The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California (review)

When Alastair was eight years old, his ski trip with his father abruptly ended when Alastair jumped off of a ski-lift and broke his leg so badly it had to be amputated. Now he's thirteen and a rebellious adolescent, reluctantly embarking on a summer in California with that same father, now divorced from Alastair's mother. It's a summer of surprises: his young stepmother, Skyla, is a double amputee herself, and her lovely niece, Jesse, turns out to be the girl Alastair bonded with on the plane ride—and also a soap-opera star. When Jesse coaxes Alastair into participating in a charity athletic contest with the soap's cast, Alastair turns to a legendary local swim coach to transform him into an athlete, but he may have gotten himself into more than he's bargained for. The story wherein a kid reshapes his character as well as his physique under a wise old mentor is a hoary plot indeed (Karate Kid is, in fact, explicitly referenced), and the book grabs at every sentimental twist possible, from Alastair's father's unexpected participation in the contest to the mid-race heart attack (and eventual death) of Alastair's coach; plot tramples over likelihood and character consistency or development. The image of Alastair's defining plunge off the lift is haunting, however, and the story interestingly operates not as a disability drama but as a coming-of-age/coming-to-parental-terms story, with Alastair's amputation largely mentioned only in passing except in his self-claimed nickname of "Stump." Alastair's smart-mouthed narration may please readers with a taste for rebellious irreverence, and those who can overlook the predictability of the story may therefore applaud Alastair's taking responsibility for himself and kicking competitive butt, with or without prosthesis.