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This Brave Balance
For Dipper, parkour training with Corone, Skylark, and Jay is the passion he needs. It makes him see everything around him as an obstacle that requires a specific move to be conquered, giving him a sense of freedom and a feeling that nothing can stop him. It also gets him away from an otherwise crappy home life. When Corone’s ex-girlfriend Kite joins the group and becomes close with Dipper, however, everything changes. Sparking a series of events that threatens to tear them apart forever, Dipper is forced to decide what he wants out of life and whom he wants it with.
Rusalka Reh’s charged novel attacks the stereotypes of teen alternative culture. Sharp dialogue and an understanding that to them the world can be a cold and uninviting place provides a glimpse into the isolated feelings of anyone caught on the outside looking in. Full of power and raw honesty, humor and fun, This Brave Balance captures the frustration of those whose lives don’t fit into the culture’s molds and offers ideas on how to enjoy life outside their constraints.
Rusalka Reh’s charged novel attacks the stereotypes of teen alternative culture. Sharp dialogue and an understanding that to them the world can be a cold and uninviting place provides a glimpse into the isolated feelings of anyone caught on the outside looking in. Full of power and raw honesty, humor and fun, This Brave Balance captures the frustration of those whose lives don’t fit into the culture’s molds and offers ideas on how to enjoy life outside their constraints.
142 pages, Paperback
First published August 23, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 21, 2011
Improvements to plot and character development could have made this book much more than it is. Translated and set in Germany, are teens who are avid traceurs, those who practice parkour, which is running and pushing, moving, jumping and swinging over the obstacles in a somewhat extreme sport. In America it's referred to as freerunning.
Regardless, the short book (about 100 pages) focuses on the sport but for those who don't have any knowledge, a little advanced research might be in order, especially because the French terms aren't translated (and not until the end did I discover a sort of glossary describing what each of the movements were for a visual). The kids are a bit odd in that they're renamed themselves after birds but then there is an interchangability of their real names and bird names that confuses readers. Throw in that one of the boys has to constantly watch his little sister, it's a very scattered plot to begin with.
Not until a brief romance, some secrets and a bit (albeit not much) character development on the friend, Corone, and some weird clues dropped do readers realize and the characters uncover that the younger sister who has befriended one of the boys' fathers is being sexually abused by him, but since both the younger sister and older brother are hiding the fact that their mother ran out on them, there were always secrets-- no one knew just what.
A kind of sick twist that could have turned in to a shocking disclaimer and heartbreaking story of friendship, loyalty, and mental drive, instead it gets sucked into a brief attempted suicide scene and a "this is where they are now" chapter that leaves much to be desired.
There are brief pockets of inspiration, but they're hidden. If it was better developed, this could have been a neat story about a little-known sport.
Regardless, the short book (about 100 pages) focuses on the sport but for those who don't have any knowledge, a little advanced research might be in order, especially because the French terms aren't translated (and not until the end did I discover a sort of glossary describing what each of the movements were for a visual). The kids are a bit odd in that they're renamed themselves after birds but then there is an interchangability of their real names and bird names that confuses readers. Throw in that one of the boys has to constantly watch his little sister, it's a very scattered plot to begin with.
Not until a brief romance, some secrets and a bit (albeit not much) character development on the friend, Corone, and some weird clues dropped do readers realize and the characters uncover that the younger sister who has befriended one of the boys' fathers is being sexually abused by him, but since both the younger sister and older brother are hiding the fact that their mother ran out on them, there were always secrets-- no one knew just what.
A kind of sick twist that could have turned in to a shocking disclaimer and heartbreaking story of friendship, loyalty, and mental drive, instead it gets sucked into a brief attempted suicide scene and a "this is where they are now" chapter that leaves much to be desired.
There are brief pockets of inspiration, but they're hidden. If it was better developed, this could have been a neat story about a little-known sport.
August 18, 2018
A tremendously mundane plot, which out of the blue dips deep into a trope that attempts to shock I suppose but just ends the book on a very sour note.
HOWEVER. Man I love this author's prose. What a truthfully depressing view of urban poverty, realistic teen dialog and relations... It was great to read. I'm just astonished that they could nail these impossibly harder elements and completely whiff the main plot.
HOWEVER. Man I love this author's prose. What a truthfully depressing view of urban poverty, realistic teen dialog and relations... It was great to read. I'm just astonished that they could nail these impossibly harder elements and completely whiff the main plot.
September 8, 2011
The book got an extra star based on an interesting subject matter, but it could have been MUCH better. It's possible there is something lost in translation, but the problems were primarily plot based.
The book follows a group of young adults who are training as traceurs - parkour runners. If you're familiar with the moves (I'm not), it's possible the training sequences are vivid and easy to follow. I did eventually find a glossary at the back of the book, but I still had a difficult time picturing the feats described in the book.
The descriptions of the training and the FEELINGS of doing parkour were interesting. The narrator, Dipper, describes parkour as flying and freedom, but also as a habit that trains for constant awareness. The idea that his sport is so tied to the urban landscape really intrigued me as Dipper described how it has changed the way he experiences his city. I was just really captivated by the idea of how parkour changes your perceptions.
The book is obviously meant to capitalize on a unique sport, and doesn't have much in the way of plot. An awkward love story between our narrator and a more sophisticated and mysterious 'older woman' traceuse in the group, some family drama to emphasize the socioeconomic status of the characters, and then a slapped together climactic scene that throws some creepy child abuse into the mix.
I got the book for cheap on the Kindle, and for the couple of bucks I paid for it, it was an interesting read. I learned a bit about parkour, and it was a very fast read. I can't imagine there are many books about parkour out there, so if that's what you're looking for, this is probably it. It's a halfway decent YA book that I might suggest to kids into extreme sports, but that's about it.
The book follows a group of young adults who are training as traceurs - parkour runners. If you're familiar with the moves (I'm not), it's possible the training sequences are vivid and easy to follow. I did eventually find a glossary at the back of the book, but I still had a difficult time picturing the feats described in the book.
The descriptions of the training and the FEELINGS of doing parkour were interesting. The narrator, Dipper, describes parkour as flying and freedom, but also as a habit that trains for constant awareness. The idea that his sport is so tied to the urban landscape really intrigued me as Dipper described how it has changed the way he experiences his city. I was just really captivated by the idea of how parkour changes your perceptions.
The book is obviously meant to capitalize on a unique sport, and doesn't have much in the way of plot. An awkward love story between our narrator and a more sophisticated and mysterious 'older woman' traceuse in the group, some family drama to emphasize the socioeconomic status of the characters, and then a slapped together climactic scene that throws some creepy child abuse into the mix.
I got the book for cheap on the Kindle, and for the couple of bucks I paid for it, it was an interesting read. I learned a bit about parkour, and it was a very fast read. I can't imagine there are many books about parkour out there, so if that's what you're looking for, this is probably it. It's a halfway decent YA book that I might suggest to kids into extreme sports, but that's about it.
April 19, 2012
Short read about a group of teenagers, all dealing with difficult life circumstances, who meet to practice parkour. It was interesting learning more about parkour, though annoying that I didn't realize there was an appendix explaining the moves in the back.
October 11, 2012
Actually a pretty good book. Had to read it for work but it turned out to be a good one. Short and easy to breeze through. Turns out to have some heavy material in it which isn't handled too well and rushed through at the end.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews