survive the school year and the training camps to achieve his dream of making the national draft and becoming a professional AFL player?

His mentor, Declan Tyler, believes in him, but Micah wishes he had the same confidence in himself.  Only time will tell if the ongoing reformation of Micah Johnson will be successful.

ISBN: 978-1-63476-547-3

Product Link: https://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/the-ongoing-reformation-of-micah-johnson-by-sean-kennedy-374-b

Reviewer: Prime

Review: The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson is an awesome book. I’m just going to state that fact outright. I will admit that part of the attraction of reading Sean Kennedy is that I love reading Australian authors, yet at the same time I also love his writing style. It is just so easy on the eye and easy on the brain to process.

Not only that, for me this book was refreshing because normally when I read sport/young adult MM novels, it’s sports that are generally not on my radar – i.e. gridiron, rowing and ice hockey, although I love those books too. Here we are in the world of Aussie Rules, AFL, football and I at least am familiar with the rules!

Although to be honest, I don’t like or follow AFL, does that mean my citizenship gets revoked?!

Anyway, before getting to the actual story, I think I will give a few warnings as there are themes here that are definitely not to the liking of everyone. 1) As I said, this one involves sports, 2) it is a young adult story, so no heavy sex, and 3) something which I know is important to a lot of people, this is not really a romance story, although there is the slightest hint of one.

However, none of this mattered to me in what shaped up to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.

The book is narrated by titular character, Micah Johnson. He’s a young guy – around 17/18 years old – who is basically trying to grow into his own skin. He had a difficult time coming out, as mentioned in the blurb. In his own words he is a reformed arsehole, though let’s face it. He’s still a bit of a sarcastic arse with a twisted sense of humour which I totally love and totally relate to.

Though things are looking up for him, he’s still having some issues at home and at school. But he has great parents and a cheeky younger brother, as well as some friends at school which include a straight guy, a lesbian and the new chick in school who happens to be bisexual. However, with life moving ahead – school finishing up and attending AFL draft camp (it’s here that there is a hint of romance on Micah’s horizon), things are busy and it’s up to Micah to stay reformed.

Readers and lovers of Sean Kennedy’s books Tigers and Devils and Tigerland may be excited to see the appearance of Dec and Simon who had previously battled the fickle world of AFL and being openly gay (seriously, something that the AFL really needs in real life!). Dec especially is there filling the role as mentor to Micah, as he prepares and works towards being drafted for the upcoming AFL season.

There is one bit that will only be funny to Australians and that’s one part where Micah is watching Family Feud on TV and he makes mention of the host’s small stature, something that is pretty common when it comes to Grant Denyer over here. I have been laughing for over an hour over the line:

“…“Excuse you, but I need to know the seven things one hundred Australians think are smaller than Grant Denyer. It’s a tough round.”…”

This is a really fun and uplifting book. Micah meets a number of interesting people along the way as we see him develop into a man through the course of the book. Do I see hints of an upcoming sequel at the end of the book? I sure hope so. I’ll glad go back into Micah’s world and see how things go for him professionally and personally and perhaps even romantically!

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *