Twelve Days In August - Softcover

Ketchum, Liza

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0595331882 ISBN 13: 9780595331888

Publisher: Backinprint.Com, 2004

Synopsis

When Alex Beekman and his twin sister, Rita, move to town, Alex threatens sixteen-year-old Todd O'Connor's position on the varsity soccer team, as well as that of Randy Tovitch, the star striker. Randy starts a name-calling campaign, calling Alex "a fag" in order to force him from the team. As team members choose sides, Todd faces the loss of his girlfriend and learns a painful family secret from his beloved uncle. Will Todd cave in to peer pressure--or will he get off the fence and find a way to "do the right thing?"

"Terrific pacing and a real sense of what makes people tick."
--Kirkus

"Sports fiction gains a new dimension with this soccer-based tale of gay prejudice, hypocrisy, and competition."
--SLJ Starred review.

Selected for the ALA list of "Books for the Reluctant Reader."

About this title

About the Author:

Liza Ketchum's books for young readers include the popular serialized novel, Orphan Journey Home. Twelve Days in August, the third book in her quartet of young adult novels, is the prequel to Blue Coyote, a Lamda Book Award finalist. Recent non-fiction titles are Into a New Country, and The Gold Rush. She teaches in Vermont College's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

From Kirkus Reviews:

With terrific pacing and a real sense of what makes people tick, Murrow translates current issues into a flesh-and-blood story of high-school sports, relationships, and homophobia. Twins Alex and Rita move into Todd's Vermont town just as soccer practice begins. In the days before the first scrimmage, the entire team is affected by Alex's obvious athletic skill. Todd finds himself admiring the newcomer; another player, Randy, is intimidated by his talent--and also by his suspected homosexuality. By name-calling (fag, lover boy) and scheming (bullying other players into isolating Alex on the field so that he can't score), Randy hopes to force his rival to quit. Todd also becomes a target of taunts and of his own insecurity; in an outburst of machismo, he almost gets himself and his girlfriend killed in a car accident. On the outskirts of this muddle is Todd's Uncle Gordo, a near-stereotype of normality, who for the first time informs his nephew of his own relationship with longtime partner Gary. The complexities of the plot never get in the way of Murrow's careful scrutiny of human nature; while leaving a number of subplots realistically unresolved, she gives Todd his own triumphant way out. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Backinprint.Com
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0595331882
• ISBN 13: 9780595331888
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 202