Exposure

October 26, 2009
Peet's third novel featuring crusty sports reporter Paul Faustino updates Othello in a fictional South American setting. Superstar soccer player Otello is traded to a new club, a move engineered by his greedy agent, Diego, and a sleazy politician named Brabanta. Within weeks, Otello elopes with Brabanta's only daughter, the pop superstar Desmerelda. Their Posh and Becks–style union becomes premium tabloid fodder, the scrutiny intensified by racist undercurrents—he's black and she's white. Unlike Peet's first two Faustino novels, Keeper
and The Penalty
, soccer action takes a backseat to story lines about celebrity obsession, the plight of the underclass and political corruption. The story is prefaced with a cast list, the narrative divided into acts, and some passages are presented as if they were dialogue from a play. Teens who don't know Shakespeare's version can enjoy this without understanding the many allusions. It'll be more difficult for those familiar with the original to overlook the fact that the motivation for the Iago character's betrayal of the too-good-to-be-true Otello never quite adds up. Ages 14–up.

December 1, 2009
Gr 9 Up-South America's star soccer player, Otello, has just signed a very lucrative contract to play with a team in the southern part of his country. Despite his legendary status as a black northerner, he faces racial discrimination from both the fans and his teammates. His fame is launched to a frenzied level when he marries Desmerelda, the white pop-star daughter of the wealthy and powerful politician who funded his soccer contract. Guided by his self-serving agent, Diego, Otello and Desmerelda become a superstar couple with advertising deals, endorsements, and their own clothing line. Meanwhile, a subplot involving three homeless teenagers climaxes with Otello being accused of inappropriate actions when one of the beautiful and flirtatious teens, Bianca, turns up dead. The plot, characters, and names bear a close resemblance to Shakespeare's masterpiece. While teens will need no familiarity with the original to enjoy Peet's version of the tragedy of betrayal and the isolation of fame, the subplots and entanglements may seem confusing to readers unfamiliar with the play. At 430 pages, the pacing is slow at times, which will deter some teens from reaching the long-awaited ending. However, teachers could add this title to the list of Shakespeare adaptations that can be analyzed in whole or in part by individual students or a small group."Lynn Rashid, Marriotts Ridge High School, Marriottsville, MD"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2009
Grades 9-12 In his third novel about Paul Faustino, a sports journalist in an unnamed South American country, Peet borrows heavily from Othello in a sophisticated commentary on contemporary society. Otello is a dark-skinned soccer star whose rapid love affair with Desmerelda, the white daughter of a business tycoon, leads to a marriage that captures their nations attention. Otellos agent, Diego, maintains all appearances of trustworthy competence, even as he calculates the blood-chilling downfall of his client. Faustino and a band of street children arent always well-integrated into the plot, but the young orphans stories of gritty survival form a vital, real-world counterpoint to Otello and Desmereldas glittering life. As in his previous Faustino books, Keeper (2005) and The Penalty (2007), Peets prose is both lyrical and unflinching (a few characters use racial slurs, including the n word). Teens who know the original tragedy will delight in the myriad clever allusions. But Peets novel stands alone as a bold exploration of ageless themes of power, fame, love, and trust, all seen through the deceptive lens of modern celebrity culture.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
Soccer player Otello marries pop star Desmerelda; their relationship is undermined by Diego, Otello's duplicitous agent. Before this Shakespeare reworking winds to its expected conclusion, it intersects with another tragedy: the murder of a street kid. Peet successfully blends sports writing with crime fiction to explore race and class divisions in addition to issues of trust, loyalty, and celebrity.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2009
Veteran sports reporter (for La Nacion, the leading newspaper of a fictional South American country) Paul Faustino has a knack for finding himself involved with more criminal matters. When soccer star Otello gets traded to his team's archrival, it sets the country buzzing, but not as much as his subsequent whirlwind romance with and marriage to Desmerelda, a popular singing sensation and the daughter of the powerful politician who also happens to be one of the soccer club's owners. Faustino is present when they are introduced and maintains a professional but cordial relationship with both stars. The media exposure is intense, and it alone might be enough to unravel any marriage, but theirs is further undermined by Diego, Otello's duplicitous agent. Before this reworking of Shakespeare's Othello winds to its expected conclusion, however, it will intersect with another tragedy: the exploitation and murder of a street kid, the sister of the boy who, for spare change, runs petty errands for Faustino. Peet has undertaken a very ambitious novel here, one with strong crossover appeal. He successfully blends sports writing with crime fiction to explore not only race and class divisions in society but also issues of trust, loyalty, and celebrity -- with the Shakespeare play providing the structure for it all.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)