Goal!: The OVER THE END LINE and THE POWER OF ONE Conversation

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sync Head on July 13, 2010 at 8:35am

The World Cup ends with a victory for Spain. We will miss the glimpses of South Africa the games allowed us. Although over 600 of us are still in South Africa with Peekay listening to the THE POWER OF ONE. Go audio!

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on July 15, 2010 at 11:56am

If you enjoyed OVER THE END LINE, here are some more sports stories that make good listening!

FOOTBALL HERO by Tim Green, read by Tim Green and the Full Cast Family (Full Cast Audio) As a college and NFL football player, Tim Green dished out a lot of hard hits. As an author and narrator, Green utilizes his mighty pen and vocal skills to create a hard-hitting, heartfelt masterpiece about Ty, a middle school student who finds that he possesses a tremendous amount of skill as a wide receiver on his school football team. Also look for Green's other sports stories, FOOTBALL GENIUS and BASEBALL GREAT.

DAIRY QUEEN by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, read by Natalie Moore (Listening Library)
Fifteen-year-old D.J. lives in Red Bend, Wisconsin, in a family in which all the boys play football. She’s a basketball star, but during the summer, D.J. discovers that football is her passion. Natalie Moore does an outstanding job creating such a likable D.J. that listeners will hang on every word. There's also a sequel, THE OFF SEASON.

ONE-HANDED CATCH by M.J. Augh, read by Ryan Sparkes and a Full Cast
When 11-year-old Norm loses his hand in a meat grinder, life becomes a series of challenges. Norm's dream of playing baseball seems impossible. Spurred on by his mother and his friend Leon, Norm meets every obstacle with grit and ingenuity. The story is immediate and heartfelt, but never sappy.

LAST SHOT: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein, read by John Feinstein (Listening Library)
Too short for a career in basketball, 13-year-old Stevie turns to sports writing and wins a chance to cover the NCAA Final Four games—and unwittingly uncovers a dangerous conspiracy to fix the games. Sports journalist Feinstein writes with an authenticity born of experience. Feinstein has more YA sports mysteries on audio: VANISHING ACT (tennis) and COVER-UP (football).

WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson, read by Dion Graham
Get to know Rube Foster, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, James "Cool Papa" Bell, and other Negro League players in this compelling, accessible history of the players who, when they were shut out of major league baseball, loved the game so much that they found a way to keep playing. Dion Graham's enthusiastic, welcoming narration is a perfect match for the text.

Permalink Reply by Marita Thomson on July 18, 2010 at 12:06am

Mal Peet's The Keeper is an excellent soccer themed book. Brings the magic realism of South American literature to a great sports story.

Has anyone read Tangerine by Bloor, which is also about soccer?

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on July 19, 2010 at 1:59pm

Thanks for these additional recommendations, Marita!

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on July 27, 2010 at 2:15pm

Another great soccer book for anyone who couldn't stop watching the World Cup:

WORLD CUP by Matt Christopher, read by Joshua Swanson
This fast-paced, informative audiobook is perfect for listeners of ANY age who want to learn about the world's most popular sport. Narrator Joshua Swanson’s enthusiasm keeps listeners engaged amid the book’s many facts and figures and perfectly conveys the game's highly charged excitement, fever-pitched triumphs, and extreme disappointments.

Permalink Reply by Marita Thomson on July 18, 2010 at 12:04am

Just finished Over the End Line and must say I didn't much like the ending!!

I started this book not knowing anything about it or the author, Martino. I loved that soccer/football was a big part of this book. Too often books that claim to be about sports have very little sport information in them, and I know many kids find this a disappointment, so full marks for that. I also thought that many of the characters were well drawn. Jonathan, of course, and Kyle somewhat and Ruby even. Annaliese was getting there, and was at least distinguishable from her two close friends. Even Steph was nicely drawn as we mostly got to know her by her actions and there was enough there for us to be way ahead of Jonathan on her.

The problems I had with the story were mainly about the isolation of Jonathan. He and Kyle had remained friends and yet didn't associate at school or socially, except as part of the soccer team. They kept their friendship up through training and rivalry, and the fact that they were close neighbours. But Jonathan seemed to have no other friends. He seemed to just stay at home, walk alone or go to the library. He let his life be ruled by "The Ladder" which was surely a figment of his imagination (the physical list that is - I don't have a problem believing in the friendship hierarchy). But why did he let this rule his life, and why was he so keen to jump on the Circle wagon first chance he got? His relationships with Ruby and Annaliese showed that he was willing and able to form meaningful relationships, yet mostly he was alone.

The ending of the story was very dark and hopeless. I felt no good had come from this whole story which made me feel it was a lost opportunity, unless it is to be the first in a serial killer series (which would change the game - or at least the genre - altogether).

