Vertical

Skateboarder Josh Lowman witnesses one of the best skateboarders in town (the local bully) commit a crime. For days he agonizes over whether to tell anyone. Meanwhile, his friendships with a fellow skater, a girl in his English class, and a cool math tutor (a college student who skates) slowly steer him toward a new kind of courage.

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“I think Vertical is awesome! It felt like I was reliving the early years where my passion for skateboarding was so new, fresh, and profound.”
—Danny Way, three-time X Games gold medalist

“Berend captures perfectly the bravado and angst of teenage boys hooked on wanting to risk it all and terrified of losing something they can’t define. A tightly drawn tale of when to speak out and the cost of friendship, Vertical glides in and out of trouble as deftly as Josh Lowman’s skateboard.”
—Sarah Collins Honenberger, author of the bestseller Catcher, Caught

“Vertical gives you the true feeling of what it’s like to have an obsession with skateboarding.”
—Mike McGill, skateboarding legend

“I really felt a connection to this book and all of the skateboarding parts. It just feels real.”
—Mitchie Brusco, youngest athlete to compete in the X Games 2011 Mega Ramp, first person to land the 900 in Mega Ramp competition

“The narrator’s voice is very authentic. Skating details are incredible. . . . The tension builds gradually and becomes a real page-turner. . . . Teens will appreciate the appeal of day-to-day skating challenges overlaid with larger life challenges. Being a teenager often does feel like being at the top of a large half pipe and what kid doesn’t want to feel that exhilaration of soaring above it all?”
—Laurie Stowell, Ph.D., California State University, San Marcos,
Literacy Education