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The Boy Next DoorKindle Edition
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Maddy Spier's been in love with the boy next doorforever.As his figure skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she's also seen his arms around other girls—lots of other girls. How can she make him realize that they can be partners off the ice as well?
Gabe's relationship with Maddy is vital. He can't imagine skating with anyone else, and together they have a real chance at gold–maybe even making it to the Olympics! So he's decided to think of her as a sister. After all, family is forever, but he's never dated anyone for more than two weeks.
Then their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, and everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy's been hoping for or the big break-up that Gabe has always feared?
- Reading age12 - 18 years
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 12
- Lexile measureHL640L
- PublisherSwoon Reads
- Publication dateJanuary 6, 2015
- ISBN-13978-1250061461
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Fans of ice-skating and romance will fall in love with this debut novel. Maddy and Gabe, both seniors at Riverview Prep in Kansas, grew up next door to one another and have been figure skating as a pair since they were in preschool; Gabe even gave up a place on a championship hockey team to skate with Maddy. The two are close friends and practice for hours every day. Their relationship was just fine until trainer Igor asked them to do Romeo and Juliet as a long program. Gabe considers Maddy to be like a sister and at first, he's not interested in even pretending to be in love with her. Maddy, nursing a secret crush, would like nothing more than a romance to develop with Gabe. As they prepare for the competition, the two friends toy with the idea of dating. As Gabe's past relationships have only lasted two weeks or less, he worries about what will happen if this one doesn't work. Could he lose skating and his friend? Underlying the frothy plot are some serious themes and issues, including sex, pregnancy, cancer, money problems, family stress, lies, and complicated relationships. The straighforward writing and compelling "will they, won't they" plot will keep YA readers eagerly turning the pages. VERDICT For unapologetic romance lovers, this is a first purchase.—Jesten Ray, Seattle Public Library, WA
Review
“Fans of ice-skating and romance will fall in love with this debut novel.”―School Library Journal
“Van Ark's story of two skating partners ishot enough to melt the ice.”―Romantic Times
“Guaranteed to warm even the coldest heart.”―Justine
"This story pulled me in from the beginning and kept me hooked until the end.Each voice is authenticand even the parents are fleshed out and realistic–something that doesn't always happen in YA fiction.Plenty of misunderstandings and make-ups,both part of teen relationships.I was left rooting for Maddy and Gabe both on and off the ice."―AliasLibrarian, reader on SwoonReads
About the Author
Katie Van Arkis a member of SCBWI and RWA and a student at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She enjoys reading, writing, and of course figure skating. She lives in Michigan with two daughters, two cats, and one very patient husband, who was also her high school sweetheart.The Boy Next Dooris her debut novel.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"You got this, Mad," I whisper to her. "Do it again."She nods, and her face reminds me of her dad, the way he looks on his campaign billboards. Eyes focused, chin set. A look that says you can trust him to get whatever job needs doing done. Mad takes her crossovers. She pushes. She jumps. One-two-three and there's the extra half rotation and on the landing, her knee's bent so low she's almost doing a backward shoot-the-duck but by some miracle of anything and everything holy–She. Stands. Up.I have officially lost the triple Axel contest. I will never live this down, but I'm so psyched for Mad that I don't give even a bucket of Zamboni sludge. Mad's screaming and I'm screaming and Kate and Chris have forgotten whatever the hell they were fighting about this time. Mad throws her arms around me and I hug her back. Over her shoulder I see Igor watching,smiling,as our club mates pile on us in a massive group hug. Mad's landed her triple Axel. I am not worthy to tie her skates, but for some reason she's still my partner.No, not some random, unknown reason. In the middle of the celebratory huddle with Mad, her body pressed full frontal against mine with her arms around me and her face buried in my neck, I know the reason she's still my partner. And I also know that whatever I do, I can't lose Mad.
