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Summary
Summary
In this funny, fast-paced novel, a shy fourth-grader named Mikey sees a lightning-fast fencing demonstration -- and immediately falls in love with the sport. He's sure he has what it takes to be an ace fencer, but can he prove it to everyone else when the spotlight's on him?
Author Notes
Donna Jo Napoli was born on February 28, 1948. She received a B.A. in mathematics, an M.A. in Italian literature, and a Ph.D. in general and romance linguistics from Harvard University. She has taught on the university level since 1970, is widely published in scholarly journals, and has received numerous grants and fellowships in the area of linguistics.
In the area of linguistics, she has authored five books, co-authored six books, edited one book, and co-edited five books. She is also a published poet and co-editor of four volumes of poetry. Her first middle grade novel, Soccer Shock, was published in 1991. Her other novels include the Zel, Beast, The Wager, Lights on the Nile, Skin, Storm, Hidden, and Dark Shimmer. She is also the author of several picture books including Flamingo Dream, The Wishing Club: A Story About Fractions, Corkscrew Counts: A Story About Multiplication, The Crossing, A Single Pearl, and Hands and Hearts. She has received several awards including the New Jersey Reading Association's M. Jerry Weiss Book Award for The Prince of the Pond and the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6. When Victoria, a sixth-grader, laments, "Can't we have a normal conversation?" during yet another trying dinner full of apparent non sequiturs from her "demented" younger siblings, readers get a sympathetic view of the charming chaos in her family. Actually, it's Victoria's brother Mikey who is the focus of Napoli's subtle lesson in strategy. Mikey has great balance but little self-confidence, and he has yet to win one of the Olympic medals that his fourth-grade teacher awards weekly to a student for achievements ranging from "readiness" to "best research project." On a class visit to the science museum, Mikey is mesmerized by the silent speed and gracefulness of a couple of fencers putting on an exhibition. He badgers his mother to let him take lessons, but he's insecure enough not to advertise his new interest. Youngsters will be drawn to the details of this exotic sport and will chuckle at Mikey's interfamily banter. A bully, an overweight friend, a persistent little brother, and a henpecking older sister all have their place in Napoli's suburban world. So do pretty mouths, runny noses, a raft, a pair of sunglasses, and chocolate chips in oatmeal. What a pleasant potpourri. John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
In a sequel to 'When the Water Closes over My Head', fourth-grader Mikey takes up the sport of fencing and makes friends with a new boy at school. Both endeavors are realistically related, with small setbacks balanced by overall positive growth as Mikey learns lessons of sportsmanship, strategy, and friendship. The unusual sports topic and Mikey's warm, authentically portrayed family make the novel completely appealing. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Having overcome his fear of drowning in When the Water Closes Over My Head (1994), Mikey advances further down the road of self-discovery when he witnesses a fencing demonstration and catches the fever. It's perfect: He can indulge his interest in weapons while truthfully assuring his parents that it's a sport, and not fighting. Meanwhile, he shores up his battered, middle-child's self-esteem and creates a class report on the history of swords that he hope will win the Olympic medal his fourth-grade teacher hands out every week. To his delight, Mikey has an aptitude to match his enthusiasm, and what he learns in his first few classes about balance, strategy, sensitivity, and sportsmanship pays immediate dividends--not just on the practice floor, but in a series of more conventional situations into which Napoli places him: dealing with a bully, nurturing a new friendship, and holding his own in his busy, good-natured family. The author writes authoritatively of this unusual martial art, and lays on lessons with a light hand. (Fiction. 9-11)
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-4. In When the Water Closes over My Head (1994), fourth-grader Mikey struggled to overcome his fear of deep water and learn to swim. Now he takes up fencing, and several chapters tell about his training in balance, footwork, and strategy. Mikey discovers that it's sweet to win and horrible to fail and that lots of things aren't fair. As in the first book, it's his family interaction that is the heart of the story: the sibling rivalry and protectiveness, the combination of irritation and love. Much of the story is told in dialogue, and it rings true, but it may be hard at times for young readers to work out what's going on and what everyone really means. Many scenes seem to have been written for a play and would work beautifully performed as readers' theater in the classroom. Then kids would recognize how any family's dinner table conversation can sound like absurdist comedy, each speaker locked in a private code. "Can't we have a normal conversation?" Mikey's sister shouts. The answer is "What?" --Hazel Rochman
