Cutting Loose

by Michael Z. Lewin

"Show some respect, young man... Just what was this young woman to you?" Jackie looked into the nurse's pinkface. "Nance was the best friend I ever had," she said. "The only friend I ever had." Jackie... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805062254
• ISBN13: 9780805062250
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

A Book to Read With And To Your Teen/Older Child

Can't say enough good things. We didn't want to put it down. Just try it. There's never a dull moment.

Loved it!

Just a quick note: Homocide books and baseball aren't my thing-- I've never even seen a baseball game-- but this book is compelling! Check it out!

Note to Adults

The enjoyment of Lewin's first historical novel should not be reserved for adolescents. Within his two-continent, three-generational panorama, the intermingled tales of Jacky and her grandmother make compelling reading for adults. In plot and setting, the novel gives us Lewin the storyteller at his most expansive. To control such a large canvas, he limits the point of view to that of his naïve protagonists. For that reason, the cast of characters may lack depth, but the breadth is impressive. In a world of harsh cruelty and unexpected kindness, Jacky's success based on fortitude and personal integrity contrasts effectively with her grandmother's darker story. Cutting Loose reveals Lewin's versatility and scope. You don't need to be young to find it fascinating.

Baseball Fans and Homicide Fanatics Unite!!

The action-packed thriller is a master-peice! It combines history, baseball, and murder into a melting pot of profound and insightful literature. It follows the life of a young woman, Jaqueline, or Jacky. She dresses up as a boy so that the other kids let her play baseball. But when her famous baseball playing father is murdered in cold blood by a fellow team mate she sts out to avente her faqthers death, and of course, play baseball. However, at ten is not about to let her wander around the country unattended. So she is shipped off to a farm in the midwest. There, she meets her best freind, Mattie. Tired of the opressive farm life the two escape to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Happiness is short lived, however. Mattie is murdered by the knife act. Now Jacky must avenge two murders: Mattie's and her father's. From the Pruple Mountain's Majesty of the Rockey Mountains, to the sweeping Great Plains, to the gothic streets of New York, to the dark, dank sewers of London, where in the shadows, a killer waits. And at every possible place, baseball. This books is a roller-coaster ride of excitement! I loved it, and I guarentee that you will, too!

Great book!

This book is fast-paced and extremely interesting. It is well written and the characters are very well developed. Jackie, the main character is a professional baseball player who dresses as a man so she can play. She is on the search for her best and only friend's murderer, however a professional detective is sure that Jackie is the murderer and sets off in pursuit of her. There is another story woven into the story as well. I would reccomend this book to mature middle school students.