The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle (A Girl Called Bicycle #1)

by Christina Uss (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Selected for the 2019-2020 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

A determined 12-year-old girl bikes across the country in this quirky and charming debut middle grade novel. Introverted Bicycle has lived most of her life at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. When her guardian, Sister Wanda, announces that Bicycle is going to attend a camp where she will learn to make friends, Bicycle says no way and sets off on her bike for San Francisco to meet her idol, a famous cyclist, certain he will be her first true friend. Who knew that a ghost would haunt her handlebars and that she would have to contend with bike-hating dogs, a bike-loving horse, bike-crushing pigs, and a mysterious lady dressed in black. Over the uphills and downhills of her journey, Bicycle discovers that friends are not such a bad thing to have after all, and that a dozen cookies really can solve most problems.

A Junior Library Guild selection!

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Kirkus

Starred Review
Pedal headfirst' into this terrific adventure.

ALA/Booklist

Readers who enjoy action and adventure with a dose of magic will happily go along for the ride.

None

A heartfelt celebration of the zen of cycling and a sympathetic portrait of an atypical kid who struggles to learn the art of friendship.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6--When she was just a young girl, Bicycle was found by Sister Wanda, a retired "Nearly Silent Nun," at the doors of the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. Oddly, the only word the nuns and monks may use to communicate is sandwich. Now 12, Bicycle is a magnificent rider, hence her name. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to connect with other children and has no interest in making friends. Sister Wanda signs her up for a sleepaway camp called the Friendship Factory. Bicycle, however, has other plans. Deceiving Sister Wanda, she sets out on a cross-country ride to San Francisco, imagining she will meet and befriend bicycle-riding sensation, Zbig. Drawing on the author's own bicycle trip in 1996, Uss's debut novel uses a simple narrative that mixes realistic fiction with supernatural and farfetched fantastical elements. The well-organized chapters use a comfortable-sized font and a fluent storyline that moves the plot ahead. VERDICT Middle grade fans of realistic coming-of-age tales, especially those interested in cycling, will appreciate this unusual work of sports fiction.--Kathia Ibacache, Simi Valley Public Library, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

When a three-year-old girl in a faded pink t-shirt with the word bicycle on it shows up at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C., Sister Wanda takes her in. The girl's fondness for the word leads Sister Wanda to give her the unusual moniker for a name, and Bicycle eventually acquires a bike of her own, a hefty orange number named Clunk. When Bicycle is 12, Sister Wanda worries about her lack of friends and arranges to send her to sleepaway camp at the Friendship Factory ("Three Guaranteed Friendships or Your Money Back"). Bicycle refuses and takes to the road with Clunk instead, mapping a route to San Francisco to meet her hero, Polish cycling racer Zbig, at the Blessing of the Bicycles. Along the way, she picks up a talkative ghost, procures a bike that can launch missiles and write, and flees from a woman in black. She also cultivates friend after friend, one mile at a time, as the story elegantly blends elements of mystery, adventure, and fantasy. Debut author Uss, a long-distance cyclist herself, effectively portrays the call--and toll--of self-reliance and the open road, and fashions a resolute heroine to root for. Ages 8-12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (June)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ An extraordinary pilgrimage featuring several fantastical characters and an unforgettable adventure to boot.—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review


Christina Uss
Christina Uss's first novel, The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle, was selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, Maine Student Book Award list, Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher list and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. It received starred reviews from Shelf Awareness, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews and Publisher's Weekly. Her second novel, The Colossus of Roads, received three starred reviews. Christina lives in East Longmeadow MA.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780823445738
Lexile Measure
860
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Margaret Ferguson Books
Publication date
April 07, 2020
Series
A Girl Called Bicycle
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV013050 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Orphans & Foster Homes
JUV039130 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Runaways
JUV032180 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Cycling
JUV068000 - Juvenile Fiction | Travel
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Voyages and travels
Foundlings
Monasteries
Bicycles and bicycling
Bicycles
Nuns
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
2019-2020 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List

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