Yellow Flag

by Robert Lipsyte

In any race, there are drivers and, at the front of the pack, there are racers. In the final laps, it's the racer who moves his car through the sweet spot, picks off the competition, and drives through a hole to win. In Kyle's family, his older brother, Kris, has always been the racer, born and bred to it, like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him. And that's just fine with Kyle; he's got other things to do. Now Kris is out of commission, injured, and Kyle has no choice but to drive. Does he want to drive just long enough to keep Kris's seat warm, or does he want to race—and win? On the heels of Raiders Night , Yellow Flag is a pulse-pounding look inside the elite world of NASCAR racing, from award-winning novelist and sportswriter Robert Lipsyte.

Genres: Sports, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Family, Racing

240 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Marya · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you like NASCAR and everything that goes with it: Good ol' southern boys drinkin', looking at women like hood ornaments, and living their entire lives in tiny family enclaves, then this is the book for you.

If, however, you are offended by statements like "Oh, the redheaded pit bunny? You can tap that ass; she comes with the car", then I would steer clear.

[Mauro Garay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that the book Hit Count by Chris Lynch was a really good book. To begin, Hit Count is about two brothers, Lloyd and Arlo. Lloyd and Arlo always wanted to play together. There was a problem though; one of them had incident. The other brother Arlo plays football for his first year in High School. Since it was his first time playing for High School, he was scared to get hit. Lloyd didn't play because of his incident and concussion. The reason why I like this book is because it's really intense and makes you want to keep on reading more. I really like the quote, “All I ever wanted to do was hit people” (P.3). I can relate to this when I lose my basketball games, all I want to do is hit the other players in the team. Another quote I can relate too is, “And after working for something worthwhile for a change” (P.103). I can relate to this because after losing you feel like you put so much effort in for nothing. On the other hand, people might think that football is too violent and that people can get hurt. However, I personally thought that the sport is not violent. It makes you be physical and active. In conclusion, I really liked Hit Count it was a really good book and I rate it out of 5 stars. I recommend it to young adults and football players.

[Adam]

Personal Response
I think that this book was great because it is of my interest. I like fast cars and racing so I like this book a lot. The way kyle and his brother argued and how competative they are made it interesting, and Kyle still could play in the band.
Plot
Kyle and his brother Kris are part of the hildibrand racing family. Kris is the big racer but kyle doesn't really want to follow his familys path. Kyle wants to play in band at school with his trumpet but Kyles dad and the rest of his family want him to race. Kyle races with Kris when they need a driver and at the time he races a lot. He and kris make a great team on the track when they are not competing until kris crashes and gets a cuncusion. Kyle has to take his place and race the number one spot for the family. He proves himself to his family on the track and he is wanted by more sponsors and he doesnt know if he wants to race with the family or take his own path with the band
Recomendation
I recomend this book to boys who have the same interest as me. Anyone who likes racing or fast cars would enjoy this book

[Kyle Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this book it was not what I thought it was, but as I got into it. It got a lot better. It about a kid name Kris. He like racing since he was a young kid. His whole family has raced before. Then his brother is just not into racing like he is. As it goes on he changes his opinion. Something bad happens to Kris and it will affect him. They will need a new drive but who will be the next driver for this team? Will this driver stay the driver and win races or will he just keep the seat warm for the other races to take his spot back?
Will Kris’s little brother be the next driver or will the next driver be his father or some random person driving. I would suggest that you read this book and found out who it is.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kyle is a talented trumpeter in a strong high school quintet when he is called to race for his injured older brother, Ken, to keep Ken's "seat warm" in the racing season. Kyle raced from the age of 5, but gave it up by high school. Now he is torn between helping his family in the weekend-consuming racing world and meeting the demands of his brass quintet. Not to mention that he has a crush in Nicole in the quintet. After he manages to do better in keeping Ken's seat warm than expected and as Ken's injury keeps him sidelined longer than the one weekend, the pressure mounts.

