Checked

Checked by Cynthia Kadohata, 408 pages

When Conor finds out that his dog, Sinbad, has cancer, he realizes that he may have to choose between his dog and hockey.  Sinbad is his soulmate, so it really isn’t a choice, but Hockey is his life.  Luckily, although he has to cut back on some lessons for a while, he doesn’t have to quit completely.  Conor has a lot going on his mind, worry about his dog and his dad, hockey, figuring out the rest of his family, and his place in the world.  This book was really about relationships and growing up, but the hockey is a big part of that for Conor and I really enjoyed every part of the book.  Kids who like realistic fiction, sports stories, family stories, or dog stories will probably all love this book, unless they are bothered by the length.  I would highly recommend it.

Beartown

Beartown by Fredrik Backman, 418 pages

You can see Sara's review here:
http://slplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/02/beartown.html

I am late to the party and don't have much different to say but liked this book so much that I feel I have to add my review.

This novel is set in a small Swedish town. It is a remote town that is on the downswing. A large part of it is about a junior hockey team. The success of the hockey team could return the town to better times by attracting a national hockey training facility.

The beginning of the novel lets you know something major will happen but then it rewinds and it is not until almost the end of novel that you get back to that point.

With the dedication and intensity shown towards the hockey team, I can see the events of this book occurring in the U.S. although it would more likely be football than hockey.

The book is about hockey and sports but is also about family, parenthood and life in general. There were several parts that were hard to read but I just had to push through them. I rate this book pretty highly and would recommend it to hockey fans and people who like fiction.