Woodsie

by Bruce Brooks

After the coach of the Wolfbay Wings leaves the team and takes five of the team's best players with him, rookie hockey player Dixon Woods must do all he can to make the team the champions they once were, despite the devastating loss of his coach and teammates. Original.

Genres: Sports, Hockey

116 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Bruce Brooks (born September 23, 1950) is an American author of young adult and children's literature. He was born in Washington D.C., but spent most of his time growing up in North Carolina as a result of parents' being divorced. Although divorce is never easy for a child, Brooks credits moving around a lot between the two locations with making him a keen observer of social situations. Switching schools often and having to make new friends evolved his ability to tell good stories. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1980. Before earning a living as a writer, Brooks had worked as a letterpress operator and a journalist for magazines and newspapers. Brooks has reported a very diverse list of influences, like Charles Dickens, Henry James, P.G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler. Brooks has three sons: Alex, 23, Spencer, 15, and Drake, 1. He lives with his wife Ginee Seo in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid offering for middle elementary students, with lots of play-by-play action and a character that's really devoted to and appreciative of hockey as a sport. The narrative voice sounds a little "old" but the emphasis on hockey action in the plot makes up for that.

SPOILER!

I also thought it was a realistic, though slightly odd choice to have the team lose their first game really badly and then end the book almost immediately afterwards. Maybe it's designed to make the reader want to continue the series, to find out how the team does? Anyway, this makes the book stand out from other feel-good stories for this age group.

[Jackson T · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really enjoy this book. It does not go into enough detail at the beginning so it is very tricky to understand. I also couldn't really get into this book after about the first 40-50 pages.

[Joshua Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was an ok book recommend to people who like hockey. Also has little parts of action in it but not every second. It also had conflict in it. So i rated it 3 stars.