Lorimer Streetlights (1 of 3 Book Set for Boys): The Great Bike Race [Paperback]

Kathy Stinson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Lorimer Streetlights

Can Matt win first prize in the town's bike race? He thinks so. Not only is he fast, but he deserves the 18-speed mountain bike being given away. His own bike is falling apart! But Matt has a problem. His friends Mike, David, and Amanda all think they can win, too and practising for the race seems to bring out the worst in everyone. Soon Matt and Mike are barely speaking. Can Matt stay friends with the others after the race is over? If he loses, will he want to?

"An air of determined competition surrounded the racers. Matt leaned over his handlebars, ready for the 'Go'. Sweat trickled down the side of his face. He reached up to wipe it away. Bang!"

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stinson does a superb job in allowing readers to observe a wide range of feelings as experienced through her characters. ...Throughout the narrative, Stinson allows readers to observe demonstrations of loyalty and friendship as well as fun and competitiveness. Stinson beautifully captures the excitement and enthusiasm that takes place at a small town celebration and everyone's involvement." (CM: Canadian Review of Materials )

This book in one in a trilogy called Pebble Creek. Matt's best friend goes to visit a relative. While he is away, he becomes friends with David. When Lennox comes back, Matt is torn between his two friends who do not seem to get along together. When the opportunity comes up for a bike race with a grand prize being a new bike, Matt jumps at the idea since his bike is old and falling apart. But then, the tension between his two friends mounts up. A new girl moves in who is deaf. She decides to join the bike race too. In the meantime, Matt has made friends with an older man called Mr. Grubb. Who will win the race and get the new, fancy bike? How will the friends work out their differences? This is a good book about friendship along with the theme of a bike race.
Didi Kearsley (Mercer Island) - W
Recommended Buy --(Didi Kearsley Puget Sound Council for the Review of Children's Media )

About the Author

KATHY STINSON is one of Canada's foremost authors for young people. Over the past 25 years, she has published acclaimed books in virtually every genre, including Canadian classics such as Red is Best, Big or Little, The Bare Naked Book, and the Pebble Creek series, as well as more recent hits, including the Marie-Claire volumes in the best-selling Our Canadian Girl historical fiction series and the provocative young adult novel Becoming Ruby, which was nominated for a White Pine Award. Kathy lives in Rockwood, ON, with her partner, children's book editor and writing teacher, Peter Carver.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Lorimer (November 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550288903
• ISBN-13: 978-1550288902
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 8.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,090,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The clue that Kathy Stinson has enjoyed a lifelong love of reading is in the wide range of books she has written. "What you read," she says, "influences what you write. And so does the day to day life that you live."

That's why Kathy's characters ride bikes along dirt paths, fall in love in summer, argue and have cozy chats with parents and friends, sometimes have trouble sleeping, and walk on beaches and city streets.

Kathy says, "It's also fun, as a writer, to imagine yourself into situations unlike your own." That's what she did when she wrote about Marie-Claire living through a smallpox epidemic in Montreal in 1885, and Mr. Elliot deciding as a grandfather that it's time he learned to read.

Kathy sorted mail, waited tables, and taught school before finally figuring out what she really wanted to do was write - everything from picture books to young adult novels, from biography to historical fiction. Readers never know what kind of book to expect from her next!

Kathy has served as Writer-in-Residence for several library systems in southern Ontario and has led writing workshops all across Canada.

Kathy is the mother of two grown children, who inspired some of her earliest books. She also has two grown stepdaughters and five grandchildren. If she's out buying them a present, chances are it's in a bookstore she'll be shopping. Of course!