Ironman

Ironman, by Chirs Crutcher, is about a young teenager named Bo Brewster an aspiring triathlete with family problems and a drive to compete.After an angry outburst against his football coach, is sent to Mr. Nak's class for Anger Management. There he meets a group of teens who are even more high strung and on the edge than he is. It is in that class that he also meets and falls in love with Shelly, a tough girl who can beat Bo up three times over. In the course of these events, Bo is training for a triathlon that could catapult him into the big time. With witty dialog and a unique first-person style, Ironman is a great sports book by a great sports author.

Chris Crutcher specializes in capturing the ups and downs, twists and turns of a teenagers life. All of his books are about young adults, many who participate in sports. Similar to Breathing Underwater, Ironman is told from the main characters point of view, which makes for a very interesting story. I really enjoyed Ironman because I thought that it offered a harsh-but-true view of adolescence. Often I think that people miss the uncertainty of teenage years, and I think that Ironman does a great job in depicting these uncertainties.

Though Ironman is not a book for the elementary student, upper middle school, and high school students will find a great story in the pages of Ironman. I also think that the book holds some good things for adults as well, if only so they can reflect on their own teenage years.

Summerland

Summerland, by Michael Chabon, is a novel about a young baseball player who is roped into a mission to save a fantasy world called Summerland. The young protagonist Ethan Feld, is a clumsy, slightly dorky boy who's father is an inventor. Ethan plays baseball with little enthusiasm, and searches for something that will help him make sense of his life. This "something" comes in the form of an agent, who takes Ethan to Summerland, where he is expected to become the hero of a group of little people called Ferishers. Ethan and his friends go off on their quest to defeat Coyote and his followers, and save Summerland.

I felt that the story of Ethan Feld and his friends was well written, even though it was slightly simple. The story had a fairly predictable plot line, but all of the main characters were very well developed. Therefore, even though the plot may have been simple, the story did not become boring because it was carried by its characters. The fantasy elements of the story were wonderful and well thought out. The different creatures, both good and evil, were described in loving detail, which added a charm and life to the book which you may not find in other fantasy books.

I recommend Summerland, to middle-school age students, who are looking for a nice fantasy book to use for reports. Because of the simple nature of the plot, this book is well suited for book reports and the like. Summerland is a good read, and a great book which mixes fantasy and baseball in a way that I have never seen before.