The Wicked Slapshot. Irene Punt. Illustrated by Bojan Redzic. Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2006. 60 pp., pbk., $5.99. ISBN 0-439-94897-5. Subject Headings: Hockey stories. Camps--Juvenile fiction. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Laura Dodwell-Groves. ** /4

excerpt:

‘Where should I sit?’ Tom began to worry. ‘Relax,’ he told himself. But it was weird not recognizing one face. It was weird not having Stuart, Mark and Jordan with him. He let out a breath and sat down on the bench next to a boy with red hair.

“Hi,” said Tom.

“Hi,” said the boy, concentrating on taping his socks.

Tom started rooting through his bag, looking for his jock. He suited up quickly. By the time he was straightening his skates, everyone else was ready to go. Now the change room looked familiar. ‘Hockey players are hockey players,’ thought Tom, seeing everyone tall in their skates and anxious for ice. Just before he put on his helmet, he wrote his name on a piece of masking tape and stuck it on the front, above the face mask. He could feel the excitement, the nearness of hockey, as they filed out of the room. He couldn’t wait to play.

This story is rather typical of a chapter book. Boy goes to hockey camp; plays hockey; makes new friend; learns and shares things with new friend. It is well written but is still typical. If you are looking for a chapter book about hockey, then this will do. But it won’t surprise you. Irene Punt gives us a good sense of Tom, a boy who loves hockey, and some of the descriptions are able to evoke the reader to the same sense of delight: Tom’s anticipation, his excitement, his sheer joy at being on the ice. Tom does not change much in the course of the story while his friend Harty seems to gain more and develop more from the friendship. As such, one wonders whether this should be Harty’s story instead. Bojan Redzic’s illustrations complement the story well, though he may not want to draw another hockey stick anytime soon.

      The Wicked Slapshot story is about summertime and hockey camp and friendship. It is written well. That is all there is to it. Can’t help hoping that chapter books deserve a little more.

Recommended.

Laura Dodwell-Groves is a Master of Children’s Literature student at the University of British Columbia.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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