Waiting to Score, J. E. MacLeod

"Quirky, smart and good looking, Zack Chase is a book-loving, talented hockey player. New in town, Zack's pitted against obnoxious Mac, the hockey team captain with something against Jane, the alluring Goth-girl who's caught Zack's eye. As he copes with sore losers, other people's drinking problems, and the consequences of making out with too many girls, Zack discovers other ways he wants to score in life, especially as a 15 year old guy with spiking hormones. Soon Zack finds out the hard way that people have secrets and burdens all their own, and that some actions have tragic, far-reaching consequences." "Waiting to Score", does indeed score big indeed. This book really delves into the life of teenagers with no responsibilities and parental negligence. Although, Zack is telling the story, you really get a good dose of the people around him and their issues that these teenagers are dealing with. Zack is a good kid, sometimes I thought he was too much of a good kid. Yeah, he'd drink with the rest of them, but he knew when he'd have enough. Even though these kids were 15 at times they could have been in college with the way the alcohol flowed and the sex was being had. Mac was the villain of the story and he was as nasty as you get. Constantly feeling threatened by the physical prowess of Zack on the ice, he'd find other ways to go after Zack. Zack, by the way, is the progeny of a dead hockey player who found himself dying in a precarious situation. Mac would attack Zack's mother, girls who happened to say hello him and of course, Jane. The love interest that you know both of them want. Jane is described as a bad goth-girl with her head constantly in a book. She is twin to David, another hockey team member and a raging alcoholic. She has been ordered by her parents to watch over David to make sure he doesn't drink "too" much. Of course, as a parent the red flags are going off in my head. But there are parents our there who will allow their kids to do whatever they want. But the person who Zack trusts above all else is Sheila. She works at the rink so gets the 411 on the latest hockey drama that is going on. At first she's quick to judge Zack as a hot-headed hockey player, but soon learns there is more to him than just hockey. However, just as things start going well with Jane, a tragedy that affects the whole community and especially Zack himself, makes some parents aware of the drinking and sex issue. Zack realizes that the only way to deal with the issues in front of him is on the ice. I liked this story a lot. My only issue is that Zack should've been a bit older than the 15 that J.E. aged him. At times he comes across as much older which could be because of his mother and the fact that they moved constantly. I was reading an advanced copy, so I hope some of the minor grammatical issues were taken care of. 3 Bookmarks