Jason Gent lives in Brisbane with his wife and two daughters. His debut YA verse novel, This Season’s Draft, was a 2026 CBCA Notable in the Older Readers category.
This Season’s Draft features six teenagers (five boys and one girl) in Year 12. The boys are all under consideration for the AFL draft, an annual process in which AFL clubs select new talent based on scouts having watched them play, analysed their stats and even visited them at home. (This reviewer knows absolutely nothing about AFL, so please excuse any inaccuracies in terminology in this review!)
The story takes place over a year, with its structure provided by five seasons (summer, autumn, winter, spring and summer again). Each of the five sections contains only one chapter per character, which means there are only five to ten opportunities to get to know each teen. (Only two pairs of characters know each other in real life, so references to characters outside of their own chapters are minimal.) This does create a challenge in a relatively short book when there are six characters to get to know; at times I found it difficult to differentiate between some of the male characters.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the storyline I was most invested in was that of the female character, Beth. Initially, she is the long-term girlfriend of one of the male characters, Dane, who is a much better AFL player than boyfriend. Beth’s early chapters consist almost entirely of her reflecting on her relationship with Dane, which had me wondering whether this novel would pass the Bechdel test, but it won me over by (a) having Beth finally give Dane the flick, (b) showing her embrace her own passion of computer game development once he was gone, and (c) serving up some satisfying storybook justice to Dane in his own storyline.
This is a fast read with an accessible writing style, believable teen dialogue and a good balance between the AFL and non-AFL subplots. There are positive messages around the importance of education, men and boys displaying emotion, and appreciating the kindness of others. The publisher’s website suggests a reading age of 13–18; I would recommend it for mature readers aged 14+ who enjoy realistic fiction, sports stories and/or verse novels. Topics to be aware of when considering this book for classroom study or library categorisation include the death of a parent and a brief makeout scene that includes light petting.
Jason Gent lives in Brisbane with his wife and two daughters. His debut YA verse novel, This Season’s Draft, was a 2026 CBCA Notable in the Older Readers category.
