The Tightrope Walkers

International award winner David Almond draws on memories of his early years in Tyneside, England, for a moving coming-of-age novel, masterfully told.

A gentle visionary coming of age in the shadow of the shipyards of northern England, Dominic Hall is torn between extremes. On the one hand, he craves the freedom he feels when he steals away with the eccentric girl artist next door, Holly Stroud--his first and abiding love--to balance above the earth on a makeshift tightrope. With Holly, Dom dreams of a life different in every way from his shipbuilder dad's, a life fashioned of words and images and story. On the other hand, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the brutal charms of Vincent McAlinden, a complex bully who awakens something wild and reckless and killing in Dom. In a raw and beautifully crafted bildungsroman, David Almond reveals the rich inner world of a boy teetering on the edge of manhood, a boy so curious and open to impulse that we fear for him and question his balance--and ultimately exult in his triumphs.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 03/24/2015
ISBN: 9780763673109
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.40d
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2014
School Library Journal 01/01/2015 pg. 105
Publishers Weekly 01/26/2015
Voice of Youth Advocates 02/01/2015 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Booklist 02/15/2015 pg. 78
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2015 pg. 89
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 04/01/2015 pg. 387 - Book Of Special Distinction
Shelf Awareness 03/31/2015
BookPage 04/01/2015
New York Times Book Review 05/31/2015 pg. 54
PW Children's Starred Reviews 12/02/2015 pg. 98
Kirkus Best Young-Adult Books 12/01/2015 pg. 49
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2016 pg. 14

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 174008 / Tightrope Walkers
Reading Level: 4.3 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 10