Required Reading: Kick by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman

Kick is a typical Walter Dean Myers story about a teenage boy who makes some poor decisions and finds himself in trouble with the law.  In this case, the boy is thirteen-year-old Kevin Johnson, a soccer player who lives with his mother and abuela. Kevin's father was a police officer killed in the line of duty.  One night, Kevin finds himself in a situation where he wants to do the right thing and help a friend, but everything goes wrong, and he finds himself in juvenile detention for kidnapping, stealing a car, and a few other felony offenses after he crashes a car belonging to the father of his friend Christy. The judge, Judge Kelly, however, sees some potential in Kevin, and particularly since his father was an officer, wants to help him get on the right track.  He enlists the help of his friend, Sergeant Brown, who agrees to meet with Kevin and see what he can do.  Kevin is facing the possibility of serving time for his alleged crimes, but Sergeant Brown gets the feeling quickly that there is more to the story than Kevin wants to share, but he also sees that Kevin has a temper and needs to learn to control it.  Overtime, Kevin begins to trust Sergeant Brown and begins to take his advice to heart, learning to control his temper on and off the soccer field. He also tries to help Sergeant Brown with a case involving the exploitation of Hispanic workers, including Dolores, Christy's maid.  In the end, he opens up to Sergeant Brown about what really happened the night of his arrest: Christy called him, crying, because her father was abusing her depressed mother, and she couldn't take it any longer. It was Christy who initially took her father's car, but Kevin was driving it at the time of the accident, trying to get it home to Christy's father and keep her out of trouble.  Through the efforts of Sergeant Brown, Kevin avoids jail, and Christy's father agrees to seek help for his wife.  In the background of these events is the story of Kevin and his soccer team and their bid for a state title. This side story helps to further demonstrate Kevin's growing maturity throughout the novel.

I have enjoyed several of Walter Dean Myers's novels and regularly teach his novel Monster. While I wouldn't say that Kick is his best work, the idea behind the novel is what loved and would like to share with my students.  Myers co-wrote the novel with Ross Workman, a teenager he met through an email.  The two wrote the novel in alternating voices, Myers writing the voice of Sergeant Brown and Workman writing the voice of Kevin.  While Kevin's story is not as captivating as some I have read by Myers, I can certainly see its benefit in the classroom.  Reluctant readers will enjoy the easy but compelling read, and students will be impressed by the teen author.  I can see this novel inspiring some young writers and providing an opportunity for some writing exercises using two voices.  The novel also touches on some serious issues that could spark some meaningful class discussions: loss of a parent, immigration, friendship and loyalty, spousal abuse, depression, and suicide.

References

Myers, W. D. & Workman, R. (2011). Kick. New York: Harper Teen.