SHOOK BY JULIAN RANDALL
When I saw Jason Reynolds call this book a gift, I knew I was going to love it.
Shook follows Malik “Shake” Page, an eighth grader whose life revolves around basketball. Like many athletes, he knows exactly who he is: a ball player. Then he gets injured and can’t play. Shake is confronted with anxiety, changing relationships, and questions about who he is without the sport he loves. As much as this is a story about basketball, it is also a story about identity, mental health, and resilience.
One of the strengths of Shook is its portrayal of anxiety in the context of sports. Taking away the sport around which his life revolves brings underlying anxiety to the forefront. Randall captures anxiety through both emotional and physical experiences. This helps show that feelings can be difficult to name, especially for young people experiencing them for the first time. I also appreciated the inclusion of therapy, which is presented as a normal and helpful tool for working through challenges.
This is a novel in verse that uses space purposefully. Spacing, shape, font changes, and other visual elements reinforce emotions and experiences while drawing readers into the story. These features make the book accessible while also serving as a mentor text for how writers can use text structure meaningfully and intentionally.
I would recommend Shook to readers who enjoy novels in verse, sports stories, and realistic fiction. It will resonate with athletes, students navigating anxiety, and fans of authors such as Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds.