A Boy at the Leafs Camp

Hockey Stories #3

by Scott Young

High-scoring forward Bill Spunska is drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs and experiences his first training camp.

Genres: Sports, Fiction, Hockey

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Scott Alexander Young was a Canadian journalist, sportswriter, novelist and the father of musician Neil Young. Over his career, Young wrote 45 books, including novels and non-fiction for adult and youth audiences.

Reviews

[Alec]

I liked this book a lot. It was a good hockey book about hard work. This is one of the first chapter books that I actually liked reading. This boy Bill Spunksa goes to a hockey camp to see if he could make the hockey team. He meets a kid named Benny More where sparks start to fly between him and Spunksa. Bill eventually ends up hitting him which sends him to the hospital but Bill didn't mean to hit him hard it was an accident. I will not say if he made the cut or not thats for you to find out.

[Briar's Reviews]

I read this book back in my youth and I was totally obsessed with it. I adored hockey and the Maple Leafs, so it was only fitting I picked it up. I don't remember how I came across it, but I read it over and over and over.

With all of this extra time on my hands, I've been cleaning my house. I recently came across a giant pile of books from my childhood and I figured I might as well thrown some reviews up and give them another read while I'm at it.

This is a great chapter book all about a boy who goes to a hockey camp. Bill is an athletic teen who gets invited to the training camp for the Toronto Maple Leafs and within two weeks he learns a lot. This book shows how competitive the hockey profession is but in a really nice, kid friendly light.

This is the third book in the series and I had no idea that it was when I initially read it. I would love to grab the first two books because I remember loving this book as a kid. I read it so much that my copy is in pretty bad shape.

I would say this book is definitely good for middle graders and up. It's a quick, light read and is very simplistic yet wonderfully addicting.

Four out of five stars.

[CLM]

Bill Spunska, a shy young immigrant in Scrubs on Skates, turned out to be the most talented hockey player on that championship team. In this book, he gets the chance to play for the Maple Leafs, while maintaining his humility and charm.

Author Scott Young, a well known Canadian sportswriter, is also the father of musicial Neil Young.

[Stefan]

This book is great. It shows the struggles a national high school student hockey player gets the chance to try out for a professional hockey team. This book takes you into how much competition their is at a camp for the best hockey players. Benny learns to overcome his challenges and to succeed by only caring about himself.

[Jen]

A great series, especially for Canadian children.

[Czarny Pies]

This the last book in the glorious trilogy. It is a must read for Leaf fans or anyone else who believes in hockey after death.

[Bohdan Smith]

A fun glimpse into a distant past of the hockey world. Crazy to imagine a league without a real entry draft, just scouts grabbing kids out of high school.

The connection to Winnipeg was a fun little extra detail for me.

[Alex]

The final book in the trilogy is yet open-ended in some respects and leaves me wishing Young had written more books. Very enjoyable read.