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Hockey Player For Life
Told in flashback, this is the story of 13-year-old Tom Leonard his AA hockey team and hometown's "can't miss kid." When Tom doesn't make it in the big league in Canada, he learns valuable lessons from his friends and family and from simply playing the great game of hockey.
128 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2008
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Howard Shapiro
8 books167 followersI live in Pittsburgh, PA with my wife and two sons. I am the Controller for the Pittsburgh-based Visual Effects firm, Animal Inc., and I have written four children’s books and "The Stereotypical Freaks" will be my debut Graphic Novel.
My 2008 book, "Hockey Player for Life", has been the #1 downloaded children’s hockey e-book on Amazon’s Kindle chart since its arrival as an e-book in November of 2011.
My "Hockey Days" book was the only book featured in the December 2007 Sporting News Annual Gift Guide as a Best Buy Gift for Children. Through a corporate
sponsorship program I set up (and maintain), since the 2010-11 season, both of my children’s hockey books have been given to NHL teams (over 2,500 copies to date) for use in their community and educational initiatives.
Since 2006 my annual charity raffle, which he matches dollar for dollar donated, has raised funds for several hockey-related charities including the Mario Lemieux Foundation, Hockey Fights Cancer and the Keith and Lisa Primeau Scholarship Fund.
For more information, please log on to howardshapiro(dot)net
My 2008 book, "Hockey Player for Life", has been the #1 downloaded children’s hockey e-book on Amazon’s Kindle chart since its arrival as an e-book in November of 2011.
My "Hockey Days" book was the only book featured in the December 2007 Sporting News Annual Gift Guide as a Best Buy Gift for Children. Through a corporate
sponsorship program I set up (and maintain), since the 2010-11 season, both of my children’s hockey books have been given to NHL teams (over 2,500 copies to date) for use in their community and educational initiatives.
Since 2006 my annual charity raffle, which he matches dollar for dollar donated, has raised funds for several hockey-related charities including the Mario Lemieux Foundation, Hockey Fights Cancer and the Keith and Lisa Primeau Scholarship Fund.
For more information, please log on to howardshapiro(dot)net
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 19, 2013
I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Hockey Player for Life by Howard Shapiro stars (as in all of his books thus far) Tom, a 13 year old hockey player, who goes through the ups and downs of the competitive sport. He is initially very full of confidence almost to the point of arrogance, and thinks that nothing can go wrong with his fledgling career. Something happens, however, and he has to rethink his entire plans for the future and what hockey really means to him.
I loved this book. Shapiro is remarkably good at channeling pre-teen and teen boys-- their sense of invincibility but also showing how they can grow and develop as they meet new challenges and unexpected disappointments. This book is not a graphical novel, but is similar in tone to Stereotypical Freaks, again about Tom (but he is 15 years old and in high school), which was one of my favorite reads of the year. The pacing is perfect, and my two favorite characters were his father and his best friend, Terry, who in different ways, teach Tom the true meaning of being a hockey player for life. In a deluge of young adult books where the adults are more infantile than the children, it is so wonderful to see a great parent described.
Overall, a wonderful read for young boys, but that will be universally enjoyed by anyone. Another must read from Howard Shapiro.
Hockey Player for Life by Howard Shapiro stars (as in all of his books thus far) Tom, a 13 year old hockey player, who goes through the ups and downs of the competitive sport. He is initially very full of confidence almost to the point of arrogance, and thinks that nothing can go wrong with his fledgling career. Something happens, however, and he has to rethink his entire plans for the future and what hockey really means to him.
I loved this book. Shapiro is remarkably good at channeling pre-teen and teen boys-- their sense of invincibility but also showing how they can grow and develop as they meet new challenges and unexpected disappointments. This book is not a graphical novel, but is similar in tone to Stereotypical Freaks, again about Tom (but he is 15 years old and in high school), which was one of my favorite reads of the year. The pacing is perfect, and my two favorite characters were his father and his best friend, Terry, who in different ways, teach Tom the true meaning of being a hockey player for life. In a deluge of young adult books where the adults are more infantile than the children, it is so wonderful to see a great parent described.
Overall, a wonderful read for young boys, but that will be universally enjoyed by anyone. Another must read from Howard Shapiro.
September 30, 2014
The book Hockey Player For Life is a great book. I would highly recommend this book for a book to read out loud or alone. It is about a guy named Tom Leonard as he decides what team to play for, his home team or a team he got invited to play for in Canada. Find out what happens in Hockey Player For Life. ~Walker
December 3, 2012
I'll be the first to admit I know next to nothing about hockey. In fact, the one time I and a friend of mine went to a hockey game we decided to leave early just so we could avoid the mass rush of cars leaving - turns out it was the end of the game! So much for beating all the other drivers out of the parking lot....
I wasn't really excited about reading Hockey Player for Life but ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Still don't know a lot about Hockey - but I really liked the moral value in this book (perseverance, honesty, sportsmanship, respect for elders and other team players) and the way it was written.
Written in first person, Tom tells the story of his most memorable season of Hockey. He has the choice of accepting an invitation to join a big league (read that very successful and hard hitting) in Canada where he is no longer the "can't miss" kid who can do no wrong. He learns how to become a team player, how to support his team and still stand up for what he believes in and who his true friends are. I loved the close relationship between Tom and his father which seemed to be founded on respect between both of them. His father supports his decisions, doesn't talk down to him and respected his thoughts and discussed matters with Tom almost as a mini-adult. Now, the coach of his hometown Hockey league - I did not like him and loved that he (the coach) learned a powerful lesson by the end of the book.
I would say this book is for most sports minded boys 11+. The text like I said is in first person so it's a little more difficult to read, no pictures so they are going to need to be able to focus and take their cues from the text & their imagination and I loved that there was no language in this book.
Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book to read and review on my blog @ http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands.
I wasn't really excited about reading Hockey Player for Life but ended up thoroughly enjoying it. Still don't know a lot about Hockey - but I really liked the moral value in this book (perseverance, honesty, sportsmanship, respect for elders and other team players) and the way it was written.
Written in first person, Tom tells the story of his most memorable season of Hockey. He has the choice of accepting an invitation to join a big league (read that very successful and hard hitting) in Canada where he is no longer the "can't miss" kid who can do no wrong. He learns how to become a team player, how to support his team and still stand up for what he believes in and who his true friends are. I loved the close relationship between Tom and his father which seemed to be founded on respect between both of them. His father supports his decisions, doesn't talk down to him and respected his thoughts and discussed matters with Tom almost as a mini-adult. Now, the coach of his hometown Hockey league - I did not like him and loved that he (the coach) learned a powerful lesson by the end of the book.
I would say this book is for most sports minded boys 11+. The text like I said is in first person so it's a little more difficult to read, no pictures so they are going to need to be able to focus and take their cues from the text & their imagination and I loved that there was no language in this book.
Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book to read and review on my blog @ http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands.
January 10, 2014
The book was pretty good I have to say
good book but practical hockey book I'm a hockey player and I understand most of what they feel so overall it's pretty good
good book but practical hockey book I'm a hockey player and I understand most of what they feel so overall it's pretty good
August 30, 2015
loved this book if you like hockey I recommend reading it
did-not-finish
June 23, 2016For a young reader book it's not bad. Just lost interest and didn't finish.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews