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Falling Hard
Falling Hard
Falling Hard
Ebook203 pages1 hour

Falling Hard

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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When Annie moves from London to a small town in the midwest, she struggles to fit in. She gets off to a bad start when she makes an enemy of her school's queen bee, Kelsey. But she discovers a new passion, the exciting sport of roller derby, and makes friends with the cool and quirky girls on her team, the Liberty Belles. She also meets Jesse, the friendly boy who works at the roller rink, and Tyler, a cute, all-American sports star.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2013
ISBN9781623701529
Falling Hard

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Rating: 4.115384438461539 out of 5 stars
4/5

13 ratings4 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a great YA novel with a strong and likable female character. Annie moves with her father to The States to his home town from London after her parents divorce. A former gymnast who had to give it up after a growth spurt she moves to a new town and and looks to make some new friends and maybe find a new sport to get excited about. She contemplates cheer-leading to stay connected to her gymnastic roots rather than to be one of the popular kids. Aside from a possibly misguided guided crush Annie is a confident teenager who is not swayed by the it crowd but rather is independent and can think for herself and not afraid to do and like things that stray from the norm. Obviously roller derby is part of the story based on the title and made me excited to his this book since it has always intrigued me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I would really like to thank Curious Fox for generously giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The fact that I received this book for free has no impact on the content of my review. I elected to give this book 4 stars because of the positive messages and potential impact this book can have on younger readers. It is a sweet read for an adult, but very clearly targeting the middle grades and early teens.Goodreads Description: When Annie moves from London to a small town in the midwest, she struggles to fit in. She gets off to a bad start when she makes an enemy of her school's queen bee, Kelsey. But she discovers a new passion, the exciting sport of roller derby, and makes friends with the cool and quirky girls on her team, the Liberty Belles. She also meets Jesse, the friendly boy who works at the roller rink, and Tyler, a cute, all-American sports star.I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are well written, and come across as believable and relatable. Annie and her Dad have an amazing relationship, something rarely portrayed between teens and their parent(s).I really appreciate that Ms. Sparks keeps the girls wholesome, even while putting them into realistic situations. Their wholesomeness doesn't come across as phony or gimmicky, but instead feels authentic. They're allowed to behave appropriately for their age & still be popular, cool, creative, smart, athletic - in short they get to be individuals. Sure they are still learning about who they want to be when they 'grow up,' but really, at what age do we ever stop growing up? Including kids of all different races, sizes, ethnicities, physical & emotional abilities, each with their own interests, just broadens the appeal and increases the target market. Not to mention helping educate readers about all the differences & similarities among people, yet many of them share the same experiences, showing the reader that they aren't alone.Showing the way Annie thinks things through is an excellent guide for young readers on ways to handle difficult situations with as much grace as one can. Annie isn't perfect, and she struggles with her parents splitting up, but she deals with it, just as she deals with the guilt she feels for deciding to move to the States with her Dad rather than stay in London with her workaholic Mom. She loves her Mom, but realizes that she is actually happy in the States and needs to do what is right for her, especially when it is impossible for her to make both parents happy by living with them - at least not unless she clones herself.Lexie, Annie's first and best friend in town is an incredible artist. Together they dream up a way to surprise Annie's Dad with a mural of Lexie's artwork on one of the newly painted white walls. The two of them have a great time with the project and even more fun showing Annie's Dad their surprise, demonstrating that doing things for others can be even more gratifying than doing them for yourself. By asking Lexie to create the mural Annie is showing her friend how much she appreciates her talent as an artist, boosting Lexie's self-esteem.Another great example of independent thinking and reasoning comes when Annie tries out for cheerleading even though she worries that she will lose her two new friends Lexie and Jesse if she makes the squad. While waiting to hear if she made the squad or not Annie participates in the weekend training session for the Roller Derby league, with a chance to make the league at the end of training. She ends up loving it, and can't help but compare the genuine camaraderie the derby girls share to the petty meanness she witnessed during the cheerleading try outs and from those already on the squad. Eventually something happens that forces Annie to choose between being a cheerleader or a roller girl. She struggles with the decision, but once made she feels lighter than she has in days. Throughout it all Annie never opts for being popular over having authentic friendships. The difference between how happy Annie is with her friends and how insecure Kelsey is even when surrounded by her' followers' is pretty obvious.This book is a fun and easy read, and even more fun because it is easy. By easy I mean entertaining enough to hook you, pull you into the story, and make you invested in how it all turns out. It is easy to see more books in this series as Annie and her friends grow up and deal with more adult issues the older they get. But for now it is really nice to see kids being kids, and written in a way that I really think middle grade kids will relate to. I can also see teens & young adults enjoying the story, as it has elements they are either living through or have experienced in the not so distant past. Even those of us old enough to be the parents in the book will find it a sweet read. At least I know I found it to be engaging, even if I'm old enough to clearly see the subtle, positive messages in the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Annie and her father move from London, England to her father's small home town in Illinois where her father plans on opening a cafe. While searching for a place to fit in at high school Annie makes new friends (including artist best friend Lexie)and tries to decide whether her gymnastics replacement should be cheer leading or roller derby.

