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Hosoi
Christian Hosoi is one of the top skateboarders in history. He turned pro at 14.
He was at the top of the world until he started using. A methamphetamine addiction landed him in prison, where he found freedom in reading the Bible. Hear it from the man himself.
Hosoi’s 300-page memoir includes more than 100 color and black-and-white images. HarperCollins offers a generous preview here.
HOSOI, Christian with Chris Ahrens. Hosoi: My Life as a Skateboarder Junkie Inmate Pastor. 304p. photos. HarperOne. 2012. Tr $26.99. ISBN 978-0-06-202430-5. LC 2012002475.
Adult/High School–Hosoi is a top name in skateboarding who won the number one spot in most events between 1979 and 1989–while he was high. Smoking marijuana daily from the time he was eight years old, ultimately Hosoi became a meth addict. A person of extremes, he was on an intense and non-stop methed-out ride of risk taking, drugs, girls, money, travel and partying. All but the last 50 pages of the book focuses on the skateboarder junkie part of the subtitle. When Hosoi landed in prison at age 32 with international drug trafficking charges, he transformed into the opposite end of the extreme: a Christian and a pastor. Upon his release from prison, Hosoi once again won top spots in grandmasters events and in 2011 was named one of the most influential skateboarders of all time. The final pages offer no explanation of his experience of withdrawal from drugs (he claims he didn’t experience it), and little reflection on the transition to Christ that occurred. On the other hand, the book is a visual delight with fantastic photos and graphics throughout. Rival and friend of the better-known Tony Hawk, Hosoi is always respectful and in awe of Hawk’s talents and skills; Hawk wrote the forward to the book and was a supporter during Hosoi’s prison term. Teen fans of skateboarding and those interested in celebrity drug memoirs will be drawn in.–Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Juvenile Hall, CA
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Filed under: Nonfiction
About Angela Carstensen
Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.
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