Bound To Stay Bound

Bulletin for the Center... - 04/01/2014 When local celebrity baker Sweet Caroline offers a summer cake-decorating class at the area park district, Eliza desperately wants to sign up so she and her friend Tony can one day start their own bakery. Her parents are reluctant, though, and eavesdropping on them reveals the reason: Eliza’s habit of quitting. Though she concedes her ADHD may have interfered with her ability to stay with a hobby in the past, her indignation at what she sees as injustice-particularly when her older brother just quit his martial arts class-prompts her to strike a bargain with her parents: she will take her brother’s place in tae kwon do and, if she sticks with it, she can take the cake-decorating class in the fall. Although the path to a yellow belt is lined with mean girl Madison, fights with Tony, and anxieties about starting middle school, not to mention a bruised tailbone, Eliza begins to learn that winners only quit when they’ve won. Van Vleet gives Eliza a compelling voice and winning underdog quality, and she handily works in details about living with ADHD (self-control practices, medication, and what it’s like to be the “weird” kid at school) without making it Eliza’s defining characteristic. Though Eliza isn’t the most original of heroines, her resemblance to classic protagonists such as Ramona isn’t likely to alienate readers. Indeed, Eliza picks up at the age we last saw Ramona; this timing, coupled with the unresolved tension with her friend Tony, may mean that, like a true martial artist, Eliza will persevere-for another book or two, at least. AA - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2014 Gr 3–6—Eliza Bing, 11, is not a big, fat quitter, or is she? Her track record isn't great. She has a history of not following through with activities—Junior Scouts, gymnastics, tap, piano…. So, when she wants to sign up for a cake-decorating class with her bakery loving friend, her parents flat-out say no. Eliza strikes a nearly impossible deal with her parents: if she can finish a tae kwon do class over the summer, she can take cake decorating in the fall. For Eliza, this is easier said than done. She has ADHD and no interest whatsoever in martial arts, Master Kim is strict, she can't remember all of the Korean words, and mean girl Madison is in the class. As the summer progresses, Eliza finds it difficult to focus in class and she contemplates quitting, but she is determined not to be a loser. With family support, she finds internal strength she didn't know she had, but an injury threatens her completing the class and earning a yellow belt. Fast moving and humorous with chapter titles such as "Sticky Note to Self: Wear White Underwear on Wednesdays and Saturdays," feisty Eliza will have readers, especially those with ADHD, rooting for her.—Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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