The Whistling Toilets

Sixteen-year-old Stan Claxton is recruited to coach his best friend, Ginny, through a local tennis tournament and find out why she has fallen into a slump, in a colorful romantic comedy filled with a quirky assortment of eccentric characters.

Grade 7-10?Humorous and serious elements clog up the works in this novel. When nationally ranked, junior tennis superstar Ginny Forrester is sent home from the tournament circuit because of her loss of self-discipline and productivity, the girl's parents, team psychologist, and coach enlist the aid of her friend Stan Claxton to coach her in a small-time, local tournament and to find out the reason for the slump. Characters and plot threads are uneven. Ginny, Stan, and his two misfit buddies are amusingly drawn with dialogue that rings true. But Ginny's oddball, first-round tennis competitor, a wealthy, glamorous girl, is as hard to believe as Ginny's parents, who seem more concerned with her losing her game than why it is happening. The impact of Ginny's revelation to Stan that her tennis coach and mentor came on to her and guilt over her own involvement in the incident is lessened by Stan's guilt over an expensive tennis racquet that he acquired by dubious means. The boy's moral support helps her comeback in the tournament and in her life; a romantic interlude helps Ginny put things in perspective. In a confrontation with the coach, Stan turns down his previously offered job, cum "bribe," as a counselor at his ritzy tennis camp. In a light moment, he bares his soul to Ginny and shares a mystical, secret experience?the whistling toilets of the title. Laced with amusing bits, the plot elements just don't go with the flow. In the end, crooning commodes overflow with happy endings that don't quite work.?Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville War Memorial High School, NJ
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When 15-year-old tennis champ Ginny Forrester starts losing games, it is up to her best friend, Stan Claxton, to set her back on a winning course. There are complications aplenty, however, when Stan takes over as coach. Ginny has not yet recovered from her crush on a former mentor; Stan is constantly distracted by Ginny's good looks; and Stan's two rather uncouth buddies, Guballa and Wilcutts, have also fallen for the attractive athlete. Meanwhile, one of Ginny's opponents, eccentric Antonia Wheeler, tries to lure Stan by walking off with his most prized possession, a Derbyshire XQ-2R-200S tennis racket. Readers need not be sports enthusiasts to feel the energy and catch the humor of this narrative about a falling sports star and the "boy next door," especially because the verbal matches between teens prove to be more exciting than on-the-court battles. If the plot (which culminates with Ginny and Stan listening to "whistling toilets" inside a lodge rest room) is somewhat strained, Powell's (Dean Duffy) ironies about love and gamesmanship are executed with style. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

At 16, Stan Claxton doesn't think very highly of himself. He's done a few things of which he's definitely not proud, and his only skill seems to be coaching his ``runts,'' a bunch of impoverished kids who meet at a dilapidated rec center for tennis. Then he's offered another job, this time coaching Ginny, a nationally ranked junior player who's fallen into a potentially career-ending slump. Together they prepare her for a local tournament that could be her fresh start, if only Stan can restore her confidence and drive to win. Ginny helps Stan to face some hard truths about himself, too. If this sounds like just another romance with a sports setting, it's not. It's something of a love story, in which two really likable and interesting characters share a profound friendship that transcends infatuation and leads them to a better understanding of themselves and each other. Along with a shining cast of secondary characters, the novel is crammed with laugh-out-loud humor and dialogue that fairly crackles. The book may be most reminiscent of Chris Crutcher's early, edgy work--no faint praise--but it has a unique feature that is surely all Powell's own: whistling toilets. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 7^-10. When narrator Stan Claxton's best friend, Ginny, a rising tennis star at 15, is sent home to Seattle for the summer, her parents hire her friend and former partner to coach her through a tournament--and to jog her out of a two-month, career-threatening slump. Something clearly bothers Ginny, and Stan wonders if it's more than teenage angst and the stress of professional tennis. But how can he help her when he's so uncertain himself? Although the plot is predictable and the match descriptions lack the riveting intensity of those in the author's My Underrated Year (1988), Powell's fourth book has a lot to offer: an authentic setting; lively, well-drawn characters with the same goofy charm as those in Is Kissing a Girl Who Smokes Like Licking an Ashtray? (1992); and great dialogue that rings absolutely true. Librarians may question the title, but readers will be intrigued. A nice booktalking choice for both boys and girls. Jean Franklin