Sunday, September 20, 2015

Body Check, by Matt Christopher


Brent Mullen is a future hockey star!  At twelve years old, he’s already mastered the basics of ice hockey and he’s looking forward to competing at higher levels.  All of his plans change in an instant, however, when his team gains a new player whose father serves as an assistant coach.  Unlike Coach Maxwell, who emphasized fair play and sportsmanship, Coach Seabrook is all about doing what it takes to win.  When he begins teaching the boys that cheating is okay as long as you don’t get caught, Brent seriously considers leaving the team.  Will Brent be able to express his concerns before the illegal moves get one of the players hurt?

This was a very cool book, and it was one of Mr. Christopher’s that I hadn’t read before.  In fact, I just went to my library and grabbed one of his books off the shelf at random.  Matt Christopher was a perennial favorite when I was growing up, and I’m confident that he’s probably the best sportswriter for children, hands down.  If you’ve got a favorite sport, I’ll bet money that Mr. Christopher has written an awesome book about it.  All of his stories feature a solid plot set into a background of authentic sports action, which really helps to keep his storylines flying along!

As much as I enjoyed reading “Body Check”, I’d say that any of Mr. Christopher’s books would be a good choice for a young man who’s more interested in playing sports than reading books.  But don’t take my word for it, go ahead and try this experiment for yourself!  Introduce one of these sports books to the young athlete in your life, and I guarantee you’ll create a ravenous reader.  In fact, the new Matt Christopher fan might be in danger of missing practice because he wants to read “just one more page”!

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