In Lane Three, Alex Archer

Alex Archer #1

by Tessa Duder

'I have always known that in another life I  was-or will be-a dolphin. I am a pink human, caught in  a net of ambition and years of hard work. In a few  minutes I will dive into artificially turquoise  water waiting at my feet. A minute later I'll  either be ecstatic or a  failure.'

Fifteen-year-old swimming champ Alex Archer has her  mind set on one goal-competing in the Olympic Games  in Rome. Alex has been training hard for six  years--but so has her archrival, Maggie  Benton.

Maggie isn't the only obstacle Alex must  overcome. She's spread herself too thin at school,  and at home she's worried about her grandmother's  failing health. She needs complete concentration  for the competition, but it's becoming harder to  give her all. Then, her handsome boyfriend, Andy is  in a terrible accident. Even if Alex can deal  with all these unforeseen problems, can she beat  Maggie to make it to the Olympic Games?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Sports, Historical, Childrens, Historical Fiction, Teen

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1987

About the author

Tessa Duder trained as a journalist, and spent fifteen years rearing four daughters before she turned to writing fiction in her late thirties. Her books include the four Alex novels, Jellybean and Night Race to Kawau, as well as ten titles of non-fiction for both adults and young people. She's also an editor, short story writer, playwright and actor. Born in Auckland in 1940, she's lived most of her life there, except for periods spent in England, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Tessa Duder lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where she writes full time.

Reviews

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never seen this referred to as ‘In Lane 3, Alex Archer’ before, and the edition I read was called Alex.

I read this book because people have been bugging me to read it for years. When I was a bit younger and a swimmer myself (obviously nowhere near the level that Alex is at, but I was still part of a swimming squad) people told me to read this book, but I got bored with it very quickly and moved on to the next book in the pile of about 20 I had brought home. Part of the problem was probably that this book has always been so… old. Musty old pages and editions published in the 80’s were the only versions of this book available. When I saw it in my school library recently, with a brand new cover, fully made over, I decided that I would finally give it a chance. I’m glad I did, because I loved it.

I found it absolutely fascinating to discover what life was like for an extremely competitive swimmer, and although I’m not the sportiest girl around, I loved reading about Alex’s races and felt the tension right along with her. I wanted to know every detail of what life was like for someone who took something so seriously. The fact that Alex was a teenage girl as well as a determined and focused athlete just made it so much more interesting.

The category this book completes is a book written by a New Zealand author. I enjoyed this category, although I found it hard to pick out a book in the first place. The number of books written by New Zealanders is quite small, I guess because New Zealand is a small country. It was such a novel experience to read names of places like ‘Auckland’ and ‘Helensville’ in a book - places I know and have been to. I read a lot of books written overseas, largely in America or European countries, (of course I’d love to branch out a bit more, but that’s just where most English language books seem to be written!) so it was really great to be reading about my own country!

Parts of this book made me happy, tense, excited, sad and angry. I experienced feelings along with the protagonist, Alex, a teenage swimmer competing for a place on the NZ Olympic team. A part of the story that really made me sad was when (major and very long spoiler) Alex’s boyfriend Andy died. I just wanted their relationship to work out, even more so than Alex beating her opponent Maggie and making the team. For all I rant about books with female protagonists being too dependent on romance, having it given to you and then taken away like that is sad. This was great writing though, because it was a twist in the story I didn’t expect and it shocked me, giving me a very, very small idea of what Alex must have been feeling.

My favourite character was definitely Alex. She’s a good voice for the story and hard not to like, even if she does seem a bit too serious. In fact, this seriousness actually annoyed me at first, and Alex seemed a bit too perfect. She was a prefect, did well in school, was naturally sporty, good at acting, and was a brilliant swimmer. Despite this, I found myself warming toward her character by about half-way through the novel. Alex goes through the same things all teenagers do but on top of that she has to deal with a demanding training schedule, loads of school work, and a major tragedy. It is impossible not to feel sorry for her and admire her strength of character and resilience. In the face of all this, Alex just keeps on going. She is determined and focused and a good role model for girls.

“I have always known that in another life I was - or will be - a dolphin. I’m silver and grey, the sleekest thing on fins, with a permanent smile on my face. I leap over and through waves.”

