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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Kid Konnection: Hockey Trailblazers by Nicole Mortillaro

Hockey Trailblazers by Nicole Mortillaro (Rated:C)
Scholastic Canada
ISBN: 978-1443104692
Published Jan 1, 2011
Trade Paperback, 64 pages
Ages: 8-12

You don’t have to be a hockey fan to appreciate this book. It’s inspirational and motivating for children who play any sports. It briefly profiles the lives of five hockey players who overcame obstacles and what many consider impossible odds to fulfill their dreams.

Willie O’Ree was the first black player to take part in an NHL game and racism wasn’t his only problem. He also had a serious injury. George Armstrong was the first Native player who also became the longest-serving captain in Leafs history. Manon Rhéaume, a Quebecer who grew up not too far from where I did, was the first woman who played against men in a pre-season game. Bobby Clarke was diabetic at a time when it wasn’t as easy to test his blood as it is today, and Larry Kwong was Chinese-Canadian and very poor.

How these individuals became trailblazers, leading the path for others to follow in their determined quest to play hockey to their highest level, is what makes these stories noteworthy. The theme of this book can easily be summed up with O’Ree’s words: “You can do anything you set your mind to do; if you feel strongly within your heart, within your mind, you can do it.”

If you have a child who loves to play hockey or any other sport for that matter, these stories will certainly inspire and make them realize that sometimes the word “Impossible” just means to try harder rather than to give up.

I will count this book toward the following challenges: Middle Grade Book Challenge

Disclosure: Thanks to Nicole Kritikos from Scholastic Canada for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.

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3 comments :

  1. This sounds like a wonderfully inspiring book for kids! My son was always drawn to books about athletes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I'd love this one too. I'm a sucker for books about people who overcome obstacles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My Bebe Boy James would love this; he reads fiction of course, but he has a thing for sports and how things work and almanacs and weird facts non-fiction books too!

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