The Rider

 The Rider

By Tim Krabbè

I actually bought this book. It was recommended to me by Mark Ericson, a new teacher at our school with

whom I've gone a few bike rides. He is a die-hard. He came to Vermont from LA, where he commuted to work everyday, a tradition he's kept up in Woodstock.

The book is a 150-page account of a 150-kilometer bike race through the mountains of France. It is told from the perspective of one Tim Krabbè; it is a little unclear how autobiographical it is. It is almost stream of consciousness, toggling back and forth between the rider's "sporting history" as a child and young man and thoughts about racing strategy. Krabbè very much wants to win this race. 

It is a slim novel, but I will say that I found it a bit of a slog at times. It is filled with suffering, emotional and physical as Krabbè tries to pull off his first win at a well-known race. But while reading the last thirty pages, I found my palms sweating and my heart racing. I, too, desperately wanted Krabbè. Spoiler alert: He doesn't, falling 10 cm short after a sprint to the finish. It is heartbreaking, and the reader is left wondering: will Krabbè get back on the bike?

This one left me: A) Pretty firm in my belief that bicycle racing isn't for me; and B) Wanting to read some of Krabbè's other work.

Walk Two Moons

 Walk Two Moons

By Sharon Creech

This was some serious YA fiction, and I really liked it. Not sure what that says about my mindset these
days, but I really dig the way YA writers tell stories. 

This book's main character is Sal, who has recently moved to bland, suburban Ohio after spending most of her childhood on a farm in Kentucky, a place she loved and misses dearly. Why the move? Sal's mother left the family, and, it seems, isn't coming back.

The particulars of the departure unfold as Sal entertains her grandparents as they drive across the country to Lewiston, Idaho, with tales of her friend in Ohio named Phoebe. Phoebe is at turns likeable and pretty horrible, but the friendship is cemented when her mother suddenly disappears, too. Sal keeps her own first-hand experience with this to herself, but the shared trauma of the experience endears Phoebe to her. 

Throughout the book, the reader is kept thinking that Sal is on her way to reunite with her mother, who, we learn, left after suffering a miscarriage that led to depression. It feels like a hopeful journey. But then we learn why Sal's mother isn't coming back: she's dead. It was a bus crash that did it, and the journey Sal is on is merely to visit her mother's grave and pay her final respects. 

All in all, this was a great tale. Sal is a wonderful character that you keep rooting for all the way.