Reviews for There's a Girl in My Hammerlock

The average rating for There's a Girl in My Hammerlock based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-02-15 00:00:00 Anthony Parker Just finished this excellent young adult story. Spinelli has done it again -- spun a story I could hardly put down and that pulled all the loose ends together without tying them too tight. Maisie is an athletic type junior high girl. She was Athlete of the Year, playing on the basketball team, but she didn't really like basketball, so now she's going out for wrestling. Spinelli wrote this in 1991, when girls were just beginning to break into sports that had been the bastions of boys only for so long. My students don't seem to think it's any big deal, for a girl to wrestle, but I can remember when it was unheard of, and can imagine parents saying many of the things the newspaper reports in this story. Parents claiming it's unladylike, and accusing the school of promoting pornography and teaching immorality. Maisie is a typical teenager, with a crush on a boy, a best friend who betrays her, and a very supportive mother. Her journey into self-discovery, and forging her own path, are enlightening and inspiring. Spinelli tells Maisie's story with fidelity, pathos and humor. I'm eventually going to have to collect all of his work. He's always an enjoyable read.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-03-27 00:00:00 Chad Graham This was a really good book, it was certainly a page turner. The story is about a girl named Maisie Potter who joins her school's wrestling team. For a girl to be on the wrestling team is a big deal. Everybody is talking about Maisie and there are a hundred rumors going around about her. But Maisie is a very tough and strong person, so even though EVERYBODY is gossiping about her she still goes to wrestling practice. Even when people boo for her at the wrestling meets she still doesn't quit. By joining the wrestling team Maisie had to go through alot., Her best friend wouldn't hang out with her because of all the rumors. People thought she was crazy, her older brother teased her and more. This story tells people to do what they want to do even if it's out of the norm and people think you're crazy. Maisie was also very determined at one point she wanted to quit wrestling because of how hard the practices were, but she still kept going to practice even when the rumors were flying and when the practices were hard.