Fastback Beach

by Shirlee Smith Matheson

Miles Derkach is in trouble. Along with two friends, he stole a car and went joyriding. When the dust clears, he is all alone and his friends have left, leaving him to take the blame—and the punishment—while maintaining his silence. Placed on probation and sentenced to community service, Miles begins working for a man who after suffering a stroke and not being able to drive, has kept his beloved hot rod under wraps in the garage. Seeing a chance to learn more about cars and pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic, Miles helps to restore the car. When the hot rod is stolen and Miles is the prime suspect, he realizes that he must confront his friends and stand up for himself.

Genres: Young Adult, Ebooks

112 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Shirlee Smith Matheson has written many books for young people and adults, including numerous junior novels and non-fiction works. Currently living and writing in Calgary, she is the author of "Keeper of the Mountains" (Thistledown), "Fastback Reach" (Orca), and "Lost: True Stories of Canadian Aviation Tragedies" (Fifth House).


Shirlee Smith Matheson a native of Winnipeg, has written more than a dozen fiction and non-fiction Canadian adventure books for readers of all ages, bringing to life the stories of real Canadians for young and old alike. During a distinguished writing career that spans more than fifteen years, Matheson has served as a writer-in-residence in several western-Canadian cities, taught numerous courses on writing, and conducted popular writing workshops in schools and libraries across the west.

Reviews

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never steal from people, It gets you real far. Miles only cared about having fun and he got in trouble so he had to do community service.
I enjoyed the book a lot. There was a ton of action but it was a slow read when the action
stopped. One of my favorite parts was when spider took Mr. Barnier's car and miles had to go find it. It was nice knowing he got the car back.

I believe the whole thievery conflict fits well with the book. Miles mentions how spider was never really that trustworthy throughout the book.

I also enjoyed how MIles didn't care about the Barniers' house at first but then he found all of the old car magazines.

I also liked the part where Miles gets to see Mr. Barnier’s hot rod for the first time. Miles tries to act cool but in reality, he’s a good boy.

I think the message the author’s trying to tell the reader is not to steal from people. Stealing doesn’t get you too far. When spider takes the hot rod, he doesn’t cover his tracks. He also tells miles that they should steal it for parts. I feel like Kenny never played a big role in the book. Mile’s mother wasn’t really heard from too much in the story either.

Miles has a history with racing. His father was a famous Hot Rod racer. He left when Miles was really young though and Miles never forgot about him leaving. Granted we never heard from Mile’s father throughout the book, i thought it was a decent read overall.

[Dustin Leonard]

Could you imagine having the craziest adrenaline rush and then boom, you are knocked out and wake up then the dust clears and the cops surrounded you.Where had your friends gone, leaving you in this mess . I am going to tell you the story of miles and how his friends snaked him.The title of the book is fastback beach which is the name of the beach where miles ́s friends left him

The way Mathson made the characters who know who was good or bad from the very beginning because its like in real life you can usually tell instead of them just doing one thing it is a repeated thing. ̈ ̈Miles John Derkach, you are charged with theft over $5000 how do you plead?¨( Shirlee smith 8) This quote is when from when mile is in court and i do not have the book but this quote is important because his friends decided to leave miles because the record is clean and wanted him to take the charge which is so messed up they could take him they left him unconscious .

I really enjoys this book is a fast read with 111 pages It packed full of action and shows how people can be fake. The genre of this book is fiction. This book can be found on amazon.Fastback beach by shirlee smith matheson.

[Brooklynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's an ok/good book ig

