Sophomores is a thought-provoking book of contrasts; the characters are up against struggles in many ways. It is also a stroll through high school literature classes as readers will walk along with Holden and Gatsby.
In the Malone family, living in Dallas in the late 1980s, there are many personal battles. They appear to be a solid family, but the novel reveals the cracks in their public impression.
Anne, the good Catholic mother, is prone to tears of frustration at every turn. She feels some worth when she is select as a juror on a high profile case involving a Methodist minister who is accused of strangling his wife.
Patrick, the father, struggles with multiple sclerosis and alcoholism. He is an airline executive trying to keep his illnesses a secret in order to keep his job.
Dan, the son, a bright prep school student, is working through all those 10th grade concerns: academics, girls, college, and family life.
The novel is recommended for readers who like masked family dramas that reveal what goes on behind closed doors; the novel is especially recommended for book discussion groups.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my giveaway digital ARC of Sophomores!  I don,'t always gravitate towards general / literary fiction but read the last 50% of this one in one night and have no regrets!

Such a great premise.  I latched onto "enigmatic English teacher" and decided to give the book a shot! The book follows each member of the Malone family for about a year, and I think the easiest way to review this one is to give each character/storyline a paragraph!

Let's start with Dan: he is a sophomore in a private high school for boys, smart but not drawing attention to it. His absolutely brilliant honors English teacher sparks a sense of Give-A-Shit into Dan when Mr. Oglesby challenges the class to not be regular rats, but Norwegian rats! It's just something you have to read.  Dan deals with his father's alcoholism and sickness, and the family's overall dysfunction, while navigating sophomore year amongst a group of realistically loveable and ridiculous friends.  I liked having glimpses into their shenanigans and family troubles, and they were funny!

It's not a party til someone shoots a firework out of their ass, right? 😂😂

Anne, the mother, is selected to be a juror in a local high profile attempted murder trial, where a Reverend tried to (allegedly) murder his wife .  I think Anne sees herself and her own suffocation in the victim.  What a life, I can't imagine having a blithering alcoholic husband who loses his job and keeps spending money on alcohol! I would be screaming and picking fights too, but I have to hand it to her for staying in the house.  Anne's unravelling is pretty sad to see

Pat, the father, is an alcoholic like his own father.  He loses his job at the airline after enough people catch him drinking when he should probably be working or available for work.  He knows he's sick, with both MS and Alcoholism, and has an epiphany in the hospital at one point where he and this other alcoholic are just taking up beds for people who might be having real emergencies. Yep, that happens.  I really disliked Pat, I'm kind of surprised he wasn't scared of alcohol after his own childhood.  His point of view served to show the family's history a bit too though and then he became the broken head of a broken  household, trying to break the cycle he was stuck in.

Would Oglesby like that analysis? I wish my AP English teacher cared so much!

Anyway - all of the storylines form well rounded, thoughtful characters.  Dan's hilarious friends and high school life offset some of the tougher themes like faith and broken families.  It is a very real story that spares no feelings whatsoever, and I did read the last 50% in one sitting 😳

My only thing was the absolute number of words I had to look up! I consider my vocabulary pretty well rounded and I was still thankful to be reading on Kindle so I could just click words! So many words.

I would totally recommend for anyone interested in high school nostalgia, literary discourse, football, Irish American slice of life, fiction in general, and family stories!

The main character, Dan, is a sophomore in high school, and given the title, you’d think this would be the most compelling part of the story. It’s not. The portions of the book when Dan is in school are the least interesting to me, with his personal exploits with friends and girls being a little more engaging. Dan’s mother’s storyline as she is a juror for Reverend Raleigh’s trial is the most intriguing element, while I was overall most captivated by his father Pat’s drinking problem. (Also, I expected the episode with Carmen and her daughter to come back at some point later to haunt Pat - maybe they robbed him or he contracted HIV or something, but nothing further ever came of it.)

Sophomores by Sean Desmond is a coming of age story of the main character, Dan Malone. The Malone family has relocated to Texas for Pat Malone’s job.  However, Pat ends up losing his job. The story presents the challenges faced by the family including Pat’s struggle with alcoholism and multiple sclerosis, Dan’s struggle with finding motivation and getting through high school, and Anne’s struggle as she faces life with an unemployed, drunk husband.  Anne is chosen to a juror on a sensational murder case where a pastor is accused of murdering his wife. This novel tells three different stories in one, those of Pat, Anne, and Dan Malone. This book portrays a coming of age story and follows Dan as he matures and realizes what is going on around him.

Though the book was well written, I just could not get into the way I would have liked. The story of Dan Malone 
who was taught by an interesting teacher wo helped shape and prepare him for the future. The story line about his parents and life in the late 1980's contained to much religion for my tastes.

I won this book in a giveaway. This was completely different and not what I had expected. I think I definitely ventured out of my comfort zone after reading this one. I just don't think it was for me.

Loved it. So good! I would recommend definitely. It perfectly captures everything that teens go through. It has humor and tenderness. .