Home Ice Advantage

by Tom Earle

An abused boy finds safety, friendship and a missing legend inside a historic hockey arena I looked at the newspaper and gasped. There, staring back at me, was my own picture. It was this year’s school photo. Now it took up most of the front page of the Toronto Star, smack dab under the large STILL NO SIGN OF MISSING BOY. Jake’s drive to become a hockey star is matched only by his father’s obsessive determination to see his son succeed. No matter how hard Jake works, how many pucks he puts in the net, it’s never enough for his dad. Battered, bruised and tired of being afraid, Jake leaves his quiet suburban home in the middle of the night and runs away to downtown Toronto, where he finds comfort and safety in the most unexpected of places―the company of a homeless man with a storied past living inside the shuttered Maple Leaf Gardens.

Genres: Fiction, Sports, Young Adult, Contemporary, Canada, Middle Grade

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2013

About the author

This has come from his About Tom section in his website: http://www.tomearle.ca/.

Background

I was born in Orillia, Ontario and I have spent most of my life in and around the Orillia area. I grew up playing hockey in the winter and waterskiing in the summer. When I was a kid my goal in life was to play on the Leafs top line with Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler. My hockey career did allow me to travel the world and I was able to visit places that I probably would not have been able to see otherwise but unfortunately you won’t find my name listed in the Leafs’ player directory.

I graduated from Orillia District Collegiate in 1985 and then moved to New Hampshire to attend Dartmouth College. After Dartmouth, I spent a year in England where I played hockey for the Whitley Bay Warriors of the British Ice Hockey League. I returned to Canada where I completed a history degree at Carleton University in Ottawa and my teaching degree at York University in Toronto. Twenty years ago I was hired by the Simcoe County District School Board and I have been teaching grade seven and eight ever since. I continue to hold out hope that the Leafs will realize that I am the right winger of their dreams but until they call I’ll keep teaching school and writing novels.
Hockey

I played my minor hockey in the Orillia Minor Hockey Association. When I was seventeen I made the local Junior ‘A’ team called the Orillia Travelways. We made it all the way to the national final where we lost the Centennial Cup (now called the RBC Cup) to Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
The next year I played Junior ‘B’ for the Barrie Colts. I never thought that a kid from Orillia could play for Barrie. The Barrie/Orillia rivalry makes a Leafs/Habs game look friendly and polite, but I had a great time and met a lot of terrific people.

I then moved to New Hampshire where I played right wing for Dartmouth College. I never did get to play with Darryl Sittler, but at Dartmouth I wore his number 27.

1986/87 was to be my last year of competitive hockey. Playing for the Whitley Bay Warriors of the British Ice Hockey League was a fantastic experience. It was the only year that I got to play with my older brother Jim. The British people love their hockey. Not quite as much as soccer, rugby or darts, but we did get to play on national television and that was pretty cool.

Summer

I have had a lifetime fascination with boats. One of the first books I ever read was Walter Lord’s classic about the Titanic called A Night To Remember. I’d love to write a novel about the Titanic but I think that topic has been pretty well covered by other writers.

When I was thirteen I got my first job slugging gas cans and water skis at Fern Resort. That summer I won the Ontario Water Ski Championships in ski jumping. I ended up spending the next fifteen summers teaching waterskiing at Fern. My love of the water and summertime comes through in The Hat Trick where I get to live out my boating fantasies by having Ricky Phillips own a couple of really sweet boats.

Other Stuff

I’ve been married to my best friend Janet for 22 years. We have three fantastic kids and a really friendly, yet slightly demented black lab named Maggie. I enjoy playing guitar but I can’t sing to save my life and I enjoy golf but I can’t stop slicing the ball to save my life. Basically my life is pretty simple. In the winter I teach and write and I still play hockey every Wednesday night with guys that I met playing Junior hockey all those years ago. In the summer I write and water ski, and golf. Life is good. Life would be better if the Leafs would make the playoffs. Life would be perfect if they’d win the Stanley Cup.

Reviews

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been reluctant to read this "hockey book", but when I finally started Home Ice Advantage I was pleasantly surprised to realize that it was so much more than a hockey book. Jake is a very good hockey player, but often not good enough in his father's eyes. When Jake no longer tolerate his father's acts of "tough love", he runs away and while he is living on the streets he befriends a homeless man with an incredible past. Jake and the man are able to move forward together. With strong themes of abuse, homelessness/poverty, and friendship, this "hockey book" is an incredible story right for any middle grade/YA reader regardless of gender or interest in hockey!
Selected as a 2015 MYRCA Honour Book.