Product details
- ASIN : B00JI09G7Q
- Publisher : Swoon Reads; Illustrated edition (January 6, 2015)
- Publication date : January 6, 2015
- Language : English
- File size : 1344 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Not Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 370 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 1250061466
- Best Sellers Rank:#1,708,333 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Katie Van Ark writes and figure skates from Michigan, where she lives with two darling daughters, two naughty cats, and one very patient husband. She is a member of SCBWI and RWA and a student at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Customer reviews
4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
94 global ratings
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2015
This is my favorite of the books that Swoonreads has published so far. The writing is excellent, smart, fast, and clever (full of literary allusions that make it even more interesting on a deeper level for those of us who catch them, but won't slow down anyone who doesn't catch them). The characters are wonderful, too. Maddy is brilliant, courageous, and resourceful, but still a believable teenager, and Gabe is nowhere near perfect, but still perfect for her. And the passages when the author describes the figure skating are just beautiful in and of themselves.
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2015
I really enjoyed reading this book, the setting was interesting, I had never read a book who had the central characters be figure ice skaters. It was a whole new world for me and I loved it, I found myself youtubing all the moves that she talked about.
The love story between the two friends was very realistic and while I would have liked less moments of calmness I really enjoyed it.
If you're looking for a light, fun read set in a dreamlike scenario this book is for you.
The love story between the two friends was very realistic and while I would have liked less moments of calmness I really enjoyed it.
If you're looking for a light, fun read set in a dreamlike scenario this book is for you.
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2018
Much much much better than i first expected. Really love it that i don't wanna put it down. When i read the last page, I screamed a long "NOOOO" in my head. I want moreeeeeeee. Please write Book 2 on Mad and Gabe's future story, even a short novella would be fine (pretty please)!!
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2015
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, but not for the reasons I thought I would. The Boy Next Door by Katie Van Ark is a love story between two teens—a pair of figure skaters—that have been best friends and neighbors for their entire lives, but just because they’ve spent their lives close to one another, doesn’t mean they always understand each other.
The book was riddled with misunderstandings, assumptions, and poor choices. If you’re looking for a sweet, romantic, or steamy YA read… keep looking. It’s not that this book doesn’t possess some of those themes—there is a sweet romance. Sometimes there’s romantic moments, and yes, even steamy bits, but that isn’t what this book is about. It’s a very real, honest look at a relationship between two teens that aren’t yet grown up enough to always make the right choices. There is betrayal, lies, misinformation. There’s alcohol, unexpected events, and pushy ex’s. The relationship between Maddy and Gabe is a struggle every step of the way—but that’s part of what I really liked about it. This wasn’t some simple YA read where it’s love at first sight and everything goes perfectly. There were some very real obstacles in this story for the characters to work through.
Technically speaking, the book was well written. The narrative was clean and easy to follow. There weren’t any typo’s or misprints that I spotted, and the character’s actions and dialog made sense. I sunk into the story right away and didn’t come up for air until the last page.
That being said, it wasn’t my favorite YA book. It’s not that there was anything particularly wrong with it, but I generally like my romances a little more “romancey” than what I found here. This book was about the romance between the two main characters, but not in the way I expected. It wasn’t so much about the attraction and longing between the characters as it was about their struggle to figure out their relationship, and how to keep it steady despite the many things that continued to go wrong for them throughout the book. It was a tad more literary than I’m used to in that respect.
Does that make me like the book any less? No—but it’s a different kind of like. This wasn’t the type of book that I’d devour and move on to the next one in the series… but it is a book that makes me appreciate the depth of it’s writing. Overall: I really enjoyed the book. I wish it had been a tad more engaging for me personally, but I’m still very glad I read it. I think The Boy Next Door is perfect for older teens (15+) but I wouldn’t hand it to the younger YA crowd. There is alcohol use, and there is sex involved. It’s not graphic, but it’s not glossed over either. I wouldn’t hand this book to my 11-year-old—but I do think it’s a good book for teens. I think it will give them a lot of things to think about, and I think it really examines the very real ups and downs of teenage relationships without glamorizing it.