The author writes y/a novels on sports. While he has done his research, as the mother of a trumpeter I have to say that he definitely didn't do enough. When Nicole points out to Kyle that the band teacher is looking for someone to play first "especially in the jazz piece" my alarm bells went off. In jazz, unlike in classical, it's generally the second trumpeter who gets the big solos and the first one who should be able to play the high notes well. I learned that from my son. Also, it's common in school situations to not have the same person play first all of the time, at least in the three schools my son has been (high school, a prep school on weekends and now college, although of course there are seating auditions for both of the latter at the beginning of each year).

[Oscar Fua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was pretty good. It was not the best book I have ever read, but it was not like it was terrible. At the start of the book, we learned that Kyle was born into a family of racing, and had their own brand called the Hildebrand racing. However, Kyle disliked racing. Unlike his brother, Kris was an upcoming star and loved the game of racing. Kyle realized that racing wasn't for him, so he started to get into music. He tried out playing the trumpet, and fell in love with it. Kris ended up having a condition, to where he sees many more cars on the track than what it is actually on the track, so the family had to bring in kyle to race, since he is raced before and it is not bad at racing. Now what will Kyle decide to do? Race, or music? I liked how the author showed the feelings of Kyle, the main character, and showed how he really disliked racing. I also liked how the author made it very suspenseful when he had to decide between racing and his passion for music. I also really liked how they implemented his brother Kris, into the story.

[Josiah Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I thought Yellow Book was really good. Robert Lipsyte has been known to write a lot of great sports books, and this one you can't exclude. This is just one of his many sports books. He's written one about football called "The Chief," which is similar to this except it's about football instead of racing. I like racing and racing books, so I knew this was going to be a good one. And boy I was not wrong. I like how this book had a lot of drama and it did its job to always keeping you on the edge of the seat. It's also so descriptive that it makes you feel like you are racing or at the track yourself. However, this book isn't 100% good. One thing I didn't like about the book was how they handled the cliffhangers. Each chapter would end in a cliffhanger, then when the next chapter started, it skipped ahead and talked about something else. It doesn't really do a good job explaining what happened after the cliffhanger. They just move on like nothing happened. But still, even with that, there still are far more good things about this book than there are bad. In fact, in my opinion, that is the only bad part about this book. What stuck with me most while reading this book was how it was so descriptive, like I mentioned. When they were racing, they would talk about every detail. When an incident happened, they would mention every detail. When literally anything happened in the book, they would talk about every detail. They do a good job letting you know what is going on instead of saying something bland and boring. I felt very good after reading this book and I had a good mood and impression towards it. This book is written in 3rd person omniscient because of the way he talks about each of the main characters. I'm not into books or reading or anything in that sense, but even for me, with this book, this one goes at the top for sure as one of my favorites books that I have ever read in my life. If you like racing, intense drama, and very descriptive and well written and told stories, then I would definitely recommend this book to you. If you ever read this book, I promise you, you will not leave this book disappointed.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

over all great book is super realistic and also kind of like a movie in some ways things just dont go as good for the main chearecter as if it would in a movie. the names of the charecters couldve been more thought out it gets confusing when u thing someone else is talking. discription is really good for whats going on esesaly during races and in between diffrent things happoning in the book.

[Jon Lavy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book

[Ethan Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it a little because it was about racing and it was fairly good.

[Holden Mccary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I don’t like reading very much but this book made me really love reading. This booked really sparked my interest and made me kept reading.

[Kole Schwirtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

its really good, and I definitely found a book without smut. Back to the book, Kyle has to pick between music and racing, and it's tearing his life apart.

[Jay P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Somewhat disappointing at the end but I would definitely recommend it. I think some people will find the end pleasant, my opinion was different though. This book is a real page turner, so it's completely worth reading.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characterization
The main character in this book is named Kyle. He likes to play the trumpet. His brother Kris is the family racer
Plot Summary
This book is about a kid named Kyle, and when his brother can't race he is forced to race. Kyle is trying to figure out if he wants to continue racing after his brother gets better. Or just keep the family race name on top.Until his brother recovers from his injury.
Personal Response.
I didn't particularly take to much interest in this book. I thought it kind of dragged on and on. It was an easy read. I thought it would have been more about racing but it was more about other events and what he did between races
Recommendations
I recommend this book to midle schoolers and high schoolers. I recommend it if you are a fast reader for a goodreads. People who like NASCAR or racing.

[Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a really good read. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like the book and almost didn't read it, but once I did I couldn't put it down. I found myself always trying to read it, even if I only had a little bit of free time. I really like how the author wrote the book to make you feel like your the main character, which is Kyle. Robert Lipsyte did a good job of describing each situation and what was happening throughout the book. I also really liked the way he made the tempo of the book change. One second the book is moving along slowly and then it speeds up and it seems like your racing to read the words and see what happens. I give this book a 5 star rating.

The book, Yellow Flag, is about a teenager named Kyle who is in band and plays trumpet and has a brother, Kris, who races. Something pops up and Kyle has to spot for Kris at a race. Kris makes a costly move to win the race but is wrecked right after. Kris gets a concussion and has to miss two races and needs Kyle to fill in for him. While he is filling in for him, he is missing a lot of things going on with the band and could lose his seat. His friends also start to question whether Kyle doesn't want to race all of the time and then Kyle finds himself pondering the same thing. While this is all happening, the racing team secures a new sponsor to make better cars to race and wants to create another car and team. The only catch is, they want is to stay in the family, so Kyle would have to drive it. Kyle doesn't know all of this is happening though. At the end of the two weeks when Kris can race again, Kyle is faced with a tough decision to make.... Band or Racing....

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yellow Flag

Yellow Flag by Robert Lipsyte is about a seventeen year old boy who likes to play the trumpet. He likes to be the quiet one in the family. The rest of his family races cars. His brother Kris is throne that usually races. But he gets hurt, so Kyle has to skip out on some music to help his family win the race.

If I had to compare this book to another book, I would compare it to any other sport book. It has a good flow to it, there not a part that is too boring there is always action going on. But one of my favorite parts of the book is we're the racing is going on, the author does a good job explaining the races to you. My favorite character in the book is Kyle, just not because he is the main character because he overcomes anything in his path. He never gives up.
The conflict in this book is that Kyle gets a lot of responsibility in a short amount of time. But he never gives up. The big picture in the book is that you never give up on life, you just get back up and keep on going.

I gave this book a four out of five because I really like how the author described the races and what's going on in Kyle's life and his family. I did not give it a five out of five because I did not really like the ending, but if you want to find out what happens read the book.

[Joe D · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Yellow Flag by Robert Lipyste is about a high school student named Kyle, who plays the trumpet but he feels like his family keeps pushing him to follow in their footsteps as a racecar driver. In the story Kyle’s Great Grandpa, Grandpa, and Dad used to race and now his brother does. His brother, kris, got in a bad accident while racing and got a concussion. Kyle is forced to race in Kris’s position and he enjoys it. So he has to decide between his musical life or his racing life.
I thought that this was a very good book, it’s not my favorite but I enjoyed it a lot. The reason I most liked this book is because I also race cars and my younger brother plays the trumpet so I can kind of relate to the characters. One thing that I didn’t like about the book is that his Dad and Uncle would always make him miss his band practices, and concerts so he could help them at the races. Overall I still thought it was a very good book.
I would first recommend this book to anyone who likes racing because it talks a lot about racing and nascar. Even if you just like sports in general you could still probably enjoy this book. Also if you are interested in a teenager who gets sucked into doing things that his family wants him to do rather than what he wants to do then you would like this book.