[Macey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a very well written book that actually could be relatable to a lot of people. It shows how abusive families or relationships can affect people's decisions and affect how they react and act daily. It's a really interesting book with new surprises in the plot every other chapter. I really recommend this book if you like hockey or other sports.

[Andy Starowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a slow start, the plot picked up speed and this was a quick read. The 6th grade hockey players (and students who enjoy reading novels about sports) will really enjoy this book. This novel reads a bit differently than most sports books that my students read because they read about the big three sports - football, basketball, and baseball. They may enjoy reading about hockey, which is set in a place where hockey is king. I look forward to reading Earle's young adult novel entitled The Hat Track.

[Christine J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, quick read, suitable for middle school age. Hockey players will like the story.

[Sav]

I thought it was a pretty good book.

[Ariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Was the best fiction book I have read so far in the award nominees so far. I have a slight grasp on hockey in general (Teams, Players, the game/rules, terms) and like watching hockey-which really helped me figure out what was going on if you don't know ANYTHING about hockey or aren't interested in the sport this may be a difficult read or just plain boring when it goes into 4 solid pages of hockey plays, terms and so on. I'm guessing this book is directed to a person who knows hockey or a lest a little in order to get it and enjoy it as it was supposed to be. Also the whole ordeal with Sam was really interesting and unexpected. I'm sure boys his age can relate to him at some point throughout this book. It's about Jake (who is 12 I'm guessing) a hockey player and to him hockey is life. He has what it takes in order to progress and his team has just been invited to the most prestigious peewee tournament in the world but when his home life falls apart he is forced to make a life changing decision to run away from home and calls the abandoned Maple Leaf Gardens home but in midst of all the chaos he meets the most unexpected person imaginable along his way. Is he going to just throw his hockey career away before it started or will he finally come to terms with what happened and continue to play hockey? Overall I recommend this book to anyone who likes hockey mostly boys but I liked it so I guess some girls would like it.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home Ice Advantage twists together a fun hockey story with a sometimes hard-hitting emotional narrative. The mix is a success, and middle-grade and YA readers will enjoy this story about overcoming challenges in life and on the ice.

[Thano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is about a boy named Jake who loves to play hockey and he is really good. Jake has an abusive father so after his dad beats him up Jake runs away. Jake goes to the streets of Toronto and breaks into Maple Leaf Gardens which hasn't been used in years. Jake meets a homeless man named Scooter in the gardens. Scooter shows Jake a Toronto Sun Article about him and his mom says she wants him to come home. Jake soon realizes that Scooter used to play for the leafs and was on the Stanley cup winning team. This book was very well written and I liked it.

[Megan Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had mixed emotions about this particular book. I don't know what is was, it was just wasn't what I expected. I started enjoying the book in the beginning but after a few chapters I wasn't really feeling it, it didn't feel appealing anymore. I didn't like how the same hockey team won all the hockey games it was like reading the same thing over and over again. I didn't really understand most of the "hockey slang" maybe a glossary in the back of the book would be helpful for the people who don't know much about hockey or it's vocabulary.

[Ericka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about this book. Maybe it's because I don't really line hockey in general. At the beginning of the book it was pretty good but towards the middle and end it kind of went down hill. I didn't like how the same team would win every time it was like I was reading the same thing over and over again

[Rachel Seigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and sensitive treatment of child abuse that puts Maple Leaf Gardens in the limelight, and has enough hockey history and facts to keep boys reading. A bit obvious in its message, but good for discussion.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another hockey/abuse story, Jake runs away and takes shelter in the crumbling Maple Leaf Gardens where he befriends a homeless man. Leaf's fans will appreciate the locale and the trivia, readers will fear for then cheer for Jake who may save more than just himself.

[Erika Janni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't my favourite, im not interested that much in hockey, this book was ok, and im sure boys would like it. This book was interesting at some points. But if your interested in hockey than you would like this book!

[Hailie Bienvenu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book. Probably because I don't really like hockey in general. There where a few hockey terms I didn't really understand. I didn't like it how the same team was winning every game. It was always the same and repeating itself.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting but nothing too special. Good read overall