Spin Out
Spin Out
The engine snarls as Ben pushes his foot down on the pedal. The stands on the west side of the track are just a blur – a whoosh of colours going by.
He’s focused on the silver-and-green number 17 car in front of him. He looks to the display and sees his speedometer rising to 240, 250, 260 kilometres an hour. He is within a car-length of his opponent. But that white car is also shooting forward at breakneck speed. It’s a rocket going straight along the track, one single red light in the back.
They are coming up to the sharp turn. Ben moves his car to the right side of the track, so far that his two side tires vibrate against the red-and-white curb. The steering wheel quakes and shakes, and Ben grasps it just a little more tightly.
The car in front begins to slow, preparing to make that right turn.
Ben holds off on hitting the brakes. His foot itches, but he doesn’t press down on the left pedal. One steamboat. Two steamboats. His car passes number 17. But is he going too fast to make the corner? He hits his brakes, hard. It feels like the brake pedal is going to go through the floor. The tires screech. The steering wheel shakes even more wildly.
As soon as he thinks he has slowed just enough, Ben jerks the wheel to the right. Does he have enough control? Will he skid off the track? Or can the car’s tires grip the curve?
Ben’s family no longer lives the “good life”: his dad has left the family, and he and his mother have moved from their luxurious lifestyle to a townhouse, and the fast cars his father owned are now replaced by his mother’s Toyota. Ben moves to a school where he is bullied for his former status of “rich kid”. Ben finds solace in his online car racing persona. When it is discovered one of the online racers is female, Ben comes to her defense, an action that leads to his alienation from his online group. When his access to online racing is taken away from him, Ben decided to take his mom’s car for a joyride.
Ben’s first joyride goes undetected. On his second ride, he wrecks his mother’s car and is charged with “Joyriding” (an offence resembling theft), driving with a learner’s permit after midnight and driving with a learner’s permit without a licensed driver in the passenger seat. As a result of his actions, Ben’s mother takes away his gaming privileges.
As the plot unravels, Ben’s mother learns of many more breeches of his conduct, including unauthorized credit card use and withdrawing his savings to send the money to his dad.
Spin Out ends with the judge’s ruling and an email Ben sends to his Dad. There are many unanswered questions at the end of this book, but this ending would make a good writing prompt.
Themes of gaming, addiction, sexism, bullying and family separation are woven throughout the fast-paced plot. The driving sequences are thrilling, and the chat between the gamers set up the storyline which will engage video game fans. The characters serve the plot, with the exception of Ben, who is most fully developed as readers see him work through his self-centred attitude to initial acceptance of his new situation, and readers will cheer him on as he stands up for the female gamer in his group.
This face-paced plot will keep readers turning the pages. Spin Out would make a great “what happens next” prompt. For collections looking for stimulating high interest low vocabulary books, gaming or car racing books, Spin Out would be a great addition.
Ruth McMahon is a professional librarian working in a high school library in Lethbridge, Alberta.