Skateboarder Josh Lowman witnesses one of the best skateboarders in town (the local bully) commit a crime. For days he agonizes over whether to tell anyone. Meanwhile, his friendships with a fellow skater, a girl in his English class, and a cool math tutor (a college student who skates) slowly steer him toward a new kind of courage.
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�I think Vertical is awesome! It felt like I was reliving the early years where my passion for skateboarding was so new, fresh, and profound.�
�Danny Way, three-time X Games gold medalist
�Berend captures perfectly the bravado and angst of teenage boys hooked on wanting to risk it all and terrified of losing something they can�t define. A tightly drawn tale of when to speak out and the cost of friendship, Vertical glides in and out of trouble as deftly as Josh Lowman�s skateboard.�
�Sarah Collins Honenberger, author of the bestseller Catcher, Caught
�Vertical gives you the true feeling of what it�s like to have an obsession with skateboarding.�
�Mike McGill, skateboarding legend
�I really felt a connection to this book and all of the skateboarding parts. It just feels real.�
�Mitchie Brusco, youngest athlete to compete in the X Games 2011 Mega Ramp, first person to land the 900 in Mega Ramp competition
�The narrator�s voice is very authentic. Skating details are incredible. . . . The tension builds gradually and becomes a real page-turner. . . . Teens will appreciate the appeal of day-to-day skating challenges overlaid with larger life challenges. Being a teenager often does feel like being at the top of a large half pipe and what kid doesn�t want to feel that exhilaration of soaring above it all?�
�Laurie Stowell, Ph.D., California State University, San Marcos,
Literacy Education
** Recommended for grades 6-10 **