Skip to main content

Ultra

By

Ultra
by David Carroll
Scholastic Canada, 2013.  192 pgs.  Fiction

      Ultra came seemingly out of nowhere to take the Cybils' award for best middle grade fiction this year.  Actually, it came from Canada and is difficult to find in the United States, but it is worth the effort.  Quinn is a runner, but not just any kind of runner.  His unusually large heart and his body's "inefficiency" at making lactic acid allow him to run much longer than others without tiring, somethine he discovered while running with his father, a seasoned runner whom he left in the dust.  Now he is running an ultramarathon--a hundred mile race that must be completed in 24 hours.  For some reason his father is no longer with the family, so his mother, his little brother Ollie, and his best friend Kneecap see him off at the starting line.  Framed with a television interview that takes place after the race, Quinn's story takes him from start to finish through bear scares, blistered feet, friendship from unlikely sources, and betrayal from others.  After many miles he begins to hallucinate and is joined by his father who may be real, or not. Quinn's journey is not just a physical one as he comes to terms with a great sorrow in his family's life, with his own fears and expectations, and with his need to prove himself to himself. Best suited for sixth grade on up, Ultra is a stirring story of triumph against long odds.  Highly recommended for reluctant tween readers.
Labels:

Comments

Ms. Yingling said…
I do so wish this were more widely available. It is so good, and I'd love about three hard cover copies in my library! Maybe Scholastic US will pick it up!
May 23, 2014 at 3:57 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Blood in the Water

By
Blood in the Water By Tiffany D. Jackson New York: Scholastic, 2025. Fiction. 255 pages. 12-year-old Kaylani McKinnon can't help but feel like a fish out of water. She's a Brooklyn girl spending her summer on Martha's Vineyard surrounded by wealthy family friends in their mansion. All she really wants is to stay home all summer where she her incarcerated father can easily reach her, and she can keep working to find ways to prove him innocent of fraud and embezzlement. Despite her protests, she finds herself on the island with the snooty granddaughters of her host. Soon after Kaylani's arrival, a popular teen boy is found murdered and she decides to conduct her own investigation. As she tries to discover what happened to Chadwick Cooper, Kaylani finds that not everything on Martha's Vineyard is as perfect as it appears. Thrillers for middle grade readers can be hard to find, but Tiffany D. Jackson succeeds in her first middle grade novel. A quick moving plot, tight d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

By
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...
Post a Comment
Read more