[Matthew Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

FastBack Beach is by Shirlee Smith Matheson. It is about a guy named Miles and his friends Larry and Spider who all spend time at a place called FastBack Beach. It turns out that Larry and Spider are not good people for Miles to be around. They steal cars and they are good at it. The boys get in trouble with the police at FastBack Beach one day. Miles, Larry, and Spider got into an accident in a car they stole, then Larry and Spider knocked out Miles and left him in the car to avoid trouble for themselves. Their plan goes as they expected, leaving Miles with 100 hours of community service to complete. Community service ends up being something that Miles enjoys doing because the president of the association in charge of Miles' community service has an old car that he wants restored, so he leaves it up to Miles to do it. Miles tells Larry about the car that he’s working on and Larry then decides to steal it. Because of his legal past, the authorities point to Miles for the theft but Miles finally exposes Larry and Spider.
I enjoyed reading FastBack Beach. It was an easy book to read, yet was still fast-paced and exciting. Car enthusiasts would have a good time reading the book because of all of the mechanical slang and the storyline in general. Matheson did a good job with FastBack Beach.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zoom I read throw this book fast as a car. The book I read was Fastback Beach this book is a short book with lot of detail in it. The author that wrote this book Fastback Beach was Shirlee Smith Matheson. What were the dislikes about this book I didnt like that it was a low level reading book that the only dislike I like.The likes I like was that it a very intresting story it intresting because it like telling about how a teenage life could be if your not good. another like is that it talk abouts cars and how they work on a musle car i like muslce cars that why i really enjoy this story.
The main characters in this book are Miles and Ned. there are more character like spider, Kenny, Ms. Kirkpatrick but not that speacil as Miles and Ned. One big major event that i really loved was that when his friends just left him in the car knock out and so he can take the blame for it.
A connetion to my life is that is when i went to court and had to do communitty services for a wrong choices I did. A specil scene in this story was that he enjoy his hundred hours of community service. there alot of good scene read it and you will find out. this book is the best and really intresting life this boy have

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fastback Beach was a thrilling story written by Shirlee Matheson. It is centered around the story of a teenage boy named Miles. At the beginning of the story Miles and his so called friends steal a car and as the cops come after them, everyone runs away and leaves Miles to take the blame. Miles is put on probation and must decide whether to stick with these people he has been hanging out with and steal an old mans car or continue to help out the old man who has been a father figure to him. I like how the author was always building up anticipation, but at the same time there was so many thrilling parts that left me wondering whether or not Miles would come out of the situation okay. The entire story just flowed together smoothly. There was no part to the story where the reader is left confused or bored. In every chapter there is something going on that really captures the readers imagination and attention. I any audience would enjoy Fastback Beach, but I think that teenagers would enjoy the book the most.

[Travisp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fastback Beach by Shirlee Smith matheson would not be reccomended by me because there is a lot of violence.Fastback Beach by Shirlee Smith matheson would not be reccomended by me because there is a lot of violence. "Miles yelled stop and they stopped too quick and he burst through the windshield and hit his head." This quote shows violence because Miles was bloody and he was out cold. He smashed his head on the windsheld. Another quote that shows violence is "spider and Larry fled from the truck and the judge thought that Miles stole the truck." This quote shows violence because Miles had to pay a lot of money and do one hundred hours of community service, so it was very painful to Miles. The last quote that shows violence is "Miles smokes cigarettes." This quote shows violence because if Miles smokes too many cigarettes he can get sick and possibly die fron them. Fastback Beach by Shirlee Smith Matheson would not be reccomended by me because there is a lot of violence.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was good but it was short i read it in less than 1 day. It was about a kid who was hangin out with the wrong people and got caught by the cops for doing something he didnt do, his punishment was 100 hours community service. In that process the guy said he would like him to help him with getting a hot rod ready for a car show. But on the morning of the show something went wrong. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read about old cars from the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's.I liked it because im into old cars like that. My favorite part is when the kid hits the guy that left him in the car that he didnt steal.

[.:JAIME:. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m reading Fastback Beach mile derkach is in trouble. Along with two friends, he stole a car and went joyriding. Placed on probation and sentenced to community service, miles begins working for a man who after suffering a stroke and not being able to drive, has kept his beloved hot rod under wraps in the garage. Seeing a chance to learn more about cars and pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic, mile helps to restore the car.

[Da Hua Ruan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book isn't interesting at all, but it talks about a guy who actually that builds a car with another guy. the car is really fast and nice, but the car got stolen and it got scratched. it cost a lot for the engines and things and now its all messed up because the main characters best friend took it. his best friend and this bad kid stole it and went for a ride, but it was busted after they finish riding it.

[Korey Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intresting i liked the book but if you dont know much abou car parts it may be werid but over all it was good

[Pj Armentrout · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I learned from this book was that under the right circumstances a person can change. This book was yet another must read book if your into hotrods and stuff!

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a very easy read but its a very short story. if your someone that doesn't read well and you just need a book in your hand when your teacher looks at you, this is the book for you.

[Amy Mathers · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://amysmarathonofbooks.ca/fastbac...

[Kaelyn J · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very good book and I would highly recommend it. It is a shorter book but once you start reading it you can't stop

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like crime and cars this is a good one

[Taylor]

yay yay yay