Catch & Release in Mock Printz 2026

Mar 01, 2012 Mark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: relationships, young-adult-literature, coming-of-age, characters-with-disabilities, death-and-dying, survival, illness, road-trip

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "I miss my eye.

Not as much as I did at first, but I still miss it, especially when it comes to situations like this, when distance and closeness matter. I can't play ping-pong. I can't catch a set of keys if you wing them at me. Those are things that Polly-That-Was could do. Not me. I can't depend on the world, but other than that, I'm doing fine. I'm moving my story down the road. Slowly, slowly, like an old man in a hat, I'm moving my story down the road."

Polly Furnas is eighteen, and she and "I miss my eye.

Not as much as I did at first, but I still miss it, especially when it comes to situations like this, when distance and closeness matter. I can't play ping-pong. I can't catch a set of keys if you wing them at me. Those are things that Polly-That-Was could do. Not me. I can't depend on the world, but other than that, I'm doing fine. I'm moving my story down the road. Slowly, slowly, like an old man in a hat, I'm moving my story down the road."

Polly Furnas is eighteen, and she and her classmate Odd Estes, are the only survivors of a fast-moving and deadly flesh-eating virus that killed five other people in their small, rural Montana town. There is no clear medical reason for why Polly and Odd survived while the others didn't, but the MRSA (Methicillan-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has left Polly with a badly scarred face and no left eye, while Odd has the lower part of one leg. Before the virus, Polly had a boyfriend, plans to go to college, and some semblance of a future ahead of her; now, she stays at home, attempts to avoid and placate her worrysome mother, and tries to come to grips with the ways her life has changed. In most respects, she's failing to do so.

When Odd shows up at her doorstep, and asks Polly to go fishing with him, she assumes it'll just be a quick trip, something to take both their minds off of their conditions. She and Odd have never been close, but their shared good luck/misfortune has tied them together in some strange fashion. Once they leave for the river, it's clear that the two of them are dealing with their conditions in very different ways; Polly is much more sullen, depressed, and is unsure how to deal with her appearance. Odd, who comes from a much different background than Polly, appears to deal much more positively with the loss of his leg, but as the trip extends longer, it becomes clear that Odd has secrets of his own.

While I gave this book 5 stars, if you're looking for a strong plot, this ain't your novel. There really isn't one to speak of, but the voices of the characters were so strong and compelling (particularly Polly's - wonderfully snarky and honest), that I didn't mind at all. The fishing trip that the two originally set off on becomes more of a camping/road trip, with occasional stop-overs so Polly and Odd can drink, smoke pot, and interact with locals. Eventually, the trip develops another purpose; to deal with Polly's ex-boyfriend in Portland. The characters are extremely isolated, and by the end of the book, they're still pretty much in their own bubbles, but they've come to learn more about each other. I appreciated that there was no romance forced down the reader's throat here, simply because the two are stuck in the same car, and share the same devastating background with the MRSA. In fact, it's obvious that they still don't particularly like each other by the end of the novel. Both are incredibly complicated, and it's hard to imagine either one being in a successful relationship. But the brief moments of kindness they share are magnified, because of their misfortune. As the narrator, we learn more about Polly, but after the two separate near the end of the novel, and Polly reads Odd's letters to his grandmother, much more opens up about his character, in surprising ways. This is a powerful book about young people faced with a world not of their choosing, and how they deal with their lives the best they can. ...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Jenn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, printz-2013

Despite an overabundance of fishing metaphors (good but sometimes overwhelming) and a somewhat depressing topic, this was actually a pretty good road trip book. I'm glad we ended up seeing both sides of the story; I'm also glad that we don't finish with all of the answers. Made it even more realistic. ...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Karyn Silverman added it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, z2012-reads

I think the wrong character narrates. Odd is much more interesting than Polly, based on the glimpse at the start and the end (which is an odd framing device). Also? Way too heavy handed with the symbolism. But I liked it well enough.

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