Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

About the book

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally is the first book in a young adult series. The book was published by Sourcebooks Fire on 1^st March 2012 and it is 283 pages long.

Plot Synopsis

Jordan Woods has forever been known as one of the boys - she plays on the field with them as the captain and quarterback of the football team. Unlike the other girls at her school, Jordan doesn’t really care about getting their attention though because all she wants is a scholarship to play ball in college. That all changes though when Ty Green transfers to the school and wants on the team. Trouble is, he’s also a quarterback and he’s drop dead gorgeous. Will she be able to keep her head in the game or will Ty distract her long enough to steal her heart?

What I thought

Although not the greatest fan of sports… okay, I pretty much hate sports, I was really looking forward to reading a young adult book about the subject. Not only that, it was really different for a book with football as the main theme to have a female protagonist. This really isn’t something you see a lot of in young adult books so I was ready to read something different and new.

Jordan was a fantastic protagonist. She’s captain of her school’s football team, the only girl on the team and the quarterback as well. If all of that wasn’t enough to make her awesome, she is also better than most of the guys on the team and isn’t afraid to boss them about and show them who is boss. Seriously, Jordan kicked ass. Jordan is also someone who is super smart, makes good grades and tells it how is really is. If any of the guys beat on her for being a girl, or for anything else, she puts them right back in their place.

I really enjoyed watching Jordan and her team/ friends interact. It was slightly strange to see Jordan boss everyone around and for her to have the respect of the whole team. People didn’t second guess her judgement at any time and knew that she was doing the best things for the team. They were also a great bunch to read about off the field as well. As a team, the characters were really close so it was nice to see them all going out together, talking about relationships and sex etc. and for Jordan to have people she could go to if she needed to.

When new student Ty turns up, everything changes for Jordan. She’s having feelings for a guy which is something pretty new to her but also, he plays the same position as she does and wants on the team. Jordan instantly likes what she sees in Ty but soon has a decision to make. Ty is also a quarterback and desperately wants on Jordan’s team but she knows playing in every game is the only way that she’ll get the scholarship that she wants. While she finally thinks she has found someone to be in a relationship with, Jordan also doesn’t want him ruining her future and taking the spotlight away from her.

While I loved the majority of this book, Jordan and Ty’s relationship was a bit hit and miss for me. While the chemistry between the two was great, some things just did not add up. Jordan is a pretty inexperienced girl but it doesn’t take her very long at all to do things with Ty. When I say not long at all, it appeared to happen within a matter of days, maybe a week or so. For someone who has stayed away from relationships with boys, and hasn’t ever had a boyfriend, this was just too much. Jordan’s actions also didn’t seem to match her personality which was a shame.

Although Jordan and Ty together was not great, I did still really enjoy this book. The plot and setting were fantastic and there are some great little twists thrown in throughout the book. Overall, this one was pretty good.