Striking Distance |
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Summary:
Alejandro Hidalgo Perez arrives in Port Catherine on an exchange to study at Bayview High and play on its soccer team. He quickly finds out that his host family is not quite what he expected. The parents expect him to do lots of chores and the son not only does nothing, he is rarely at home and does not seem to attend school. Then brutality on the soccer pitch and a series of car vandalisms put Alejandro into a difficult position. Eventually the car vandals are caught, Alejandro wins respect from the other players for his skill and sense of fair play and he is moved from the dysfunctional Fletcher family to live with a fellow soccer player's family. |
Before You Read — Pre-Reading
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Chapter One—Losing It
Summary:
Alejandro Hidalgo Perez, an exchange student from Mexico, arrives at the Port Catherine Airport four hours late-tired and hungry. To make matters worse, his luggage has been lost. His host parents, the Fletchers, meet him at the airport. They drive home, feed him and show him his room for the night. |
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Chapter Two—Wake-up Call
Summary:
Alejandro is woken up by a window rattling. Someone is trying to get in. Alejandro grabs a snow globe and when the someone climbs through the open window he yells “STOP” and flips on the light. It is Jason, the Fletcher's son. He is sneaking in, in the middle of the night, reeking of smoke and gasoline. He tells Alejandro to keep it quiet. |
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Chapter Three—All in a Day's Work
Summary:
Alejandro wakes up to the smell of bacon frying. He pulls on his clothes and goes downstairs. Mrs. Fletcher is making breakfast and Mr. Fletcher is reading the paper. Jason is not at the table, Mrs. Fletcher says, because he worked an extra shift at the restaurant. The newspaper headlines reveal more car vandalism in the north end. Alejandro is starved, so eats the soggy pancakes and burned bacon. Mr. Fletcher asks for help doing the yard work and Mrs. Fletcher wants help washing the dishes. Alejandro wants to call his parents. He and Mrs. Fletcher do the dishes and then go downstairs to Jason's room to get some clean clothes. |
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Chapter Four—Nice to Meet You
Summary:
The basement smells musty. The family room has comfortable furniture and a big TV. Mrs. Fletcher knocks on a door. Jason answers but tells her to find clean clothes in the laundry room. She tells Jason to try and get some rest. Alejandro asks to use the telephone. He notices lights on under the door of Jason's room. |
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Chapter Five—New Kid
Summary:
Jason drops Alejandro off at school. He says he has some things to do first and wonders if Alejandro can get home on his own. Alejandro has the directions. The school looks much like his high school back in Mexico, but Alejandro feels strange not wearing a school uniform. He goes to the main office and asks for the guidance counselor. He gets a tour of the school, arrives late to his first class and meets Leo, another soccer player. Alejandro goes to English class where he finds reading and writing, especially Shakespeare, a little hard. At the end of the day Alejandro has lots of homework and a soccer practice. |
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Chapter Six—Food for Thought
Summary:
Alejandro goes to the cafeteria that is packed with students. He is not sure what to order but the Spanish teacher helps him out. He orders poutine and then finds Leo and Zack. They ask him about his life in Mexico and his soccer background. They talk about the cars vandalized on the school parking lot. Alejandro knows his parents would worry if they knew. |
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Chapter Seven—Know Your Enemy
Summary:
Alejandro goes to the gym for soccer practice but has no equipment. The girls in the gym check him out. Ms Jenkins directs him to the soccer coach. Coach MacKenzie is happy to see him, gets him some old, frayed clothes and small shoes and introduces him to the team as the new “striker.” Other players give him dirty looks. At the scrimmage, others won't pass to him and he is slammed to the ground by Drew. When he gets up he gets pushed again and is threatened. Leo grabs him and tells him to be careful of Drew and his friends. |
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Chapter Eight—Keeping Score
Summary:
Alejandro gets home cold, wet and hungry. He asks about his lost luggage but it has not been found yet. He goes downstairs to get some more clothes from Jason who is laying on the couch. Jason's room is locked but he gets the hidden key and opens his door. The room is a mess but Jason gets clothes and socks for Alejandro. He thanks Alejandro for not telling his parents about sneaking in. After dinner, Alejandro does the dishes. Mrs. Fletcher asks him to take out the garbage. Alejandro overhears a conversation between Jason and a friend. Over the music he hears, “we'll never get caught.” He sneaks back into the house without being seen. |
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Chapter Nine—Boy Meets Girl
Summary:
Alejandro wakes up early. His ribs are sore from Drew's hit. He is not going to back down because he knows he is a better player than most of the Bayview team. At breakfast he just has cereal. Mrs. Fletcher drops him off at school. A girl from the newspaper wants to interview him. She knows what happened at the practice. Alejandro is not so sure that an interview is a good idea. After school he meets Jason. They go to the mall where Alejandro purchases new clothes with his credit card. Jason is surprised that Alejandro's parents give him a credit card. They stop at a drugstore too, then head home. They see Amber in her car and she waves but turns away when she sees Jason. |
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Chapter Ten—The Big Game
