Beartown
Fredrik Backman
Atria Books
From the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>A Man Called Ove</i>, <i>My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry,</i> and <i>Britt-Marie Was Here</i>, comes a poignant, charming novel about a forgotten town fractured by scandal, and the amateur hockey team that might just change everything.<BR>Winning a junior ice hockey championship might not mean a lot to the average person, but it means everything to the residents of Beartown, a community slowly being eaten alive by unemployment and the surrounding wilderness. A victory like this would draw national attention to the ailing town: it could attract government funding and an influx of talented athletes who would choose Beartown over the big nearby cities. A victory like this would certainly mean everything to Amat, a short, scrawny teenager who is treated like an outcast everywhere but on the ice; to Kevin, a star player just on the cusp of securing his golden future in the NHL; and to Peter, their dedicated coach...