The Winning Stroke

by Matt Christopher

Book Overview

When hydrotherapy for an injured leg takes him to the pool on a regular basis, twelve-year-old Jerry finds himself fascinated and challenged by the rigors of competitive swimming. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316141283
• ISBN13: 9780316141284
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Will Jerry Swim?

Jerry is a kid who loves baseball. While he is playing, he hurts his leg. The doctor tells him to do therapy at the pool, and he reluctantly says yes. After thinking about it, he decides to swim on the team. He ends up being a great swimmer, and he keeps on swimming. I am a kid who loves swimming, so I really liked it. This is a great book filled with fun and and hardworking kids. I like this book.

Kristy's Meet!

The fun loveable Kristy Adams has entered Jr. High. When her friend Rosa wants her to try out for the swim team just to keep her company she reluctantly agrees. On the day of the six grade try outs for the team she realizes how much she really loves to swim! It helps even more when in the afternoon she finds out she has made the "A" team, made up of the best swimmers. At her first meet Kristy swimming 100 backstroke, (not her best stroke) runs into the wall, hits her head, and doesn't finish the reace, she deciedd she doesn't want to be on the team. Kristy changes her mind many more times but ends up sticking with it. This is a good book but not as good as 3 and 4. Everyone should read it even if you have a higher reading level then 3rd or 4th grade!

Jerry finds that he can excell at more than one sport.

Jerry is a 12 year old boy who is injured on a baseball play at one of his games. He needs to go into theropy after he is told he sereously injured his leg. His thereopist suggests swiming. He reluctently decides to try it. After Jerry's leg heals he has to make a hard decision- keep swiming or play ball. To see what Jerry decides to do read the book!

5th Grader, Kevin Conklin says, "This is a great book!"

This is a story about a kid named Jerry Grayson. Jerry loves baseball. In the beginning he is playing baseball and gets hurt. He got a base hit and he thought he could make it to second base. When he did, the big second baseman fell on his leg and Jerry was hurt. Jerry went to the hospital, and the doctor said he would need therapy. The swimming coach said he could do exercises at the pool for his leg. The first day he went to the pool he met some classmates that he knew. After some days the coach asked Jerry if he wanted to practice with the team for his leg to get better. The coach told him he had a natural stroke. In the end he decides to try out for the team. He was inspired by his friend. At the first meet he swam for a kid that was sick. In another meet he asked to swim the 500 yard freestyle, and then later he swam the 50 yard freestyle race. The person that was supposed to do the relay race had sprained his ankle so the coach asked Jerry to swim for him. After that event the kids said he had the winning stroke. I liked this book because even though he wanted to play baseball, he never gave up in swimming and he tried as hard as he could. By Kevin

This is a good summer reading book.

Review by Becky Hammond, Age 10 144 East 3850 North Provo, UT 84604 The Winning Stroke is about Kristy who tried out for her school swim team. Her brother was already a champion swimmer and she wanted her parents to be as proud of her as they were of her brother. In her first meet she bumped her head and wanted to quit. The story is about her struggle to stay on the team. This is a good book, even if you are not a swimmer, because it is about learning team work and how not to quit. I liked it because the story was full of racing excitment. Some of the characters, like Mary Jean, could have been more carefully developed. Mary Jean tries to get Kristy off the team because she is jealous. The book would be readable for a third or fourth grader.