[Gilbertm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would classifia this book under non-fiction. This book has real sonerios, and events. The main charactors Chris, and Kyle are very well described. CHris has a evil tone, well Kyle has a soft delicet tone.
The plot was great, alot of forshadowing of the middle and end. The end was quite suprising. I didnt think Klye was going to chose the path that he did.
Chris,who is older than Kyle,gets in a horrible accedent well racing his stock car. Klye left racing all together at age 10. With Cris in out for months, and the team needing a driver, Kyle has no chose but to Start driving agine. THis leaves Klye in a pickel. He has to chose between, driving, and playing in his school quintet. At the same time his girl freind might leave him for someone else. A new girl is on the tram as well, driving Kyle crazy. Well Klye leave his trumpet for ever, well he continue racing, or well he crack under the pressure. Well the girl of his dreams leave him?
TO wind out you need to read this book. I give it a 5/5 it was a very good book. I would recomend this book to any one at a decent reading level, or anyone who loves racing.

[Cody Hudziak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yellow Flag has a complex storyline that causes the reader to not want to stop reading. This in my view is one of the more important features when looking for a good book. The realistic features of this story help when showing that in life drastic and unexpected events can happen that cause for others to make hard and difficult choices.

Towards the beginning kyle is forced to be a spotter for his brother kris while racing. Kyle doesn't want to do this and gets in trouble for letting his brother perform a move that ended up getting him hurt. Then throughout the book kyle is made to race in the spot for kris while also trying to stay in a quintet. Then at the end of the book kyle and his family are able to come together as a loving group again. This also causes them to talk about more than just racing.

I would recommend this book to both boys and girls. Yellow Flag may come across as a book made for boys that like racing. Which is what i thought when i first picked up the book, however this book is writing very well and should be able to spark the interest of all readers.

[Justin Hill]

YELLOW FLAG is one of Robert Lipsyte’s best novels if you are to ask me. It this book is on something all teenagers can identify with making choices. The main character, Kyle is forced to take the role of his brother and race. his brother was injured after a win by over a bitter rival. girl of his dreams, the gig of his life, and between following in his family’s footsteps, and another girl of his dreams. The story continues when Kris doesn’t recover in time to race, so Kyle chooses to race for the #12 team instead of practice for the quintet, which he feels he is more out of place there. After gaining his family a major sponsor, he is asked to join the team as a second car on the circuit, #12A. With this offer on the table, he needs to decide where his final loyalties lie, with his family, or with his band.

I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR TEENAGE GUYS AND ANYONE WHO ENJOYS RACING. FOR ME, THE BOOK READ FAST AND IT WAS HARD TO PUT DOWN AFTER THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS. THE AGE GROUP I BELIEVE WOULD ENJOY THE BOOK THE MOST ARE GUYS (OR GIRLS) RANGING FROM THE EIGHTH GRADE TO THE TENTH GRADE.

[Alex W · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Yello Flag, Kyle has to make a choice weather or not he wants to do one thing or the other. His parents are just like him. His dad loves to race and his mom is into music. Kyle ends up helping in his brothers pit crew. Kyle has to talk to sponsors for his brother and Kris really depends on his brother for these moments.

Kyle is a musician for his school, but he is also is apart of his brothers pit crew. His peers all know that he has to do one thing or the other and they are really getting on to him. One guy is trying to take his spot wants him to choose racing. He drives a camaro and he was taking a girl home one night from practice that he likes. She asks him to come inside but he can't because no one understands the importance of racing.

The book was okay it got more interseting in the middle and broing at the front and ends of the book. I like more of the intersting parts of book not the little details that do not matter. I don't like books that have some bad refernces it had. "Del started refilling glasses with Chianti."- Robert Lipsyte.

[Brandt W · Rating 4 out of 5]

summary- In the book Yellow Flag Kris gets a head injury and he cant race. His younger brother Kyle has to skip band stuff for racing. At first Kyle was only going to fill in for one race but it turned out to be about 3 or 4 races. After a while Kyle started to like racing again and at the end he decided to quit band and go back to racing.

setting- Hildebrand Hill

main characters- Kris- teen, races NASCAR, no girlfriend, Kyle's older brother.
Kyle- teen, races NASCAR, has a girlfriend,likes to play music.

conflict- Kris is hurt and can't race

resolution of conflict- Kyle fills in for Kris at a few races

main idea- I think that the min idea for this book is for Kyle to learn his true role in life. I think that it could also be for Kris to learn that his brother is just as good as him.

opinion- i think this book was a very good book. I think that it was exciting and full of action.

