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Under the Bridge

by Michael Harmon (Goodreads Author)

4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 · rating details · 38 ratings · 11 reviews

Tate's younger brother Indy is probably the best skateboarder in Spokane. He's also really smart though he couldn't care less about school. But when Indy clashes with his father one too many times and drops out of school, it's up to Tate to win his brother back from the seedier elements of Spokane. Can Tate convince Indy to come home, finish his high school degree, and ret...more

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published November 13th 2012 by Knopf Books for Young Readers (first published October 1st 2012)

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Fictional Books Containing Skateboarding

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Mar 05, 2013 Peggy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. Tate and his younger brother Indy are skateboarders. They are both struggling teens, struggling to know themselves, to find their way. They live in the city, not the suburbs, but not the inner city poverty areas either. They exist in the border territory, a working class family with working class values. Mom and Dad love their children, but Dad isn't the best at showing it. He is volatile but not physically abusive, with the exception of one argument that goes too far....more

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Feb 28, 2013 Sarah ♥Loves Dimitri Belikov♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review can also be found here

This book was extremely gritty and shows what can happen when the streets overtake someone you care about. It also shows the lengths that one teenager will go to just to rescue his brother. This is not a happy book, though it does have a happy ending. The journey throughout is dark and dreary and not full of much hope. That's the funny thing about teenagers, they try no matter what, especially when it's one of their own that's in trouble.

This is a story about lo...more This review can also be found here

This book was extremely gritty and shows what can happen when the streets overtake someone you care about. It also shows the lengths that one teenager will go to just to rescue his brother. This is not a happy book, though it does have a happy ending. The journey throughout is dark and dreary and not full of much hope. That's the funny thing about teenagers, they try no matter what, especially when it's one of their own that's in trouble.

This is a story about love, but it's also a story about hate. What happens when one teen is pushed too far over the edge could very well be what happens to anyone. The streets claim you and when there is nobody left fighting for you there is no way out. Luckily for Indy his brother never gave up on him, no matter how angry he became and Tate would stop at nothing to save his brother and bring him home.

This is one of those books that will stay with me a long time. It's hard to forget about the struggles these characters went through, not because they're extreme or disturbing, though they certainly are, but because they're real. Any number of the events that take place in this novel can happen to anybody, and they do.

The whole skateboarding aspect adds a happier, more entertaining edge to this otherwise gritty novel. I don't skate and I don't pretend to know anything about it but the author made it like you knew everything these teenagers were doing. Besides the tricks there is no extreme skater lingo in this book and for that I was glad because it probably would have taken away from the other part of this story.

I liked Tate and Indy. They were two kids who may not have had the best lives but proved that you can fix your mistakes and still have a future no matter where you come from. Just because they come from the wrong side of town and grew up surrounded by drug dealers does not mean that their lives are set to follow that path. After all of the mistakes, Indy finds the strength to turn his life around.

I really would not reccomend this for younger audiences, the topics include drugs and violence and would be better suited for more mature Young Adult fans.
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Nov 26, 2012 Cassi aka Snow White Haggard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: galleys, read-in-2012

3.5/5 stars

Tate and Indy Brooks aren't the luckiest kids. They don't live in the suburbs but they don't live in the bad part of town either. They live in the buffer zone between the suburbs and poverty, not quite existing in either. Their father is a bit of a hard ass. He works hard and so should you. That's his mentality and he has trouble understanding any other perspective. Tate and Indy spend their days skating Under the Bridge, the local skate park.

Tate's a bit rough around the edges, alway...more 3.5/5 stars

Tate and Indy Brooks aren't the luckiest kids. They don't live in the suburbs but they don't live in the bad part of town either. They live in the buffer zone between the suburbs and poverty, not quite existing in either. Their father is a bit of a hard ass. He works hard and so should you. That's his mentality and he has trouble understanding any other perspective. Tate and Indy spend their days skating Under the Bridge, the local skate park.

Tate's a bit rough around the edges, always on the edge of a fight. Normally he's fighting for good -- standing up to bullies, getting repayment when someone breaks a friend's board, etc--but still fighting doesn't exactly make in a stand-up rule following sort of guy. But he's still a good guy, despite his tendency to throw punches.

His brother Indy is another story. He's intelligent but a screw-up. Where Tate at least tries to stay in the right, Indy smarts off, smokes pot and does whatever. He means well but does wrong.

The strength of Under The Bridge is Tate, who is a believable main character with a strong voice. I liked Tate and all his imperfections. Tate's self-awareness was endearing. He'd beat people up, then two days later apologize because he realized that even if he was partially right, he went about it the wrong way. He's a main character who wants to do good but doesn't always know how.

Under the Bridges biggest weakness is that it drags. It spends over 50% of the novel before really getting into the nitty gritty of the plot. Some of this helps build the characters and leads into the story, but mostly it's just too long winded and something needed to be cut.

During a typical family fight, their father kicks Indy out for disrespecting him and their mother. It's one of those heat-of-the-moment things. Their father loves them both, but his methods don't work especially where Indy is concerned. Living on the street Indy falls in with a bad crowd. Having already lost one friend to drugs, Tate refuses to lose his brother to that world. The heart of this book is Tate trying any way he can to save Indy. He tries on his own, he tries with help. He fights for his brother even when his brother doesn't deserve it.

