{"product_id":"head-fake","title":"Head Fake","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2025 PEN\/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and Named to \u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews'\u003c\/em\u003e Best Books of 2024\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eHead Fake\u003c\/em\u003e is about how laughter can save us.\" \u003cstrong\u003e-Chris Rock, comedian, actor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An absorbing, uplifting tale of finding light and self-worth in adversity's darkest depths.\"\u003cstrong\u003e-\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews (starred review)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMikey makes everything a joke, even the clinical depression he's struggled with for years. After a run of failed jobs, he becomes the unlikely basketball coach at a high school for high-risk offenders who are experiencing mental illness. The position becomes suddenly available after the team tried to strangle their last coach.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery instinct tells Mikey to get as far away from this school as possible. Coaching these kids, who have been arrested for who-knows-what, would be difficult for a normie. For Mikey, it could cause another breakdown and force him right back to living on the street. But he knows that if he has any chance to make his twenty-sixth birthday, he needs to keep this job, even if the school board wants him fired, and the students would rather fight each other than play ball. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis poignant, hilarious, and sometimes uncomfortable novel proves that even the most damaged of us can emerge victorious.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maxwell Street Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":52317672636632,"sku":"9798990103511","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0833\/0369\/4552\/files\/imageloader_23a8010d-6157-4162-9d34-c745bbc408ec.jpg?v=1787949716","url":"https:\/\/bigredbooks.shop\/products\/head-fake","provider":"Big Red Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}