Independent Truck Company produced a pretty sweet little coffee table book that even we teenagers might just read, although I would bet that you wouldn't be placing it on your coffee table. Actually I bet you don't even have a coffee table. Anyway, Built to Grind is an awesome display of photos, interviews/background stories, and history of not just the Independent Truck Company, but of skateboarding in general.

I think the best thing about this book is that it is great for everyone. If you recognize names like Steve Olson, Steve Alba, and Rick Blackhart you will be able to learn a bit more about them and the skate or die generation that they created. And if you are confused about if Tony Hawk is a new type of bird or the present day king of skate culture you too can get caught up on the past 25 years of Skateboarding.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with skateboarding books, but this one certainly seems to cover everything that I would want to know about. I defnitely would have liked to have seen a bit more about women skaters.

As we always do, we take a look at how this book lives up to DASH standards. They do a fairly good job of keeping the weed smoking and alcohol side of skateboarding out of the photos (not to say that all skaters do). All in all it seems to do a pretty good job of not promoting their products too much and it gives a great display of Skateboarding over the last 25 years.

Although the book is a bit pricey at $35 you certainly wouldn't need any other skating books, because they seem to have everything covered. Get our parents to hook it up for you if you can't afford it. Check it out at Independent Truck Company.

Teenreads.com has an amazing amount of books that are ideal for teens and up! They do great reviews so you can pick out something that is perfect for you.