Hucking Cody

Description

Life has been pretty average for Cody Harrington lately. First, there's his job at the bike shop where he's being blamed for not locking the door and causing a burglary. Then there's his wild brother Zane who's promised his parents he's back on the rails, but is he? As for girls, they only exist in his fantasies, and if only he could get through the week without being egged by a carload of rugby heads. The only time that Cody feels truly free is when he's flying down bush-lined tracks and hitting stunts on his bike. But then he falls in love - with a bike and a girl. Does he have it in him to win either of them or are they out of reach? Can a huckster ever really change? The exhilarating, risky world of mountain biking is the backdrop to this engrossing novel about the awkward lows and palm-sweating highs of adolescence, the constraining binds of complicated family relationships, and how if you want to really become who you are, sometimes you have to let go of everything.

Aaron Topp writes young adult fiction. He was born in Waipukurau and has worked as a primary school teacher. He currently lives in Hawke's Bay. His first book, Single Fin (Random House, 2006), is a coming of age tale about a boy obsessed with surfing, based on a true story. The work won the Young Adult Fiction Honour Award at the 2007 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and was also listed as a 2007 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book. Creating Waves: How Surfing Inspires our most Creative New Zealanders (HarperCollins, 2009) is an exploration of the relationship of the role surfing and the sea plays in the creative lives of a selection of leading musicians, painters, sculptors, poets and fellow writers. A reviewer for Boat Books said 'Full of fascinating insights into New Zealand's surfing world, Creating Waves will make you want to pick up the surfboard and head for the beach.'