In the days of Roch’s childhood, winters in the village of Ste. Justine were long. Life centered around school, church, and the hockey rink, and every boy’s hero was Montreal Canadiens hockey legend Maurice Richard. Everyone wore Richard’s number 9. They laced their skates like Richard. They even wore their hair like Richard. When Roch outgrows his cherished Canadiens sweater, his mother writes away for a new one. Much to Roch’s horror, he is sent the blue and white sweater of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, dreaded and hated foes to his beloved team. How can Roch face the other kids at the rink?
One of BookRiot's 50 Must-Read Canadian Children’s and YA Books
PRAISE FOR The Hockey Sweater:
"Stephen Harper said the book ‘still touches the hearts of Canadian hockey fans, young and old.’ . . . Justin Trudeau, who would become Prime Minister, called it ‘an iconic depiction of a truly Canadian experience.’” --Roy Macgregor, Globe and Mail
"It's a classic. . . . You can't really be a Canadian and not read it. It's become part of our cultural lexicon." --Canadian Children's Book News
". . . not only sweet and funny, but a wise parable about Quebec and English Canada." --Toronto Star
". . . Roch Carrier's timeless book about a boy's catalogue snafu resonated across this hockey-mad country--because who didn't understand the horror of receiving the enemy's hockey sweater in the mail?" --Faceoff.com
“[A] true-life parable woven so deeply into the national fabric that it’s hard to conceive of a time when it wasn’t there.” --Toronto Sun
