Face-Off

by Jake Maddox, Anastasia Suen

Kyle wants to be a great hockey player just like his older brother, but to do that, he must focus all of his energy on the game and not be distracted by a teammate's injury.

Genres: Middle Grade, Hockey

72 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Who is Jake Maddox? Athlete, author, world-traveler–or all three? He has surfed in Hawaii, scuba-dived in Australia, and climbed the mountains of Peru and Alaska. His books range from the most popular team sports to outdoor activities to survival adventures and even to auto racing. His exploits have inspired numerous writers to walk in his footsteps–literally! Each of his stories is stamped with teamwork, fair play, and a strong sense of self-worth and discipline. Always a team-player, Maddox realizes it takes more than one man (or woman) to create a book good enough for a young reader. He hopes the lessons learned on the court, field, or arena and the champion sprinter pace of his books can motivate kids to become better athletes and lifelong readers.

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character of this book is Kyle. He loves to play hockey. He wants to be as good as his older brother but he doesn't get to play enough in the games to get better. One game the coach let him get in the game and he took his brothers advice on playing. During that game Kyle scored the most points out of the whole team and began to get more playing time so therefor he improved. This book was interesting to me because I like sports books. I would suggest this book to any kid who likes sports.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kyle wants to be a good hockey player like his brother but he has problems getting playing time. He finally gets the chance to prove himself and he takes his brothers advice. He scored the most goals ever on the team and stated getting more time.This is a easy book to read. It was interesting to me. I would suggest this book for young kids who are into sports.

[Mason]

Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Book Review Project
Mason Williams

Face off, By Jake Maddox, is a hockey centered book that teaches the kids to work hard and good things will happen. The main character, Kyle is a left wing for the eagles hockey team. Kyle is not a starter but is trying to become a starter on the eagles hockey team. He wants to become like his brother Caleb, who plays for the school team. Caleb is the league’s top scorer. The main characters in this book are, Kyle, Caleb, Sean, Connor, Eric, Chris, and Dave. The minor characters are Coach Williams and all of the teams that the eagles play. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. The message of the story is to teach the readers to work hard and try your best and good thing will happen to you.

The eagles were playing the ice cats and Kyle sat on the bench with Sean and Chris while Eric, Dave and Connor was out on the ice. Coach Williams called Kyle, Chris and Sean out on the ice when Connor, Eric and Dave came off of the Ice. Kyle had the puck but the Ice Cats defensemen stole it from Kyle. Sean stole the puck from the Ice-Cats center. Kyle got the puck from Chris and tried to get it into the goal. The goalie blocked Kyle’s shot. Kyle went back on the bench. Then the three boys went back out on the ice. Chris was in the face off circle and when the ref dropped the puck Chris hit it out of the face off circle. Kyle got the puck and saw an opening between the goal and the goalie. The ice cats goalie caught it with his glove. Then the eagles had the puck but Kyle couldn’t take the shot. So Kyle passed it to a wide open Sean. But the Ice Cat’s defensemen stole the puck from Kyle. But Kyle stole the puck back. Kyle was having a wide open shot with nobody in front of him except for the goalie. The puck sailed into the net and Kyle made his first shot. They were now ahead of the eagles. While Chris, Kyle and Sean were out on the bench, Connor had missed his second shot of the night. Meanwhile Sean saw Kyle’s brother, Caleb, in the stands. But once again, Coach Williams called the three boys out onto the ice. The Eagle’s had the puck and Kyle had the puck for the Eagle’s. Kyle saw a flash of white. The ref called tripping on the Ice Cat’s. Kyle got a free shot, and made the goal in front of his brother. He thought, Caleb had left just after Kyle got fouled. When Caleb got home he saw his brother Caleb with a pair of crutches. He broke his ankle. Caleb gave Kyle the advice of lowering your shot when they were talking. The next week, it was the Eagles vs the Cougars. This time Kyle was on the first string lineup instead of the second string lineup. Then Eric won the face off and Dave got it. Then Kyle got the puck, passed it to Eric, and Eric got the goal.Connor looked at Kyle like he was going to punch him because Kyle took his starting spot. Kyle tried to shoot it but the Cougars goalie blocked it. Connor said,”You think you’re cool don’t you?” Kyle wanted to punch Connor but controlled his anger. The 1 string lineup was called again and the period was almost over. Eric won the face off once again and Dave got the puck and passed it to Kyle. Kyle scored another goal. The score was 6 to 2 the eagles were beating the cougars. This time on the face off Eric lost. The center caught the puck and Kyle ran as hard as he could to catch up with him. The cougars moved the puck smoothly and Kyle thought that the Ice Cat’s lineup was getting tired. The cougars scored. The Eagles never scored this many points with Connor. A week later the Eagles were hosting the archers. Dave, Eric and Kyle were the starters once again. Eric lost the face off and pulled it back to his defensemen. The Archers scored a goal. Kyle though about what Caleb said. He scored a goal. Kyle went onto the bench as Connor shoved him. Connor told Kyle that he couldn’t take his place. The first lineup was happy that Kyle was on it and Connor was off of it. Another face off came and Eric won it and Kyle got the puck. An Archer’s player slid up next to him and stole the puck. But the Eagles got the puck back and Kyle saw that Eric was close to the goal. Eric got the puck. But it was stolen by an Archer’s defensemen. The puck glided across the ice. Kyle tried to get it but the Archer’s players surrounded him. Kyle got the puck but was tripped by one of the Archer’s players. The ref called it tripping. Kyle got a foul shot. He saw Caleb in the stands and thought about what he said. Kyle started the foul shot and saw and opening between the goalie and the goal.Kyle made a goal. The Eagles were beating the Archers 7 to 6. The Eagles won the next face off and Dave got the puck. He got tripped and Kyle saw blood on the ice.Both benches emptied as Connor was ready to start a fight. Connor was ejected from the game.Dave had a concussion. Coach Williams and the Archers Coach helped him off of the ice. Kyle and Sean skated towards the goal and Sean passed the puck to Eric. Eric passed it to Kyle who made a buzzard beating goal on the last seconds of the game.

