books
the schoolboy
that most primal of ordeals a lousy round of golf imparts life lessons to a callow adolescent in this winsome coming of age fable . when their mom nags him and his little brother matt into signing up for a kids golf tournament 14 year old sam parma couldnt be more put out . golf sam reasons is a game for fuddy duddies and with his hand me down ladies clubs hell hardly cut a fine figure even on the ratty municipal course . sams foursome is a panoply of irksome idiosyncrasies including foul mouthed buzzy who lies regularly about his score ; hulking hooligan mark whod rather drive his ball through a nearby houses windowpane than into the cup ; and rich kid chad whos actually a nice guy and an annoyingly good golfer . once on the links sam suffers the trials of job . hes ambushed by sand traps and water hazards ; his 3 wood disintegrates mid swing ; he has a scary run in with what appears to be a one armed fiend while searching for a lost ball ; and his flubbing of two easy putts gets immortalized by a local tv news crew . trailing the cheating buzzy and marauding mark crying out for justice and receiving none from the indifferent powers that be sam veers perilously close to the moral rough . slipped into rosas lighthearted tale is a serious exploration of the moral dilemmas faced by these quirky appealing teen characters . a few sermonettes improper grammar and verbal miscues create barriers for many people and prevent them from higher levels of achievement seem canned and a bit off . but most of the precepts sam learns lonely are the brave ; its not whether you win or lose but how you play the game ; with a little luck and a lot of concentration once in a while you can hitpar fall gracefully from the story . a fresh subtle take on timeless verities for young readers . kirkus discoveries
paperback iuniverse inc 2008 isbn13 9781605280028 isbn10 160528002x
book type jf isbn 13 9781605280028 number of pages 131 publisher iuniverse inc release date 62135769600000