On Thin Ice

by Michael Northrop

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Michael Northrop captures the middle-school experience — from the hurt to the hope — in this powerful story of creativity in the face of cruelty.

If I did something risky now, something big — it's almost like it wouldn't even be my fault. Almost like it might even work.Ked Eakins is about to lose everything.He's just discovered that his dad has gambled away their rent money. They're going to get kicked out of their home.But Ked is determined to fight back. He hatches a plan to save their apartment by rebuilding a vintage minibike in his school's maker space, which he'll sell for a profit.Still, the plan is a gamble of his own: Going to maker space forces Ked into the path of a school bully, who torments him about his progressive spinal condition.Can Ked — with the help of some unlikely new friends ​​​​​​​— find a way to fix the bike and save his family from going under before it's too late?New York Times bestselling author Michael Northrop has written a powerful story a boy who ​​​​​​​— against all odds ​​​​​​​— decides to bet on himself and create something new from broken pieces.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545495905
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	07/30/2019
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	640L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michael Northrop is the New York Times bestselling author of the middle-grade adventure series TombQuest. He is also the author of On Thin Ice; Trapped, an Indie Next List selection; Plunked, a New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing selection and an NPR Backseat Book Club pick; and other titles. An editor at Sports Illustrated Kids for many years, he now writes full-time from his home in New York City. Learn more at michaelnorthrop.net.

Read an Excerpt

I drop my tray on the round, empty table in front of me. It clatters loudly. It doesn't matter. The volume in the cafeteria is at jet-engine level. Everyone is talking, everyone is joking. And anyone who was going to stare at me is already doing it.I sit down alone. Everyone says we're never going to use most of what we learn in school. But some of it's important. Right now I'm thinking about math. I'm thinking about addition and subtraction all at once. I'm thinking about how everything you subtract adds up.When Maps left our table last year, there were still three of us: Nephi, Danny, and me. We didn't even take it that personally. We all knew Maps was different. He was an instant star on the middle school teams. He had teammates to talk to and games to plan. And even when Nephi made his move to the makers' table, there was still Danny. There was still someone left. They were never leaving me alone. It was easier for me and, honestly, I think it was easier for them too.They're not bad guys. At least I never used to think so. We all knew the deal: Things change. New classes, new teams, new schedules, and so yeah, sometimes that's going to add up to new friends and new tables. It was almost like a game of musical chairs: one less player each time. You just start up again with whoever is left.But now Danny is gone. Subtract one, like every time before. But this time it leaves me with zero. Game over: not enough players.Danny didn't do anything different than the others. He just did it last. He was my last friend from before, but now he has slipped away like a fish with no one to net it. I'm alone. It happened piece by piece and then all at once. Now, it's down to me and what's left of this sad, soggy piece of pizza. The table is big and round and white, like the beam of a spotlight. Like the number zero.Welcome to the rest of my life, I think.I hate this cafeteria.And it hates me back.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for On Thin Ice:A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection"A brilliant, powerful story of one boy who courageously faces life’s obstacles and is determined to overcome them, On Thin Ice is a must-read." — the nationally syndicated column Books to Borrow, Books to Buy"A sharp, sympathetic insight into poverty, family, friendship, and forgiveness." — Kirkus Reviews"An engaging coming-of-age story." — School Library JournalPraise for TombQuest:"The plot moves quickly and will appeal to reluctant readers looking for adventure [and] danger." — School Library JournalPraise for Surrounded by Sharks:"This story strikes a balance of suspense and action... For reluctant readers and fans of survival stories." — School Library JournalPraise for Trapped:"Northrop gets at the core of human nature through masterful pacing... Gripping." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

06/01/2019

Gr 4–7—Life is hard for seventh-grader Ked Easkins. First of all, he has a degenerative back condition that makes his spine curve. Because of this, he feels like he has lost his best friends Maps, Nephi, and Danny. He is endlessly harassed by a stereotypical bully character nicknamed Landrover. And if that isn't enough for a 13-year-old to endure, his father has just gambled away their rent money. Ked does not let his circumstances get him down for long. He buys the pieces of a sought-after minibike and hatches a plan to use the school's maker space to rebuild the bike in order to sell it. If this plan works, Ked and his dad won't have to move, yet again, to a more downsized place. At times, the odds seem in Ked's favor, but right when it looks like things will work out, they take a downward turn. The topic of bullying is addressed without seeming didactic, and Ked and Landrover end up in a survival situation that helps them understand and change their perspectives of each other. Eventually, Ked is able to fully come to terms with his disability to accept the friendships that have been waiting for him. VERDICT An engaging coming-of-age story; recommended for general purchase.—Jill Baetiong, Bloomingdale Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2019-05-08
A boy with a rare spinal deformity makes a desperate bet to keep his home.

"[E]verything you subtract adds up," 12-year-old Ked Eakins—aka "Freakins"—remarks, summarizing his life till seventh grade. After Ked was diagnosed with kyphosis, his mother left—taking her good job and health insurance with her—and his friendships dwindled like "a game of musical chairs." Now, Ked lives on "the edge of the edge" of "failing mill town" Norton, Maine, with his dad, who's had his factory shifts cut in half—and gambled two months' rent away. Frantic, Ked himself gambles on restoring and selling a minibike in time to avoid eviction, but roadblocks abound. Northrop depicts the everyday realities of poverty in unvarnished detail: Ked digs through trash cans for redeemable bottles, maximizes half-hour public-library computer sessions, and buys his "good" clothes on sale at the outlet stores. But Ked's pragmatism and determination keep bleakness at bay, and kindness comes from unexpected people. Like Ked's run-down hometown, his frank, introspective narration offers some beautiful moments; a carburetor, for instance, is "small and self-contained, like a heart." The author's portrayal of Ked's dad's gambling addiction and its toll on Ked is unflinching but not without hope. The ending is realistically satisfying, and readers will appreciate Ked's realization that his back is "what [he looks] like," but "[he's] what [he does.]" Most characters appear white; Ked's friend Nephi is a Somali immigrant.

A sharp, sympathetic insight into poverty, family, friendship, and forgiveness. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews