Nick+W.

CATCH​ media type="youtube" key="zwhq-zyaT4U" height="456" width="629" align="right"

"Will Leitch's firstnovel is a coming-of-age story that will resonate for young people and adults alike. His main character's move from an unexamined existence to one in which he is fully engaged in the joy, the insecurity, the pain, and the challenge of life rings with authenticity and sincerity." --James frey, author of //A Million Little Pieces// and //My Friend Leonard//.

"Will Leitch's first novel provides an unvarnished look at what it's really like to grow up in small town America today. Refreshingly honest, compulsively readable, and darkly funny. //Catch// will win legions of fans." --John Green, author of //Looking for Alaska//.

"Will Leitch's //Catch// illuminates with careful strokes a particular coming-of-age--that of the Midwestern jock--but will appeal to any reader, no matter how dorky, no matter how urban. An honest and heartfelt book." --Ned Vizzini, author of //Be More Chill and Teen Angst? Naaah//

As I'm drifting off to sleep, I have a feeling I'm forgetting something--something vital has slipped my mind. I can't imagine, as nice as tonight has been, as fulfilled and exausted as this has left me, that it could have been all that important anyway.​ --Tim

"But I kind of //like// my life here, you know?" Another thought: //I like my life here with you. --Tim//



He tosses me the keys, and I catch them because, as I've said time and time again, I can catch anything you throw at me. --Tim

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1. I chose the first memorable passage because this is a very big turning point in the book. This body is when Tim forgot to call Helena after him and Jessica went on the campus tour at the University of Illinois. That night when Tim forgot to call Helena, she got drunk and cheated on him. She didn't even call him the next day or respond to any of Tim's messages. She completely blew him off. This is the part in the book when Tim finally runs into a problem. Tim was having such a good time with his new friends, and Jessica, his friend that he has known ever since he was a little kid, he forgot about his girlfriend that he spent the whole summer dating. I think the reason that Tim forgot about calling Helena was because he was out drinking at a bar on the campus with Munesh, his campus tour guide. His tour guide didn't even show them the campus of the University of Illinois. This was a very important part of the book. I think that Helena thought Tim didn't care about her and she was easy to forget about, so she tried to drink away her problems.

2. The reason i chose this second memorable passage was because it shows how Tim feels about his life. He has a great job that pays more than twenty dollars an hour, he has a place to live, he has a great girlfriend and a great life. He was basically a local hero and he could get away with anything in that town. He feared that if he left town and went to college, he would turn out like his brother is now, with a beer gut and always angry. He loves his life now and is afraid that if he leaves that people would forget about him and then think he is a loser and that he is not as great as everybody thinks he is. Tim doesn't want to leave Helena and he doesn't want her to leave and forget about him. he doesn't want to mess anything up with Helena. He wanted to live with Helena forever, and he never wanted to be away from her. He was explaining to Helena that he didn't want to go to college. That is why I chose this memorable passage from this book.

3. I put this passage on here because this was the most important passage in this book. This quote is talking about when Tim was getting ready to go to college. His dad tossed him the keys and asked him if he wanted to drive. That is when Tim said this passage. This was also the very last sentence in this book, that is why I chose this passage. Another reason I chose this passage was because it referred to the title of this book. It was also the only time the author reffered to the title in the book. he says that he can catch anything that is thrown at him, but in the last game of his high school baseball career, he was the catcher, and a guy slid into him going home to win the game, and he knocked the ball out of Tim's hand. He was only saying this because he was a very good catcher for baseball. This quote was important because it shows how Tim is so cocky and how he thinks that he is the best athlete ever. That is why I chose this memorable passage.

4. The reason I chose this Youtube video to put on Wikispaces was because it is a perfect description of this book. This song is called //Going Away to College// by blink-182. This song is about love. It is about how this guy didn't even notice that this girl liked him. That is how Tim was when Helena first actually talked to him at the bar. All the other times he tried to talk to her, she would insult him. The song also talks about how the person is going to college. That is how Tim felt about school. He was wasn't sure he would like college but when he finally went to the University of Illinois, he said that it was a perfect night and that he had a great time. That was also when he forgot to call Helena. I think that this song described the book very well becuse of what happens in the song. Tim was very afraid to go to college. Those are the reasons that I chose to use this Youtube video on my project for my book.

5. The reason I chose this picture for my book is because it is showing the love between two people. That is how Tim and Helena felt for each other. it shows how caring two people can be fo each other. Helena felt this way for Tim until he forgot to call her. Then she forgot about all the times the shared together and all the good times they were together and how happy they were. Then she cheated on him. This picture is showing the compassion people have. It also shows lust. Just like when showed it when Tim forgot to call her one time. Tim felt so much for Helena even after they broke up. Tim was in a daze for the few weeks after they broke up because he was in love with her so much and he didn't want to forget about her. He also missed her so much that he left her around ten voicemails in the first two weeks. Those are the reasons I chose the first picture I had.

6. My second picture is a bagel. It is very important to the book and it symbolizes a lot. If there wasn't a bagel factory in Mattoon, then Tim and Helena would have never met and had the adventure that they had. It was at the bagel factory when Tim first saw Helena. it also gave him another excuse why he didn't want to go to college. All Tim had to do for work was carry boxes from the factory to the bagel truck, every day, for the whole summer. Mattoon also celebrated Bagelfest. This was a big celebration with a parade. This really was the last time Tim was with his whole family before he went to college. This was also when Tim decided he would like to go to college because Tim's brother shaved his beard and was happy and he looked like college didn't ruin him like he did during the summer. That was when Tim realized that college doesn't ruin people but it helps people. He also realized that if he left, people would still rememeber him. That is why I chose this picture for my book.