My Own Spin

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Jun 01 2024 | Archive Date May 31 2024

Talking about this book? Use #MyOwnSpin #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

A hi-lo title, written in verse

Twelve-year-old Arlo doesn’t want to stand in his big sister’s shadow on the basketball court. He wants to do something different. Something he can call his own. A ping-pong master at home, Arlo decides to try his hand at the Olympic sport of table tennis. But he quickly learns it is a completely different game than the one he grew up playing in the basement. Also, he’s not the only kid who takes ping-pong seriously. As Arlo enters the world of competitive table tennis, he finds himself challenged unlike ever before. Will Arlo give up when it gets hard or find a way to persevere against all odds?

A hi-lo title, written in verse

Twelve-year-old Arlo doesn’t want to stand in his big sister’s shadow on the basketball court. He wants to do something different. Something he can call his own. A...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781978597266
PRICE $25.80 (USD)
PAGES 160

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Send to Kindle (PDF)
Download (PDF)

Average rating from 4 members


Featured Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley, Rosen Publishing Group, West 44 Books, and David Aro for the opportunity to read My Own Spin in exchange for an honest review.

My Own Spin is a Hi-lo novel-in-verse about a boy who wants to make it big at table tennis.

At twelve years old, Arlo doesn't want to be just a basketball-playing shadow of his older sister. Instead, he wants to find something he can truly call his own. At home, he is great at Ping Pong, so he decides he will make his stand with Table Tennis. He finds out very quickly is is a bit different than just playing with friends and family at home.

With friends by his side, urging him on in their club and challenging each other, Arlo finds that there are many young Table Tennis players who take the sport very seriously and want to make it big. 

With a message of family, friendship, and following one's dreams, My Own Spin is a great sports novel for a middle grade audience. The table tennis idea is intriguing, but it also feels like I have seen or read something very similar. The writing craft is excellent, but the characters and how they approach their conflicts falls a bit flat compared to other book by the same publisher.

Overall, it is a book I still enjoyed, but it doesn't have quite the same impact with its message the way some of the other books in the genre have. still a super fun read and I will certainly recommend it to a middle school audience.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much to Rosen Publishing/West 44 Books and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Arlo lives in his basketball star sisters shadow, never seeming as good or important as her. Everyone loves her and jumps hoops for her, but as she moves away for college he leans into his passion for table tennis finding he could do it professionally, but training and gaining confidence in himself and the sport is hard.

This was really interesting I knew nothing about table tennis, I didn’t even know it was a thing at all. It was very interesting learning a little about this sport through the character playing it, it sounded very confusing and intense though, but it was good to find a different sport get used within this story.

I liked that as the story progressed Arlo eventually found he could shine like his sister, that though his sister seems like it all comes naturally and easily to her it doesn’t, she had to actually train and work really hard and that the games don’t always go her way no matter how hard she tries to get them to be. It helped him to up his games when he learned about that.

I liked this book, it’s a verse book which I always enjoy, I loved that the balls were bouncing around in each page that’s was funny to see. I liked that Arlo had a good character progression, that he went from playing first for fun to playing professionally, I like that he made friends within the sport and made a team out of it. It was a really fun and different read.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: