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The Outside Groove
 
 
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The Outside Groove [Hardcover]

Erik E. Esckilsen (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Book Description

10 and up5 and up
Casey LaPlante wanted nothing to do with racecar driving. What was so impressive about making a bunch of left turns, one after another? But from what she had seen as the sister of Fliverton’s newest stock-car hero, Wade “the Blade” LaPlante, her whole town was interested in little else. Next to her brother, she felt invisible. Even her parents seemed to ignore her athletic victories and academic successes. With so much of her family’s income being poured into Wade’s racing career, she wasn’t even sure her parents would help pay her college tuition.

So one late-April evening, Casey decides to get behind the wheel and claim a little of the attention she had been denied. After all, how hard could racecar driving be? But as the first female driver at Demon’s Run racetrack, she finds getting up to speed more challenging than she’d expected. Casey soon discovers there’s more to stock-car racing than driving around in circles, and more to winning than being first to cross the finish line. Action and suspense run high as Casey navigates some tight corners, on and off the track, showing everyone—especially herself—just what she’s made of.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Seventeen-year-old Casey LaPlante thinks she wants nothing to do with race-car driving, but she begins to tire of the invisibility she feels next to her brother, Wade, a stock-car hero. Casey also faces the frustration of not being able to attend the college of her choice and pursue a career as a conservationist because her family pours so much money into Wade's racing. Casey shocks her brother and father when she announces that, with the help of her uncle Harvey, she is going to be the first female driver at the Demon's Run racetrack. Racing puts Casey on a full course of self-discovery, in which she realizes important things about herself and her family. Strong descriptions of racing action and the well-integrated story of Casey's internal conflicts make for both an entertaining and interesting read that helps fill the void of good sports fiction with female protagonists. Ed Sullivan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Growing up in Vermont, Erik E. Esckilsen held a few part-time jobs too frightening to write about before landing a position selling shoes at the local mall. That experience left an indelible impression, inspiring this book and sending him fleeing from retail sales forever. Since then, he has driven a cab, played in rock-'n'-roll bands, traveled the world, and worked as a journalist with such publications as Entertainment Weekly and the Boston Globe. He lives and writes in Vermont and New York City.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (May 8, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0618668543
  • ISBN-13: 978-0618668540
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Outside Groove, August 6, 2006
This review is from: The Outside Groove (Hardcover)
On the surface, this well-written, fast paced book is about the amateur race car circuit. Beneath the surface is a story about family. High school senior Casey LaPlante is the younger sister of Wade "The Blade" LaPlante, an up and coming stock car star. Everything in Casey's family revolves around Wade, his racing and the opportunities to move into the big leagues. With all her parent's attention on Wade, Casey feels invisible. Her achievements and acceptance to the college of her choice are not even a blip on the family radar screen. Her announcement that she wants to enter a stock car race, just to see what it is like, is greeted with skepticism and ridicule by her father and brother. Readers quickly connect with Casey and her attempt to be known as more than Wade's sister. She is a strong minded, goal oriented girl in a man's world and she lets nothing, including the ridicule of other drivers and her father's attitude, stop her. She enlists the aid of Uncle Harvey, her father's estranged brother, to help her train. Readers who know nothing about motor sports will have a greater appreciation of the strategy involved in racing and the geometry and physics that drivers use to find an edge as they careen around the track. The descriptions of the races are exciting, authentic and put the reader in the front seat with Casey. As she begins to win races, Casey's successes may jeopardize Wade's chances to move up the circuit. Wade's realization of the importance of family at the end of the story seems manipulated, but it's something that Casey has known all along. This story is unusual in that it features an independent female character in a sport where women are in the minority and it has appeal for a wide variety of readers beyond the obvious NASCAR fans.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
No one had ever accused me of having a winning attitude. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Harvey, Big Daddy, Demon's Run, Road Warrior, Cray College, Corkum County, Red Snake, Flu High, Beer Belly Hill, Chief Congreve, Dale Scott, Meadow Ridge Road, New Hampshire, Victory Lane, Vin Coates, Kirby Mungeon, Willow River, Flip Brackey, Granite County Record, Jim Biggins, Larry Greer, Center of Detention, Coffee Pot, Days of Shrieking, Fletcher Corwin
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