Double Dutch [Hardcover]

Sharon M. Draper (Author)

Book Description

Delia loves Double Dutch. And she's good at it. Really good. So good that her team has a chance to win the World Double Dutch Championships this year -- Delia is sure of it. What she is less sure of is her chance of passing the school's state exam, because Delia has been using her success at Double Dutch to mask a secret that could jeopardize her place on the team, and also her future.

Delia's not the only one with a secret. Her potential boyfriend, Randy, has one too -- his dad has been missing for weeks, and Randy hasn't told anyone for fear he'll be put in a foster home. But he is running out of money and getting scared.

The one thing that isn't a secret is that their classmates, the Tolliver twins, are out to cause trouble. With their skull caps, angry demeanors, and hints of violence emanating from even the way they stalk down the school halls, they seem to enjoy intimidating the other kids. But will they cross the line from intimidation to violence?

With consummate skill and an uncanny ability to capture how real kids think, act, and feel, Tears of a Tiger author Sharon M. Draper weaves these three stories tighter and tighter, creating a novel that tingles with suspense and emotion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Secrets, not all of them credible, abound among the eighth-grade protagonists of this disappointing novel. Delia has managed to hide her inability to read from her parents and teachers, but she doubts she can pass the proficiency test that will enable her to graduate to ninth grade and continue competing in Double Dutch jump rope. Randy, whose mother walked out several years ago, hasn't told anyone that his father, a long-distance truck driver, has been missing for weeks. And when twin tornadoes hit the school, it becomes apparent that the Tolliver twins, who dress entirely in black and terrorize their classmates, are actually sensitive fellows behind their intimidating facades. Overflowing with rambling conversations and extraneous details, Draper's (Forged by Fire) narrative is often awkward ("The huge gym was filled with crisply ironed T-shirts, frantic practice jumps in the halls and parking lot, and the electric excitement of competition and challenge"). Jump-by-jump descriptions of the Double Dutch championships may rescue this tale for diehard jump-rope fans. Others can skip it. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-Delia loves Double Dutch jump roping; she's good enough at it to participate in the world championships being held in her home city of Cincinnati. But Delia has an embarrassing secret that may jeopardize her place on the team: she can't read. She copes in school by relying on her memory, renting videos, doing projects that don't require writing, and behaving well enough not to be noticed. Her friend Randy has a secret, too. His father has been gone for weeks. Has he deserted his son just like Randy's mother deserted them? When the fearsome Tolliver twins, Tabu and Titan, arrive in the eighth grade, the threat of violence puts everyone on edge. The three interwoven stories heat up like the weather, and culminate in a happy, upbeat ending that is a bit too neat: the Tollivers become heroes, Randy's father is found in a hospital, and Delia admits she needs help. Draper tackles tough problems and explores adolescent concerns. While bordering on melodramatic overload and at times preachy, the novel does suggest positive options. What the author does best is create vibrant, engaging characters with unique voices. While these eighth graders may be as tough as their problems, they also are much more complex: sensitive, funny, enthusiastic, and real. Draper adeptly paints a convincing portrayal of how young people think, act, feel, and interact with one another.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689842309
• ISBN-13: 978-0689842306
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #137,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Girl Scouts & Girl Guides

More About the Author

Sharon Draper is a two-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning author, most recently for Copper Sun, and previously for Forged by Fire. She's also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Author Award for New Talent for Tears of a Tiger and the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for The Battle of Jericho and November Blues. Her other books include Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn, and Double Dutch. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years. She's a popular conference speaker, addressing educational and literary groups both nationally and internationally.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars so exciting i can't explain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, September 28, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Double Dutch (Aladdin Fiction) (Paperback)

This book is very good and exciting. It is so exciting that when you read it you may think that all the drama is over but as you keep reading more drama adds on. My reading teacher reccommended
this book to me and at first i thought it looked dumb intel i started reading and couldn't put it down. This book will have you up all night reading you wouldn't want to put down because you would want to know what happens next.
this book is about three friends name Delia,Randy and Yoyo. The three of them all had problems that you will find out if you read this book. The worst prblem of is taht everyone in this story is scared of two boys named the Tolliver twins that are just misunderstood. The two boys have a problem in the story to go along with everyone elses.
I encourage kids to teens to read this book and even if you don't like to read believe me you wiil start.I hope you enjoy the book have fun.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Double Dutch, June 20, 2006

By 

Drama/English teacher "RD" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Dutch (Aladdin Fiction) (Paperback)

I am a middle school Language Arts teacher who teaches high-level eighth grade students (in other words, VERY smart, motivated, and voracious readers). I suspect that when Sharon Draper was a teacher, she taught some lower-level students because this book seems to be clearly geared towards those students.

The author can write, but I feel this particular work is not challenging, as everything seems to be over-explained, and, though heartfelt, relatively two-dimensional. When each major character harbors a Secret, and through a series of incidents where all the Secrets are revealed, these Secrets don't meet up with deeper intellectual meaning. In short, I find both plot and character exist in the world of Afterschool Specials -- simple, over-explained and highly coincidental.

Many kids will enjoy this book, but mine will not.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not my fave, May 3, 2006

By 

KTJ (wouldn't you like to know?) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Dutch (Aladdin Fiction) (Paperback)

this book was ok but it was missing something. the thing that got me the most was the way the kids talked. i'm in 8th grade and i don't talk like that. i mean who says peace out anymore? overall i thought it was a good book, but i have other books i'd rather read.