Sky ropes

It's been five years since white-cued Breanna Woodruff and her mother left Breanna's father, against whom they have a restraining order, in Detroit for Beecham, Mich. Now in sixth grade, Breanna has developed a reputation as a tough girl who's willing to handle anything that's thrown at her. When Breanna learns that she'll have to climb the Sky Ropes--the highest rope obstacle course in Michigan--during a mandatory school-wide sleepaway camp, however, she worries that her secret fear of heights will be exposed. Though she tries to reason her way out of it, Breanna's mother insists that she go. Despite her initial hesitance, Breanna finds herself enjoying the idyllic outdoor programming and developing an amicable softball rivalry with a fellow camper. But even as she distracts herself with the other activities, she can't stop thinking about the Sky Ropes, and the traumatic memories the rope course triggers of her father's past physical abuse. While Soderborg's debut is slow to start, a riveting climax, quippy dialogue, and a keen sense of place propels readers to the novel's gratifying conclusion, which offers sensitive depictions of trauma, healing, and friendship as experienced by a bold, multidimensional protagonist. Ages 10--up. (July)

What is true strength? Tough girl Breanna is about to find out. Sixth grader Breanna Woodruff has finally made some friends, 5 years after she and her mother moved to Beecham, 50 miles away from Detroit and the father they have a restraining order against. Making her mark as the gutsiest kid in school, Breanna cannot let the other kids find out how afraid she is of heights. Therefore, she is adamant that she will not be going to the sixth grade team-building camp that features a treetop obstacle course that fills her with terror. Her mother, however, has other ideas, and in due course, Breanna finds herself at camp, trying desperately to keep up her reputation. But the stunning natural beauty of the place, the wisdom of the camp counselors, and the lure of a softball game against mean girl Cami slowly take down Breanna's protective defenses. Although the first half of the story repeats its main topics too often and the rote delineation of secondary characters' personality traits substitutes for deep character development, the metaphors are refreshingly original, and the descriptions of the setting are keenly observed. The second half of the story perks up considerably, and the truly powerful denouement will not easily be forgotten. Impressively, the story's conclusion delivers nuanced, hard-fought realizations on the natures of fear, friendship, and past traumas. Breanna is White; there is ethnic diversity among the secondary characters. A debut whose slow beginning belies its powerful conclusion. (Fiction. 10-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.