Thirteen-year-old tennis phenomenon Hall Braxton has been competing in tennis tournaments since she was six. Her next step is to turn pro, but to do that she must attend a tennis academy. Her parents and coach want to send her to a prestigious academy in Florida. Hall is afraid she won’t measure up to the other students. What if, for the first time, she isn’t the best? After a personal set-back during her visit to the academy, Hall discovers she has an inner strength that motivates her for the right reasons, and no matter what happens at the new school, she’ll be all right. Hall’s observations about her talent, her fear of having a nervous breakdown like her friend, and fellow doubles partner, are told in her voice that often seems older than her years. Fans of tennis and readers who have experienced the similar pressures will relate to Hall’s mixture of excitement and apprehension. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: June 12, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-375-84049-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2007
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre.
Survival camp? How can you not have bad feelings about that?
Sixteen-year-old nerd (or geek, but not dork) Henry Lambert has no desire to go to Strongwoods Survival Camp. His father thinks it might help Henry man up and free him of some of his odd phobias. Randy, Henry’s best friend since kindergarten, is excited at the prospect of going thanks to the camp’s promotional YouTube video, so Henry relents. When they arrive at the shabby camp in the middle of nowhere and meet the possibly insane counselor (and only staff member), Max, Henry’s bad feelings multiply. Max tries to train his five campers with a combination of carrot and stick, but the boys are not athletes, let alone survivalists. When a trio of gangsters drops in on the camp Games to try to collect the debt owed by the owner, the boys suddenly have to put their skills to the test. Too bad they don’t have any—at all. Strand’s summer-camp farce is peopled with sarcastic losers who’re chatty and wry. It’s often funny, and the gags turn in unexpected directions and would do Saturday Night Live skits proud. However, the story’s flow is hampered by an unnecessary and completely unfunny frame that takes place during the premier of the movie the boys make of their experience. The repeated intrusions bring the narrative to a screeching halt.
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4022-8455-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In the ``Choices'' career series, brief interviews with 14 performers—e.g., a juggler, comedian, actor, dancer, and model. Also included: a congressman, pastor, teacher, and lawyer. Each describes how he or she got started and what the job entails, personal feelings about the work, and what young people considering the career should know. Men, women, and various races are represented. This will serve as a starting point for some unusual careers, but for the most part the interviews are too brief to give the reader information of any substance. Also, the books suggested for further reading are seriously outdated: a 1969 copyright for a book on teaching; 1964 for careers in music. List of organizations to write for more information. The glossary-index is of little use. (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1992
ISBN: 1-56294-158-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1992
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