I liked that story but think the book should've gotten there much sooner. I cared about Tate so in turn I cared about his quest to save Indy. Even though Indy was frustrating at times, Tate's brotherly love overpowers any misgivings so I had to root for Indy as well.

The ending went a little Disneyfied for me. Also I had trouble suspending my disbelief where law enforcement was concerned in this novel. But overall it's a good story with a lot going for it. I like the gritty urban setting and Tate as a main character, those two elements carried the novel for me.

I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley(less)

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Jan 24, 2013 Kellee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: about-books-or-reading, death-or-dying, mental-health-depression, realistic-fiction, ya-teen, teach-mentor-texts

Reviewed at: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2013/...

*Each of us deals with our teen years differently, but I am sure that we all either know (or were) the teen that made some bad choices. This is a book about a teen much like these kids. It is narrated by his older brother and one of the story lines is about our protagonist, Tate, trying to find his own path, but the main story line in Under the Bridge is about his brother, Indy.
As a teacher, this one tore at my heart strings because it is de...more Reviewed at: http://www.teachmentortexts.com/2013/...

*Each of us deals with our teen years differently, but I am sure that we all either know (or were) the teen that made some bad choices. This is a book about a teen much like these kids. It is narrated by his older brother and one of the story lines is about our protagonist, Tate, trying to find his own path, but the main story line in Under the Bridge is about his brother, Indy.
As a teacher, this one tore at my heart strings because it is definitely a story of a good boy gone bad. Many times throughout the book, I saw how an adult could help this boy, but nothing ever changed. Because of this, too, I immediately think of many readers who would bond automatically with Indy because of this. Michael Harmon's characters are very realistic and I think connections would be made quickly and even if the reader did not see themselves in Indy, they may in Tate or they probably know someone like the two of them. As soon as I finished, I knew exactly what reader needed to read this book and I asked his mother if it was okay if he did- she graciously agreed, thanking me for finding a book that hopefully her son will connect to and learn from. It is books like this one that shows me how important it is to have some gritty novels out there.
What I did learn from this book- "There are different ways to do the right thing." And I'll never forget it.

Read Together: Grades 10 to 12

Read Alone: Grades 9 and up

Read With: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Slam by Nick Hornby, Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli

Snatch of Text: "At three-thirty in the morning, I'd been reading for over 7 hours, rapt with attention as I scrolled through my brother's words and stories until I was brain-dead with fatigue. I hadn't even gotten to his novels. The last short story I'd read, his most recent, went deep, and I knew it was about him.
He'd made it fictional, but I could see right through his words and straight to how he felt about the world and school and us and himself. It wasn't sad or depressing or funny or disturbing, but all of them put together. Forty-one pages of my brothers feelings about life." (p. 93)

"Night skating is one of the coolest things to do in the world. With everything still and quiet but for your wheels rolling on the pavement, it's like skating in a dream. The glow cast from streetlights and the emptiness of the city either freak you out or make you feel like the pavement and rails and sets were made just for you." (p. 191)

Mentor Text for: Voice, Characterization, Suspense

Writing Prompts: When was there a time that you made a wrong choice and someone else had to help you realize the mistake you made. What was the mistake and who helped you?; At what point do you think that Indy chose to go down the path he did? What do you think he could have done differently?

Topics Covered: Skateboarding, Death, Drugs, Suicide, Choices, Anger, Story Writing (Narrative), School Counselors, Values, Parents, Goals(less)

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Dec 10, 2012 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tate's younger brother Indy is a talented skater slacker. After pissing his dad off one time too many, Indy is kicked out and turns to the dark side. Tate braves drug dealers, late night party scenes, and his dad's intolerance to save his brother. While I liked other books of this type somewhat better - Stick by Andrew Smith, & What Happened by Peter Johnson - this one with its' inclusion of skater slang & culture is a good one to keep in mind.

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Apr 08, 2013 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, addiction, yal, skateboarding

First, I like the author. Next, I like the raw edges given to Tate and his brother Indie. Finally, I would recommend this book to those who want a real life depiction of what happens "down there, in THOSE places."

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Jan 07, 2013 Ifahh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another satisfying read from one of my favourite authors. This story hits home in a number of ways: I know of someone as stubborn as this...

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Feb 02, 2013 Kiana rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 09, 2012 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This is a gritty novel. Tate's younger brother Indy gets involved with drug dealers and Tate feels he has to help him out by beating people up. There's cussing and suicide and violence and disrespecting adults. It's also a novel worth reading. It has a lot of really good messages, but not in a preachy sort of way. It does deal with some sensitive issues, so if you're a parent, keep in mind how worldly your teen is. If you're a teenager, I'm sure this just makes you want to read it more. It move...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Heather Perkinson marked it as to-read

Shelves: arcs-from-netgalley

Pub Date Nov 13 2012

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Shelves: e-book-owned

Apr 23, 2013 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Apr 12, 2013 Westchester Public Library Teen Reads added it · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic

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Apr 10, 2013 Jessie P rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, fiction

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Mar 30, 2013 Christina Hiller rated it 5 of 5 stars

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