Compare this sentence to the next few sentences of the book:

“Right at this moment, I’d give anything for that freedom. I am a pink human, caught in a net of ambition and years of hard work.”

love the contrast between these two quotes because not only does it show the effort and time Alex puts into her swimming, but also her love of the water and the great joy she takes in swimming. This speaks to me of the feeling of freedom and other worldliness to be found in gliding through the water. The metaphor “caught in a net of ambition” fits very nicely too as dolphins are often accidentally caught in nets and Alex feels both joy and pain on the path she has set herself.

From the book Alex I have learnt that determination pays off, but also to make sure you give yourself a break. Alex got too caught up in school, personal life and swimming all at once, and as a result her friendships and grades started to suffer. I think that this book has taught me while to always try my hardest, to remember a healthy balance between things is good. Coming back to the idea that determination pays off, Alex trains hard, puts in effort and as a result wins her race. It is an idea we have all been told many times, but this novel illustrates it in an engaging and interesting way as we feel Alex’s tension, ambition and desperate need to succeed.
This was a book I’d have never tried unless I had found it in the library all shiny and new, and I’m very glad I did. It has taught me important lessons and presented me with a brilliant story. It isn’t too challenging to read, but not for children either. In conclusion, this is a book I would recommend to anyone whether they have great aspirations for a competitive sport or not. Everyone should try this book because the lessons learned can cover all aspects of life.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read the book Alex because it looked like great literature.The category on the bingo board this book completes is: a book written by a New Zealander. This square was interesting as I'm used to reading books by British or American authors and when I started reading Alex I thought it would be boring but it wasn't and also I understood more about the aspects of our countries life and learnt some New Zealand history ( I could relate to the book. ) My favourite quote from the book was:"I have always known that in another life I was- or will be- a dolphin. I am a pink human caught in a net of ambition and years of hard work. In a few minutes I will dive into artificially turquoise water waiting at my feet. A minute later I will either be ecstatic or a failure." because it uses lots of language features like adjectives, metaphors and personification and shows how hard they train and how much there life can infinitely change depending on one short five minute race. Something new I learnt from the book was: more about swimming as a sport, the intense training rituals- getting up at 5:30 am in the morning and swimming 4 miles. The ideal swimming body type and what you have to give up to go far in this competitive sport ( Maggie did nothing other than swimming and Alex did piano and theater productions but had to give up Hockey and ballet dancing and was still struggling to keep her swimming practice running smoothly, her grades were going down and she was staying up later and later to finish everything she needed to get done on time. ) A character that was interesting in the book was the young man Keith. Keith was, according to Alex's love interest, Andy, a maths genius but he had major anger issues, was a terrible driver and stupidly decided to drink while driving on the way home. Alex was scared for he life so her and her boyfriend, Andy, got out of the car and decided to walk to the next town over to call her dad. They were right to leave as well because maybe an hour later they heard news of two teenagers crashing into a truck on the motorway. Luckily all three: Keith, his girlfriend and the truck driver survived with only minor injuries. But Keith started accusing his girlfriend, Vicki ( they were fighting ) and Alex who had supposedly offended his driving skills, for the crash. It's funny to think that someone so extremely smart, who had received a scholarship for maths, could be so incredibly thick and that he thinks he can go through life blaming other people for his faults and problems.

[Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good - An NZ classic!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a high-stakes activity, re-reading a beloved book of childhood as an adult. However, I enjoyed Alex even more this time around. Indeed, given I first read Alex as a 12 year old in Ireland who swam but occasionally and splutteringly, and now I am a keen swimmer living in New Zealand, perhaps its impact on me was greater than I realised at the time!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book when I was about 17 or 18. It's about a competitive swimmer trying to balance athletics and life.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look at Alex go. It's 1959. She acts in plays at school. She plays hockey. She is a dancer. She plays piano. She's a great student. And she's a record-breaking, sharply competitive swimmer.

Then Maggie arrives on the scene. She's been a swimmer since she was a baby, and she, too, is amazingly good.

It's Maggie vs. Alex. Who will make it to the Olympics in Rome?

