Cris is into skating, using rollerblades at the skate park to do tricks with a group of friends. They call themselves “aggro” skaters (for “aggressive”). On the other side of the park is an outdoor hockey rink, and Cris is interested when he sees a team practicing. His father and older brother were both hockey players, they pressure him to try out the sport. So he does, but his park skating friends are upset. Well, one of them is. Max constantly makes fun of the hockey players, and is angered when it looks like Cris will join them. Cris tries out for the team, and is surprised at how difficult some of the skills are- wielding the hockey stick and keeping track of the puck- much less making it go where he wants- feels awkward, and he also has to stay cognizant of where his teammates are, what they’re doing, what the opposing is doing, and so on. It’s quite the challenge, and Cris is surprised to find that he wants to continue. He has to face down another guy on the team, Leo, who challenges his presence with some hazing, and criticism from the coach when he gets ahead of himself trying to score goals alone and actually messes up the gameplay. But is quite pleased when his skills from the park come in handy, he can do some maneuvers others aren’t expecting to avoid opponents or get out of a tight spot. He still wants to join his old friends over on the skate park sometimes, but Max shuns him. Later on, one of the key players on the hockey team gets injured and is out for the rest of the season. Cris makes amends with Max and convinces him to try roller hockey. Then Max wants to join the team too, but doesn’t have any experience and their first actual games are coming up soon. Will the coach let him join? Will the other players accept him like they did Cris? Another surprise is that some of the girls on the hockey team actually used to to aggro skating, and they start to show off their skills on the park, too. So it all comes together nicely in the end.
This book reminded me a lot of those hi-low sports novels I was reading for a while. It’s better written, with a more complex storyline. I did feel like some of the dialog was a bit awkward or unrealistic in some places- the older brother in particular always seemed to say the perfect thing to encourage or give advice to Cris. And there was a lot of tell-not-show kind of writing. Enjoyable in spite of that.
Borrowed from the public library.
