Book Review: Rink of Dreams

Rink of Dreams by Nancy L. M. Russell is the consummate Canadian book for young adults.

How can any Canadian youth not enjoy a book about a boy who dreams of being in the NHL?

Still, the reasons I enjoyed it went far beyond this obvious theme.

Gary MacDonald has been skating since he was two years old, and he practices hockey every winter on the rink his father builds him in the backyard.

The winter of Gary's fourteenth year, however, is fraught with changes and uncertainty. His parents are divorcing, and he must cope with the challenges of maintaining his position on an extremely competitive AAA Bantam hockey team. As a young, physically slight player, he is finding it difficult to get used to the physical contact on the ice and the emotional intimidation off the ice.

Helping Gary through the winter is the arrival of an NHL farm team to his community of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The excitement permeates the entire city, as players they had previously only seen on television are suddenly living in their midst.

Gary's father's law firm participates in an "Adopt a Player" program, where a player is helped to assimilate into the community. The MacDonald family becomes very close with Dmitri Rushkov, an 18-year-old Russian player. This friendship leads to some intriguing and potentially dangerous situations for all involved.

This book appeals to both male and female readers, for the hockey situations seem realistic, and I think young hockey players would enjoy and respect the way Russell portrays them. Also explored, though, is Gary's confusion regarding his parents' divorce and all of the changes he's encountering, and I think girls would find this aspect of the book appealing.

I find it interesting that the short bio on Russell found on the back of the book indicates that she is a journalist with CBC Radio and Television. As I read this book, there were times I could easily envision this as a CBC made-for-TV movie.