Double Dutch

Eighth grader Delia is adept at hiding her big secret: she can't read. Nevertheless, she does well enough in school to keep her grades up so she can compete in the big Double Dutch competition with her best friend (and incurable fabulist) Yolanda. Delia's good friend Randy, assistant to Double Dutch coach Bomani, also has a secret: his dad, a truck driver, hasn't been home in nearly two months, and money is running out. Furthermore, both Delia and Randy are worried about the ominous Tolliver twins, new students who intimidate everyone - but haven't actually done anything.

A realistic story about young teens dealing with big problems, and about rumor and truth.

See also: Ghost (Track series) by Jason Reynolds, Fish in a Tree by Lynda show more Mullaly Hunt show less

This is a Cincinnati-set book, part of my goal to read all the novels set in my hometown. Double Dutch is by Sharon M. Draper, a Cincinnati-area high school teacher; the book's main characters are eighth graders on a local Double Dutch team. Their dream is to qualify for the state competition and then compete in nationals in a year where the national competition is being held in Cincinnati. There's not a lot of local color to be honest: quick mentions of things like the Cincinnati Post are basically it.

Other than that, it's an okay book. Some of the characters are fun, the central dilemmas (a girl who's managed to make it to the eighth grade without being able to read, and a boy whose dad has abandoned him) are interesting, but some of show more the dialogue is very awkward and a couple of the happenings are incredibly contrived, even melodramatic. The resolution to the bullying subplot grates the most. It is aimed at middle-schoolers, though, so I'm not exactly its target audience. show less

My Review: A compelling story with emotional depth—Draper handles heavy topics like illiteracy and peer pressure with sensitivity and strength.

This is a great story that combines the stories of 3 kids. One girl struggles with reading, one boy hides that his dad has been missing, and then twins are causing problems with all the other students. All 3 hold secrets which keep the book suspenseful.
This is great for all students because everyone has deep secrets in them that we don't share.

In Double Dutch, Delia and Randy has secrets Delia and her friend Yolanda compete on their Double Dutch team. Yolanda can not seem to ever tell the truth and Delia seems to always try to turn the attention away from her when the teacher is talking about reading. All the students in the school are walking away from the very scary twins, Titan and Tabu. These two twins went on T.V. and scared everyone. Randy has been living by himself and is running out of food and money. He is starting to worry about his father. Delia thinks everything is okay till her coach tells her that the new requirements for eligibility for Double Dutch is to pass the State Test. This is a problem for her. Randy finds something disturbing out about his father. The show more whole school deals with something really traumatic.

This is a great book to use in middle school. The teacher could focus on Delia's urgency to hide the fact she cannot read. Teachers should encourage the students to tell teachers any problem they are having. Another issue that teachers could focus on is bullying. The twins were a big deal in this book and everybody at their school altered everything they did to those twins. Teachers should make sure they are not also giving into to bullying.

I absolutely loved this book. It was very enjoyable and caught my attention from the beginning. I think that teachers should put this book in their classroom library. show less

Narrated by Patricia Floyd. Booktalk: p 35: Down in the valley where the green grass grows...Delia loves Double Dutch jump-roping. For her, it's more than just exercise. It's the magic of feeling the rhythm of the ropes, the jumping and stepping; hearing the pop and the whip of the ropes on the floor during a competition. Double Dutch also keeps her mind off of things. Like school and homework and the scary Tolliver twins who everyone swears are going to blow up the school one day. But most of all, it keeps her mind off the fact that, although she's already in 8th grade, Delia still doesn't know how to read. And with the 8th grade state proficiency tests coming up, it looks like the one thing she cannot do might keep her from doing what show more she loves most. show less

Delia loves double dutch, but is afraid that she be forced to quit the team after a standardized test will reveal her secret of not being able to read. She must learn to open up and rely on those who care about her if she can continue the sport she loves.
Draper's characters are well developed and should appeal to YA readers. Conversations that aren't essential to the plot, such as Yolanda's constant lies, help give the story a realistic feel.