Tommy comes from a hockey family, but he's too shy to play on a team. Tommy's hockey-legend grandfather works with him on the frozen ponds, and when his brother's team needs help, it's (a reluctant) Tommy's turn for glory. His miracle-on-ice turnaround seems a stretch, but character-driven oil paintings present a humorous juxtaposition of a nervous freckled boy and a face-painted, referee-taunting grandfather. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In hockey, there is a tradition: win or lose, you rise to the challenge. Tommy is the youngest in a hockey family, but he is too shy to take to the ice for his development-league teamtestified by his nervous stutter, for which he is teased mercilessly by a clutch of bullies. But his grandpa, who played on a Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings team, nurtures Tommy's talent with one of the greatest of pleasures: pond hockey. He also regales Tommy with stories of Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr, and Gordie Howe, all of whom elevated the game to a near-sublime level. During the boys' championship game, the bench is short players, and the coach asks Tommy if he will take to the ice. And Tommy finally does. Though Hyman's writing can sometimes be as hokily wooden as an old hockey stick"Tell you what, kidyou score and they'll never forget you!You'll be a real-life legend!" and Pullen's faces have a slightly startling, rubbery look, the story has an ingenuous wisdom. And Grandpa is just kooky enoughpainting his face red and white for games and throwing octopuses onto the ice, a weird old Red Wings custom that Hyman ought somehow to have explainedto remind readers that sports, first and foremost, should be fun. A fine look into hockey's heart. (Picture book. 6-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.