Kick Start

Mitch Harding goes with his uncle to an Endurocross dirt bike race in Calgary just for the fun of it. Both Mitch and his Uncle Jamie haven’t ridden dirt bikes in a long time. In fact, Mitch has outgrown his old dirt bike. Endurocross looks exciting and dangerous, and Mitch is intrigued. He is introduced to 15-year-old Kelsey who is the Canadian Women’s champion, and, as Mitch watches Kelsey race, another rider, Logan, crashes his bike. Although he isn’t hurt, Logan’s bike is a wreck. Somehow Mitch finds himself offering to buy Logan’s bike. Kelsey says she can help fix the bike, as does Uncle Jamie, and suddenly Mitch owns a bike that looks like a total write-off, and he wonders if they will ever get it going again.

With a lot of time and hard work, the bike is repaired and looks better than new. Kelsey helps Mitch train and practice, and he decides to enter a race. When Logan sees his old bike, he is sure he has been hoodwinked and demands his bike back. A deal is struck between the two boys. Whoever wins the next race will have ownership of the bike. Mitch doubts his skills as a relatively new rider to the sport, but he wants to keep the bike. He gets Kelsey’s help on training runs and decides to enter a higher category than his skill level suggests. However, during the race, it’s Kelsey who is seriously injured. Suddenly Mitch has a big decision to make. Will he stop and help his friend, or will he keep going and try to win the race?

Kick Start, another book in the “Orca Sports” series, is highly interesting with relatively simple text and short chapters. The characters feel real, and the story follows Mitch and Kelsey, a young girl competing in what is often considered a man’s spot. It’s wonderful to read a book about a female character in such a male-dominated sport. The plot is also exciting as the reader follows along in the bike’s repair and Mitch’s first few dirt bike rides which scare him. Both Mitch and Kelsey are strong characters, something which stands out and makes the story believable.

According to the “Acknowledgments” at the book’s conclusion, Kick Start is, in fact, based on true events which happened to Shelby Turner. The book is very realistic, and the author has obviously spent a lot of time doing research. She has four sons who race dirt bikes and has spent plenty of time around motorcycles and races. These experiences come across in the writing. Young readers will like this story and might even do some research on Endurocross racing and Shelby Turner when they are finished. I enjoyed Kick Start and did that research myself!