Kickflip Boys
A Memoir of Freedom, Rebellion, and the Chaos of Fatherhood
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
“Thompson captures the ache, fizz, yearning and frustration of being the father of adolescent boys.” —Michael Chabon
“What a riveting, touching, and painful read!” —Maria Semple
“Fun, moving, raw, and relatable.” —Tony Hawk
What makes a good father, and what makes one a failure? Does less-is-more parenting inspire independence and strength, or does it encourage defiance and trouble? Kickflip Boys is the story of a father’s struggle to understand his willful skateboarder sons, challengers of authority and convention, to accept his role as a vulnerable “skate dad,” and to confront his fears that the boys are destined for an unconventional and potentially fraught future.
With searing honesty, Neal Thompson traces his sons’ progression through all the stages of skateboarding: splurging on skate shoes and boards, having run-ins with security guards, skipping classes and defying teachers, painting graffiti, drinking and smoking, and more. As the story veers from funny to treacherous and back, from skateparks to the streets, Thompson must confront his complicity and fallibility. He also reflects on his upbringing in rural New Jersey, and his own adventures with skateboards, drugs, danger, and defiance.
A story of thrill-seeking teens, of hope and love, freedom and failure, Kickflip Boys reveals a sport and a community that have become a refuge for adolescent boys who don’t fit in. Ultimately, it’s the survival story of a loving modern American family, of acceptance, forgiveness, and letting go.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this heartfelt and blunt memoir, Thompson (A Curious Man: The Strange & Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not" Ripley) recalls the highs and lows of raising two boys who grow up obsessed with skateboarding. Thompson indulges his sons' passion, chronicling their tricks on YouTube and at one point driving them on a cross-country skating adventure. As sons Sean and Leo snarl into their teen years, their rebellious attitudes fester into various forms of disobedience, including marijuana use, vandalism, and a furious disregard for school. Calls from authority figures become routine. As Thompson and his wife, Mary, endure their sons' growing pains, Thompson recalls his own adolescence, which featured its fair share of skateboarding and rebellion. The family bonded over the sport, but as Sean and Leo get older and more disobedient, they drift from their parents. "I wanted them to fly, though not too much," Thompson writes. "I also wanted them to comply. Why couldn't they do both?" He skillfully describes the many trials of parenthood, as when, about facing a stoned son at the dinner table, Thompson wittily remarks, "If we wanted a conflict-free meal, Marty and I would have to pretend Spicoli wasn't at the table, snickering at us all." This memoir will provide humor and comfort for parents figuring out their kids and themselves. Photos.
