Reading Journal: I Hate Hockey, by François Barcelo (2011)

An entertaining novella that, because of the title and the depressed looking teenage boy in hockey gear on the cover, I was worried was YA when I took it out of the library. (Then again, I shouldn't be such a snob.) But diving into this book, there's a lot going on that's plenty adult: a man whose marriage is all but over gets called in to coach his son's hockey team - a sport you might have guessed he knows nothing about - and uncovers the secret sexual abuse that culminated in the last coach's murder. It's a book full of intrigue and sudden plot twists, and as a French speaker I can only pick out a couple of spots where something might have been lost in translation. (Shame on me, I should've read it in the original.) It's easily read in one sitting and there's a real surprise at the end - there wasn't exactly a resolution, and the characters seemed a little blasé about it all, but overall it was a decent read and good introduction to a prolific, Governor-General's Award-nominated Quebec author.