Peer groups and peer pressure are real and can be very destructive. For the sake of literary merit, and to be approaching real life experience, I would have expected that Jonathan could have developed past this stage in his senior year. Senior year is also a great time for bonding across social groups - maturity and shared experience work their magic in the final year of school in my experience.

Maybe it was the sporting competition which put this story on another level. Maybe it was displaying the roots of the terrible things that happen in professional sporting culture - problems of mixing youth with drinking, drugs, ambition, celebrity, money.

Worst of all for me, Over the End Line left the same taste in my mouth as the awful Thirteen Reasons Why. I don't think it was as manipulative as this book, but in the ballpark.

I read and loved The Power of One many years ago and look forward to listening to it again in a little while. (Interesting point that author Bryce Courtenay was a big name ad man before writing this, so no doubt he used his best manipulative techniques for this book, but I think with positive results for the most part.)

Permalink Reply by acm7673 on September 29, 2010 at 1:06pm

Dear Marita,

Thank you for your review of my novel/audiobook, "Over The End Line." Though I would have preferred if you enjoyed it a bit more, I appreciate your comments. I do have one comment to make. The idea that "senior year is also a great time for bonding across social groups - maturity and shared experience work their magic in the final year of school in my experience," seems far from typical. While my own high school years were great, particularly my senior year, I don't think most people feel that way at all. In fact, I think most seniors become more insular (in terms of becoming closer with their current friends) because of the idea of leaving these friends and the pressure of going to college.

Sincerely,

Alfred

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on July 19, 2010 at 1:59pm

Though he has a large and impressive audiography, Bryce Courtenay isn't very well known in the U.S., aside from THE POWER OF ONE. Below are some of our favorite other stories by him, all narrated by the wonderful Humphrey Bower. Read our interview with Bower here!

TANDIA
A sequel to THE POWER OF ONE, TANDIA follows the parallel stories of Tandia, a half-African, half-Indian girl, and Peekay, the young boxer and scholar who was introduced in THE POWER OF ONE. The story is rich with characters of different races and social status, and Bower portrays each character with exquisite skill. Author and reader teach us about the emotionally charged issues South Africa struggles to resolve, crafting an unforgettable saga . . .

THE POTATO FACTORY
In the tradition of Charles Dickens, Courtenay creates a unique cast of characters in this portrait of nineteenth-century England and Australia. Humphrey Bower’s performance is a marvel. He tackles each character with vigor, gliding from silken voice to raspy growl as he delivers countless accents and dialects. The first in a trilogy that continues with TOMMO AND HAWK and SOLOMON'S SONG.

BROTHER FISH
Call it "the power of three." Scrappy Tasmanian Jacko McKenzie and giant former New York gang leader Jimmy Oldcorn work miracles in a Chinese POW camp during the Korean War. Humphrey Bower goes from Jacko's squeaky Down Under accent to Jimmy's African-American bass to Nicole's posh Brit cello as well as covering Chinese, Korean, French, Russian, and German accents flawlessly.

Any Australians want to weigh in on Courtenay's popularity there?

Permalink Reply by Marita Thomson on July 19, 2010 at 7:47pm

Bryce Courtenay is hugely popular here in Australia. Several of his books have been dramatised for TV. I confess to only having read The Power of One (which was also made into an excellent movie, though not as good as the book of course). I think I watched The potato Factory years ago which was okay & saw some of Jessica more recently (which I thought was overly sentimental).

Now, don't ask Peter Carey what he thinks because the two have been having a major public stoush lately after Carey lamented the decrease in reading of literary material. I believe that statistic came from a recent American study. It is an argument about high brow/low brow/popular/literary fiction. (Peter Carey’s a snob: Bryce Courtenay in defence of popular storyte...)

Certainly Courtenay's books sell very well here. The Power of One, and to a lesser extent Tandia (its sequel) are still very popular with the year 7 to 12 boys at my school. There is also a puffin version for younger readers that is great for those not quite up to the length of the original. Mostly Coutenay's books provide an engaging way in to eras of Australian history by looking at family stories. He has also written about his son who died of AIDS in April Fool's Day.

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on July 20, 2010 at 11:12am

Oh, fascinating, Marita—thanks!!

We're very grateful for Bolinda Audio, since they've produced audio versions of all his books and distribute them here. It's pretty much the only way to "read" Courtenay in the U.S., since most of his books aren't easily available here in printed form! (It's also a chance to hear all those wonderful Australian accents, thanks to the Bolinda narrators—another favorite of ours is Rebecca Macauley reading Melina Marchetta's works!)

Permalink Reply by Marita Thomson on July 20, 2010 at 7:17pm

I have also listened to Rebecca Macauley reading books by Sonya Hartnett & John Marsden. Excellent for young narrative voice.

Permalink Reply by Jenn Dowell on July 21, 2010 at 10:57am

One of my favorite audiobooks—ever!—is Rebecca Macauley reading ON THE JELLICOE ROAD. Brilliant performance of a very good (and very challenging for audio!) YA book.