What I liked about this book is that even though Kyle is not on the starting lineup, he tried his best to get it. He remembered what his brother said the whole time and eventually got to start in the games. According to the book he doesn’t hog the ball and he passed it a lot unlike Connor who hogged the ball the whole time. I don’t like Connor. Based on what I have read, Connor was a mean kid who was looking for a fight. He didn’t like Kyle because he took his spot on the starting lineup. He also wanted to fight the Archers player after he injured Dave.

On the final words of the book, I just have to say, that this book is incredible and can teach kids or the readers to work hard and listen to people. From one to five stars, I give this book a 4.5. I would like it even better if this book was about five more chapters.

[Nick C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am talk about a book called face off it is a hockey book and it is a realistic fiction book and i think it is a good book and i want everyone to go read the book.It is a short book but it is a fun hockey book and it is a book that can teach you about hockey and it seem so realistic like is feels like you are sitting there watching the game and i got this book two days ago and i am almost already done there are 65 pages and i amd on page 43 so not a long book and i don't read this book when i am at home if i did read this book when i am at home i would be done but it is a good sort fun hockey book i want everyone to read this book and even thorough you might not be a hockey player you should still read it it is just a fun quick book to read i really encourage everyone to read this good by Jake Maddox the book name is called face off.


Some stuff in this book is like stuff that you could happen and some things you can't see in real life but i am telling you how they did everything in this book is awesome the front of the book looks like the real thing and there are hockey books by Jack Maddox by him i feel like this book could also inspire people to play hockey because they realize how fun it is and everyone should join hockey and play it give it a try i know you will like it there is 10 short chapters in it and you can get it done really fast and if friend ask something about it you will know all about it and dave got hurt and got his head cut open or got scraped and he started bleeding and he was just fine they won their last game were dave got hurt


I hope everyone enjoys this book and i hope that you guys can get your hands on this book like it said this is a fun short hockey book and you guys should try it out it seems so real because like when dave got hurt like his friends came and helped him and like the coach said stuff that you will here from a coach like get your heads in the game but i will give this book a good ⅘ rating

[Joe Chell]

Book Title: Face-Off
Author/Illustrator: Jake Maddox/Anastasia Suen
Reading Level: MG
Book Level: 3.2

Book Summary: Kyle is determined to be a great hockey player just like his older brother, but to do that, he must focus all of his energy on the game and not be distracted by a teammate’s injury.

Bookshelf Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits:

Organization - The book throws you straight into the action. It begins during Kyle’s hockey game and you immediately know what is happening. As it continues the book grows and grows during each chapter and culminates with the “final play” of the game.

Word Choice - The vocabulary throughout this story helps convey meaning and understanding of what is happening within the text. The use of onomatopoeias allows the reader to “hear” what is happening and therefore visualize the events.

This book is a great example of rising action, where each chapter grows the story more and more until the final chapters conclude with a large event. This can help students understand and create their own rising action story.

