A Boy Called Twister

September 1, 2010

Gr 8 Up-Kevin Walker has a secret, and he hopes it will stay hidden when he moves to California from small-town Spurville in Texas. Still grieving from his mother's recent death, Kevin just wants to be left alone to begin a new life with his grandparents. He tries to maintain a low profile but his kindness to other students and his natural charm and talent make him a standout in class and on the track field. Unknowingly, the teen outshines Marko Lane, the school bully, and attracts his attention. When Kevin confides in his girlfriend, his closely guarded secret gets out. Marko uses this information to attempt to force him into fearful submission, but he decides instead to confess his past to his new friends. With Marko's power diminished, Kevin gets the girl, the grades, and the glory of earning Tubman High's Arthur Ashe Athletic and Leadership Trophy. The predictable confrontation between Kevin and the bully resolves itself somewhat unusually, but the dialogue doesn't feel authentic. However, teens familiar with Schraff's writing from the "Bluford" series (Scholastic) will still accept Kevin's plight.-H. H. Henderson, Heritage Middle School, Deltona, FL

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2010
Grades 7-10 After his beloved mother dies, Kevin, 16, moves from Texas to his grandparents home in California. He quickly settles in and makes new friends, begins a romance, stars on the track team, and confronts the school bully, Marco. Throughout it all, though, he keeps the secret that his dad was sent to prison for second-degree murder and died in a prison riot when Kevin was 6. And he is haunted by his memory of a fight in Texas, during which he became so enraged that he almost choked a bully to death. Is he like his dad? Part of the Urban Underground series, this small, fast-paced paperback will grab even reluctant readers with the suspenseful story, cool dialogue, and sports action, which never distracts from Kevins personal struggle. Marco comes across as too demonic, and Kevin is a bit too idealized as a gorgeous, smart, kind, athletic star. Still, kids will recognize the power plays between classmates, and the guilty secret that makes him fear intimacy adds drama without heavy therapeutic messages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)