Happy New Year! As we begin another year of reading YA Literature together, we want to take a moment and thank Dr. Leilya Pitre for her work as editor of our Weekend Picks for the past three years. Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday blog could not happen without much work behind the scenes, and our gratitude goes to Dr. Pitre for her dedication in helping us choose our reading every weekend for the past three years. Thank you!
And, a warm welcome to our new Weekend Picks editor Dr. Amanda Stearns-Pfeiffer from Oakland University. She can be reached at [email protected] for contribution ideas or questions/comments regarding our Weekend Picks.
And, a warm welcome to our new Weekend Picks editor Dr. Amanda Stearns-Pfeiffer from Oakland University. She can be reached at [email protected] for contribution ideas or questions/comments regarding our Weekend Picks.
 Amanda Stearns-Pfeiffer | Meet our first Weekend Picks contributor for 2025 and the incoming Weekend Picks editor, Dr. Amanda Stearns-Pfeiffer. She is an Associate Professor of English Education at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan where she has taught courses in ELA methods, YA Literature, grammar, and Contemporary Literature since 2013. Prior to earning her Ph.D., Stearns-Pfeiffer was a high school English and Biology teacher and also coached basketball. Her current research interests includes YAL featuring girls in sports and investigating the representation of those female athletes. |
Sports and Romance on tap for this weekend: Gravity by Sarah Deming
| Who doesn't love a good sports story with a side of romance? If that sounds like a good way to start your new year's reading, then Gravity is the book for you! The boxer at the heart of the story is a tenacious girl named Gravity. Gravity comes to her Brooklyn boxing gym somewhat by accident: a kid looking for an escape from her messy home life where her mom uses extra money (of which there isn’t much) for alcohol and her younger brother looks to her for stability in their otherwise turbulent life. Boxing provides an outlet for Gravity, and she quickly realizes she not only loves the competitive nature of it, but that succeeding could also mean a way out of poverty for her and her brother. Gravity commits herself 100% to the sport – a sport that by definition, centers around passion, intimacy, and brutality. She doesn’t just want to win, she was to “be a champion” and becoming a boxing champion means relentlessly attacking the opponent’s weaknesses. |  Sarah Deming |
The ultimate challenge of the novel comes when Gravity loses her way after falling for bad-boy boxer Lefty. With tattoos of guns on his hands and a pot-smoking habit, Lefty is as wayward as he is seductive. Gravity senses throughout their time together that his influences detracted from her boxing goals.
 | Despite knowing that his habits are bad for her hardworking sensibilities, she stays in the relationship long enough for their sex and fast-food rituals to take both a physical and mental toll on her performance in the ring. Her coaches and fellow boxers start to point out her slow footwork and lagging performance. And as often happens in bad situations that we have stayed in too long, in a seemingly ordinary moment between them, Gravity recognizes all she will sacrifice for these quick pleasures in life if she stays with Lefty. Gravity overcomes many versions of adversity on her journey toward finding her way in the world and in the ring: a broken home life, poverty, an absent father, a drunk mother who steals Gravity’s money, and a series of villains along the way who play dirty, cheat the system, or otherwise aim to undermine her. Spend your weekend alongside this girl-on-fire. |
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