The Big Bike Race

This book is about a boy named Ernie who dreams of being a bike racer, but is poor. He gets a secondhand yellow clunker, not a racing bike, but he learns that your determination speeds you up more than your bike.

The Big Bike Race by Lucy Jane Bledsoe In The Big Bike Race the main characters are Sonny, Ernest, Melissa and Grandma. His Grandma has raised Ernest and his sister, Melissa since the death of their parents. Ernest wanted a sleek bike for his tenth birthday. Instead he gets a chunky yellow one with streamers and baskets hanging off. Since his family is poor he wasn't too sad when he got a bad bike. He thought if he won the junior division of the Citywide Cup he would win the new sleek bike. Then he met a professional racer named Sonny. Sonny, his coach, taught Ernest to be a good bike racer. Sonny said that it's better to have a great body and a bad bike instead of the other way around. The Citywide Cup took place in Washington D.C. Ernest was really good but his bike was too heavy so he finished in thirteenth place. This is amazing because he only got about a month to train. Ernest got lucky because he was friends with Sonny , who won the race and got the new bike. He gets Sonny's old bike which is better than his yellow clunker. I think Ernest will win his next race because he has a good body and a good bike now. I liked this book because it shows you don't have to do everything without help.Ernest didn't give up when he lost the bike race. His friendship with Sonny taught him how to be a good bike racer and helped him earn a new bike.This book is good because it presents a believable story. So bike on down to your closest library and get this book!Reviewed by Eli (8 years old)