Call the Shots

Author: Don Calame
Recommended Age: Young Adult

Publisher: Candlewick

ISBN-10: 0763655562
ISBN-13: 978-0763655563  
Year Published: 2012
No. Pages: 352
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Character Gender: Male
Read & Reviewed by: Ben



Sean Hance doesn’t think his year can get any worse, from disastrous luck with girls to his sinister Goth twin Cathy trying to convince everyone (including Sean) that he's gay. It seems that his life can't get any more unbearable until his mom drops the news that she's pregnant, and Sean will have to share a room with Cathy to make room for the baby. Coop comes up with another one of his hair-brained schemes that he thinks will fix everything. He wants to film, write, and direct a very low-budget horror movie and sell it for tons of money. Then Sean can then use the money to add an addition to his house. What can go wrong? Since none of them have very much money, Sean has to borrow cash from his stoner uncle Doug, who will only give them the money if he can star in the movie. Overnight, Sean goes from getting no attention from girls, to more than he can handle, including a psych girlfriend. When the situation gets out of control, will Sean be able to step up and call the shots?

I loved this book because of its humour. This book is very raunchy but not to a point where it is overly disgusting, which is the type of humour I like the most. I think both boys and girls will enjoy this book, but I think the humour will speak more to boys. This, in my opinion, was the best of the Swim the Fly trilogy. Like the previous novels this novel is from another characters point of view. This time, it's from Sean’s point of view. Whereas Matt was the voice of reason, and Coop was the sick-minded comedian, Sean is the kindhearted pushover of the group. Calame adds some new and colorful characters to this series ranging from quirky to border line psychopathic.

Sean’s mentally unstable new girlfriend Evelyn plays a large part in this story. Whenever Sean tries to end their relationship, he always ends up finding a new reason he can’t. For example Evelyn is the only person able to get an HD camera with which to make the film, or Sean worries that her crazy navy brother will murder him. Sean was my favorite character in this novel. He starts off as a nice, loyal kid who doesn’t stand up for himself to the point that he ends up starting a relationship he doesn’t want to be in because he is desperate and unable to assert himself. Things get out of hand and he gets more and more entangled in the lies he's created. He has to decide between longing and necessity, to stay with Evelyn to help his friends with the movie or end his nightmare of a relationship so he can be with the girl of his dreams.

Much like Beat the Band had allusions to music legends, Call the Shots has nods to such horror flicks as Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, Paranormal Activity, etc. Since I am a fan of most horror movies I appreciated this and thought it was clever. I don’t remember a point in the book where I was not laughing my head off.

I think this was a great end to the trilogy. I gave Call the Shots a definite 10 out of 10 for its gut-busting humour, awesome characters and awkward situations. This novel has extremely foul and perverse language, and may be offensive to some readers under the age of twelve.