Davidson, Dana (2005). Played. NY: Hyperion, Jump at the Sun. ISBN: 0786836903. 240 pages.
Dana Davidson could be another Sharon Draper or Sharon Flake if she would just push the damn envelope already! While it has long been acknowledged that there is a dearth of entertaining Black y.a. fiction that doesn't deal with Big Issues, the lack of attention paid to even the Little Issues in this novel in the interest of advancing a rather plodding plot just doesn't do it for me. Set in the same high school as Davidson's previous novel, Jason and Kyra, Played is a teen romance in a similar vein. Popular and handsome, Ian just wants to be accepted by FBI, an exclusive clique of cool boys in his predominantly Black Detroit high school. When the boys of FBI tell him he has to woo an unlikely girl and get her to sleep with and fall in love with him in order to get into the secret fraternity, Ian is ready for the challenge. Little does he know that he will end up falling for the FBI boys' target and, though he does go through with the practical "joke", resolves to give up FBI and pursue the girl he realizes he loves. Is anybody tired of this trope yet? Can we say She's All That? The Booklist review of Davidson's Jason and Kyra criticizes the novel for being "much too long"; the same is true about Played. Additionally intriguing is the cover art, which features a very light skinned Black couple in an embrace; the stars of the cover are extremely whitewashed versions of the real characters. Hmmm. . . |
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