“Boy 21” by Matthew Quick is an all around outstanding novel written by an excellent author that dedicates his works to showing the darker side of reality. Throughout all of the tragedies that happen to Finley, Russ and Erin in the novel, Quick creates a picture in the readers mind so vivid that you find yourself feeling nothing but empathy for these children dealing with real-world adult situations. Hardships put upon them range from losing a starting spot in basketball to losing love ones, and these situations happen everyday. The way Quick describes what Finley is seeing and feeling, you almost feel like you are in his shoes suffering through his tragedies. Although these kids are struggling to last through these events that could potentially happen to anyone, the ways in which they escape from their own reality makes the reader want to escape with them. When Russ explains to Finley that he pretends to be from outer space because he can not let go of his deceased parents, it makes you want to escape with him and believe that he is actually from outer space and that his reality is a happy, free place where he can have everything that he loves back with him. On the other hand, Finley escapes through a real world situation; basketball. Whenever he is on the court playing, you can just feel that he forgets about all of the hardships in his life that are bothering him. Quick does an outstanding job of showing what the real world is like; while at the same time gets the reader to escape from it with these boys. Quick is a remarkable author and I highly recommend “Boy 21” to anyone that is willing to read it. It’s a book that anyone could keep up with, and everyone should read.