FICTION

Alarcon, Francisco X. Angels Ride Bikes.

A bilingual picture book of poetry.

Anthony, Piers. Mercycle.

From The New York Times bestselling author of Virtual Mode. An alien from an alternate reality recruits five people on an exciting mission to save the Earth from a meteor strike. The alien's advanced technology allows the intrepid humans to breathe underwater as they embark on a wondrous journey through the ocean. (Amazon).

Brizzi, Enrico. Jack Frusiante has Left the Band. (PB BRI)

This self-proclaimed “love story—with rock and roll” takes place in Italy, where 18 year old Alex befriends Martino, a degenerate drinker, and the two embark on a coming-of-age journey through the troubles in their lives.

Cormier, Robert. I Am the Cheese. (F COR)

Adam Farmer’s life is turned upside-down when a family secret is revealed in this suspenseful thriller.

Crutcher, Chris. Ironman. (F CRU & PB CRU)

The protaganist is training for a triathalon and a bicycle--and the bicycle ride--play a significant part in the story and paticularly in his relationship with his horrible father.

Fleischman, Paul. Rear View Mirrors.

Olivia works on the west coast, absorbing Mom's interest in feminism. A telegram-like note with a ticket to visit long-lost Dad, shakes up Olivia, but she does take the trip, and has an interesting month unraveling the real inheritance suggested to her by her father. (Review from Nancy Keane, http://rms.concord.k12.nh.us/booktalks/fleischman_rear.htm)

Gauch, Patricia Lee. Morelli’s Game.

A private school English teacher splits the class up into teams, gives each team a map and $5 and sets 'em off on a 200-mile bike trek to Washington, D.C.

Griffin, Adele. Sons of Liberty.

Although his older brother has begun to rebel against their abusive father and has taken on the role of protecting their little sister and their fragile, agoraphobic mother, thirteen-year-old Rock Kindle struggles to come to terms with his divided loyalties to his parents. Rock is portrayed sympathetically and poignantly in this chilling novel about the dark side of loyalty and love within a family. (Horn Book).

McCammon, Robert. Boy’s Life.

An eleven-year-old is plunged into a world of mystery and evil after he and his father witness the disposal of a murder victim on the outskirts of their idylic Southern town.

Park, Barbara. Mick Harte Was Here.

In this touching first-person narrative, 13-year-old Phoebe Harte tells about her younger brother, Mick, who died in a bicycle accident. Since he was also her best friend, Phoebe must deal with a double dose of grief in this funny, witty, never-maudlin tale. (Review from Audiofile).

Sirota, Mike. Bicycling Through Space and Time. (PB SIR)

This is science fiction comedy. Jack Miller has just bought an unusual bike. Its' a Nishiki Pinnacle 21 speed mountain bike with a 22nd gear which gains him access to an ultimate bike path with diamond studded gateways. Behind each gateway is an adventure-- a voluptuous cat woman or an young Adolph Hitler. Ride with Jack and see if you can keep up with his love of adventure, his passion for speed and his quick wit. But we don't need to get into that now... (Review from Nancy Keane, http://rms.concord.k12.nh.us/booktalks/)

Smith, Roland. Thunder Cave.

A boy flies to Africa with his bicycle, and begins a bicycle journey across Kenya

in search of his father.

NON-FICTION

Armstrong, Lance. It’s Not About the Bike. (BIO ARMSTRONG)

Armstrong chronicles his triumph over testicular and brain cancer and his return to competitive cycling.

Armstrong, Lance. Every Second Counts. (BIO ARMSTRONG)

Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong chronicles his struggles after beating cancer, including dealing with allegations of drug use, finding a balance between his career and family life, and coping with the fear that his cancer will return.

Boettner, John. Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America? : Five Kids Meet Their Country

Cole, Terrence, editor. Wheels on Ice: Bicycling in Alaska 1898-1908.

Culley, Travis Hugh. The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power. (384 CUL)

Fast-paced, danger-filled, and thoroughly spellbinding...so rich, so unusual, and so aggressively written that readers will leave the book gasping for breath. This is a truly stunning book, completely original, a mixture of autobiography and philosophical treatise. Culley is a genuinely gifted writer, able to turn a seemingly ordinary bike ride into poetry in motion... We see the world through the eyes of a man hurtling through it at breakneck speed through the streets of Chicago in his job as a bike messenger. (Information adapted from back cover.)

Jenkins, Mark. Off the Map: Bicycling across Siberia.

A member of the seven-person team that bicycled from Vladivostok to Leningrad shares his recollections of the journey, describing the kindness, food, and faith of the Siberian peasants, the mud villages, and more.

