SuitabookFastback Beach
Shirlee Smith Matheson
- Reading
- If car terminology is unfamiliar, pause to clarify it rather than treating it as essential background. Afterwards, discuss where Miles has agency, how consequences shape his choices, and whether the resolution feels earned.
- Themes
- Responsibility after wrongdoing: Miles faces consequences after involvement in car theft and later works on an old-car restoration project during community service. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Friendship and betrayal: Miles’s friends Larry and Spider are described as involved in stolen cars, abandoning him after an accident and later taking the restored car. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Cars as interest and responsibility: Miles learns about hot rods and takes part in rebuilding an old car while completing community service. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Be prepared for criminal behaviour, a car accident, someone being knocked unconscious, police involvement, probation and community service.