Amazing Hockey Stories: Leon Draisaitl

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AMAZING HOCKEY STORIES: LEON DRAISAITL

Release date: March 2024 Publisher: Scholastic Canada

An inside look at one of the top current NHL players, Leon Draisaitl. Born in Cologne, Germany, Leon Draisaitl excelled in many sports as a youth. Ultimately, he followed in the footsteps of his father, a professional hockey player who played in three Olympic games. Since joining the Oilers in 2014, Leon has only gotten better in each season he’s played. A natural center who can easily switch to the wing, he has the size, speed and vision that make him effective as a scorer or set-up man with a knack for finding the open man. Engaging text and action comic sequences illustrate how he made his way to the top of the points charts, earning both the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, given to the League’s most outstanding player!

Reviews

CM Magazine - May 2018

“One of the strengths of “A Time to Run” is the voice. The perspective changes back and forth from Stuart to Sam, and the individual characters speak in very specific, distinct voices. Stuart’s is especially interesting; short, choppy sentences reflect his impulsive nature and give him a childish quality, despite his age of fourteen. Longer, rambling sentences let readers into his jumbled thoughts. The changeover to Sam’s perspective in alternating chapters is smooth but distinct. His chapters show more reflection and successfully display the inner thoughts of a teenage boy who is in the middle of a huge life upheaval.

Everything in the story is believable; the clear and linear plot allows the focus to remain on the characters, and that’s where the real value is in this novel. Nicholson’s characters are familiar and relatable, but rarely stereotypical. Sam’s love interest is an athletic and level-headed girl, and his interest in her isn’t connected to her beauty—in fact, his first description of her describes her as “sweaty”. It’s refreshing to see one fictional character notice another based on personality traits as opposed to appearance.”

Kirkus Reviews - July 2018

“The latest in the author’s One-2-One series (inspired by a real program that matches students with intellectual disabilities with their neurotypical peers), the story of Stuart and Sam’s friendship is sweetly and sensitively told. Both characters are white; Stuart’s adoptive family is black, while Sam’s family immigrated from Bosnia. The book’s best scenes feature the friends together as Stuart strives to make the track-and-field team, and the relationship between the boys is presented authentically.”