Being Sloane Jacobs

Gr 9 Up—Sloane Emily Jacobs is an Olympics-bound figure skater, but a fall shakes her self-confidence and the faith her wealthy, political parents have in her. The teen heads to an elite training camp to try to redeem herself and get away from her father-whom she recently discovered is having an affair. Sloane Devon Jacobs is a hockey player whose athletic career is put in jeopardy when her anger issues start to affect her performance on the ice. The girl's mother has recently been admitted to a rehab facility and her father isn't thriving at the single-dad thing. Her hockey coach orders her to attend a hockey camp to work through her temper problems. On their way to their different destinations, the two Sloane Jacobs meet because of a luggage mix-up at a Montreal hotel. Frustrated and disgruntled with their respective sports, they decide to switch places and try out each other's life. As with most "switching places" stories, the protagonists learn a lot about themselves as they live in someone else's skates. Woven through the story are threads about family, friendship, identity, and romance. Their ruse is discovered and the Sloanes are forced to switch back. While not the most original plot-and certainly one filled with unlikely coincidences-this coming-of-age novel is fairly well written and sports good character development, especially in the talented doppelgängers.—Liz Zylstra, County of Prince Edward Public Library, Picton, Ontario