The Adventures of Caraway Kim … Right Wing

4 February 2011

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing
by Don Truckey
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Kim McCullough
$10.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-43-0

Set in the dead of a 1960s Alberta winter, The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is the story of eleven-year-old Kim and his race to become Top Scorer of the Caraway hockey team. Kim was first introduced in author Don Truckey’s first ‘Caraway Kim’ novel for middle years readers: The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Southpaw, published in 2005.

To win the title of Top Scorer, Kim he has to beat Brad Rooks, the local troublemaker. The boys’ rivalry continues off-ice, forcing Kim to confront his own sense of right and wrong, as well as stand up for himself against Brad’s overbearing ways. In Kim, Truckey continues to follow a likeable young hero who makes realistic choices.

Truckey’s clear rendering of a time he calls “before now” makes life in the 1960s come alive. Young hockey fans interested in the old days of the Original Six will be thrilled with the detailed descriptions of the difficulties players faced back in those days: the rough ice; the biting cold; and the thin, not-so-protective equipment that left heads, knees and throats vulnerable to injury. The play-by-play action of the hockey games will keep young readers engaged and interested.

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is more than just a sentimental journey back to “the good old days” before indoor rinks and Zambonis. Truckey weaves the weightier issues of bullying and shoplifting into the story, challenges that are still relevant to today’s youth. He does not whitewash Kim’s struggles with Brad, but allows him to work through and resolve them in a way that is both satisfying and believable.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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