Thank you for visiting.
This content is exclusive to subscribers only.
As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
Log In
Don't have a Horn Book Account?
Register Now
Register Now
Harmon, Michael
5 Reviews
(4)
YA
Harmon revisits the streets of Spokane, Washington (where Skate was set), and relates sixteen-year-old top-notch skateboarder Tate's story of trying to save his school-dropout younger brother, Indy, also a skater, from a life of drugs and homelessness after a falling-out with their father. This gritty story--rife with violence, swearing, and drug use--will be compelling to many teens despite its too-tidy resolution.
Reviewer: Jack Forman
(3)
YA
Inside a private school for the gifted, a sinister student government organization called the Chamber of Five wields power. Jason Weatherby, son of a congressman, is admitted into the ruling elite. Witnessing the group's abuses, he sets out to take the institution down from within. Taut pacing and blunt dialogue bolster this boy-centric high-school-melodrama-cum-political parable.
Reviewer: David Elzey
(4)
YA
With her doctor mother off "saving the world" (again), Poe is left to live with her estranged father in an oppressively perfect suburb. She comments on the shortcomings of her new high school by describing its failure to prevent social hierarchies and bullying. Poe's critique, initially intelligent and engaging, devolves into tiresomely repetitive rants.
Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen
(3)
YA
In matter-of-fact narration, Ben relates how his life is turned upside down when his father announces he's gay and Ben's mother leaves. Ben spirals into self-destructive behavior until his father and partner relocate to a small Montana town. He eventually helps a young boy escape abuse, though his antagonistic relationship with his own father remains realistically, believably shaky.
Reviewer: David Elzey
(4)
YA
Ian, who has an "anger management problem," and his developmentally disabled little brother, Sammy, are running from jail and the foster care system. They traverse Washington State on skateboard and on foot. Although the plot gets convoluted and ends too neatly, Ian's agonized voice drives this tense novel of self-reliance in a world of drugs, homelessness, and abandonment.
Reviewer: Amy Lee Bennett
5 reviews
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.