RHINO'S RUN

A high school athlete struggles to find his footing amid violent events and polarizing local politics. Hot-button issues crowd the pages of Lipsyte's latest, as an impulsive punch to a classmate's jaw lands football co-captain Ronald "Rhino" Rhinehart in a mandatory therapy group that he shares with both his victim, an abrasive gun control activist, and unstable teen Keith Korn, who brings a rifle to school one day and tries to kill himself. Meanwhile, tensions in Rhino's family and town are rising with the approach of the 2016 presidential election, and Rhino's own hopes for a future in college ball take hits, even as spiteful rival teammate John Cogan spreads unfounded rumors that he's gay and engineers an on-field ambush that leaves him with a serious concussion. Events escalate: A teacher is scapegoated for the gun incident, Rhino's belligerent coach ignores Cogan's bullying, and violence strikes Rhino's personal circle and wider community. Still, for all his struggles to get his head straight (medically as well as morally), Rhino proves to be a calm eye amid the tumult, and if the results of his actions and choices seem a little too pat, his sharp intelligence, range of interests beyond football, and fundamental drive to do the right thing will leave readers solidly on his side. Rhino is white; there's diversity in the supporting cast. A jumbo package of provocative contemporary issues centered on an appealing protagonist.(Fiction. 13-17) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.