Author: Matt Christopher
Title: Penalty Shot
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 1997.
Grade Level: 3-5
Summary: Jeff struggles to keep up his grades so he can continue playing on the hockey team.
Strengths: Matt Christopher is a great writer and certainly knows how to grab his reader. He is exciting and his account of each hockey play keeps the reader plugged into the game and the book. I think children will appreciate the mystery that Jeff has to solve and his perseverance with his friendship. I think his struggle with friends, schoolwork, and athletics is something kids can certainly relate to. I also think Christopher sends a great message about the importance of balancing athletics with academics, and the importance of schools. Fans of this book are fortunate since Christopher has an entire series of sports books similar to this one, helping to encourage sports fans to keep reading.
Concern: My only concern with the book is the possibility of a limited audience. For instance, will girls be interested? Will children not familiar or interested with hockey be able to follow the story? Even if the audience is limited, the book is strong enough to not make this a major concern.
Classroom Use: Students may enjoy completing an author study on Matt Christopher. An Olympic year may also find an influx of interest in these books. Even if an official study is not planned, these books are a great asset to a class library.
(image from Amazon.com)
I agree with you about audience appeal. Matt Christopher's books definitely fill a niche, and sports fans are always happy to find them. But the writing is not so extraordinary that you would make a special effort to introduce them to a class.
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