Amazing Grace (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I am sitting on the floor of the boiler room at the USTA Center..." (more)
Key Phrases: Medicine Hat, Emily O'Brien, Main Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10–Teenage tennis-star Grace Ace Kincaid has the talent and looks that make her a hit both on the court and on Madison Avenue. But she is falling apart, breaking under the tremendous pressure of worldwide fame. She wants OUT. And she gets her wish–a total break from her lifestyle and identity. She becomes Emily O'Brien, everyday teenager, with nose-ring intact. She is transported to remote Medicine Hat, AK, where she lives with her new guardian, retired FBI-agent Ava Grady, in a rustic cabin, complete with outhouse and freezing-cold showers. At first shocked by her surroundings, Grace comes to love them, as it is here that she experiences a sense of normalcy in her life, including a love interest, solid friendships, and much-needed support from the local therapist. Shull's very short chapters with headings such as three zillion years later, are catchy, fun, and full of the ever-changing world of adolescent emotions. The novel offers a consistent sense of delight and the feeling that, no matter what, Grace will always come out on top. This is due in large part to her many fairy godmothers along the way, steering her toward a level of comfort with herself, her talents, her feelings, and her desire to live life on her own terms. A Cinderella story for this day and age, indeed.–Tracy Karbel, Glenside Public Library District, Glendale Heights, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-9. "I want out." When teenage tennis phenom Grace "Ace" Kincaid calls her mom from the U.S. Open, asking to retire, things move fast. Sporting a new hairstyle, a pierced nose, and a new name--Emily O'Brien--the girl is spirited away by Aunt Ava to a remote cabin in Alaska to avoid the paparazzi. The pampered star adapts a tad too easily to wilderness life with its cold showers, outhouse, and cramped quarters; but Emily is obviously ready for a real life and relishes her freedom. Her first foray into town results in a bicycle crash with a moose, but when she opens her eyes, she sees the gorgeous face of local boy Teague. He and his cousin Fisher help Emily navigate the local scene with only a few missteps as Em grapples with discovering her real self. Short chapters and a snappy storytelling style will have teens racing to the satisfying conclusion. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786856912
• ISBN-13: 978-0786856916
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #550,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #60 in

  Books > Teens > School & Sports > Girls in Sports

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and satisfying read, December 16, 2005

By	Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing Grace (Hardcover)

Grace Kincaid has her own line of cosmetics and a successful modeling career thanks to her top billing on the pro-tennis circuit. She also has her own agent, coach, nutritionist, makeup artist, assistant, lawyer, and even her own bodyguard. What she doesn't have --- and what she desperately wants --- is a chance to have a normal life: to live at home with her mother, to attend school regularly, to hang out with friends, and to date.

Grace tells her mother she wants out --- of it all. Very quickly she resigns from the world of professional tennis and from her many lucrative endorsements. She undergoes a drastic makeunder. Her long, blond, carefully-coiffed hair gives way to a dyed-red cropped hairdo. She sheds her designer wardrobe and all the accessories, and tosses out her pink, rhinestone-studded cell phone. Now she sports a tiny ruby on the side of her nose, thanks to the skill of her mom, the surgeon.

She resurfaces on a tiny Alaskan island with her new look and a new name --- Emily O'Brien.

The plan is for Grace to disappear from sight for three months, so the news of her retirement from professional tennis would die down. Now she lives with Ava, a retired FBI agent, in a tiny, rustic cabin with no hot water and an outhouse. For Grace "Ace" Kincaid, who is used to traveling on private jets and living in five-star hotels, this is a drastic change.

During her first trip into town, on Ava's rusty old bike, Emily has a close encounter of the scary kind with a moose and catapults over the bike's handlebars. A young man named Teague rescues her and soon becomes her first boyfriend. Emily enrolls in the local school where she tries to blend in. None of the locals has any clue about Grace's true identity. Emily learns to split wood with an ax named Beverly, heat dishwater, dress in many layers, and drive a snowmobile. She experiences alcohol for the first time with very unpleasant results. And later on she experiences her very first kiss.

Emily attends counseling sessions with the town health care specialist/therapist to help her deal with the many drastic changes in her life. While reading a celebrity magazine in the therapist's waiting room, Grace/Emily is startled to learn that a huge reward is being offered for the first photo of Grace in hiding. This is ominous news since it means the press will eventually, if not sooner, swarm the remote island and expose her. Once again everything abruptly changes in her life.

How author Megan Shull ties up all the loose ends in this interesting and fairly believable story will please the reader.

--- Reviewed by Carole Turner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair, March 17, 2007

By	www.bookshipper.blogspot.com/ "www.bookshippe... (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This young adult book is a nice read - basically harmless and cute!

No big revelations and not a horrible read - kind of vanilla - enjoyable and forgettable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Grace book review, January 15, 2007

A Kid's Review

Amazing Grace

I am sitting on the floor of the boiler room at the USTA center. My heart is beating like a humming bird. My head is over heating, my brain is swirling. I feel like I might puke.
Do you want to find out what happens next or why she is feeling this way? If yes you will learn about a girl named Grace that is a pro tennis player and a cover girl, decides to quit and moves in with her aunt Ava in Alaska. While she is there she meets mystery boy Teague and his cousin Fisher. This book is 247 pages with short chapters. Amazing Grace is full of humor, romance, and description so good it is like watching a TV.
Grace and Teague's feelings for each other are growing stronger by the second. These teens hang out all the time together. Grace could not stop thinking about how Teague scraped his knee against hers.
The characters in this book are easy to connect with. Grace is 15 along with Teague. Grace quits her job as a pro tennis player and cover girl, changes the look so no one will recognize her. What will she change her look into? You will have to read to find out.
Ava's house is a log cabin in Alaska. Grace's bedroom is the up stairs. Grace has to climb a ladder just to get into her bedroom because there are no stairs. Grace has to cut lumber for the fire place to heat up the house.
If you liked all the things I told you about, then I know you will like all the rest of the book, with all the adventures, humor, surprises, and more. I loved it and thought it was a great book. You don't know what you are missing unless you read it.