Seconds

by Sylvia Taekema

When it comes to cross-country running, Jake does everything right, but he still comes in second. He eats all the right foods, trains like crazy and reads articles about running in his spare time. There's nothing easy about running, but the hardest part for Jake is that, at the end of the day, Spencer Solomon always wins first place. Determined to take the lead for once, Jake continues to push himself even more. His rigorous training schedule leaves no time for friends, family, pizza or joking around. When Jake is invited to join the Diamond Running Club, he thinks he's found an opportunity to train harder. Instead, with the help of his coach, Jake begins to rediscover what he used to love about running in the first place.

Genres: Juvenile

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Because she loves to read, loves to write, and thinks kids are the best, writing books for children and having them published is a dream come true for Sylvia Taekema. Besides spending time with her own children, she also enjoys working with kids in schools and in various programs in her community of Chatham, Ontario. "Seconds," her first novel for young readers, was voted a Silver Birch Express Honour Book in the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading Program, 2015. It was also a nominee for the 2015 Diamond Willow Award.

Reviews

[AbsentLibrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was good and the last few chapters are where my interest really piqued. Before that, Jake's obsession and inner dialogue was becoming much too repetitive. After a few chapters of learning about his mindset, I grew tired then annoyed, with the repetition of his single-minded thoughts about running. Was the concept important to this story? Yes. An we were constantly reminded of it. I felt Jake needed to either move on earlier (which would likely have made for too short a novel) or the story needed to shift a bit more to other aspects of his experience or even explore other characters more. The last third of the book improve a great deal and allowed me to enjoy reading to the finish. I did like that the book discussed the difference between running for gold and running for the fun of running. A successful read with a rough patch to get through but ultimately a great finish.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake loves to run. Well, he did – until he keeps getting beat by Spencer. Jake is determined to train harder, eat right, and be number one. However, this leaves no time for fun and running is no longer that enjoyable. A new running club helps him get back on the right track.
The messages of “do your best” and “winning isn’t everything” are pretty hard to miss. Jake’s age is never given, but the picture on the cover will automatically target it to a younger audience. Will work for middle school struggling/reluctant readers.

[Jenny Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jake is obsessed with running and desperate to beat the one person who is consistently faster than he is. But he's forgotten that family and friends are important too. I enjoyed seeing his growth and I cheered him through his final few races.

[Cheri Linton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had a few problems. I had to suspend belief that Jake was a better runner than the other boys on the elite team. It was repetitive and the storyline seemed weak at times.