Practice Girl

April 15, 2022
A young woman learns that some of the guys on the wrestling team she manages refer to her by the misogynistic term practice girl after she has sex with them. Seventeen-year-old Jo's dad, a high school wrestling coach, meant everything to her. His death from a heart attack several years before crushed her and made her bail on the sport, but her eventual return as the team manager has buoyed Jo. It's helped her navigate a life with her mom, stepfather, and 4-year-old half sister in which she feels largely ignored and has provided a social group beyond her best friend, Sam, who is a star on the team. Jo's introspective, funny first-person narrative voice is alive with poignancy and an increasing earnestness as she moves from enraged embarrassment to determination and starts wrestling again. Along the way, she revisits her abandoned friendship with classmate Leah, a rift that left her saying she doesn't get along well with other girls. She also must face up to the complicated bond she has with Sam and decide whether she wants something more than friendship--possibly with Sam's rival, Dax, instead. Jo's dynamics with other people are interesting, and the narrative pulls no punches in its emotional honesty even if the story does wrap up a touch overly neatly. Jo and most other main characters are White; there is racial diversity among secondary characters. A relationship-focused story told with intelligence and wit. (Fiction. 14-18)

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May 15, 2022
Grades 9-12 Jo Beckett falls in love too easily. Every time she sleeps with a guy, she convinces herself a relationship is on the horizon. So she's always crushed when, after sex, guys suddenly blow her off. As the manager for the high-school wrestling team her dad coached before he died, Jo's always on the sidelines. So when, at a party, she overhears a teammate and hookup refer to her as a "practice girl," or the kind of girl guys practice sex with before getting a girlfriend, she's devastated--then fights back. She joins the wrestling team determined to prove herself and in the process finds herself reevaluating her relationships with the boys on the team, the girls at school she's always scorned, the best friend she herself once practiced sex with, and the truth of her own desires. Through Jo's first-person narration, which often rings painfully true, Laure captures with painful precision one teen girl's journey to self-discovery and self-awareness. A contemplative and compelling look at female sexuality and the double standards that accompany it.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 14, 2022

Gr 9 Up-High school senior Josephine "Jo" Beckett wants romance and love, but having sex as a means to find love is turning her life into a chaotic mess. When she is slapped with the label "practice girl" by a guy on the wrestling team, the misogynistic, shaming insult rocks her to her core. Determined to get even, she joins the wrestling team herself, becoming the first female member-this allows her to reconnect to a sport she once excelled at, when her father was alive and coached her as one of the "Little Wrestlers." Getting back into shape means strength training, a strict diet, and daily team practices. She trusts no one except Sam, a childhood pal who cares, although he didn't stand up for her when he should have. Enter Leah, the best friend Jo lost in a fog of grief after losing her dad. Leah's no-nonsense approach to reestablishing their bond requires another commitment: Leah wants her help on the school dance committee. When she reluctantly joins, Jo finds unexpected support from other girls who confirm the misogyny of teen culture. Together, they revamp the traditional senior dance theme to one that welcomes students in nonconforming gender roles and celebrates inclusion. Jo finds that mayhem does not ensue when she forms relationships based on basic honesty and respect. VERDICT A must for teens who can handle sexually explicit material, and who are interested in wrestling, feminism, and challenging stereotypes.-Georgia Christgau

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2022
Seventeen-year-old Jo is devastated when she overhears the boy she recently slept with refer to her as a "practice girl": someone to have sex with for experience, but not to date. She's further humiliated to discover that she is widely known by that label among the guys on the wrestling team, of which she's the manager; worse, her best friend, team member Sam, didn't tell her about it. Jo quits, then defiantly rejoins -- as a competitor. (Her love for the sport comes from her late father, who was the wrestling coach.) At her first meet, Dax, a rival wrestler with a reputation of his own, asks her out. But are his intentions genuine? They are, it turns out, and Jo and Dax are caring, honest, and mature together. Laure (Remember Me, rev. 3/22) demonstrates a keen understanding of adolescent interactions, and not only romantic ones. Jo's reflections on her relationships with family and friends -- in particular her complicated feelings for Sam -- are nuanced and insightful. The protagonist's growth, both physical and emotional, pays off: in the satisfying ending, she finds victory on the mat and recognizes that she deserves to be loved and appreciated unconditionally. She may well help readers to recognize that they deserve the same. Rachel L. Kerns

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2022
Seventeen-year-old Jo is devastated when she overhears the boy she recently slept with refer to her as a "practice girl": someone to have sex with for experience, but not to date. She's further humiliated to discover that she is widely known by that label among the guys on the wrestling team, of which she's the manager; worse, her best friend, team member Sam, didn't tell her about it. Jo quits, then defiantly rejoins -- as a competitor. (Her love for the sport comes from her late father, who was the wrestling coach.) At her first meet, Dax, a rival wrestler with a reputation of his own, asks her out. But are his intentions genuine? They are, it turns out, and Jo and Dax are caring, honest, and mature together. Laure (Remember Me, rev. 3/22) demonstrates a keen understanding of adolescent interactions, and not only romantic ones. Jo's reflections on her relationships with family and friends -- in particular her complicated feelings for Sam -- are nuanced and insightful. The protagonist's growth, both physical and emotional, pays off: in the satisfying ending, she finds victory on the mat and recognizes that she deserves to be loved and appreciated unconditionally. She may well help readers to recognize that they deserve the same.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)