Summary:
Alejandro is doing all of the chores inside and out. When there are chores to be done Jason is never around. By the end of the week he is tired but looking forward to the soccer game against Lincoln High. The Spanish teacher wishes him good luck for the game. He sees Amber in the hallway with Ahmed who covers sports for the school newspaper. Amber wishes him good luck. He and Leo get dressed, grab their gear and go out to warm up. Drew and the coach are arguing because Alejandro gets to play centre. As the big guys from Lincoln get off the bus Alejandro has a look and takes it as a good sign. Big doesn't mean fast in soccer. Alejandro scores two goals. The team wins 3-0. Ahmed wants to interview him after the game. Amber asks Alejandro if he wants to go for pizza. Ahmed interviews him. |
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Chapter Eleven—Breaking Point
Summary:
Ahmed's article was the talk of Bayview High and people congratulated Alejandro all day. When he gets to his locker there is a derogatory headline and picture referring to his Mexican heritage taped to his locker. He is furious and thinks it is Drew and his buddies. He goes for a long run to calm down. He then goes to the library to do his homework. He thinks about how much he hates living with the Fletchers. They treat him like a servant. After class he meets Louanne Morris, the advisor to international students. They talk about his classes, living with the Fletchers and soccer. She gives him her business card and drives him home. She tells him to call if he needs anything. |
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Chapter Twelve—Family Affair
Summary:
When Alejandro gets home, Mr. Fletcher is yelling at Jason. He sees Mrs. Fletcher hovering by the stairwell and she points to his room. Alejandro wonders what is going on. What is the crash? What is Mr. Fletcher yelling about? At dinner no one speaks. The next morning, things seem to be back to normal. When Alejandro goes to his room to get his things, he overhears Mr. Fletcher talking to his wife about Jason's bad attitude. She tries to defend him and refers to Alejandro as good Mexican help who also brings in extra money for room and board. Alejandro is stunned and thinks about telling Louanne. On the way to school he thinks that Jason has been decent to him by lending him clothes and driving him to school, so Alejandro decides to keep quiet for now. |
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Chapter Thirteen—Game Over
Summary:
Alejandro waits for the team bus to go to the soccer game. It is chilly and rainy. The bus is late and Drew is making racist comments. They warm up and Drew starts the game. He does not pass to open players, gets into a fight and gets suspended. Alejandro takes his place and scores a goal. He gets a free kick and misses, then gets crashed by a Westland player and twists his leg. He cannot move it and has to leave the game. It is the worst game he has played in his life. |
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Chapter Fourteen—The Real Story
Summary:
Alejandro's knee is stiff and sore so he can't do chores on the weekend. He spends his time icing his knee and watching TV. On Monday he feels a little better but his luggage is still missing and he has not heard from Louanne. At school he sees Amber and she wants to interview him about being an exchange student. She talks to him about the car break-ins in the back parking lot and is about to tell him whom she suspects when the bell rings. |
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Chapter Fifteen—Thief!
Summary:
Alejandro waits at his locker for Amber but she does not show up. He gets to soccer practice late and finds out that Drew has been suspended for the season. The coach gives a pep talk about good sportsmanship and racist remarks. The practice is relaxed and Alejandro helps other players with their skills. Leo and Zack drive Alejandro home and they see two police cars in the driveway. Mr. Fletcher asks Alejandro where he has been and questions him about two boxes of stolen car stereos. They were in Alejandro's bedroom closet. Alejandro knows nothing about it. The Fletchers say they have not seen the boxes before and they have not been in Alejandro's room since he came. Alejandro tries to tell them about Jason sneaking in at night but Jason calls him a liar. He now understands Amber's strange look when she saw him with Jason. Jason is a thief! |
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Chapter Sixteen—Busted
Summary:
Officer Tureski questions Jason but he denies being in the room. Alejandro tells about the duffel bag and the writing on the boxes. Mr. Fletcher wants Alejandro taken to the police station. Just then Alejandro remembers the boxes in Jason's closet and the hidden key to Jason's room. The officers check it out and comes upstairs with more boxes. They ask Jason for an explanation but he wants a lawyer. Mr. Fletcher tells Jason to tell the truth but Mrs. Fletcher says she has known about the stolen goods for a long time and was afraid her husband would kick Jason out if he found out. Jason promised his mom he would stop stealing. Just then Louanne arrives with Alejandro's lost luggage. She wonders what is going on. Alejandro explains and she tells him to get his stuff to leave. |
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Chapter Seventeen—A Fresh Start
Summary:
All of Alejandro's belongings are in his luggage. Someone goes to the Fletcher house for the rest of his things. Louanne calls Alejandro's parents to tell them what has happened. They want him to come home, but he has a new family to stay with. A van drives up to Louanne's house to pick him up. Mrs. Spinelli says she is happy to help out. Someone yells,“Hey, Striker” from the back of the van. It is Leo. Alejandro is going to move into Leo's place. |
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After Reading — Post-Reading Reflection
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