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I started reading Barbara Carroll Roberts’ Nikki on the Line aloud to my now-15-year-old because she picked it from a handful of choices; after the first couple of reading sessions, however, she “wasn’t that into it” and opted to move on to something else. I finally finished it myself day before yesterday, and I have to say–it was definitely her loss. Barbara Carroll Roberts’ debut novel is good.
To be fair, my girlie (as far as I know) has zero interest in playing basketball; I’m not actually sure how much she knows about the sport. She’s possibly my girliest girl when it comes to her hobbies, and dance is definitively her athletic activity of choice. That said, I was never particularly into basketball, either–I played church ball when our youth group played because, well, that’s what you did; I didn’t hate the game, but I hated how bad we were compared to most of the groups we played. The only sport I’ve ever played for fun is volleyball. Of course, having played church basketball, I have a basic working knowledge that my daughter possibly lacks, but perhaps more importantly, I frequently enjoy sports in literature. I may find, for example, watching baseball to be (at best) unexciting, but a pivotal game in a well-written book can keep me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps it’s my competitive streak?*
Anyway. The point is that I was a bit surprised my girlie wasn’t into Nikki, because it’s well written and blends humor and pathos quite nicely. Yeah, it’s about basketball, but haven’t we all had something we were good at, only to find that we reached a point when the competition got harder and we suddenly didn’t seem as good as we’d always thought we were? Add to that something about our family that feels embarrassing, plus a hyper younger sibling and some shifting friend dynamics, and there’s something for just about everyone in Nikki. I’m old enough to have grown impatient during her (completely realistic) bout of self-pity, but it was a pleasure to cheer her on as she figured out how to deal with a set of new challenges. In MY opinion, there’s something in this book for everyone, and I highly recommend it.
Now, to find out if Roberts has written anything else…
*My apologies for how scattered this paragraph is–I’m too tired to change it!