Two Foot Punch

by Anita Daher

Nikki blames her brother, Derek, for their parents' death in a house fire, but when Derek gets involved with a gang, Nikki knows she is the only one who can save him. Enlisting the help of a girl named Rain, who uses her athletic abilities to carry out acts of petty thievery, Nikki uses all her gymnastic and free-running skills to stay ahead of the gang and keep her brother from being killed.

Genres: Sports, Young Adult

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Pooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Anita Daher read on the first night of the Winnipeg International Writers Festival, Thin Air 2011. I mention this because I think that hearing her read changed how I read this book. As a rule hearing the author does not do that for me. Incidentally she did not read from this book, but rather a delightful short story.

I had already bought and had started to read this book before attending the reading, and I had already created my own voice for Nikki, the main character in the book. Oddly, after hearing Anita read, Nikki became someone different to me - less hardened and more hopeful.

I really enjoyed this book meant for a younger reader than I, no doubt, but I loved learning about parkour (enough to actually imagine, somewhat unrealistically at my age, doing it).

A nice strong female character. And the Winnipeg references to both people (albeit fictionalized, but you can't fool me!) and places were just delightful.

[Kristian Eric Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you use parkour not only as a sport but also an escape, you start wondering; does it have to be one or the other?

In Two Foot Punch, Anota Daher, 15 year old Nikki, a traceuse, felt alone in a new city when they moved away after parents died and her brother becoming involved with not-so-clean people. She then used parkour as a means to escape and be free from the suffocating feeling of aloness.

But when her brother, Derek, who blames himself for her parents' deaths, got in trouble, it's up to her and her friend, Rain, to help save him and themselves from danger.

Two Foot Punch is a short read. I bought it years ago as an ebook on Kobo, and I enjoyed it now as I enjoyed it before.

What I loved most though is Rain's character. While she was introduced as a budding friend to Nikki, she suddenly showed who she truly is without thinking about how her new friend will see her as. She's true to herself and is a true friend even when Nikki would abandon her.

She also became the reader's character, in a way, because it's through her that Nikki teaches the reader about parkour; it's history and some techniques used in the sport.

While Two Foot Punch is a quick read, it still stirs excitement and action to the imagination. I feel like ot can be lengthened by a sequel, but it would need a good plot to match this one.

Overall, I loved Two Foot Punch and would defintely recommend it to anyone looking for a great, quick read.

Read thiis if you like:
🏃‍♀️Sports
👩Female lead
Bookstagram☠️Solving crimes
🤝Friendship
👨‍👨‍👧Family
📖Short story

#twofootpunch #anitadaher #parkour #shortstory #femalelead #friendship #family #bookrecommendation #bookreview #kobobooks #readthisofyoulikethat #bookstagramph #bookstagrammerph

[Dale Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rate this book 5 stars because its about a girl names Nikki and her newly found friend Rain who live in a place called Whinnipeg. Nikki to practice or likes to do parkour as a hobby who she learned from her brother Derek. Together they live with their Aunt Sylvia. Nikki teaches Rain parkour but in the middle of training Nikki sees Derek being beaten in a ally way by multiple people and soon finds out that her brother was being held and possibly killed by a Grow-Ops leader Spinner who is part of a corrupt police case and threatens the judge who is Derek's and Nikki's Aunt to find the defendants not guilty or they will kill him. Through out the story it tells what Nikki and Rain did to save Derek without the police help simply because Nikki did not trust the police do to the case. What i liked about the book is that when one thing is happening there are other happening at the same time and also how Nikki and Rain use their skills to save her brother and get spinner and the rest of his Grow-Ops member put in prison

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the book is really good And I got interested/Hooked straight off the bat Nikki Is really good at parkour And I like how the book is written And it has a good plot to it Sometimes the story line jumps from one thing to another there are some parts in the book that are pretty funny and it made me laugh Nikki has a friend rain that is a compute /tech geek Rain is Nikki's friend who did not know anything about parkour until Nikki introduced it to her and then rain started to love it and she tried it and she was great at it And that's how Nikki and Rain became friends Nikki's brother Derek got kidnapped and I thought he was going to die there is a hobo that Nikki sees every day when she does parkour she thinks he is his her Guardian Angel so she calls him Angel my favorite part in the book was when Derek got kidnapped because I was wondering what was going to happen to him and what Nikki and rain we're going to do about that

[Timothy Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had two reasons to read this book: 1) I'm a traceur (practitioner of parkour), and this was the only novel I'd found that was about parkour, and 2) I wanted to see if it would be appropriate for my almost nine year old son.

I was disappointed on both counts. The language about parkour was accurate enough, which is a real danger in a book like this. So thumbs up on that. But the story just didn't work for me. It started out kind of fun, but the crime story just wasn't all that great. The story was simply too grown up for a kid, but was too juvenile for a grown-up.

I have to sympathize with the author; I guess the reason that parkour doesn't figure much in books is because it's hard to write a good story about. Otherwise there would be a lot more books about it. I'd still love to find a good novel about it.

[Alexis]

Read for research purposes.

[Jason Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a pretty amazing book for children. I'm a kid and I think this book is amazing. with some amazing scenes that made me tense, I think it is amazing. I'll recommend this book for children.

[DADDY NICKLES MEJJEN]

I think this book was really good, what made it good was how Nikki was trying to help her brother Derek who he ignores her ever since their parents died due to Derkek not putting out a cigar

[Silas Monotya · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a great book i recommend you read this.