The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss
You never know what's around the next corner,or across the next state line, right?
 | Sister Wanda discovers something unusual amid the Mostly Silent Monastery construction clutter: a silent little girl with no name and no past. Wearing a shirt emblazoned with the word BICYCLE, she is appropriately given the name Bicycle. Our young heroine takes to the monastic life, spending her days intently listening and studying. Her fortune changes the day that she accompanies the monks into town and discovers her namesake, a discarded bike. Scraping together all her loose change, Bicycle becomes the proud owner of the two-wheeler, christened Clunk. Sister Wanda is concerned because her young charge lacks youthful companions and enrolls Bicycle in the Friendship Factory’s camp. Determined to escape from the well-meaning intentions of Sister Wanda, Bicycle decides to bike from Washington D.C to San Francisco to meet her cycling hero Zbig. |
...you can take heart. It gets easier. And its's worth the effort.
Her epic cycling journey west is replete with ups and downs: a herd of stampeding pigs in Missouri, heat exhaustion in the Nevada desert, and the arduous scaling of the Rocky Mountains. Along the way she encounters the ghost of a young man killed in the Civil War who longs to return to his hometown of Green Marsh, a race horse named Cannibal, and the inventor of Wheels of Fortune 713-J, a fantastic bike equipped with everything from a climate-controlled tent to missile launchers.
I won't give up hope without a dozen-cookie consideration first.
There is a lot of food in this book. A cookie lady dispenses quantities of cookies along with sage advice. Paradise Pies features a constantly changing variety of hand-held pastry pockets encasing fillings such as tapioca muffin and chicken noodle. SlowDown Cafe invites guests to travel by horse or bicycle and enjoy regional fare such as rainbow trout spaghetti, tumbleweed lasagna, and elk chops
The fertile imagination of Uss is a wonder. Who would dream of a ghost from the Civil War, inhabiting a bicycle and entertaining his traveling companion with Stephan Foster melodies? Who would have envisioned a bike with a sophisticated artificial intelligence system that can dispense restorative care to the rider and print cash?
I've paddled as hard as I can in the river of luck.
Bicycle is a sparkling young protagonist, filled with equal parts, determination, imagination, and fear.
I still have my chance to do this my way...3,720 to 1 though it may be.
Several underlying themes are woven throughout the narrative: the part that luck plays in our lives, the importance of staying the course when the odds are stacked against you, and the need to find one's own way even when it goes against prevailing wisdom.
Cookies do help put a sweeter perspective on things.
The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle is an inventive and heart-warming novel for middle grade readers that is not-to-be-missed. A Sunflower Seed Burger to Christina Uss for this stellar debut. A scoop of Praline Scramble ice cream to Margaret Ferguson on the publication of her maiden novel for her new Holiday House imprint.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: June 5, 2018 Publisher: Margaret Ferguson Books ISBN: 978-0823440078
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