Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232693 in Books
• Published on: 1994-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-- A Stephen King-style mystery for the younger set."Doesn't it make you wonder?" Brett is asked after he unearths a skateboard and claims it as his own. The plot builds suspensefully, yet readers never learn who buried the object, or why Brett can do difficult tricks he never dreamed of attempting before. Eventually he figures out the age-old adage "to thine own self be true," returning to his old skateboard and relying on his own abilities. Followers of Christopher's other novels and Thrasher , a skateboard magazine, will enjoy this. Although some savvy readers will be annoyed by the use of the term "rink" when referring to a skateboarding area, they will appreciate Christopher's descriptions of tricks. Illustrated with realistic black-and-white drawings. --Blair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Brett Thyson finds a skateboard buried in his new yard and suddenly can perform tricks with it that he's never even seen, much less tried. He learns that it belonged to Lance Hawker, a nationally known skateboarder who died in an accident. A friend warns Brett against riding it, but how can he stop before he's proved that he's a better skater than sneering neighbor Kyle Robinson? Christopher fluidly works his usual themes of sharp rivalry defused and personal problems handled, tied together here with an ambiguous fantasy element plus plenty of sports action and information. Four b&w illustrations capture the main characters' personalities. (Fiction. 9-11) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Card catalog description
When Brett's skateboarding abilities dramatically and inexplicably improve after using the Lizard, a skateboard mysteriously unearthed in his front yard, his friends start to wonder if the skateboard is haunted.

Customer Reviews

Viviana's Book Review on Skateboard Tough
Matt Christopher wrote the book Skateboard Tough in 1994. This book is about a boy named Brett that wanted a new skateboard because his old board was scratched up. His mom decided to have a garage installed and during construction Brett finds a buried chest in his front yard. Inside the chest it contained a blue and white striped skateboard with the word lizard painted on the base. Brett discovers that the skateboard gives him good luck, helps him to do tricks that he could not do before, but it causes everyone else to have bad luck. For example, his sister's best friend Sharon, when she tried to ride the lizard, she fell off the board, almost got ran over by a car, and received several injuries. Everyone tells Brett that the skateboard is cursed and he does not believe them. In my opinion, I think it was a bad decision for Brett to continue riding the skateboard because everyone was getting hurt physically each time when Brett used the board. Since Brett ignored the warnings of his friends; they decided to ignore him. Brett was left feeling lonely and depressed, which lead him to bury the skateboard back in the front yard. Afterwards, Brett started using his old skateboard again, told his friends that he buried the lizard and apologized to his friends for ignoring their warnings about the board being cursed. In the end Brett learns that he cannot always get what he wants. I would not recommend this book because the story line did not keep my attention. Maybe if the author, Matt Christopher, added in more action and adventure this book could have been more exciting. Otherwise, skateboarders would really enjoy this book because it included many descriptions of the tricks.

Skateboarding Tough
Skate Boarding Tough is about a kid named Brett. He loves to skate board, but when he digs up a skate board he suddenly is able to do awesome tricks. Everyone thinks the skateboard is haunted but Brett knows what is really going on.

I like this book because it's a funny book and a mystery combined. The first page grabs you and makes you want to read more.

I recommend this book to people who like sports and funny books. So find a library and check it out. You're guaranteed to love it.

Kelly, Age 9 1/2 (and dad)

skateboard tough

What it's about is a boy named Brett was skateboarding on his driveway. Then a couple of construction workers hit a box while they where digging in the front yard. They gave the box too Brett, so he grabbed a screwdriver, and a hammer using it like a hammer and chisel too open it up. Then when he opened the box he found a skateboard with bog letters saying "the lizard'', but every time he steps foot on the skateboard he gets much better at skateboarding, he can do tricks he never could do on his old skateboard "the cobra''. But on3e of his friends W.E looked up on a search site "the lizard skateboarding'' and it came up with a story about a skateboarder who was about too go pro but then one day when he was skateboarding he came around a corner and got hit by a car, and his parents buried the skateboard in the front yard because they didn't want any bad memories of him. Then his nabor built a skate park in her back yard because of what Brett wrote on a newsletter too the editor. He entered one competition and he came in 1st place and his worst enemy names john entered the competition also but he came in second. This is a really good book and I recommend for people too read this