Slalom

VOYA

Sandro has heard the story so many times that he is sick of it: Before going to college on a scholarship, his mother came to Colorado for a ski week and met a handsome Italian skier, an Olympic hopeful. After their week together, the skier left, and she discovered that she was pregnant. Now, seventeen years later, she is still waiting at the same ski resort for the return of Sandro's father, much to Sandro's disgust. An excellent skier himself, Sandro tells friends that he is not interested in being on the high school ski team, but the truth is that he has to work to help support himself and his mother. When his father finally does walk back into his life, Sandro is hostile, although now it seems that Sandro can have a shot at not only the ski team and a real family, but a girlfriend as well. Complications follow, but in the end, Sandro discovers the importance of hearing out all sides of a story. This highly readable tale follows the path of other Rottman novels, such as Rough Waters (Peachtree, 1997/VOYA August 1998), where a young man must face his anger over past events in the midst of other challenges. The story moves quickly and Sandro is a likeable protagonist, as is Angela, the girl who skies into his life. Snow skiers will spot this enjoyable read, as will any teen looking for a novel about a young adult facing real problems including social pressures, relationship challenges, parental shortcomings, and peer jealousy. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Viking, 256p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Mary Ann Darby

Children's Literature

Sandro Birch knows the story by heart: girl meets boy, boy and girl fall in love, girl gets pregnant, boy leaves girl, girl waits for boy to return. Sandro's mother has been waiting for seventeen years for Alessandro Senior's return. And Sandro, is tired of waiting. Sandro is convinced his father will not come back, and so he takes a job after school and on weekends at the local ski shop in order to make enough money so he can leave the ski resort where he and his mother live (and wait) on the edge of poverty. Then Alessandro does come back, and Sandro's mother welcomes him with open arms. But with seventeen years of pent-up anger for the man who abandoned his mother before his birth, it is not so easy for Sandro to accept this stranger into his life. This story centers around a ski resort and includes a lot of fast-paced action on the slopes, but it is really not a sports story. It is more of a teen romance; a story of letting go and learning to trust. But because the main character is a boy, and because of its intriguing sports component, it is a romance novel that is sure to appeal to teenage boys and girls alike. 2004, Viking/Penguin Group, Ages 14 up.
—Pat Trattles

KLIATT

Seventeen years ago, Sandro's mother Tiffany met a handsome young Italian man named Alessandro while on vacation at a fancy Colorado ski resort. Their brief love affair resulted in her pregnancy, and while Tiffany never managed to contact Alessandro again, she moved to the ski town, sure he would return. Now, 17 years later, Tiffany is barely managing to scratch out a living there, with the help of their son Sandro. Sandro, a gifted skier who has been recruited for the high school ski team, has just met an attractive girl, Angela, but he's not a romantic like his mother. He doesn't believe Tiffany's fantasy that his father will return—and then one day Alessandro walks into the rental shop where Sandro works. Can Sandro learn to trust this man and get over his anger? Will he win the big race and maintain his relationship with Angela? You can probably guess the outcome, but Rottman's skill at describing teenagers struggling with family issues and depicting sports action, in such books as Stetson, Rough Waters, and Shadow of a Doubt, will keep readers turning the pages. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2004, Viking, Penguin, 256p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Paula Rohrlick

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Fate plays a quirky hand in this novel set in a Colorado resort town. Sandro Birch, 17, has grown up listening to his mother Tiffany tell of her whirlwind romance long ago with a handsome, mysterious Italian skier, a tryst that led to her son's conception. Scorning this sappy story, Sandro is angry that he and his mother have been stuck in Borealis, working low-paying jobs and banking on the dream that her soul mate would eventually return. Then, Alessandro reappears, and Tiffany surrenders her heart and home to a mystery man whom Sandro is expected to obey and call Dad. With urging from the coach, the teen joins the high school ski team, competes with his top rival, and begins to enjoy the status that victory brings. Sandro's love of skiing is evident in his brisk, evocative descriptions of the sport. Through it, he even begins to gain respect for his newfound father, although that gain is tested when Alessandro vanishes again, leaving hefty credit card charges, and Sandro must play parent to weepy and indecisive Tiffany. Alessandro finally returns for good, offering a rather lame explanation for his absence. The novel misses its potential as a sports story by focusing so heavily on the tiresome and implausible adult relationship that has essentially been on hold for 17 years. Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk (Greenwillow, 2001) is a better choice for a sports story with attitude.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Sandro, a natural-born skier, sacrifices his ski-championship dreams by working part-time (to help pay the rent) at the ski shop at the resort where he lives with his mom. His weak-minded single mom, despite the fact that his father left her the day after Sandro's conception, still believes he-a championship skier himself-will one day return to her. Of course, when Alessandro Sr. actually does walk in the door 17 years later, Sandro's mother immediately leaps into his arms thinking the family is reunited. Sandro predictably wants nothing to do with him, and spends the rest of the story arguing with his father, arguing with his mom about his father, fighting with rival skiers, groaning about being broke, and biting the heads off girls who are way more interested in him than any potential teen reader will ever be. Predictable, unimaginatively dialogue-driven, rhythmically repetitive, and full of flat, unlikable characters, Rottman's story about skiing, trust, and tough love strives for Chris Crutcher stardom, but unfortunately doesn't venture further than the bunny slope. (Fiction. YA)