The Accidental Savant

The Accidental Savant is the story of a football player who get's hit too hard and end's up with a concussion, but then his brain changes in ways that can't be explained. Suddenly he can play the guitar despite never learning how.

I enjoyed this book, however, it wasn't what I was expecting when I read the description. I was expecting there to be some element of mystery.

"Naturally, there are consequences--sudden celebrity and viral notoriety. Worse, he is tormented by guilt... for a crime he can't remember committing."

There was no crime.

However, it was a good coming of age story. A young boy experiencing his first love and getting to know a little bit more about the world. I really enjoyed the story, very well written. If you'd told me this was based on a true story, I'd believe you.

Fritz can catch the football no matter where it is..he’ll jump, reach slide, whatever it takes and gets the ball until one game changes all that. Fritz slams into a 250 lb player on the other team that knocks him out. The result is a concussion that changes his life dramatically. Somehow his brain got retired and he now has a special gift!

Two books I've read recently have had a protagonist with synesthesia, and both characters have the kind associated with music. I've already reviewed a couple of books from the Scott Drayco series with a brief mention of the condition. Drayco's synesthesia was congenital. He was born seeing music in color.

The Accidental Savant, features a fourteen-year-old boy who becomes an acquired savant with synesthesia after a hard hit on the football field and a concussion.

Gregory "Friz" Collins, an outstanding young receiver who can pluck a football from the air with the same delight as that of a Frisbee Dog. His interest in football is pretty much all consuming.

After Friz suffers a concussion from a hard tackle, however, his life changes. His recovery is slow, and he is under rigid restrictions to rest and let his brain heal. Until, that is, a sudden change occurs, and Friz suddenly finds himself able to play the guitar as well as anyone with decades of experience. He can reproduce a song after one hearing, and he sees music in colors.

That change alone is remarkable, but after hearing a blues guitarist, Friz recognizes something even deeper in himself and in the music. Football no longer interests him, he is irrevocably hooked on blues.

I'm going skip some episodes, but eventually, Friz takes what Joseph Campbell would describe as a "heroes journey." Traveling with elderly bluesmen, Friz is renamed "G" for guitar man and hears tales of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, meets Buddy Guy and William "Po' Monkey" Seaberry, and learns a lot about the world, friendship, and racism.

An excellent coming of age tale! Great characters, information about blues and blues musicians--The Accidental Savant is worth your time! I was familiar with some of the names mentioned, but not Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, or Po' Monkey and his Mississippi Juke Joint. I love learning while being entertained.

NetGalley/BooksGoSocial

Coming of Age. Feb. 14, 2021. Print length: 257 pages.

Gregory "Frizz" Collins is a high school football player enjoying his life in sports and school. During one of their games Frizz suffers a concussion and is sent to the hospital. After a few days he is sent home and that is when things become really interesting. All though his father is a musician Frizz never has been into music but suddenly after listening to a guitar riff one night he picks up his Dad's guitar and plays the exact solo perfectly.
Friz has become an accidental savant-someone who after a brain injury has obtained new skills.

This YA novel can be enjoyed by young and older adults. As Frizz's new talent sky rockets he meets a group of older black blues musicians and goes on the road with them. All at the same time of having a new young romance with a girl he meet in the hospital. Frizz's innocent mind is opened to the world around him as he learns about history, race issues, and music. A good read for all.

A book about a normal football player who develops an uncanny ability to do many things like play guitar, etc. Something he never learned to do. Someone who has to adjust to way he sees the world around him thanks to taking a hard hit which rewires his brain. Interesting book and premise

this was so good.perfect book to immerese yourself.i loved it.i am thankful to the publisher for the book

Fritz is the "Accidental Savant". He is consumed with football and is a great player until he is hit so hard from a player on the other team, that he is knocked out. He has a concussion that changes his life immensely. He finds that he has extraordinary talent that he has never had before.

Thanks to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting story. It was actually two stories. The first was about a teen boy becoming a savant and learning to live with it. The good and the bad.. The second story was about a physical road trip as well as a racial one.
Both stories were very well done. I thought the dialogue between the band members was very eye opening. The author did a great job to educate the reader.
I’m not sure both stories worked together. It seemed like a stretch. But I still enjoyed it.

The premise of this book caught my attention immediately. This book was so much deeper than I could have even imagined. Reading about Friz and his passion for football and then his concussion was just the beginning. This book really took off when Friz healed having become a pro at the guitar and a new love of music especially jazz. The rest of the book was a wonderfully woven tale of evaluating life and some of the issues not only he faced but those around them as well. This coming of age story was so potent I found myself just lost in the thought of his experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed this author’s first book, “The Book of Moon” so much so that it still sticks with me over a year later. So, when I was made aware of this author’s second book I had to request it from Netgalley. It is a read now selection so get yourself a copy to!

I don’t read YA very often, but I feel the strength of this author is that his YA books read like an adult book with some adult themes. I can relate because as a kid I was already an old soul and was mature beyond my years. I can relate to the teens in both of his novels.

This novel was more serious than his first but also very enjoyable. Having no expanse knowledge of musical savants this was entertaining especially with all the musical references to music that I enjoy as well.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the author for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed The Accidental Savant as a kind of literary science fiction story -- including elements of phenomenon, as well as character study. Recommended reading from author George Crowder.

