Hat Trick - by W. C. Mack (Guest Review)

When you hear the phrase “Hat Trick,” what do you think of?  A hockey player scoring three goals, right? Well, the “Hat Trick” in the book Hat Trick refers to the main character Jonathon McDonald, and his quest to get good scores on three math tests.

Everything was going great in Jonathon’s middle school hockey career, until Eddie moved into town.  Jonathon was nervous that Eddie would take over his spot on the starting lineup, because they both play the same position.  Their rivalry continued into math class. But in math class, their play WASN’T as equal as it was on the hockey rink.

Jonathon struggled in math.  His parents decided that it was time that he needed some help.  To Jonathon’s absolute disgust, that help turned out to be a tutor named Eddie: his rival!  To make things even worse, his parents also decided that if he didn’t do well on the next three tests, he wouldn’t be able to play hockey for the rest of the season.

Now Jonathon needed to learn how to work as hard on his schoolwork as he did at hockey.  He also needed to learn how to turn a rival into a teammate.

Will Jonathon and Eddie get along?  Will Jonathon score a “Hat Trick” in math?  If you want to find out, then skate on over to the library or bookstore to “check” out this book!  I rate this book a 9 out of 10, and would definitely NOT put it in the penalty box. I think this book was a real page-turner!

(Thanks to 4th Grader and hockey player  Tyler K. for this excellent guest review!  Go Tonka!)