Books by Tim Tharp
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The Spectacular Now
2008 Finalist for the National Book Award
- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (November, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375851798
- ISBN-13: 978-0375851797
SUTTER KEELY. HE'S the guy you want at your party. He'll get everyone dancing. He'll get everyone in your parents' pool. Okay, so he's not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men's shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram's V.O., life's pretty fabuloso, actually.
Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee's clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it's up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go forth and prosper. But Aimee's not like other girls, and before long he's in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else's life—or ruin it forever.
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In a small Oklahoma town, one star linebacker must decide what kind of man he wants to be—both on and off the field. Welcome to Kennisaw—where Friday night high school football ranks right up there with God and country, and sometimes even comes in first. This year, the Kennisaw Knights are going for their fifth straight undefeated season, and if they succeed, they'll be more than the best high school team in the eastern Oklahoma hill country—they'll be legends.
But the Knights' legacy is a heavy weight to carry for Hampton, linebacker and star of the team. On the field, he's so in control you'd think he was able to stop time. But his life off the field is a different story. His father walked out on him and his mom years ago, and now his mom has a new boyfriend every week. He's drawn to a smart, quirky girl at school—the type a star athlete just isn't supposed to associate with. And meanwhile, his best friend and teammate Blaine—the true friend who first introduced Hampton to football back when he had nothing else—is becoming uncomfortably competitive, and he's demanding Hampton's loyalty even as Hampton thinks he's going too far.
This unforgettable novel is the story of a boy whose choices will decide the kind of man he becomes, and raises powerful questions about sportsmanship, loyalty, and the deceptiveness of legends. Knights of the Hill Country has been named to several state reading lists and to the American Library Association's best books of the year list.
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Falling Dark
Winner of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize
- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Milkweed Editions (March, 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1571310347
- ISBN-13: 978-1571310347
Falling Dark chronicles a cross-section of 1960s idealists and fallen dreamers. Still reeling from the violent death of her husband, Donna Bless is often too drunk to maintain the barest semblance of her former life, leaving her two boys to fend for themselves. She then takes up with Roy Dale, a boastful shell of a man who seems chivalrous but isn't. Tim Tharp's tale opens darkly, yet points to the possibility of redemption.
