The Screech Owls' Reunion

Sylvia Pantaleo is an associate professor of education, specializing in
children’s literature, at the University of Victoria. She is the
co-author of Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary
Classroom.

Ten years have passed since the Screech Owls won the gold medal in
hockey’s first-ever “Junior Olympics.” Travis is now a teacher in
Tamarack. Dmitri is an NHL player. Lars plays hockey in the Swedish
elite league. Nish is a Flying Elvis in Las Vegas. Wilson Kelly is a
police officer in Jamaica. Data and Fahd operate a detective agency that
specializes in computer fraud. Sam has travelled the world and returned
home to Tamarack with a son named Muck. As well as studying physical
education at the University of Calgary, Sarah has led the women’s
national hockey team to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, and
Tamarack is honouring her by naming the town’s new Olympic-size arena
after her.

Most of the members of the original Screech Owls team agree to play a
hockey game to open the new arena. Fahd and Data suggest that the
opposing team be composed of the best players the Screech Owls ever
played. A secondary plot involves a casino’s land-development scheme
in Tamarack. Sam, Mr. Dillinger, and Anton, among many residents, are
vehemently against the impending development. When Mr. Dillinger is
brutally attacked, the Screech Owls must solve the mystery of his
assailant’s identity.

In this final instalment of the Screech Owls series, MacGregor refers
to events and characters in many of his former books. Appropriately, the
structural nature of the plot is similar to that followed in the other
Screech Owls novels—a mystery, multiple storylines, and both serious
and humorous issues. Thank you, Roy MacGregor, for an entertaining and
enjoyable series of books! Recommended.