Head Kick

The Dojo #3

by Patrick Jones

Nong Vang dreams that one day he'll be an MMA superstar. He can trash-talk with as much force as his deadly kicks. But being a hero in his real life hinges on more than his first amateur MMA fight―it means struggling through school and protecting his family from his bully big brother. Can he find the courage and skill to succeed inside the cage and out?

Genres: Fiction

120 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Patrick Jones is the author of five realistic teen novels, most recently Stolen Car((Walker / Bloomsbury, 2008). His first young adult novel Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004) was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as a best book for reluctant readers, and was runner-up in the Teen Buckeye Book Award selected by Ohio teens. His second novel Nailed was published by Walker / Bloomsbury in spring 2006 and was a runner-up for the Great Lake Book Award. His 2007 novel, Chasing Tail Lights, is nominated for the Minnesota Books Awards. His most recent (and last) professional publication is Connecting with Reluctant Readers (Neal-Schuman, 2006). In 2006, he won lifetime achievement awards from both the Catholic Library Association, and the American Library Association. Jones is a frequent speaker at library conferences, having visited all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Jones grew up in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more at his web page www.connectingya.com, including FAQs about Things Change and Nailed (perfect for book reports!). NOTE: After a bruising experience with another author, he's limited his reviews on Good Reads to only raves as not to disturb the "fellowship" of YA writers.

Reviews

[Joshua Moses · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was a very average story. The story is about a high school student who wishes to become the best martial arts fighter ever. He has a relatively small group of friends and pretty well liked. His brother is one he doesn’t like as much. His older brother was in high school himself where he was dated and soon had a child with another student. After they both dropped out to care for the child in which the brother started to become hostile to his new wife and soon child. The main character despises his brother but loves his nephew and wishes to use his new skills to either teach him self-defense from abuse or stand up himself to his brother. I thought subjectively it was just a very uneventful story and wouldn’t much recommend it to any who likes being invested in longer stories.

[Robbie Vokac · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts off with the main character Nong Vang in a boxing gym. He talks about how he wants to be an MMA fighter. He hates his step dad and brother because they hit him a lot. He wants to get strong enough to defend himself from his bullies. My initial reaction was bored because the plot progressed slowly.

They tried to solve the main conflict by competing in MMA competitions. He gets experience with fighting for real. I didn't like the characters they all sucked and had no personality, except for Nong. I liked him the least because was very stupid and annoying. The most suspenseful part was in his second competition because he lost the first one and he's more motivated. I thought he was going to win the first competition because he was bigger than the other guy, but he lost. That killed his ego and he became humble, which made him a better fighter.

It was very easy to read because the vocabulary was basic and the text was large. I did finish my book and I did not enjoy the ending as it was very predictable. I would give it a 3/5 because the plot was basic and had static characters, but Nong changed and became a likeable character in the end.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is very good it is about a boy that want to learn about the secrets about fighting because he was bullied by a bunch of random kids because of how he looks and how dress up for school. And when it was picture day he was more bullied. The next day he went to the class and it stop because the bullies are gone and they did not show up for the next week.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, as a fight fan and book lover, I love reading the sequence of action in the cage. Patrick Jones does a wonderful job of writing play-by-play.

Individually, I think the books in The Dojo series are great for reluctant readers and non-mainstream teejs. They are quick paced, action driven, and present real issues.

As a series, I am finding them hard to read, because the 4 books in the series take place over the same period of time. You see the events taking place from a different character's point of view in each book, but there are many sentences that are the EXACT same in each book. And do we really need a play by play of the other character's wins/losses in each book? The nice thing is that you can read them in any order. The not so nice thing is that as a non-reluctant reader, I read 2 1/2 of the books in one night, and read the same sentence 3 times.

Is this overlap something that appeals to reluctant readers? I'd be curious to know why Jones chose to lay out the series that way...

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just previewed this book for our library. I think it will be a hit with reluctant reader boys. On the other hand, I'm not so much a fan of fighting violence with more violence. I guess the no tolerance for fighting rule in our school has seeped into my bones. But, surely there is a better way of dealing with a bully than hand to hand combat.

[David]

Very interesting , The boy wants to be a professional MMA fighter, so they find him a trainer, and start out by training him, they teach him, certain moves. An example would be, triangle cross bar, which would make your opponents tap out. The book gets its name "Head Kick" from the boy because he gives a devastating kick to the head.

[Steve Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book for teens/Tweens centering on an insecure youngster trying to face his demons and make a name for himself in Mixed Martial Arts. There are some positive lessons in here for kids. I liked it.