This book highlights the struggles of women to strive for achievement in the mid-twentieth century. I was also quite taken with the drive to do win that was behind Alex's .2 second victories. Amazing.

A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read.

[Denika Mead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex is a determined, daring heroine that refuses to give up.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talented and driven, Alex Archer is trying to keep her head above water--literally and figuratively--as she tries to manage friends, boyfriend, family, school, and journalists, all while training to beat her arch-nemesis, Maggie, at the New Zealand Olympic swim trials. On the surface, In Lane Three, Alex Archer by Tessa Duder is a novel about a 15-year-old girl on a quest to represent her country in the Olympics, but there are deeper issues within the depths of this book. The novel is set in the 1950s--a time when female athletes had to fight against stereotypes and societal pressures in order to compete, and Alex is at the forefront of this battle, determined not to be undermined by slanderous gossip or narrow expectations. She forges ahead, in the pool and out, as she tries to both fulfill her dream of swimming in the Olympics and pursue her many other interests as well. As she works to do this, she also has to come to terms with her grandmother’s failing health and an unexpected tragedy that shakes her resolve. The many-layered characterization and plot make this a thoughtful coming-of-age story, though American readers today may struggle with the sometimes dated, often unfamiliar vocabulary and phrasing used by this New Zealand author.

[Georgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in the Alex series (although my copy is called simply Alex) by Tessa Duder. I thoroughly enjoyed this as a teenager however appreciate it more as an adult. Tessa Duder really captures the angst of being a teenager and trying to juggle all the constant demands in a young woman's life. Alex the swimmer, Alex the dancer, Alex the actress, Alex the daughter and grand daughter and the demands that each of these make of her. I love the fact that she is such a rich character and when your reading Alex you forget that she is a character and not a regular person. Great writing in my opinion.

The other thing which I really appreciated from my recent reading is the role of her family in her success. Her grandmother sewing to provide extra money for the family and her dad getting up every day at 5am to take her swimming and the support from her mum which allows her to keep going. I also appreciate the relationship she has with her coach Mr Jack and the contrast of this with Maggie Benton's mother.

Still a great read and a great start to the series and life may have progressed in some things but the problems of being a teenager are still universal.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing

[Sarah Letford · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. I decided to read this book because I was given it for Christmas

2. A character that I found interesting was Alex's friend Julia because you don't find out very much about her and she has a big secret that you don't know through the whole book

3. My favourite quote from the book was "Twenty yards to go and you're already justifying second place... hoping it will be good enough for Rome". I like this quote because it is quite relatable because she sort of just gives up on winning or trying her best which is very easy to do and a lot of people do it.

4. Something I thought deeply about after reading this book was about people who are very elite at a sport, because in the book her friend tries to convince her to give up everything else she does just to concentrate on swimming like her competitor does because then she would definitely beat her, but she doesn't want to. This made me think about the balance between training enough to be good, and experiencing or enjoying other things too

[Telka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Alex who is 15 years old, and lives in New Zealand. alex is swimming to qualify for the Olympic games in Rome. She's doing just great until Ms. Maggie Benton and her irritating mother, barge in, and finally, there's going to be some competition... Alex knows what it feels like to lose, but to get to where she wants, she will have to swim the race of her life to acheieve her dream.
I can make a text to self connection. Even though i am not as crazy as Alex about swimming, i get so competitive when it comes to sports. I will do anything to win. Alex and i have a lot in common, because we will both do anything to to achieve our goal.
I rated this book 5 stars. All through, the book i wanted to know what was going to happen next, and i loved how the author didn't just stay on the topic of swimming, and went around to Alex's other conflicts.

[Kallie~ Can'tLive-WithOrWithoutYou · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Lane Three, Alex Archer was a really good book. It really showed how driven an athlete can get. No matter what happened in Alex's life, like the death of someone she was close to, a broken leg,and numerous eye problems, she always pulled through and soldiered on with it. It was clear that there was really nothing else in her life she wanted more than to get to the Olympics. In Alex's mind, a million things are always running through it, she has to overcome reporters, killer training sessions, and lots of doubt. In this book, it really shows how if you have a supporting family, good friends (and PLENTY of chlorine) there is truly nothing you can't do. But what really gets Alex to where she wants to go in the swimming world, is her drive to show that she's the best of the best and how, no matter what happens, she tells herself she can do it. And she does.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually quite interesting and a lot better than I imagined.. Basically it just reminded me of those crazy high school days of no sleep and studying 24/7 and doing extracurricular activities.

