Mountain Bike Mania

by Matt Christopher, The #1 Sports Writer for Kids (Illustrator)

Overview

Riding a bike is such a rush for Will Matthews. Soon after he joins a mountain biking club, he's hurtling down hills, pedaling over mud-churned trails and leaping over rocks and gullies. But he may be moving so fast that he's forgotten the friend he left behind.160 pp.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316142922
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	12/01/1998
Series:	New Matt Christopher Sports Library
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	328,141
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.38(h) x 0.32(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Matt Christopher is the best selling name behind more than 100 sports-themed books for young readers.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 3-6-This sturdy and fast-moving novel posits a simple situation: an avowedly unathletic sixth-grader, pushed by his parents to find an after-school activity, discovers and falls in love with mountain biking. Will and Danny's friendship is endangered by Will's new passion and Danny's resistance to it. Both characters are well drawn, and their dialogue-whether angry or affectionate-rings quite true and reveals the common sense and good hearts of both boys. Needless to say, Christopher tidily resolves their disagreements as well as the book's subplots-a conflict between bikers and hikers; Will's parents' tendency to work too much and leave him a latchkey kid; and the bike club's need for new members and better PR, especially to make up for the behavior of an immature member. The issues that Christopher addresses-usage of public spaces, responsibility to the environment, the necessity of parents balancing work and child rearing, friends respecting one another's differences-are worked into the plot, rather than placed atop it, and Will's loving family environment, if a tad too perfect, is also reassuring and endearing.-Coop Renner, Coldwell Elementary-Intermediate School, El Paso, TX

School Library Journal