Amazing Hockey Stories – Auston Matthews

AMAZING HOCKEY STORIES – AUSTON MATTHEWS

A spotlight on Auston Matthews — NHL superstar! Born in San Ramon, California, and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, hockey might seem like an unlikely career choice for Auston Matthews. But he fell in love with the sport at a young age, and his natural talent was quickly apparent. After participating in USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and playing a single season in the top Swiss pro league, Auston was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs and made his NHL debut shortly after his nineteenth birthday. Auston has racked up records, awards and accolades, especially for his ability to score goals — lots of them! 
Published by Scholastic
Illustrated by D.A. Bishop
Purchase at Amazon.ca
Purchase at Indigo

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.”