DIVE FROM THE SKY

When it comes to characterization or dialogue this book is, indeed, treading on thin air but the subject itself is so inherently exciting that it more than compensates. Eighteen-year-old Larry Hardesty is grounded from his glider club after a near collision with young skydiver Joe Greer. Larry, somewhat of a hothead, unfairly blames Joe and it doesn't help that his girl, Janie, has also joined the Valley Skydivers Club and is more than infatuated with the sport, and perhaps with Joe, the club's top flyer. Janie's gentle pressure nudges Larry into trying the ""nutty stuff"" himself. There's also the disconcerting fact that ""chickens don't fly,"" and our hero is scared to death before his first fall. After that he's lost in space and determined to outmaneuver Joe, particularly in the big contest coming up with a rival club. But the real drama is in the details of the sport from packing the parachute to making a baton pass and the very idea of free fall should send young thrill seekers hustling through the pages. Look Ma, no plane!