Recommendation- i would recommend this book to anybody that likes racing of action books.

[Brady Pettit]

In this book the main character, Kyle Hildebrand is an amazing trumpet player and a little brother to his talented big brother Kris. Kris is a talented racer who gets in a serious wreck and suffers a concussion. He is unable to be behind the wheel. He recruits his brother to keep the seat warm in his car while he can not drive it. His brother places fourth in his race, surprising everyone. He is unable to chose between the race life or the band life.

I liked this book, a lot. It is a very interesting book and it keeps your intention very well. I did not really have an flaws for this book. It is one of my favorite books I have read. I like the book a lot and I would recommend it to anyone who likes racing.

[Cameron]

The authors purpose of writing this book is to entertain the readers. The author tells the story of a boy who has to make a hard decision to entertain the reader . The readers would be someone who likes NASCAR or other types of racing.

The theme of the book is to follow your dreams and make sure they are your dreams. The author showed this theme by having the main character Kyle choose between playing the trumpet and racing.

The book was written as a description. It is a description because the author tells the reader what was going on, where it was, and what the people were saying. The style was effective and
made the book make sense.

I liked the book. I liked the book because I like things like NASCAR and racing. I would not change anything about this book.

[Highsider57 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle Hildebrand is a seventeen year old boy who loves racing as much as I do. I enjoyed this book because it relates to me because I'm very into racing. His dream which is the same as any other races. Is to drive for someone else for free. His dream comes true as he works very hard and stays upfront as people notice him more and more until he finally gets asked to drive for someone. He gets very stressed as he runs into problems with his family and issues as to what he want to do in life as he grows up. While you are reading the book goes into great detail and you feel like you are right there along side him at the track as he is racing. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who loves racing and the thrill to win.

[Demetrios · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book because the cover looked cool. This book is about a 17-year-old boy named Kyle that is slowly sucked into his family’s business —Hildebrand Racing. While he is an avid trumpet player and would like to pursue music, his whole family wants him to become a driver for their crew. My favorite quote is, “I’ve been forced into my family’s life and obsession.” This is Kyle’s life in a nutshell. He is living someone else’s life, by a script written by his family.The writing style and point of view were decent, but not out of the ordinary. I recommend this book to car enthusiasts and young teen readers.

[Trevor Oakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars because a) I'm a total NASCAR mark. b) it's more than a "racing" book. Sheesh...it'd be like calling Chris Crutcher "a guy who writes sports books" to write Lipsyte's latest off as simply a "racing book" and deal it just one star. It's about a kid who is torn between the worlds of family obligations/expectations and doing what he thinks is the right thing to do...all the while trying to keep in mind that there's such a thing in the world as constructive selfishness. I'm hoping for a sequel.

PS -- Lipsyte writes racing action really well!

[Joshbradley]

i thought the book that i read was very good. i thought it was good because i like racing and thats what they are doing in this book the whole time. My opinion of this book to me is that they are racing and then theres this one time that the racer went off the track and flipped over and then the car started on fire and the guy was burned and then he had to go to the hospital. There are more things in this book like the racers go to the final race and there was fourty five drivers that were signed up for the race then there was one guy named nick who won the race on the final race.

[Cody Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read Yellow Flag, it kept my attention the whole time. It gave me grand details about characters and their lives. I felt as if I knew them and how they were feeling.
Kyle has to make a decision about what he wants to do with his life. He has to decide if he wants to be like the rest of his family and race, or find away out of that Hildabrand name, like his Uncle Ken. Through the journey he learns alot about his family and himself. And I felt I was with him the entire way to the end.

[Nathan Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle and Kris are opposite people. Kris is a racer like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Kyle is a player in an orchestra. Kyle has everything he ever wants, a place in a band and a girl. But when Kris gets hurt in a race, Kyle must fill the seat of his brother. He meets a girl in racing and he likes her. He must than decide to either race and be with Jimmie (girl) or go back to the band with Nicole.