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Small Steps
 | Small Steps Louis Sachar Date: 10 January, 2006 — $11.53 — Book Rating: |
Having been released from a juvenile detention center, Theodore "Armpit" Johnson is trying to stay out of trouble, earn a little money, and graduate from high school. Things are going well for Armpit until X-Ray, a friend from his past, convinces him to participate in a "get rich quick" scheme to scalp concert tickets. In a stroke of luck, Armpit gets to meet the pop singer Kaira DeLeon at her concert and begins a flirtatious relationship with her.
Although Armpit and X-Ray were characters in Holes, this book is not a sequel and lacks the same appeal. Small Steps is more realistic (except for the unlikely ending) and is suited for a more mature audience. Kaira's lyrics are a little risquè and the violence may be too descriptive for younger readers. The ending feels rushed and the issues surrounding the scalped tickets are resolved much too easily. Any writer would have a hard time following up after writing a book like Holes, but Sachar could have opted to give Small Steps a realistic ending instead of a happy one.
Three and a half stars.
