Learning how to control ones anger and find balance is not as easy as it looks especially when you are unsure of who you are and what you really want.
General Information:
- Age Range: 12 and up
- Price: $6.89
- Grade Level: 7 – 9
- Lexile Measure: 0880
- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (March 5, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1442460016
- ISBN-13: 978-1442460010
Plot:
Iceman follows the story of Eric who is a part of an Irish family of four from the New England area. He is in high school and lives with his father, mother, and older brother Duane who used to be the star athlete in the family before he stopped everything and took up music and focused on education much to his father’s disappointment. That disappointment was filed by Eric playing hockey and he is a terrific player, maybe not as technical as Duane but the story starts off with him as a bruiser on the ice. He hits everyone and everything as hard as he can and can take over the game when he wants but at other times he doesn’t have his heart in it and may take someone out (albeit dirtily) but they end up losing. The story is Eric trying to discover who he is and what he likes to do. This coupled with the fiery nature of his family leads to a lot of inner turmoil and he uses that to fuel his rage on the ice. Eventually a terrific canadian player who he plays against in a tournament has a heart to heart with him after a brutal slugfest on the ice and Eric eventually finds who he is and what he is about in order to calm himself and find true happiness.
Reading and Interest Level:
The reading level for Iceman is for 7-9th grades and ages 12-15. However I believe the interest level for this book would likely be more for high school students. I think that middle school students can read this book and enjoy it however the subject matter will likely mean more to the High School students.
Evaluation:
My evaluation of Iceman is a positive one. It is not one of Chris Lynch’s more well known titles however it is definitely written in his style. The writing is concise and easy to understand with his points and themes coming across strongly. The reader will feel engaged but it has enough though provoking moments to keep the reader thinking about Eric the main character and the issues his character is working through. In this matter it also drives the reader to think about those issues as they tend to be shared by many people during their teenage years. As such the book is thought provoking which therefore makes it an effective book at sharing Chris Lynch’s thoughts.
Bibliotherapeutic Value:
The bibliotherapeutic value of this book comes both from the message within the book and also how it was written. This book is written with a male audience as its intended main target and it provides an insightful look to growing up with a slightly dysfunctional family and with inner turmoil which can lead to some anger issues and general uneasiness about your life and situation. It provides a terrific look at how channeling anger and aggression through sports can be helpful but at some point in time you must sit down and look at oneself to deal with the root of these issues, otherwise even your sport will start to not bring you joy out their anymore.
Issues Present:
The issues present within the book Iceman are as followed: excessive violence, endorsing of violence within a sports setting, and a view of poor parenting. This book may not be as controversial as some of Chris Lynch’s other books however it does have its moments and with the targeted audience being so young it makes the issues highlighted previously much more important.
Defending the Title:
The defense of this book is that it is very realistic and it does not do anything “just to do it” when it came to the violence in the book. Many teen boys turn to sports to deal with issues (many others don’t as well) and those who do turn to sports may funnel their troubles into their playing style. This book highlights that situation which is very important so that teens don’t lose track of why they are playing a sport and that it can’t fix the problem at its source which is what really needs to happen. When it doesn’t other parts of your life start falling apart such as Eric’s when he stopped going to school as much and then the sport itself started not being fun anymore. Overall this is a terrific gateway book for reluctant male readers with a relatable tie in to sports that is well written by a well known YA author.
Book Talk Idea:
If one was to run a book talk discussion about the book Iceman, I would recommend the discussion to revolve around the situations of Eric discussing non-hockey things with his family. Throughout the book the story revolves around hockey as it is the main backdrop for the book however the insightful look into Eric’s psyche and thought process tends to come during the non-playing moments whether it be at home or in the car or between periods in the locker room. The pages that some of the more important moments happen on would be: 9, 14, 27, 49, 84, 95, 99, 110, 128, etc.
Genre
The genre of the book is Teen Fiction with sports, emotions, feeling, and family dynamics being the core subject matter within the book.
Similar Reads:
If one was to run a book talk discussion about the book Iceman, I would recommend the discussion to revolve around the situations of Eric discussing non-hockey things with his family. Throughout the book the story revolves around hockey as it is the main backdrop for the book however the insightful look into Eric’s psyche and thought process tends to come during the non-playing moments whether it be at home or in the car or between periods in the locker room. The pages that some of the more important moments happen on would be: 9, 14, 27, 49, 84, 95, 99, 110, 128, etc.
The genre of the book is Teen Fiction with sports, emotions, feeling, and family dynamics being the core subject matter within the book.
Similar Reads:
Authors Website:
I could not find a personal website for Chris Lynch though he does have many sites on publishers pages such as:
www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Chris-Lynch/16756570
Awards Won:
ALA Best Book for Young Adults List
ALS/YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Professional Reviews:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/chris-lynch/iceman/
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-023340-2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/467429.Iceman
Why I chose to read Iceman?
In High School I devoted a lot of my pent up energy, frustrations and anger issues towards sports, playing every contact sport I could such as Football, Wrestling, Water Polo, Lacrosse, and Rugby (in college). I saw the summary of Iceman and was really curious what a renown author such as Chris Lynch has to say about this situation. I was pleasantly surprised at what I found in the book and I am really glad I picked the book up as it was enjoyable to read. I think that this book can be really useful for a lot of boys who may find themselves in this kind of position.
Librarianship 