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Penalty Shot
After a hiatus from the ice to get his grades back up to eligibility level, Jeff Connors returns to get the cold shoulder treatment from his teammates. During Jeff's absence, a threatening note was discovered in his best friend's locker--written in Jeff's hand. His protests of innocence fall on deaf ears, so Jeff is on his own to discover who's behind the sabotage.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
13 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Matt Christopher
438 books141 followersMatt Christopher is the writer young readers turn to when they're looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. He is the best-selling author of more than one hundred sports books for young readers.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 15, 2013
If you like face-paced, non-stop hockey suspense, then you'll love the book Penalty Shot, by Matt Christopher. It is a realistic-fiction sports book about, of course, hockey. I feel it was absolutely stunning and great for just a simple book.
This book takes place in the America-Canada region, the exact location never stated. In the story, Jeff had failed to make the hockey team last year, not because of his skill, but his grades. When he finally gets allowed on the team, Jeff must keep up with his grades and sports career, a problem many teens face (even myself). When this just seems barely manageable, a much worse dilemma outbreaks. Someone on the team writes a mean note to Jeff's best friend, Kevin, threatening to kill his dog and containing mean remarks, all in Jeff's handwriting. As the clues come together to find the truth, Jeff is balancing three things on his shoulders; friendship, grades, and his sports career. Jeff is of course the main character. He is just the average athlete with a medium build. The characters are not well described. Kevin was Jeff's best friend, until the accident. He also plays on the team.
I feel that Penalty Shot was one of the best sports books I've ever read. I say this because of its fast paced mystery solving and hockey action that most reader devour. I usually do not like other sports books, because they have no emotion or feelings, just the plays. This book has all of this and more. It can even relate to my life. Penalty Shot is alike to my life in how Jeff and I both must balance our sports with school and friends. If you are too much or too little focused on one of these, they all fall apart.
This book reminds me of many different things. One is the baseball books that I used to read. I felt that the ones that had a sports storyline with some emotion outside the game were much better than the only in the game ones. Matt Christopher makes simple, unforgettable books that I feel are just a piece of art. I say this because of it not being all sports focused. If it did not have emotion and meaning, this review would not be here.
So, overall, I feel Penalty Shot was a well balanced sports novel with amazing sports action and meaningful emotion outside the rink. I rate it 10/10 because it is simply fantastic, as I have stressed that above multiple times. I recommend this book to about anyone who has the slightest interest in hockey. The pumped drama outside the game will make you never put it down. In conclusion, Penalty Shot is a unique and flawless hockey book with a hint of drama and a twist of mystery, all in one.
This book takes place in the America-Canada region, the exact location never stated. In the story, Jeff had failed to make the hockey team last year, not because of his skill, but his grades. When he finally gets allowed on the team, Jeff must keep up with his grades and sports career, a problem many teens face (even myself). When this just seems barely manageable, a much worse dilemma outbreaks. Someone on the team writes a mean note to Jeff's best friend, Kevin, threatening to kill his dog and containing mean remarks, all in Jeff's handwriting. As the clues come together to find the truth, Jeff is balancing three things on his shoulders; friendship, grades, and his sports career. Jeff is of course the main character. He is just the average athlete with a medium build. The characters are not well described. Kevin was Jeff's best friend, until the accident. He also plays on the team.
I feel that Penalty Shot was one of the best sports books I've ever read. I say this because of its fast paced mystery solving and hockey action that most reader devour. I usually do not like other sports books, because they have no emotion or feelings, just the plays. This book has all of this and more. It can even relate to my life. Penalty Shot is alike to my life in how Jeff and I both must balance our sports with school and friends. If you are too much or too little focused on one of these, they all fall apart.
This book reminds me of many different things. One is the baseball books that I used to read. I felt that the ones that had a sports storyline with some emotion outside the game were much better than the only in the game ones. Matt Christopher makes simple, unforgettable books that I feel are just a piece of art. I say this because of it not being all sports focused. If it did not have emotion and meaning, this review would not be here.
So, overall, I feel Penalty Shot was a well balanced sports novel with amazing sports action and meaningful emotion outside the rink. I rate it 10/10 because it is simply fantastic, as I have stressed that above multiple times. I recommend this book to about anyone who has the slightest interest in hockey. The pumped drama outside the game will make you never put it down. In conclusion, Penalty Shot is a unique and flawless hockey book with a hint of drama and a twist of mystery, all in one.
January 8, 2015
My book is Penalty Shot by Matt Christopher. The genre is realistic fiction and has 127 pages. 3 main characters- My book is about Jeff; he is nice and cares for others. He is not small, but not tall. Jeff’s mom cares for others and respects others. Last of all Kevin’s dog is built like a tank, is huge, and scares many people. He only scares them because he is huge and jumps on them. Jeff plays hockey and last year he made the team. But he had bad grades and got kicked off the team. This year he is working very hard to stay on the team. The theme is to never give up and keep trying. Jeff didn’t give up, he had to work hard to stay on the team. Jeff has to do a composition for language and he got an f. The teacher suggested that he get a tutor. He calls the number and his friend’s sister is the tutor. He is worried, but he knows he needs help. Beth is his tutor; Jeff meets her and they get along well. One day after school he saw he made the roster. It is such a big team the coach has to cut some players. The next week Jeff finds out he is in the starting 5. He plays hockey on and of the field like crazy. His grades go back up. When he wrote his new composition and gave it to the teacher, it was an f. He thought Beth screwed it up for him. Someone else re wrote his composition. His other friend Kevin got a note from Jeff. Someone else wrote his handwriting again. Kevin thought he knew and he told Kevin they both went in on a plan. At hockey their plan worked Kevin pushed down Jeff. Then Kevin asked why he wrote a mean note about his dog. Bucky said he did it because he wanted to start over Jeff. Bucky new if Jeff had bad grades he can’t play hockey. He also said he wanted Kevin mad at Jeff. Well, I can’t tell you what the coach does. Read the book to find out the rest. 3 main settings are- At Jeff’s house which is big, nice, and has a huge entry way. Another main setting is at Bucky’s house it is nice and a two story house. The last setting is at the hockey field and it has lots of stands and has a normal size rink. My Review of the book, I loved it because it was by sports. It was not my favorite book, but it was okay. It is a good book for people who want to read a book about hockey.
October 5, 2016
The book Penalty Shot, by Matt Christopher, was a solid book. I wouldn’t say it was an amazing book that I couldn’t ever put down, but I enjoyed the book and it kept me entertained. I think the story could’ve used a little bit more figurative language, but I did like how the author kept the book flowing and included the action during the games. This book is great for younger sports fans. Overall, I thought this was a good book, and I probably would encourage others to read it.
October 27, 2011
Ther was a dog named Ranger and he didn't like Jeff. Jeff plays hockey. They got a trophy. They made it to the championship.He was a center.
December 14, 2015
I thought it was amazing and its about hockey ,my favorite sport !
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews