By Rita Bullwinkel
Paperback, £9.99
Headshot follows the seven fights that determine the winner of the Daughters of America women youth boxing tournament taking place in Reno, Nevada. Under the dusty light of Bob’s Boxing Palace, eight teenagers from across the country have their go at hitting each other and achieving something big.
Set over the two days of the tournament, the story is told in short bursts that read almost like breathless pants or quick hits. Yet we manage, over the course of eight rounds for each match, to see every competitor for all that they can be. The fights feel like conversations, though silent ones, between the fighters.
And as readers, we get to see the girls not just as athletes, but as complex humans with rich and odd inner lives. Flashbacks and flashforward glimpses give perspective to the fights. We are not just in the moment. We are understanding the moment in context. Each girl is her own world, peopled with ghosts from her past and the echoes of childhood. Every one of them trying to find meaning in their own, singular way, to make the sparse audience see them for who they really are.
All together the fights form a composite picture of girlhood and the transition into womanhood seen from different angles, through the personal histories and idiosyncrasies of each character – from hand-clapping games to braiding their hair to early family tragedies. The book also works as a road map of the US that mostly evades the coastlines and global cities in favour of freeways and other capitals.
I loved the unexpected imagery and the distinct attention given to the small things of growing up. I loved every character and being let into their worlds.
Would pair very well with Kathryn Scanlan’s Kick the Latch and Rebecca Perry’s On Trampolining, as well as the movie Challengers on what playing a sport can mean.