Kurmaskie, Joe. Metal Cowboy: Tales from the Road Less Pedaled. (796.6 KUR)

While cycling through Idaho, Kurmaskie met up with a blind man who, after tapping his cane over Joe and his bike, dubbed him a "metal cowboy." If these 40 essays are any indication, that's a perfect description. Like the cowboys of Old West legend, Kurmaskie drifted around the country (and the world), meeting up with interesting and eccentric people, bunking wherever he found a dry patch of ground, eating whatever he could carry or scrounge. Like the travel books of Bill Bryson, Kurmaskie's collection of essays focuses on the unexpected and the little known. Travelogues are a dime a dozen, but the ones that find something fresh and unusual to talk about are fairly rare. Here readers will meet Elvis impersonators and other eccentrics; live through a goose attack mounted with military precision; and see the countryside the way they've never imagined it. A thoroughly delightful excursion. David Pitt, Booklist.

Peart, Neil. The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa.

Neil Peart cycles his way through West Africa and brings us along with him, dysentary and all. The Masked Rider details his physical and spiritual journey with photographs, journal entries, and tales of adventure. Peart's "masks" are the masks that we wear--civilization, psychology, labels, expectations--and his book reveals how traveling in a very foreign land allows us to peer beneath them. Neil Peart cycles his way through West Africa and brings us along with him, dysentary and all. The Masked Rider details his physical and spiritual journey with photographs, journal entries, and tales of adventure. Peart's "masks" are the masks that we wear--civilization, psychology, labels, expectations--and his book reveals how traveling in a very foreign land allows us to peer beneath them. (synopsis from Amazon)

Purdam, Stan. Roll Around Heaven All Day: A Piecemeal Journey Across America by Bicycle.

The experiences of a middle-aged, overweight man, mounted on an old bicycle, who is traveling across America along the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. This inspirational coast-to-coast odyssey is a truly satisfying ride, not only for cyclists, but for anyone who travels for the joy of the journey--or simply dreams of doing so.

Savage, Barbara. Miles From Nowhere.

Savage recounts her and her husband's bicycle tour around the world. The author lived in the Santa Barbara area and tragically died in a bicycle accident just before the book actually came out in 1983.

Smith, Roff. Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Journey into Australia.

It's not every day that a fellow decides to pack in a good job, pack up his saddlebags, and set off by bicycle to make a circumferential journey around Australia. In 1996, that's just what American-born Time magazine correspondent Roff Martin Smith did, though; as he explains, he'd been living in Australia for 14 years but didn't really know the country, and he "felt no emotional bond to it." About to turn 38, a few pounds over his ideal weight, and untested as a distance bicyclist, Smith faced up to considerable odds, but he survived to tell the tale. (Amazon)

Weir, Willie. Spokesongs: Bicycle Adventures on Three Continents.

Willie Weir loves the open road and bicycles in almost equal measure. Over the course of many years--and numerous different bikes--Weir has pedaled his way across several continents, 22 countries, and more than 35,000 miles. Then, in 1993, while bicycling through New Zealand, Weir had a series of serendipitous encounters that pointed him in the direction of his next journey: India. The bicycle trip through India in 1994 led to another in South Africa in 1995; in 1996, Weir took off for the Balkans with a heavy heart, having done the unthinkable for a professional wanderer: he fell in love. Spokesongs is a charming collection of short commentaries Weir wrote while on the road, delivered via National Public Radio back home in Seattle, Washington. The book is divided into three sections comprising his three separate odysseys; from getting lost on the road to Ratnagiri in southern India to getting robbed in Albania, Weir recounts his adventures with humor, insight, and eloquence. (review from Amazon.com).

VIDEO

American Flyers starring Kevin Costner.

Two brothers who have never gotten along both decide to go to Colorado and participate in what is known as the most difficult bike race in the country. But a shadow hangs over them: their father died of an aneurysm and it is likely that one of them will be prone to the same ailment. As they undergo the grueling journey, the two argue, make up and finally realize that they really do love each other. (Amazon)

Breaking Away.

Steve Tesich won the Oscar for his semi-biographical script of four 19-year-olds who don't know what to do after high school. Dave Stohler (Dennis Christopher) and his three friends--ex-football star Mike (Dennis Quaid), the wily comedic Cyril (Daniel Stern), and tough kid Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley)--are doomed to live in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana, where the local kids (nicknamed "Cutters"--a derogatory reference to quarry workers and their blue-collar families) are frowned upon by the uppity students of nearby Indiana University. Stohler escapes into a world of Italian bicycling, picking up the lingo, the accent, and a good share of the talent of his heroes. He is also the scourge of his father's (Paul Dooley) life. The used-car salesman doesn't understand his son's affection for bicycling or, for that matter, his pride in being a "Cutter." (Review from Amazon).

Quicksilver.

This movie about a high stakes stockbroker who risks—and loses it all—and then becomes a bike messenger received poor review, but if you’re desperate for some video footage of Kevin Bacon on a bike, this might satisfy,