Book Description
A riff on The Hockey Sweater for girls, an intergenerational story of the shared love of the sport, and a celebration of the storied Number 9 in hockey.
9-year-old Gabe (Gabriella) Murray lives and breathes hockey. She's the youngest player on her new team, she has a nifty move that her teammates call "the Gabe," and she shares a lucky number with her hero, Hayley Wickenheiser: number 22. But when her coach hands out the team jerseys, Gabe is stuck with number 9. Crushed, Gabe wants to give up hockey altogether. How can she play without her lucky number? Gabe's grandmother soon sets her straight, though--from her own connection to the number 9 in her hockey-playing days to all the greats she cheered for who wore it, she soon convinces Gabe that this new number might not be so bad after all.
A lovely intergenerational tale and a history of the storied number 9 in hockey, The Highest Number in the World is a must-have for any hockey fan
Review
I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Here is my honest review.
There are many layers to this book that draw you in. Working with preschoolers, one lesson we work on is: you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. This can be a difficult process to learn, but one that is really important as we go through life. We have all been disappointed at some point and this book introduces dealing with disappoint in a neat way. Living in Texas, hockey isn't the first sport that comes to mind; jerseys are common across the spectrum though.
It was also fun to see the main character portrayed as a young woman. With the introduction of grandma, the story quickly highlights how far acceptance for female athletes has come. The grandmother also provides insight on how our perception can make a huge difference. Young children have a fascination with big numbers, reciting something along the lines of:
six million, three hundred, two thousand, twelve, 8 million, five hundred and forty-two.
This book shows that even a single-digit numeral can be pretty impressive.
I gave this book: ★★★★
★ = I did not like it ★★ = It was okay ★★★ = I liked it
★★★★ = I really liked it ★★★★★ = I loved it
1 comment:
This sounds like a fun book! I like the focus on perspective and that it's multi-generational. It's unusual to find books about girls that are centered around sports. My daughter would've loved this in her soccer playing days!
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