Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
Release Date – December 1 , 2011
Publisher Website –  Sourcebooks/Raincoast Books
Publisher Social Media -  Twitter
Pages - 284 pages
My Rating- 4/5
**purchased**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. 

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?

Jordan Woods has just one dream - to play college level football at her dream university. Catching Jordan introduces us into some memorable characters, and a fun, refreshing voice for a teenage girl character.

Jordan is such a great character. She is a mixture of confidence and insecurity that rings true for a lot of girls. She doesn’t have a lot of experience dating boys, even though she’s always surrounded by them. Her determination, focus and passion were some of my favourite qualities in her. She could handle sexist jerks as well as she could handle a football and yet she had this softer side to her.  Jordan’s voice and journey feels authentic. Not just to the character, but the experiences of a lot of teenagers.

Miranda Kenneally took a subject I knew very little about and made me care. I wanted Jordan to succeed. I wanted her to get into the college/university of her dreams and play college football. I was indignant on her behalf when someone expected her to behave “like a girl” and told her to quit football. The author managed to capture of essence of having a passion and what is means to strive for our dreams. I also loved the message that sometimes our dreams can be met in different ways.

Sam Henry, Jordan’s best friend and team mate. I loved their friendship. The bond between these characters is shown by the characters actions rather than by having the author tell us. Fiercely loyal to each other, and always there when needed. Their friendship has ups and downs and is tested. It’s worth it to both of them though, and they each make the effort when it counts. I was wanting Jordan to stop making lusty eyes at Ty and focus on the incredible guy already in front of her.

Ty is most girl’s definition of a catch. Good looking, charming, and friendly. He also happens to share Jordan’s love of football. His character is likeable enough, and I found him really charming at first.  However, he is completely shattered by the connection and chemistry between Jordan and Henry.

The romance is cute, and has a few little surprises along the way.  I loved the descriptions of how Jordan feels right after meeting Ty. It brought back memories of high school and being smitten with the cute guy in my class.

Each of the characters in this novel, even the minor side characters, were given a lot of depth. Miranda Kenneally focused on flushing out her characters, and using the plot to reveal them to us. It is impressive that with all the characters we meet that each of them is anything but one dimensional.

The Woods family dynamic was another of my favourite parts of the novel. An imperfect family that care about each other. I don’t think we see enough of strong family relationships in YA novels so I was happy to see it done so wonderfully in this novel. Jordan’s parents are a large part of the story, and she has a pretty amazing relationship with her mother.

Catching Jordan reminds us that taking chances is worth it, to never judge someone based on outside appearances and  that sometimes love is the biggest surprise of all.