Skateboard Tough (Matt Christopher Sports Classics) [Paperback]

Matt Christopher (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Matt Christopher Sports Classics

As soon as Brett Thyson steps on "The Lizard", the mysterious skateboard he unearthed in his backyard, he can feel its power. It glides smoothly and effortlessly, but Brett can't shake off the feeling that there's something not quite right about it.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-- A Stephen King-style mystery for the younger set."Doesn't it make you wonder?" Brett is asked after he unearths a skateboard and claims it as his own. The plot builds suspensefully, yet readers never learn who buried the object, or why Brett can do difficult tricks he never dreamed of attempting before. Eventually he figures out the age-old adage "to thine own self be true," returning to his old skateboard and relying on his own abilities. Followers of Christopher's other novels and Thrasher , a skateboard magazine, will enjoy this. Although some savvy readers will be annoyed by the use of the term "rink" when referring to a skateboarding area, they will appreciate Christopher's descriptions of tricks. Illustrated with realistic black-and-white drawings. --Blair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Brett Thyson finds a skateboard buried in his new yard and suddenly can perform tricks with it that he's never even seen, much less tried. He learns that it belonged to Lance Hawker, a nationally known skateboarder who died in an accident. A friend warns Brett against riding it, but how can he stop before he's proved that he's a better skater than sneering neighbor Kyle Robinson? Christopher fluidly works his usual themes of sharp rivalry defused and personal problems handled, tied together here with an ambiguous fantasy element plus plenty of sports action and information. Four b&w illustrations capture the main characters' personalities. (Fiction. 9-11) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316142417
• ISBN-13: 978-0316142410
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( C ) > Christopher, Matt

More About the Author

Matthew F. Christopher was born on August 16, 1917, in Bath, Pa. He was the oldest of nine children and a talented athlete, playing baseball, football and soccer in high school. He became interested in writing at the age of 14 and in 1940 had his first story published in a detective magazine. He began writing children's books in the mid 1950's with the publication of THE LUCKY BASEBALL BAT (Little, Brown and Company).

Christopher became well-known for his sports fiction novels for children with over 130 titles bearing his name. He was awarded numerous writing honors from state organizations as well as the 1993 Milner Award. Besides books, he had about 275 short stories and articles published in over 65 children and adult magazines over the years. He is considered America's best selling sports book author.

Matt Christopher and his wife Cay were the parents of four children and the grandparents of ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He died in 1997 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Skateboarding Mystery, July 9, 2002

By 

Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skateboard Tough (Matt Christopher Sports Classics) (Paperback)

When workers dig up a skateboard in Brett's backyard he's so excited. While he's not a very good skateboarder, he enjoys it a lot. But the moment he steps on "The Lizard" all that changes. Suddenly Brett can do any trick he tries. Stuff that he could never do before. Soon Brett gets the feeling that there's something evil about "The Lizard" and starts investigating. But will he be able to find out the truth about "The Lizard" before it's too late?

This is an EXCELLENT book. A must have for any fan of skateboarding.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars skateboard tough, November 27, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Skateboard Tough (Matt Christopher Sports Classics) (Paperback)

What it's about is a boy named Brett was skateboarding on his driveway. Then a couple of construction workers hit a box while they where digging in the front yard. They gave the box too Brett, so he grabbed a screwdriver, and a hammer using it like a hammer and chisel too open it up. Then when he opened the box he found a skateboard with bog letters saying "the lizard'', but every time he steps foot on the skateboard he gets much better at skateboarding, he can do tricks he never could do on his old skateboard "the cobra''. But on3e of his friends W.E looked up on a search site "the lizard skateboarding'' and it came up with a story about a skateboarder who was about too go pro but then one day when he was skateboarding he came around a corner and got hit by a car, and his parents buried the skateboard in the front yard because they didn't want any bad memories of him. Then his nabor built a skate park in her back yard because of what Brett wrote on a newsletter too the editor. He entered one competition and he came in 1st place and his worst enemy names john entered the competition also but he came in second. This is a really good book and I recommend for people too read this

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Magical Skateboard, April 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Skateboard Tough (Matt Christopher Sports Classics) (Paperback)

A Review by Timothy

Skateboard Tough is a story about a little children that digs up a skateboard in his front yard. This kids name is Brett Thyson and he has one passion. That is to be a very good skateboarder. He's not the only skateboarder in the town, take Kyle Robinson for instance. Brett has always wanted to be a better skateboarder than Kyle. The skateboard he dug up used to belong to a professional skateboarder named Lance Hawker, according to some other kids in the neighborhood. The witch down the street gives the kids quite a surprise after Brett writes a letter to the local newspaper. The skateboard that he had found in his front yard is supposed to be "Magical." He can do any trick on it and he likes it a lot. Everyone else doesn't think it is fair although he just is happy he found it first. Brett has always wanted to beat Kyle in a competition. The problem is that there is no competition in the town.

Something that I liked about this book is the realism in the tricks that the young skateboarders did. Although I don't really think that just because a skateboard belonged to a professional doesn't mean that it can be magical. Also I liked the feud between all the young skaters. W.E, Kyle Robinson, Johnee, Shannon, everyone argued about being a better skater. Even though they were friends they still fought about things. I know I used to fight with my friends and other kids as I was skating down the street performing my nice moves. And whenever Brett skated past Kyle, an argument would always break out unless Kyle knew that Brett was better than him.

I recommend this book to young children, at least in the sixth grade. I personally did not like the book myself because I felt it was too childish for me. So hopefully young readers would love this easy read, Skateboard Tough by Matt Christopher