Skater Stuntboys

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Following the excitement of whitewater kayaking and surviving an
avalanche and a forest fire in the first three volumes of the Take it to
the Xtreme series, best buddies Jake Evans and Peter Monpetit, both 15,
are faced with spending a ho-hum summer in Jake’s hometown,
Chilliwack, B.C. However, the young teens learn that the
about-to-be-opened Chilliwack Xtreme Sk8park, an indoor skateboarding
facility, will be used as a shooting location for a low-budget
sports-action movie. Because the film requires two locally recruited
stunt doubles for the skateboarding scenes, Peter, an aspiring movie
star, sees securing one of those spots as potentially being his entree
to Hollywood. Both Peter and Jake are successful in the competition for
the stuntboy positions, but then someone twice sabotages the
skateboarding ramps, with injury-producing results. Suspicion falls on
the boys’ rivals in the competition and a quartet of tough BMXers
before the real saboteur and motive are revealed.

Although filled with skateboarding lingo, Skater Stuntboys is
constrained in its action by its largely indoor urban setting, and so
Withers uses this volume to develop character, especially that of
Jake’s sister, Alyson, 12. Additionally, Withers has Jake emotionally
struggling with the third anniversary of his father’s disappearance,
and her resolution to this situation does require a hefty dose of reader
acceptance concerning the likelihood of chance occurrences. While Skater
Stuntboys should be greatly enjoyed by the skateboarding crowd, it might
find less acceptance among readers who seek their action adventures in
the great outdoors. Recommended.