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  • Jojo's Flying Side Kick

Jojo's Flying Side Kick

Author
Illustrator
Brian Pinkney
Publication Date
November 01, 1998
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  2nd − 3rd
Language
English
Jojo's Flying Side Kick
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Description

A young girl must face her fears and conquer her nerves to earn her yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do.

When Master Kim announces JoJo is ready to take the test for her yellow belt, butterflies start fluttering in her stomach. JoJo loves Tae Kwon Do, but can she really do a perfect flying side kick and break a board in two? Her family and friends offer all sorts of advice: “Do a little shuffle to chase the jitters away,” says Grandaddy. “Yell ‘KIAH!’ at the top of your lungs,” P.J. advises. “Why don’t you visualize your technique?” Mom suggests.

But how can JoJo ever hope to succeed when she’s still afraid of the creepy bandit tree outside her bedroom window? JoJo needs to find a way to turn her fears into success, and she soon realizes there’s only one person who can help her do that—herself.

Publication date
November 01, 1998
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780689821929
Lexile Measure
590
Publisher
Aladdin Paperbacks
BISAC categories
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV032070 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Martial Arts
Library of Congress categories
African Americans
Courage
Tae kwon do
Martial arts

Publishers Weekly

JoJo, a Tae Kwon Do white belt student, must break a board with a flying side kick in order to earn her yellow belt. She adds her worry about the test to her ever-present fear of the tree that looms ``like a creepy bandit'' in her front yard, but confides her nervousness to Granddaddy, her friend P.J. and her mother. All three offer advice drawn from their own experiences (``Visualize your technique.... That's what I do before a tennis match,'' says Mom). JoJo utilizes their suggestions as well as her own resources: visualizing the board as the creepy tree, she leaps into the air and smashes it. Energetic scratchboard and oil illustrations swirl with movement in a vivid palette of deep blues, greens and white. Pinkney renders the tree as reasonably ominous; accordingly, the late addition of a spooky face and hands to illustrate JoJo's terror is somewhat over the top. As in Pinkney's Max Found Two Sticks, the action plays out within a compressed time span, concentrating the tension. While the prose is not as taut this time, the author/artist again gets effortlessly into the mind of his protagonist. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)
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