Eddy and the Habs — Adrian Robert Gostick

"On his worst day Eddy Shackelford was our best hockey player. On a good day, we couldn't touch him. His slap shot was so quick his stick kicked up sparks as it brushed along the road. Yet he was quiet, not one to boast about his skill. There was something about Eddy that would have made us follow him to the ends of the earth if he'd wanted it; at least we thought we would at the time."


When Eddy Shackelford moves with his family onto Pierrefond Avenue in Montreal, Canada, he quickly establishes himself as the toughest kid on the block and the best hockey player, too. He is a "natural," and it is easy to imagine him one day even playing for the Canadiens.

Things change, though, when Eddy's mom invites the Mormon missionaries into their home. Overnight, Eddy loses his status as the neighborhood hero, and the firestorm of suspicion and animosity that results threatens to tear the Pierrefond Avenue neighborhood apart.

This fast-paced novel is about sport and growing up. It's also about loyalty and what it's like when you have to choose between the crowd and your best friend or between going on a mission and playing professional hockey.