I got off to a bumpy start with the first chapters in this book, somewhat at sea with Frisbee Dog’s Texan style football self-commentary.
This sets the scene, and introduces the world through the eyes of Friz or ‘Frisbee Dog’, a 14 year old boy, so called as he is a talented football alpha catcher.
Frisbee Dog suffered a hard hit to his head, when another player nicknamed ‘Rottweiler’ clobbered him concussed.

We read how Friz is treated through the eyes of a doctor and how his mother describes his rest period without school, sport or homework.
He suffers headaches, and is back at the hospital waiting room when he notices ‘Rah-Rah’, a girl who was injured cheerleading.
Here he is noticing a shift in himself, as he previously hadn’t paid much attention to girls.
Rah-Rah, or Samantha, gets on very well with Friz, and proves to be acceptive and supporting of him even though he believes he now has brain damage of some sort.

The humour and warmth in the dialogue between Friz, and his friends and family are engaging and well written.

Friz’s Dad is a music teacher who had previously tried to encourage Friz to take up an instrument, but Friz had no interest.
Friz wakes up one day feeling better, and different as he has become a blues guitar genius drawn to music, and seeing chords and notes in colours.

An astonishingly wonderful musical and coloured journey begins, culminating in Friz taking a mind opening tour to Chicago with three older blue’s musicians to learn about blues, meet the charismatic Buddy, and play on stage to admiring crowds.
Friz is a blank page for blues guys Willie, Jackson and Thetis to describe their experiences as black men in the context of defining ‘white privilege’. Something Friz has never had to consider previously.
Their stories are pacey, humorous and sometimes very sad.
I loved this part of the book, these characters really drew me in and made me feel as if I was the musically brilliant, naïve Friz absorbing a whole different world.
Refreshing and inspiring reading, as even when Friz has a couple of difficult experiences (his appearance on a tv talk show with Dr. Jeff ) he manages the fallout well with the support of his family, Samantha and his new blues friends.

Well researched by Crowder, and such an uplifting read – I wanted the whole story to be true.

thanks to NetGalley and Chelsea Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Friz lives in Texas and that means football, which is something that he is great at. A concussion changes all of that for Friz. The concussion also leaves Friz with the unusual ability to play guitar like a professional musician. Doctors realize that his brian injury has made him a music savant which changes his life in more ways than he can imagine. Along with a girl he met in the doctor's office and some musicians that take him under their wing, Friz embarks on a new journey. This is an unique story that keeps you entertained until the end. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

got off to a bumpy start with the first chapters in this book, somewhat at sea with Frisbee Dog’s Texan style football self-commentary.
This sets the scene, and introduces the world through the eyes of Friz or ‘Frisbee Dog’, a 14 year old boy, so called as he is a talented football alpha catcher.
Frisbee Dog suffered a hard hit to his head, when another player nicknamed ‘Rottweiler’ clobbered him concussed.

We read how Friz is treated through the eyes of a doctor and how his mother describes his rest period without school, sport or homework.
He suffers headaches, and is back at the hospital waiting room when he notices ‘Rah-Rah’, a girl who was injured cheerleading.

Here he is noticing a shift in himself, as he previously hadn’t paid much attention to girls.
Rah-Rah, or Samantha, gets on very well with Friz, and proves to be acceptive and supporting of him even though he believes he now has brain damage of some sort.

The humour and warmth in the dialogue between Friz, and his friends and family are engaging and well written.

Friz’s Dad is a music teacher who had previously tried to encourage Friz to take up an instrument, but Friz had no interest.
Friz wakes up one day feeling better, and different as he has become a blues guitar genius drawn to music, and seeing chords and notes in colours.

An astonishingly wonderful musical and coloured journey begins, culminating in Friz taking a mind opening tour to Chicago with three older blue’s musicians to learn about blues, meet the charismatic Buddy, and play on stage to admiring crowds.
Friz is a blank page for blues guys Willie, Jackson and Thetis to describe their experiences as black men in the context of defining ‘white privilege’. Something Friz has never had to consider previously.
Their stories are pacey, humorous and sometimes very sad.
I loved this part of the book, these characters really drew me in and made me feel as if I was the musically brilliant, naïve Friz absorbing a whole different world.

loved the use of "acquired savant" and how it was like a superpower. This was a lot of fun to read with great characters and a storyline.

This was the first book I read by the author and I enjoyed the writing. I don't read a lot of YA by male authors but this was good. I had a few problems with the book - white protagonist who gets everything handed to him, including this new found fame - was a bit tiring. The writing carried it, but I feel the book could have been better if maybe the music genre was different. I could easier see the same premise working but using rock or pop instead. Probably would be more believable but then who would publish it? So, yes. Good book, strong writing, and I look forward to discovering more from the author.

‘Popping to my feet and sprinting to the huddle would have been a tasty move, but it wasn’t even on the menu. I just lay there, gazing at blue heavens, hugging the football to my side.’

Friz, as he is called, sustains a bad head-injury playing football that results in acquired savant syndrome. Having never played guitar before, he quickly rises to professional standard. Scepticism brews and he finds himself all but being painted a fraud.

A lot of potential but this story was just mehhh for me. It had a few good elements: a strong start and later when Friz appeared on a talk-show, was accused of lying and the aftermath that ensued. But beyond that it was not my cup of tea, though it might be for others. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for my views.

A teenager playing football receives a head injury that results in an extraordinary musical ability. This story takes us on a journey through Jim Crow south revealing the evils of the past that still lurk throughout our country. This book is essential reading for youth and adults alike.