    This was a nice coming of age tale that most tween girls will be able to relate to in some way. There is a small love triangle forming but as the book is part of a larger series that was not the focus of the book and is in fact left hanging only partially formed. The real focus of the book is Annie's journey to finding a place for herself and her new love affair with roller derby, which I thought was a nice change from other realistic fiction books I've read for this age group. Annie has a nice relationship with her father and I thought the author did a good job with both that relationship and Annie's relationship with her mother.

    As a Non Skating Official who has worked with women's, men's and junior roller derby leagues I will say that the roller derby is fairly accurate. The drills, amount of work and athleticism required were accurate although their timeline for passing a skills test and playing in a bout was a bit expedited. The author also did a wonderful job illustrating the camaraderie that develops between those involved in roller derby and the sense of welcoming and openness that teams try to foster.

    The relationship Jesse has with the players and team which may surprise people from other sports is accurate for the way roller derby officiating currently works. The book was also written during the last rules set (for those that aren't derby familiar; in January a major revision to the rules of roller derby came out.) That being said it was only one or two references and I don't think it would keep a reader from going to a game and being able to follow what's going on; it's more that it made me chuckle about trying to get rules classes rewritten in the beginning of the season.

    There was one disparaging comment written about men's and women's roller derby being different games because men don't wear fishnets. I know not everyone is a supporter of men's roller derby however I found the comment demeaning to both men and women's players. The sport is about more then fishnets as the rest of the book spends a lot of time proving and while I believe there are differences in how the men play vs how the women play I thought the comment was unnecessarily disparaging of everyone and honestly lowered the rating a star for me.

    E-book copy provided by netgalley.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Well "derby girl" before reading this book I never know this term before, and I wish that I would was familiar with it in my time ( this is why that paragraphs who describe the game detail made me a little strange and of course there were a lot descriptions of those). But... It seams that this sport encourages team-work, girl power, and individuality to girls (and women) who may not feel like they "fit in" anywhere else. Girls of all shapes, sizes and skill levels are accepted in this sport.The main character -Annie - has her own family problems, but instead of turning to the dark, she deals with it and tries to live her life to the best. Annie makes the hard decision to come to the States with her American-born dad, because of her parents separation, leaving her mom behind in London. Being British, she is immediately hounded with questions and comments about her accent of which she deals with very maturely, even if she does find it very annoying at times (In my part I wished that this would be more presented along the book... it is funny and as a foreigner myself in the US which my English came from both countries this was hilarious experience for me. I still rememeber looking for some ingredients in the super wonder what the hell are their name here). Her whole life has been her gymnastics, which she has to give up... But Annie also loves roller-skating, punk bands of the 80's, and her dad's cooking. She goes to a local roller derby bout, and knows this may be her chance to do something, and be someone, different.The author direct the plot to the importance of making the right decisions and choosing your friends wisely -- a great message towards young readers. She is, former gymnast from London, and the way she reshapes her life.For one, the drama itself isn’t domineering – never had I felt it was over dramatic or over done. The cheerleader squad is annoying and has a problem with Annie, but they don’t play the major part in the book, which usually I find boring and irritating.Annie’s have a fun and amazing relationship with her dad, a very positive one and it is nice to see a positive parent/teenager relationship in a YA novel as this is something that we rarely experience in the YA category.Lexie is the friend that every person needs! She’s cool and upfront with things, but she doesn’t tell you how to live your life, or get hysterics with you when you choose to enjoy something entirely different then what she is for. She also doesn’t let other tell her what she is to do – what she wants to be.I think it would be great for the younger crowd - No fighting, illegal activity and very minimal swearing. It was a good story about setting your mind to something and succeeding.

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Falling Hard - Megan Sparks

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