A sports story that handsprings away from romance and toward a commendable joy in accomplishment.
Freitas, who brought readers the delightfully feisty protagonist of The Possibilities of Sainthood (2008), is back with another determined young teen facing challenge.
Joey is a first-rate gymnast who has never actually won gold, but not for want of trying. Now she’s faced with training hard through the summer for Regionals. That would be okay, because she adores her sport, but good-looking Tanner has moved back to town, becoming a major distraction, and her best friend Alex is considering dropping out of training to spend more time with her new boyfriend. Joey’s parents, burned out after years of watching her older sister compete—often in pain from injuries—support her gymnastics training financially but frequently undermine the 13-year-old’s determination to persevere. (This is not completely credible, however, since they are otherwise involved with their children.) Joey’s very serious first-person narration is believable, and her cautious exploration of a budding relationship with Tanner rings true. Gymnastics routines are described using terminology that will only be familiar to gymnasts, adding authenticity to Joey’s voice; a spread of step-by-step illustrations of some of the skills helps clarify Joey’s descriptions of her routines. Talented young athletes will recognize and applaud Joey’s zeal; others might wish she could broaden her focus.
A sports story that handsprings away from romance and toward a commendable joy in accomplishment. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32788-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A skillful sequel that adds new layers to a coming-of-age story.
In this follow-up to Ghetto Cowboy (2011), 14-year-old Cole convinces his mother to let him stay in Philadelphia with his father and beloved horse, Boo, instead of returning to Detroit.
Cole and his dad, Harper, are still learning to navigate their father-son relationship after years of being estranged. As they figure out their new arrangement, Harper says Cole has to get a job to help earn his keep as well as Boo’s. Working as a stable hand at a nearby military academy, Cole meets young cadets who are strikingly different from him in socio-economic class and attitudes—and who seem to have it out for him from the start. Fortunately, Cole also meets and befriends Ruthie, a Black girl on the polo team who shares his love for horses. She is in a minority at the school due to her race and sex; the friendship offers mutual support. While working there, Cole develops a growing attraction to Ruthie as well as an interest in possibly attending the academy someday. But is this world just too different from his own for him to even get a foot in the door? And is he ready to leave everything he’s known behind? In this entry, Neri gives readers a look into another type of equestrian life while maintaining the tone and style readers appreciated in Cole’s cowboy journey, including an evocative voice and situational code-switching. Final illustrations not seen.
A skillful sequel that adds new layers to a coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0711-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A predictable, fast-paced sports tale with some unexpected heart.
Harrison has led a hard-knock life up until he’s taken in by loving foster parents “Coach” and Jennifer.
After he inadvertently causes the man’s death, Harrison is taken from a brutal foster home run by a farmer who uses foster kids as unpaid labor, a situation blithely ignored by the county. His new foster parents are different. Coach is in charge of the middle school football team, and all 13-year-old Harrison has ever wanted to do is to play football, the perfect outlet for his seething undercurrent of anger at life. Oversized for his age, he’s brilliant at the game but also over-the-top aggressive, until a hit makes his knee start aching—and then life deals him another devastating blow. The pain isn’t an injury but bone cancer. Many of the characters—loving friends Justin and Becky, bully Leo, a mean-spirited math teacher, cancer victim Marty and the major, an amputee veteran who comes to rehabilitate Harrison after life-changing surgery—are straight out of the playbook for maudlin middle-grade fiction. Nevertheless, this effort edges above trite because of well-depicted football scenes and the sheer force of Harrison himself. His altogether believable anger diminishes his likability but breathes life into an otherwise stock role.
A predictable, fast-paced sports tale with some unexpected heart. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-208956-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
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