The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California

Wow. This book is SO good. You will love Stump and the journey he takes you on. It's a journey that is very real and full of the ups and downs, twists and turns, and often surprising causes and effects that help you learn, make you grow, and closely bond with the ones who mean the most in your life...

Alastair Hudson is a teen with a prosthetic leg and an attitude: he's determined to make his own jokes about his disability, but a summer visiting his father in California is challenging his sense of humor until he meets a teen soap opera star whom he wishes to impress. He may even conquer some of his ongoing fears to win her affections. A fine story of courage and romance ensues: perfect for middle school leisure reading.

This is a great coming of age story of a uniquely challenged family. An adventure tale that shows the reward of perseverence, forgiveness, and patience. Stump and his father learn some important life lessons with some help along the way. A surpise ending makes this fast moving story a satisfying read for sure.

This book is dangerous in that it's hard to put down once you start reading it. Mary Hershey weaves together a tale of family, hope, defeat, triumph and ultimately reconciliation in an easy reading, quick moving book about one summer in the life of 13 year old alastair (aka stump)

I stayed up waaay too late finishing this book as once again author Mary Hershey knocks one out of the ball park as she delivers another hilarious-and-utterly-emotionally-satisfying story. Really, she does humor and catharsis better than just about anyone. The story is about Alastair, who calls himself Stump because of his prosthetic leg, who is being shipped off to live with his father and step father for a summer while his recovering alcoholic mother struggles to keep her grip on sobriety. But there's some ugly history there, history Stump can't quite remember in detail, but history that is tied into the fateful jump he took that cost him his leg. And Stump wants nothing to do with the history, or his father, or his new step-mother, who ends up being very cool person and someone Stump could learn an awful lot from, if he'd only let himself. But of course, he won't. About the only thing Stump does like is 15 yo Jesse. When he commits to competing in a triathlon to win her respect and spend as much time with her as possible, he attaches himself to a hardnose coach who wants little to do with him, but finally agrees to help him train. Stump's days are filled with grueling hard work, emotional avoidance, a first crush, painful truths, and hilarious antics as he negotiates his way through his much loathed summer. His voice is dead on hilarious and full of 13 yo snark as he passes judgment on all those around him and keeps everyone at arm's length. But of course, in spite of his best attempts to stay frozen in the past, slowly awareness and memory begin to seep in, awakening the painful memories of his fateful jump, which he--and his father--must face. And face them they do, in a harrowing, emotion-wringing, soul-cleansing finale. I can't recommend this book highly enough!