The Hockey Saint by Howard Shapiro

The Hockey Saint by Howard Shapiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A well-written "issues" story for teens. The book has a hockey theme but except for the beginning is not really about hockey as such. As the book starts we are dropped into first-year college student Tom's career on the university hockey team but the story quickly turns to being about the characters rather than the sport. Tom meets his hockey idol and becomes involved in his life finding out that the man is not like what he is represented in the press at all. The book deals with many issues, and if it has any faults it would be that it tackles too many at once. Smoking, drinking, drunk driving, parental death, alcoholism, not losing touch with one's real friends on the way up and money/career are not the meaning of life. However when all is said and done the book's main theme is not idol-worshipping other people. It's a dramatic story that had me reading straight through. The art is a bit inconsistent, Tom's look becomes feminine at times, some facial expressions are downright ugly and while there aren't many female characters the young ones tended to have manga-looking eyes. Recommended for teens, especially boys, interested in hockey.

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