Jennifer Bradbury Book Title: Shift Publication Date: May 20, 2008 Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers ISBN: 978-1416947325 Author's Website: http://www.jennifer-bradbury.com

Description of Book:

So much more that when Chris returns home without Win at the end of the summer, he's certain their 10 year friendship is all but over. But when an FBI agent begins asking questions-and raising suspicions about Chris-he learns that saying goodbye to a friend like Win is never as simple as riding away. Shift offers an adventure story and a missing persons tale spinning around a single question: What happens when you outgrow your best friend?

 

About the Author:

Jennifer Bradbury is an English teacher living in Burlington, Washington. She and her husband took a two month long bicycling trek from Charleston, South Carolina to Los Angeles, California for their honeymoon, changing more than fifty flat tires along the way. She was also a one-day winner of Jeopardy! Shift is her first novel.

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"I hear those things are a lot easier if you ride them instead of letting them ride you," said a man in dark suit as he gestured toward the bike.
I nodded, looked the guy over. "Chain busted on the way back from the square," I said, wondering why this guy had decided I looked like I was in a mood for conversation.
"Too bad," he said.
I shrugged, causing the bike to slip again, the back wheel banging into the mailboxes. The whole cycling around campus thing hadn't turned out to be as cool as I'd imagined. People in the way. Speed bumps. Crowded sidewalks. Stairs.
I missed the road.
"Nice talking to you," I said, taking a step toward the hallway.
"You're Christopher Collins." No hint of a question in his voice.
I answered anyway, taking another look at him as I did so. He must have been at least six feet tall, because I could look him straight in the eyes without slouching, but he had me by forty pounds easy. Not that that was surprising. I'd been the skinny kid since second grade.
"Yeah?"
"Must have a lot of miles on that thing," he said, pointing toward the chain dangling from the front crank. "They don't wear out fast, do they?"
My legs began to itch from the inside out. For as long as I can remember, the itching has been an early warning indicator. Anytime I have that feeling, I know something big is on the horizon. The sensation is as reliable as the smell of rain before a storm. "Who are you?"
"Abe Ward," he said reaching into his breast pocket. The gesture allowed the flap of his jacket to fall open, revealing a slick looking pistol holstered just above his belt. "I'm with the FBI, based here in Atlanta. Mind if I ask you a few questions?" He pulled his hand out of his pocket and flipped open an ID badge with a practiced motion. His voice was even, measured, his forehead dry even in the oppressive heat.
Anytime somebody wants to ask me a few questions, my natural suspicions come into play. But when that person has a gun and flashes an official-looking piece of government ID, I can only say one thing.
"Shoot." I dropped the bike to the floor and leaned it against the wall.

 

Reviews:

"This is a great realistic mystery. Jennifer Bradbury tells a totally believable, totally engrossing story. You will keep the pages turning."

 Chris Crutcher, author of Whale Talk, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, and Deadline.

 

Before they start college, Chris and his best friend, Win, bike 3,000 miles across country from their home in West Virginia to California. On the way, they get into a big fight, and Win disappears. Now an FBI agent is at Chris' college dorm asking questions, and Chris is being followed. Along with the mystery and the mounting suspense come flashbacks to the friends' cross-country adventure. Some metaphors and messages are too heavily spelled out (including a character wrestling with an angel), and, of course, Chris' search for his friend is a search for himself. But Bradbury's keen details about the bike trip, the places, the weather, the food, the camping, and the locals add wonderful texture to this exciting first novel, as Chris remembers the trip and returns to find what really happened. Best of all is the friendship story; many teens will recognize how even between close buddies, there's rivalry, anger, and heartbreak.  - Hazel Rochman

Booklist, starred review (March 1, 2008) 

 A smart and moving coming-of-age story about two best friends, Chris and Win, who bicycle across the country the summer after high-school graduation. Things are beginning to shift in their relationship. Chris has always cut Win a lot of slack, knowing that his friend’s tyrannical father misses no opportunity to belittle his son. But, geez, would it kill Win to help out with expenses? After all, it’s not like he doesn’t have the money; in fact, he’s got thousands of dollars in cash hidden at the bottom of his pannier. Bradbury perfectly captures the spirit of a cross-country bike trip, alternating Chris’s recollection of the trip itself with the fallout he experiences upon starting school, having finished the trek solo after Win unaccountably ditched him in Montana. This device ratchets up the suspense on both ends, keeping readers guessing along with Chris: Just what happened to Win? What will talking to the FBI agent Win’s father has sicced on him mean to Win, to Chris, to what might be left of their friendship? Fresh, absorbing, compelling. 

 Kirkus Reviews, starred review (May 1, 2008)

As a guy who has spent my own share of time trying to peel off the many layers laid on me in my young years -- both at home and on the construction sites -- by my father, I found SHIFT to be an exceptional coming of age story about fathers and adolescent sons. Having always been awed by the breadth and beauty of America, I enjoyed how the bicycle trip provides a stunning and sometimes comical ode to our land. And having instant messaged my own friend since third grade this morning -- to try to figure out the place in Commack, back in the Seventies, that had the baskets of peanuts on the table (and the shells thrown on the floor) -- I love this exceptional and mysterious story of adolescent guy friends.

 

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Picks

http://richiespicks.com

 

Readers will easily navigate through this story. Like a good film noir, Shift unfolds using both the past and the present: the chapters alternate between the here-and-now, with Chris starting his freshman year of college, and the summer, as Chris and Win make their way across the country. Their friendship and the investigation are accompanied by bicycles, patches, jackets, one glove, small towns, campgrounds, diners, and postcards. Though the element of mystery is always there, Shift is not a whodunnit. Instead, it asks: Why did Win leave? Who is he, really? How well do we really know anyone?

 Little Willow

http://slayground.livejournal.com/354589.html