The book was riddled with misunderstandings, assumptions, and poor choices. If you’re looking for a sweet, romantic, or steamy YA read… keep looking. It’s not that this book doesn’t possess some of those themes—there is a sweet romance. Sometimes there’s romantic moments, and yes, even steamy bits, but that isn’t what this book is about. It’s a very real, honest look at a relationship between two teens that aren’t yet grown up enough to always make the right choices. There is betrayal, lies, misinformation. There’s alcohol, unexpected events, and pushy ex’s. The relationship between Maddy and Gabe is a struggle every step of the way—but that’s part of what I really liked about it. This wasn’t some simple YA read where it’s love at first sight and everything goes perfectly. There were some very real obstacles in this story for the characters to work through.
Technically speaking, the book was well written. The narrative was clean and easy to follow. There weren’t any typo’s or misprints that I spotted, and the character’s actions and dialog made sense. I sunk into the story right away and didn’t come up for air until the last page.
That being said, it wasn’t my favorite YA book. It’s not that there was anything particularly wrong with it, but I generally like my romances a little more “romancey” than what I found here. This book was about the romance between the two main characters, but not in the way I expected. It wasn’t so much about the attraction and longing between the characters as it was about their struggle to figure out their relationship, and how to keep it steady despite the many things that continued to go wrong for them throughout the book. It was a tad more literary than I’m used to in that respect.
Does that make me like the book any less? No—but it’s a different kind of like. This wasn’t the type of book that I’d devour and move on to the next one in the series… but it is a book that makes me appreciate the depth of it’s writing. Overall: I really enjoyed the book. I wish it had been a tad more engaging for me personally, but I’m still very glad I read it. I think The Boy Next Door is perfect for older teens (15+) but I wouldn’t hand it to the younger YA crowd. There is alcohol use, and there is sex involved. It’s not graphic, but it’s not glossed over either. I wouldn’t hand this book to my 11-year-old—but I do think it’s a good book for teens. I think it will give them a lot of things to think about, and I think it really examines the very real ups and downs of teenage relationships without glamorizing it.
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2016
It was a little bit repetitive. Also, the story is kind of predictable and the end is to fast.:/
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2018
AlthoughI didn't know much about ice-skating, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My understanding of the commitment has been increased somewhat. I recommend this book to ice-skating enthusiasts..An easy read.
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2015
Boy next door stories are a dime a dozen, but you can't go wrong with Katie Van Ark's debut. Rush into the world of ice skating and fall in love. Remember first loves. Recall your best friend. This is a book that will not disappoint.
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2016
The author obviously has in-depth knowledge of figure skating, which is the book's strongest point. However, the character's are one-dimensional and downright unlikable.
Top reviews from other countries
Tilvy11
3.0 out of 5 stars
Luuuuuuuungo
Reviewed in Italy on June 16, 2015
Un libro che non finisce mai....
E' la storia di due amici di vecchia data che sono anche campioni di pattinaggio. Come già scritto, la storia è molto lunga, molto lenta, e sinceramente l'ho trovata anche un po' noiosa. Sono due adolescenti che devono bilanciare il pattinaggio con la scuola e tutto il resto. Sono due privilegiati (lei è figlia di un Senatore, lui di medici). Gli ingredienti per una bella trama ci sono tutti ma...
Non so, specialmente il protagonista mi sembra così preso da sé che non prende mai una decisione, e quando la prende... mah.. non mi convince. E' uno di quei libri in cui ti rimane la sensazione che, se durasse altre 50 pagine, la protagonista lo pianterebbe in asso e sceglierebbe di meglio. Io me lo auguro, per lei....
E' la storia di due amici di vecchia data che sono anche campioni di pattinaggio. Come già scritto, la storia è molto lunga, molto lenta, e sinceramente l'ho trovata anche un po' noiosa. Sono due adolescenti che devono bilanciare il pattinaggio con la scuola e tutto il resto. Sono due privilegiati (lei è figlia di un Senatore, lui di medici). Gli ingredienti per una bella trama ci sono tutti ma...
Non so, specialmente il protagonista mi sembra così preso da sé che non prende mai una decisione, e quando la prende... mah.. non mi convince. E' uno di quei libri in cui ti rimane la sensazione che, se durasse altre 50 pagine, la protagonista lo pianterebbe in asso e sceglierebbe di meglio. Io me lo auguro, per lei....
Laura Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars
Reviewed in Australia on January 5, 2015
I absolutely love this story, couldn't put it down!
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