Power Play

Description

86 pages
$8.95
ISBN 1-55028-746-X
DDC jC813'.54

Year

2001

Contributor

Reviewed by Dave Jenkinson

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Review

Bossley and Guest, both previous contributors to the Sports Stories
series, have each written a hockey-based story. As with other series
volumes, each novel has a sports-centred storyline plus a subplot rooted
in family or school problems.

In Power Play, Calgary’s Zach Thomas, as a result of a bodycheck,
breaks his arm in the first game of the season. Sidelined for seven
weeks, Zach fears returning to physical hockey, but with his father (who
has NHL aspirations for Zach) functioning as the team’s acting coach,
the talented left-winger feels trapped. In a subplot, Zach is involved
in a Grade 8 school contest to see who gets to introduce a Calgary
Flames player at a school assembly. The storyline dealing with Zach’s
fear and his father’s disapproval is gripping. Bossley’s open ending
is a refreshing change to the usual sport book’s conclusion wherein
the hero leads the team to a crucial win.

In Rink Rivals, 13-year-old twins, Bryn and Evan Selkirk have just
moved to Calgary from a small community in northern Quebec. The boys’
mother is James Bay Cree; their father is caucasian. Although Bryn can
pass as white, Evan’s features clearly identify him as Native. Bryn,
an accomplished pianist, attends a school with an advanced music
program. Evan, who wants to be a lawyer like his mother, goes to an
academically based school. A talented hockey player, Evan joins his
school’s team, the Nighthawks. In an effort to impress Kelsey, a girl
in his new school, Bryn becomes a reluctant member of the Comets, his
school’s hockey team, and so the brothers become “rink rivals.”
The twins also have other problems. Believing that Kelsey dislikes
Native people and musicians (which is later revealed as untrue), Bryn
hides both his family and his musical talent from her. Evan finds that
playing for the win-at-all-costs Nighthawks requires him to be the
team’s “enforcer,” a role he does not want. In the somewhat pat
ending, filial love prevails. Although the brothers’ sibling rivalry
comes across as genuine, their utterances (especially Evan’s) are
frequently too mature for 13-year-olds. Nonetheless, both books are
acceptable examples of the sports genre and will appeal to early
middle-school students, especially reluctant male readers. Recommended.

Citation

Bossley, Michele Martin., “Power Play,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed February 9, 2025, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/21768.