[Victoria Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Reading children chapter books are quick and easy but they also remind me of when I was younger what words would I struggle with and also can connect that back to the struggles faced in the book.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good book I would recommend this to anyone that is an athlete my rating is a 4

[SPENCER Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about hokey and that Kyle looks up to his brother and he plays a lot and then his brother gets hurt and breaks his ankle.

Kyle plays a lot he is on 1 line and he plays hard and passes the puck unlike Conner Kyle dose not like Conner and he dose not want to be like him.

evidently some one gets a concision and is out of the game and cant play for awhile then Kyle has to play his hardest and he scores for his team and they win.

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Summary: Kyle wants to be a great hockey player just like his older brother, but to do that, he must focus all of his energy on the game and not be distracted by a teammate's injury.


I had a hard time following who was who. The plot wasn't very strong. Not my favorite of these Jake Maddox books but would still recommend to students in grades 2-4 if they like hockey.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Face off is a short chapter book and it is very intense. The book is about a team going undefeated and going to face a really hard team to win the cup. The rest you can find out by checking this book out.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, along with Backup Goalie and Hockey Meltdown are good choice for my class this year. They may help them think about how to be contributors and leaders, team mates and friends because they are dealing with a topic they love. I hope they cause some attention to behavior and choices.

[bossman stallion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm on page 13 and so far its a good book

[Trey Rasmuson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book becase i cunected with the book. I thought it was interesting and not confusing.

[Kendall Martino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but I am not in hockey.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book Face Off because hockey is my favorite sport and I can relate to it and what its saying.

[Jacob Carlson]

thsi book is about kyle parker and him trying to be the best at hockey and being the top scorer on the team

[Alex Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book because I play hockey.

[Cosette Cook]

I liked the book because its about hockey

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad...considering I know nothing about hockey

[Samuel Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book face off is a great book. Its exiting and fun to read.

[Banks]

Book Review Project!!!!!




Spoiler Alert!!!!!



This is one amazing book! You guys might be wondering what it is called, it is called “Face-Off” and the author is Jake Maddox. This is a great and wonderful realistic fiction book. The purpose or theme of this book is to show y’all that jealousy is never good and to never be jealous because that will end up badly. So, let’s get to the summary.

This paragraph is the summary of this book. At the very beginning of the book, it started out with Kyle Parker sitting on the bench watch the first line play. He was so ready to play because he is a left wing who scores a lot of points even though he rides the bench. He has a older brother named Caleb who is the best scorer in the league. Kyle’s two teammates were Sean and Chris. On his second time back in the game he got a goal after being blocked twice. We they came off one of his friends said that it looks like his brother was watching the game and on crutches. So Kyle decided to look good in front of his brother who was the top scorer but when he had his chance he got tripped. So he took a penalty shot instead but still scored. When he got home that night he went to his brothers room and saw he had crutches. Kyle was upset but Caleb told him to lower his shot so when it shoots it has a lower chance of being blocked. The next game the coach decided to change the lineup and put Kyle out their with Dave and Eric. Well the boy who was original in that position got mad and told coach that, that was his position. Coach then told him he was trying something new but the boy named Connor didn’t like that so he basically threatened Kyle and told him that the position Kyle was in will be his soon. So the game started and as soon as they start Kyle’s team quickly scored by passing the hockey puck. So as the game goes on Connor continued to mess with Kyle even though he really didn’t even pay attention to Connor. At the end of the game, they won 6-3 with an amazing score. They were all real happy except for Connor since he lost his starting position . So the next game came and it was the same lineup. As the game first started the score was 1-1 when the coach took them out but, Kyle got that one point for his team. Then he got tripped again at this game and got another penalty shot which he scored on. While he was playing in the game his brother was helping him out even though Kyle didn’t know it was him. So the game continued and right before it was over Dave was tripped and was majorly injured. Connor got mad and was out the fight but him and the center for the other team had been thrown out. So they took Dave off the court as they think he has a concussion. So Sean came on to finish the game and Kyle was one away from tying his brothers record for points. So the hit the puck to Sean then to Eric then to Kyle and Kyle scored to win the game and tie his brothers record. That is basically the summary of this book.

This paragraph is basically a paragraph about what was my favorite and least favorite part of the book. My least favorite part of the book is when Connor decided to start bullying and trying to be bigger than Kyle. I didn’t like that part because that does not set a good example for kids and also with the bullying. My favorite part of this story is when Kyle has a great game and does great in front of his brother. That is my favorite part because that shows us to not let people get in our head and try our hardest. That is my favorite and least favorite part of the book.

So this is one amazing book in my opinion. I will give this book a ⅘ it just needs to be a little bit bigger. So I hope you liked my essay and read this book and see what you think.