Going for the Record

by Julie A. Swanson

Overview

Seventeen-year-old Leah Weicynkowski is on the brink of realizing her dream—playing soccer for the under-eighteen national team, her gateway to the World Cup and the Olympics. Everything she’s worked for has been about this moment. She can’t wait to tell her dad, her biggest fan and her faithful chauffeur to games and practices.

Unfortunately, her dad has news of his own. News that will make Leah reconsider everything that matters most to her. He has pancreatic cancer, and maybe only a few months to live.

Loosely based on the author’s own experiences, this coming-of-age story portrays Leah’s passion for her sport, her love for her father, and her struggle to define herself in the shadow of an uncertain future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802855732
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	02/16/2021
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,044,366
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Julie A. Swanson grew up in northern Michigan, the setting of this book. Going for the Record was named one of Booklist's Top Ten Sports Books for Youth and was a finalist for Foreword Magazine's Juvenile Fiction Book of the Year Award. Julie currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. om

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up-Leah Weiczynkowski is a promising soccer player with Olympic aspirations. The summer before senior year, she learns that her beloved father has pancreatic cancer and only three months to live. Called "obsessed with soccer" by her mom, Leah isn't interested in parties, shopping, or hanging out with friends, and she regards Clay, an attentive male classmate, as a soccer trainer, not a boyfriend. She practices her sport intently and awaits phone calls from college coaches eager to recruit her. As her dad's illness progresses, the teen begins to feel selfish and guilty when family needs threaten to interrupt her schedule. Her first-person narrative conveys emotional vulnerability and growing self-reflection. Part of an extended Catholic family, Leah is comforted by her grandmother, who talks about the power of prayer. Her father's inexorable decline, including the arrival of hospice workers and a hospital bed in the sunroom, is portrayed with realism and pathos. With his death, Leah comes to recognize that soccer is just a game, that her relationship with Clay is important, and that what really matters is to make a difference in the world. This powerful novel leaves the outcome undefined, but there is no doubt that Leah has grown inestimably in her understanding of the value of relationships, in her ability to accept and grieve her father's death, and in her resolve to move ahead with living. A first-rate debut.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

In contrast to the many novels in which the earlier deaths of parents, usually mothers, serve as narrative devices to leave teen protagonists on their own, this intense story portrays a father's death in painful detail, balanced with a sense of hope. During the summer before her senior year, narrator Leah is torn between her fierce commitment to soccer, at which she excels, and her need to help care for her dying father. Convincing relationships and character development emerge as Leah's father reveals his spiritual side, her mother finds strength in her Catholic faith, and Leah grows closer to both of them. The author doesn't flinch at describing the father's deteriorating condition and his pain, yet conveys the feeling that death approached with love and courage can strengthen a family. Religious elements including prayer, so often absent from YA works, blend in smoothly, while Leah's soccer games provide relief from the intensity at home. While readers will find the story emotionally challenging, those seeking an honest portrayal of death will find it here. (Fiction. 13+)

Kirkus Reviews