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emilyrose72's review against another edition
3.0
Louie Banks' senior year goes nothing like he planned, beginning with when he quits the football team because he disagrees with the coach's racism. This is a great novel for teenage boys, because it has a good blend of sports, friends, girlfriend, and school and family life. The main character is relatable--he's an average student, likeable guy who is decent at sports and falls in love with a girl who he originally thought was too good for him.
apigonfire's review against another edition
4.0
What would you stand up for? Louie Banks, a senior at Trout High School (in Idaho) “loses it” when his coach okays hurting a star quarterback for another team - especially since he’s black. Written in 1983, the book references old school Idaho - Boise and Borah High.
It was a good story. Sporty, but not too sporty.
It was a good story. Sporty, but not too sporty.
lisajha's review against another edition
4.0
Themes: coming of age, standing up for beliefs, fighting unfair authority, sports
Louie seems to have it all. He has just made the high school football team with the exact position he’s been hoping to get for years, his best friend is one of the most popular guys in school, he’s got a good relationship with his parents, and the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen is in love with him. But of course, such a perfect life is just too good to last, and when the football coach asks him to play dirty against another character just because he is black and talented, Louie refuses, setting in motion a whole string of events that gradually cause him to lose nearly everything he’s got that’s so good. I’d recommend it for 15-16-year-olds and up, because there is a fair amount of crude language and sexual content. I really wasn’t as offended by it as I thought I would be—but I would still recommend it with caution. Sports lovers will likely really enjoy it.
Louie seems to have it all. He has just made the high school football team with the exact position he’s been hoping to get for years, his best friend is one of the most popular guys in school, he’s got a good relationship with his parents, and the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen is in love with him. But of course, such a perfect life is just too good to last, and when the football coach asks him to play dirty against another character just because he is black and talented, Louie refuses, setting in motion a whole string of events that gradually cause him to lose nearly everything he’s got that’s so good. I’d recommend it for 15-16-year-olds and up, because there is a fair amount of crude language and sexual content. I really wasn’t as offended by it as I thought I would be—but I would still recommend it with caution. Sports lovers will likely really enjoy it.
jenlikesbigbooks_'s review against another edition
2.0
REQUIRED READING
Running Loose follows a teenage boy who is on the football team and seems to have everything. He meets a perfect girlfriend. His football coach tells the team that they are playing a game against a team with a black kid. The coach deliberately tells his team to play dirty and hurt the boy so he can't play. In the mean time, Louie and his girlfriend Becky have a weekend alone together and have to deal with whether they were ready to have sex or not. With a turn of events, Becky gets in a car accident and Louie does something to get him kicked off the team. He struggles with reality and accepting that his perfect girlfriend is gone and he doesn't have football anymore.
I feel that this is a great book for teens because it really addresses many issues such as sex, death, cheating, and right and wrong. It has good moral values and ends with Louie learning and growing as a person. It keeps you hooked until that last page and could appeal to any audience despite the seeming football/sports genre. But, I did not specifically enjoy it. I felt like the writing was not very deep. It talked about deep subjects, but the writing felt like it skimmed the surface of the severity.
Running Loose follows a teenage boy who is on the football team and seems to have everything. He meets a perfect girlfriend. His football coach tells the team that they are playing a game against a team with a black kid. The coach deliberately tells his team to play dirty and hurt the boy so he can't play. In the mean time, Louie and his girlfriend Becky have a weekend alone together and have to deal with whether they were ready to have sex or not. With a turn of events, Becky gets in a car accident and Louie does something to get him kicked off the team. He struggles with reality and accepting that his perfect girlfriend is gone and he doesn't have football anymore.
I feel that this is a great book for teens because it really addresses many issues such as sex, death, cheating, and right and wrong. It has good moral values and ends with Louie learning and growing as a person. It keeps you hooked until that last page and could appeal to any audience despite the seeming football/sports genre. But, I did not specifically enjoy it. I felt like the writing was not very deep. It talked about deep subjects, but the writing felt like it skimmed the surface of the severity.
thatweirdlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Like always Chris Crutcher is a wonderful author. I really enjoyed this one because the main character is also brought up in the book Deadline as the coach and you get to see how is life turned out. I can't get enough of this guy I hope he keeps it up for a long time.
taratara44's review against another edition
2.0
To Louie, football is everything- that is football and his girlfriend. But when both of these things are no longer as they were, Louie has to find the strength and possibility to move on and be the best he can be. Running Loose is a great look at teen issues especially faced by males. This would be a fast and easy read for anyone interested in sports. It is probably definitely more geared towards males, but it could be a good read for someone dealing with death. There are some adult themes, so a it would be better suited for a mature reader.
kait2lyn's review against another edition
1.0
Running Loose takes place in a rural Idaho town in the 80s. Seventeen-year-old Louis Banks starts the school year off with everything going for him—a starting spot on the three-years undefeated football team, a cool best friend, and the beautiful, intelligent cheerleader Becky Sanders as his girlfriend. Everything starts to unravel, however, when Louis decides to stand up to his racist football coach and quit the team. Facing suspension from school and the alienation of his peers, Louis focuses on his relationship with Becky. However, a tragic accident causes Louis to question divine providence and the meaning of life. The assistant coach, Mr. Madison, helps Louis run—not away from his problems, but through them. While this book may appeal to young boys, it really doesn’t have enough content to challenge them. The writing and the pacing are weak, and the central conflicts (racism and death) seem contrived. For it being a full-length YA novel, there wasn’t enough character development to make me care about Louis or Becky, and her death felt like a plot device. Louis’s outbursts were painfully awkward and ineffective—especially if the moral of the story is for teenagers to stand up for what they know is right. I was incredibly underwhelmed.
portalley's review against another edition
3.0
Despite my general lack of interest in sports and books related to sports, I enjoyed Running Loose. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be. (I guess I expected my sports books to be like my sports movies--you know, the heroic tale of the underdog team that rises triumphantly after heartbreaking setbacks.) Running Loose is the story of high school senior Louie. Louie gets kicked off the football team after standing up for what he believed was right and not long after his girl friend is killed in a car accident. For me, this book wasn't just a sports book. While sports were important to the book because they were important to Louie, it wasn't what made the book what it was. It was really a coming-of-age story to me. Louie has to learn to navigate difficult situations and learn how to stand up for his beliefs and accept the consequences of that.
lizhok's review against another edition
3.0
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I wouldn't say I'm a sports hater, but I was never the biggest sports fan. When I started reading, I had this preconceived bias that Running Loose would be all about football culture, and I wasn't really too excited about jumping into that. As I read more and more of it, I really liked that it was just the story of a kid who happened to play sports. I loved the narrator's voice; I've never been a teenage-boy, so I don't know this for sure, but it felt very authentic to me.
lindzee's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favorite of Crutcher's work, but still very well-written with strong characters and a good plot.