Matt Doeden

This was a pretty fun book about the Stanley Cup, and hockey history. I love reading old hockey stories and learned a few new ones from this book. I also love seeing old hockey photos and appreciated those as well.

As a long-time hockey fan who played women's hockey in high school and has become disenchanted with the NHL due to the violence and sexism in the league, I personally very much appreciated the inclusion of women's hockey in the "other leagues" section, and the inclusion of the show more fact that the NHL is going to have to reckon with CTE sooner or later, whether they want to or not. I appreciated the emphasis on the fact that the old rules (or lack of rules) about helmets and fights were, quite frankly, terrible.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. This would probably be a pretty good gift for a hockey-loving friend or family member out there.

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy which I received via Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review. show less

Five stars! It can’t have been easy taking such a complex and tragic topic and writing about it for children, but Matt Doeden has pulled it off admirably in this brief graphic novel. The language is simple and clear, but never condescending. In telling the story, Doeden shows a remarkable instinct for knowing which elements to include and which to omit. There were a lot of complicated factors that led to the disaster, but Doeden presents a clear (and very accurate) narrative, and he does show more so in only 27 pages. I am especially in awe of this book’s professional nature—this is one of the most balanced, objective, and non-misleading children’s history books I’ve seen. Doeden also shies away from the unprovable and the debunked. For example, there is debate about the last song performed by the band; Doeden shows the band playing as the ship sinks, but he does not specify any particular tune. Decisions such as this helped keep the book grounded in fact. Dialog that is quoted exactly appears in yellow speech bubbles, so that readers know what’s true and what’s been reconstructed. The illustrations are evocative and highly emotional, but never gruesome. Magnificently done! show less

Very informative, very interesting, and very entertaining as a hockey fan.

My one major complaint is that the second page cuts off as though a section is missing and the interludes between some pages interrupt the flow of information by cutting in midway through. However, this is still a really good book and I enjoyed it.

I didn't realize when I picked up this audio book on my library's app that I'd selected a kids' book. Realizing that as I finished the book, mitigates some but not all of my disappointment with this light-hitting, superficial and fairly whitewashed history.