And that plot twist though.. I really did not except Andy to die omfg. But the plot is kind of boring and predictable, like *spends the whole book competing with Maggie to see who would enter the Olympics* *Oh jokes guys, both of you can actually compete HAHAHAHAAHA Let's just ignore those months of stress and intense mental health problems*

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in late 1950's New Zealand, so there were some cultural differences to understand ( esp. the school system), but a really great read. Athletic youths who don't let the little things stop them, will really like this book. Adults who really like YA novel will like it too. It is not too teenagish.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book nigh on two decades ago and loved every word. It's probably the last YA novel I read and the only one I'd consider re-reading. Great characters, convincing conflict, good teenage angsty stuff without treading into the ridiculous - a real winner.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start of the book progresses quite slowly and is somewhat boring but as the book goes on it gets more hooking. The story also shifts between times and can be a little confusing at the start but by the end everything fits into place and it makes a good story.

[Stu Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most profound and touching books I've ever read. And as a gay male competitive athlete, when I had no other gay guys out in sport, I have never read a protagonist in a novel that I identified more with than this young woman.

[Nikki Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this back in 6th grade. Not the most well-written book, but interesting.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book so much in middle school that I stole it from the library and still have it today! :)

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess 'In Lane Three, Alex Archer' is the American title, I've only heard it called 'Alex'. Anyway, it's one of my favourite books of all time. Hooray!

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really into 'sports' books but I had to read this for my adolescent literature course and found it surprisingly well-written, insightful and interesting. I was quite gripped by it, in fact.

[Anija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never seen this book referred to in lame 3 Alex archer before
I read it as a whitcoulls modern classic and a must read

[Jenny Sun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie of this book too. I actually liked it. There was a bit of romance, a bit of tragedy.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

awesome

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, engaging book that draws you in and makes you feel for the main character, as you go through her life in the lead up to her Olympic trials.

[isla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It made me feel all the emotions Alex felt. Her story was brilliantly told by Tessa Duder. Now I have to read the other books!

[Caitlin Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Loved every second.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came across this in the little local free library (set up in an old telephone box as it is) and it immediately brought back memories of reading it as a kid. Or having it read to me... the first form teacher at my school read Alex aloud to my class, skipping over the bits where Alex kissed her boyfriend, because surely that was too much for impressionable twelve year olds, lol. (She was quite old so didn't notice when we stole the book off her at recess to read what she wouldn't... and it was extraordinarily tame, to our great disappointment.)

But anyway, this is one of the classics of YA literature in New Zealand. Alex, a fifteen year old swimmer who is training for a shot at the Olympics, gets progressively more overwhelmed by the rest of her life: school work, other extracurriculars, the awkward yet still friendly relationship she has with her rival Maggie, who has her own problems... of course there is success in the end, for both girls, and it remains an appealing, well-written story even decades later. Nice to have a book so focused on girls and athletics, too... more often these types of stories, especially at time of writing, seemed to be directed more to boys.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auckland teen Alex Archer is preparing for qualify for the 1960 Rome Olympics. She's got a rival whom she likes just fine, but that rival has a terrible mother. There's a sweet boy named Andy. There's her friend Julia who wants to be a doctor but whose dad thinks she should be a nurse (ah, 1950s). Alex herself is rather an overachiever-renaissance woman (piano, ballet, school musical, field hockey...)

I ended up enjoying the story. On one hand, there's a tall, broad-shouldered girl navigating rumors and school drama and her first boyfriend, and on the other, there's the competitive swimming.

My only problem with the novel is the structure. Throughout, the narrative is interrupted by italicized sections of THE RACE that she's training for the whole novel--that nationals to qualify for the Olympics. I found it jarring/annoying to cut to this same moment in the future for the whole thing.

Also it was sad. But I liked it.