• Age: 10 to 13
• Grade: 4 to 8
• Reading age: 7 to 10

Mitch Stevens is a pretty hot hockey player: he's fast, he's smart and he's tough. He plays centre on the A-line of his Toronto Pee Wee team, the Hillcrest Stingers, with his best friend Zack Andermann on right wing.

Mitch and Zack have been linemates since they were five, so when they have to compete for a single spot on the league's select team best friends become fierce rivals. Soon the pressure of competition drives them apart, and they're forced to choose between their friendship and their ambitions.

Face Off is a fast moving story that illustrates the conflicts that young people face in competitive athletics.

CHRISTINE FORSYTH is a Toronto-based writer and graphic designer. She is the author of Face Off, Hockey Heat Wave, Power Hitter and Katie's Midnight Ride. Power Hitter and Katie\s Midnight Ride are Canadian Children's Book Centre "Our Choice" selections. She is also the author of the Lorimer SideStreets YA novel Adrenaline High.

Christine Forsyth's profile page

"The action never stops from the first smack of the puck to the final showdown with the arch rivals.... There is plenty of natural and realistic dialogue and the off-ice action is just as energetic as that in the rink."

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