Tilt
By Alan Cumyn (2011)
Stan is an intense sixteen-year-old loner who desperately wants to make the junior varsity basketball team. And it seems that he may be about to do so, until he’s blindsided by the unexpected attentions of Janine Igwash. Suddenly Stan is no longer thinking about jump shots. Instead he is obsessed with Janine’s spiky hair, her milky white shoulders, and the mysterious little tattoo at the base of her neck, not to mention the heat of her breath, her dark eyes, wide hips and . . .
Sometimes Stan’s imagination runs so wild he wonders whether he might be going crazy. That would be par for the course given his home life. His mother is dating the feckless Gary, and his little sister — designated gifted, but a holy terror — is acting out. Then Stan’s father arrives on the scene with Stan’s four-year-old half brother, and things become truly insane.
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I approached Tilt by Alan Cumyn with minimal interest because of its sports emphasis and the fact that I know absolutely nothing about basketball however, after reading it, I cannot say that I was disappointed. I expected a humorous light hearted novel because it is in the humor section but that is far from what this book actually was about. I found the novel to be intense and was addressing many modern problems such as family issues, stereo types and love. While I think that this novel is not for everybody and I would rate it at PG-14 there were many lessons that can be taken out of Tilt such as avoiding rumors and being able to forgive. Personally, I feel as if this novel is just average and there was nothing that makes it any different from anything else I’ve read so I would not recommend this novel to any of my friends but if they asked me if they should read it I would say to give it a try. Nothing really stood out for me as far as the writing went; it was smooth and fluid and I have no reason to dislike it other than the fact that it’s just not a novel that’s up my alley. I didn’t find myself connecting to any particular characters and it just didn’t give me the spark that great novels usually give and I was not able to completely absorb myself in the situation and plot.