  | Kickturn Author: Spangler, Brie | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
Lindy has gotten used to life on the road in her parents refurbished school bus. But when the bus breaks down in San Jose, will she finally get to meet her skateboarding idol--and maybe the chance to put down roots, too?
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (05/15/25)
Booklist (06/01/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 03/24/2025 Ten-year-old Lindy’s nomadic existence living in a skoolie-a retrofitted school bus-with her influencer parents looks perfect to the outside world because it’s supposed to. But after living a completely staged life for the past two years, Lindy’s initial excitement for adventure has waned, leaving her feeling frustrated and lonely, and questioning the validity of her parents’ love for her. When the skoolie breaks down, the family settles in San Jose to wait out repairs. There, Lindy meets skateboarders Dasha and May, fans of YouTube skateboarder Kentucky Jones; they help Lindy to improve her skating and introduce her to their thriving skater community. Grayscale artwork enhances the story’s emotional impact and includes handy diagrams illustrating the skoolie and skateboarding lingo. Spangler (Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper) views the shifting importance of family and friendship in Lindy’s life with the incongruity of a childhood lived on social media in a freewheeling tale about a spirited girl discovering her needs, wants, and personal agency. Most character skin tones echo the hue of the page; Kentucky Jones is depicted with a shaded complexion. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. (June) - Copyright 2025
Booklist - 06/01/2025 Lindy lives on a bus, traveling to national parks with her yoga-Instagramming mother and former-business-owning father as they try to gain followers and monetize their lifestyle. This leaves Lindy friendless and failing fifth grade through self-taught PowerPoints and bewildering computer lessons. When the bus gets stuck in San Jose, however, Lindy finally has a chance to stick around a town for a few weeks and make a couple of real-life friends, including a famous eight-year-old skateboarder with her own Nike deals and two others who help her learn all the tricks to thrive at the neighborhood skate park. Overjoyed with having new friends and a place to skate, Lindy sabotages the bus and landlocks her family, for better or worse. Printed to resemble Lindy’s journal, with notebook-lined paper and frequent hand-drawn illustrations, the story will be perfect for reluctant readers in elementary and middle school. Skateboarders and fans of Dork Diaries or Meg Cabot’s From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess (2015) will especially relish Spangler’s latest. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.
