I received this book at no cost from the publisher
Any Way You Slice It by Kristine Carlson Asselin ISBN: 9781619637832
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA on April 21st 2015
Genres: General, Girls & Women, Hockey, Juvenile Nonfiction, Love & Romance, Sports & Recreation, Young Adult
Pages: 250
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Penelope Spaulding just can't catch a break. Between long hours at the family restaurant, homework, and her parents' plans for her future, it's hard to find a spare moment to breathe. But when she laces up her skates and steps on the ice, everything slips away...
Racing around the rink allows her to blow off steam after yet another fight with her dad about going to culinary school. So when Jake Gomes, the bad boy who lives down the street, dares her to join the Rink Rats, the local misfit hockey team, she surprises herself and joins in silent defiance of her father and his expectations.
The more she plays, the easier it is to keep lying, and soon Pen finds it impossible to come clean. She’s sneaking out to practice—and loving every minute of it. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with hockey…and Jake’s not half bad either. But she knows it can’t last. As soon as her dad finds out, she’ll be benched. For good.
She’s absolutely not going to tell her parents until she’s sure it will be worth the inevitable fight. Not only is she skipping shifts at Slice Pizza while a foodie reality show is on the horizon, but her lies are starting to take their toll on her game. It’s only a matter of time before everything falls apart.
With the team counting on her and with her relationship with Jake on the line, will she have to sacrifice the thing she wants most for the people she loves? Or can she step up and take her best shot?
MY THOUGHTS
Pen (Penelope) really wants to play hockey, but her father has other plans for her. He wants her to take over the family’s pizza parlor, Slice, and go to culinary school. Although Pen truly loves the restaurant, it has been her life for as long as she can remember. Also, Jake, the boy who she has been in hate with for the last four years is suddenly friendly again. He challenges her to take up hockey with her skating talent since his team really needs help. With the hormones flying, it made me wonder which was the real reason for him asking her to skate.
As Pen tries to hide her activities from her parents and explore exactly what she wants from life, she finds that her first romance and finds out what friendship is all about. This is typical teen angst but done in a wonderful fashion that is fresh, not canned, like some television culinary hosts Pen favors. The juxtaposition of hockey against cooking is a good contrast for explaining exacting what teens are going through at this age. This one is safe for pre-teens and has a postive message!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kristine Carlson Asselin is the author of fourteen children’s books for the school library market. In addition to nonfiction, she writes Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. She has a BS from Fitchburg State University and an MA from the University of Connecticut.
Her debut YA novel – ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT – will be available from Bloomsbury Spark in 2015. Her first picture book, WORST CASE OF PASKETTI-ITIS was published in June 2013.
A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Kristine loves attending workshops to practice her craft and meet other writers. She is currently on deck to direct the 2014 New England SCBWI Conference.
She loves books–mostly middle grade and young adult. She’s a sucker for a good love song. And she can’t resist an invitation for Chinese Food or Ice Cream. But not together.
She is represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
Kristine lives with her husband and daughter in a suburb near Boston.
Find out more about Kristine at www.kristineasselin.com or www.krisasselin.blogspot.com.
PLEASE WELCOME KRISTINE TO BOOKHOUNDS YA
What is in Kristine’s Bag?
These are all things that are in my bag all the time this spring.
- My favorite gum, Dentyne Fire, to which I am slightly addicted.
- Earbuds
- Shea Cashmere hand cream from the Body Shop
- A tiny bottle of advil. J
- Lipstick
- Copies of AWYSI bookmarks, and my fancy sharpies, just in case.
- Also, there is a smattering of old receipts, tissues, and scraps of paper—but those didn’t photograph well!
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My escape is a good book and a bubble bath 🙂
Watching TV
cooking, playing video games and cross stitching..
My escape is reading, of course, but also watching I Love Lucy with my mom. We watch it every single day on DVD. It could make anyone in a good mood 🙂
And I’m not sure if it’s just my computer or not, but I think your link to facebook might be broken? When I clicked on “visit us,” it showed a blank page. But I easily found you by typing your name into the search bar 🙂
My escape is taking a day and going geocaching with friends.