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Overdrive
Meet Johnny, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, who aims no higher in life than a world of cars, drivers who race them, and mechanics who know them inside out.
And meet Audrey, beautiful and blond - and very rich!
So what can a garage mechanic with grease under his fingers - even a wizard like Johnny - offer the town's richest and most beautiful girl? Nothing, thinks Johnny. A lot, thinks Audrey, and tried to show him. But trying to help Johnny is like trying to pet a porcupine.
And meet Audrey, beautiful and blond - and very rich!
So what can a garage mechanic with grease under his fingers - even a wizard like Johnny - offer the town's richest and most beautiful girl? Nothing, thinks Johnny. A lot, thinks Audrey, and tried to show him. But trying to help Johnny is like trying to pet a porcupine.
127 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 19, 2026
This is very short, so it is perhaps a novella rather than a full-length novel. This was a book I read when I was a young boy and I must have read it 50 times. Unfortunately, I lost the book at some point in my life and it is quite an obscure publication.
Reading this as an adult, I am amazed by how good this is. Pithy and telling, the prose is compact and vibrant. The author does not waste a scene or a line of dialogue. The secondary characters are limned quickly and memorably; they spring to life, jumping off the page.
What's really unusual about this today is the main character, who is a true hero. He does not have deep psychological trauma or all the nonsense that protagonists are saddled with in most contemporary YA. He is brave and smart and humble. He encounters people who aren't very nice, but the author mostly presents our society as a fair place where optimism is amply rewarded. The book ends in a satisfying way, but also leaving me reflecting that I would not mind reading another hundred pages.
Highly recommended.
Reading this as an adult, I am amazed by how good this is. Pithy and telling, the prose is compact and vibrant. The author does not waste a scene or a line of dialogue. The secondary characters are limned quickly and memorably; they spring to life, jumping off the page.
What's really unusual about this today is the main character, who is a true hero. He does not have deep psychological trauma or all the nonsense that protagonists are saddled with in most contemporary YA. He is brave and smart and humble. He encounters people who aren't very nice, but the author mostly presents our society as a fair place where optimism is amply rewarded. The book ends in a satisfying way, but also leaving me reflecting that I would not mind reading another hundred pages.
Highly recommended.
February 26, 2020
I read this book when I was in grade eight and loved it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews