Cold Day in the Sun

February 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Romance heats things up for an ice hockey player and her team captain. Holland Delviss is at the top of her game in a sport dominated by boys. She works hard to keep her spot on the male varsity team, but tensions rise as some people in her community question whether she should be on the team. Worse, her captain, Wes, is giving her a hard time during practice. She's soon surprised to learn that he shares her enthusiasm for glam metal, but her growing attraction for him is a concern. When she and Wes realize their mutual feelings for each other, Holland breaks her own rule: no dating teammates. As the romance builds, Holland's team prepares to compete in a televised, statewide event, and she finds herself the center of attention as her relationship with Wes endangers everything she's worked for. Biren has created a romance that fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen should love. The chemistry between the main characters is engaging, and the conflict within the team will keep teens interested. VERDICT A worthy addition to any YA romance or sports fiction shelves.-Sandi Jones, Wynne High School, AR

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2019
It's not easy being the only girl on the boys' varsity hockey team.It's especially difficult when your arrogant team captain calls you a nickname you hate, townspeople are free with their opinions about how you shouldn't be allowed to play with the boys, and your journalism teacher is riding you hard about the articles you're producing. Holland isn't having a great time of it, and when that same arrogant team captain turns out to be the piece that's been missing in her life--well, love doesn't exactly make things any easier. Now, in addition to having to prove herself over and over in terms of her hockey skills, she also has to prove that she isn't getting special favors because she's dating the captain. A fun romp of a teen romance via an exciting hockey season, this book has all the right ingredients--a spunky, multifaceted main character, a love interest who turns out to be a decent individual, and plenty of internal and external conflict. Some of the lines feel a little timeworn, but overall the plot whips along with verve, driven by fully embodied characters who chase after love like they're chasing after a puck. The cast presents as white and includes a gay partnership.A teenage love story steamy enough to melt the ice in the rink. (Fiction. 14-18)

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February 1, 2019
Grades 8-11 Holland has always had to prove she was talented enough to play with the guys. Now, as a member of her high school's boy's hockey team, that means giving 100 percent on the ice, and trying to ignore any disapproving comments. Keeping her head in the game wouldn't be so tough if the cocaptain Wes wasn't always on her case. But when they bond over a love of '80s music, she starts considering breaking her "no dating teammates" rule. Biren?'s (The Last Thing You Said, 2017) latest is a fun read that simultaneously puts the reader into the hockey world as an insider and an outsider. Holland and her teammates are introduced in a swirl of nicknames and maneuvers, while her struggle to feel completely at home is explored poignantly. Though what it means to be the girl on a boys team is a constant theme, it's a last-act gut punch that really puts a spotlight on what female athletes have to deal with. A must-read for anyone who has had to defy expectations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
In Halcyon Lake, Minnesota, Holland Delviss feels endless pressure to prove she's earned her spot as the only girl on the boys' varsity hockey team. Biren's feisty protagonist faces high-stakes challenges--including a make-or-break interview that will determine her small-town team's chance to play in a nationally televised "HockeyFest" game--and the more personal dilemma of whether to follow her no-dating-teammates rule or her heart.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)