Danger Zone

Ian A. Andrews is a high-school social sciences teacher and editor of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association’s Focus.

In Danger Zone, a 13-year-old boy with learning difficulties is helped
by an idealistic young teacher who shows faith in his potential to
succeed.

Jason is a large, talented hockey player who takes on the role of the
goon on his team. In Jason’s dysfunctional and disadvantaged family,
his loud father wishes to succeed vicariously through his son. When
Jason injures a smaller player with a bodycheck, however, opposition
parents want him permanently suspended from playing hockey, the only
area in which he excels. His father’s confrontational way of handling
things only makes the situation worse. Jason’s teacher, however,
believes in the young teen and steps in to help him. Then another
talented player, a geek from an opposing team whom Jason use to pick on,
also comes to Jason’s assistance and helps him get a second chance.
The support they provide not only renews Jason confidence, but also
enriches his one-dimensional life.

With the use of many stereotypes (the affluent and the poor, the big
kid and the small kid, the goon and the geek), Bossley raises topics
like the unfairness of discrimination, the injustice of stereotypes, and
the possibility of turning one’s life around in a positive manner. It
is never too late to learn; don’t jump to conclusions; success can
result from hard work. All of these moral lessons are taught in this
short, nicely paced volume for preteens.