A very fast-paced read centering around senior students at Mill High. It was a quick and enjoyable read! A lot of characters and their messy lives made for an interesting concept!

Did not finish this book. The first chapter did not engage me.

This book for me was solidly average. The premise of the novel is that we follow the lives of a selection of seniors from Mill River, through their final year before the school merges with its richer arch-rival, Morningside Glen. Because of the sheer number of characters we only get to see snapshots of their lives throughout the year so we can't become deeply connected to them. This means some critical moments of the novel lack the emotional depth they would have had if the novel had fewer characters, however, the pacing is quick, with regular plot points to keep the story moving which means you don't realize how much you have read until you are good 40% in the novel.

While the book is very moral with many social issues being thrust upon the characters like teen pregnancy, the death of a family member, alcoholism, academic and athletic cheating, choosing between sport and school, and racism. In other novels, these issues would have presented the affected character(s) with a moral dilemma that would take them a long time to figure out with lots of introspection and yet none of the decisions are really very difficult for our characters. There are a number of situations that could have been a lot tougher than they were, but it feels like there was always a higher presence to save them from the worst consequences of their actions when this isn't at all realistic.

There are several flaws in the overall novel I want to take about first is the timeline. We aren't given an exact date or year the novel is set in so we have to work it out ourselves. The book was published this year; 2017, but for the first quarter of the book, no one seems to have smartphones or internet access. So I assumed the novel was set in an undefined period of the 1970s-80s, Although then we get a few references to texting and Pluto not being a planet, which moves the estimated date to the late 2000s. Towards the end of the novel, a character refers to being the first black president so I can only assume the book is set before 2009.

The second issue I want to touch upon is although the characters are quite racially diverse there isn't a relationship diversity all the relationship are heterosexual. Given the checklist of issues that are covered in this book, the absence of any homosexuality feels like a deliberate omission on the author's part.

I am not even going to discuss the ending of the book because the number of issues here could allow me to write a whole other review just focusing on the ending and epilogue.

At first glance, Mill River Senior High by John C. Rubisch seems like a humorous contemporary novel, but the synopsis is misleading: it is a story about not just high school struggles but also universal themes such as alcoholism, self-honor, racism, political dishonesty, violence, triumph, rivalry, charity, and grieving. Typically, when reading novels which deal with topics as serious as some of these, there’s an angsty vibe rather than an emotional flourish. With this book, it’s different. The themes bring out a depth to this contemporary novel—except it isn’t exactly contemporary, considering the fact that it takes place a little before President Obama became President, proving the universality and timelessness of the themes.

The story, written in third person, follows multiple characters throughout their last year of high school and one anonymous man whose identity is hinted throughout. Although there are more than five main characters to keep track of, their distinctive traits instantly make each one memorable: an athlete with an alcoholic father and a keen sense of morality, an intelligent student with firm politic beliefs who never leaves behind clever plans and mischief, a big-hearted car mechanic who lives on his own, etc.

At first, it doesn’t feel like there is a central plot, just conflicts that each character faces individually, but then there is a build-up of suspense as each obstacle that the Mill River students face contributes to the ending. Every student’s story is connected to another’s, evident through the smooth transitions as a different character is followed for the time-being. For characters so diverse and different, they are sure close, and I find myself not only emotionally invested in each individual character but also in their relationships. I root for them at their big basketball or football games against the rival school, their track meets, and their Model United events all the way until their graduation. By the time I’m at the end of the novel, I feel like I’m part of the graduating class, listening to Cy’s moving valedictorian speech.

The very beginning of the story is a bit slow, but the pacing quickens. Because the story is sectioned into months, the most crucial and climatic moments in the story are sometimes cut with the timeline speeding ahead to reveal the conclusions of certain events. The craziest thing, because this writing technique may sound confusing, is that it works! It is difficult to put down the book because stopping at the end of the chapter isn’t enough. I want to know whether or not things go well for the characters, except I can’t possibly know if things go well until I reach the end of the story… when I find much more than I had expected to learn about each character’s diverging paths.

Overall, I rate this book a strong four out of five, falling short of a five because some characters (typically the anti-protagonists) are less developed with not much reasoning behind their actions, making them seem a bit too Disney cheerleader-villain. In addition, some Mill River triumphs feel a bit too grand. Considering that this book isn’t talked about too much, I would definitely say that this is an undiscovered read. As a high school senior myself, I had hoped to relate to it. Although I can’t relate to the Mill River student as much as I thought I would, I have found something greater in this book: inspiration.

When I first read the description I thought this book would be about kids having to adjust to a new school after learning theirs had to close. Instead it’s about how the kids adjust over the course of the last year the school is supposed to be open knowing for everyone but the seniors they have to transfer to a different school the following year. It’s not just any school, it’s their biggest rival, and the hatred is so intense between the two groups of students images from West Side Story started playing in my head.

Starting in August before school begins, each chapter focuses on a different time throughout the school year as John Rubisch did a Breakfast Club type of story examining the students who were impacted by growing up in Mill River, how the decision to close the school impacted them and where they ended up in the future after graduation. I thought the Epilogue where he provided a quick synopsis of their futures was sweet and made for a satisfying conclusion.

At times the story felt rushed and like we were only getting quick snapshots of what was happening in the lives of certain character even if it was a major event such as the death of a loved but that seemed to be the point as Rubisch was trying to squeeze an entire year of a community into one book. Considering his overall plot I could actually see this easily being turned into a series where each book focused on one month but it probably would not have had the same emotional impact since you get the entire story at once.

Aside from the understandably fast pace I really liked that Rubisch still managed to provide excellent character development as I felt myself caring what was going to happen to these kids, this community. I wanted to support Cy’s antics, throw my own cherry pie in the face of those evil twins, root on Mousey as she fought hard on the basketball court, hug Jack and tell him he can push through his struggles and be an avid reader of everything Holly wrote. There were so many others you couldn’t help but fall for and hope nothing but the best for them.

Rubisch’s writing style is wonderful as he creates the perfect microcosm of humanity and shows us the cause and effect of choices as well as how to face adversity head on. I have to admit I even got teary eyed when Cy gave his speech at the end and would’ve been right there along with everyone else cheering him on.

Although this was definitely in some ways a prototypical YA book, there was something about it that made it much classier and full of more heart than you would expect for this genre.