School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-6-Gertrude Chandler Warner's Boxcar children-Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny-once again find themselves right in the middle of a mystery (Whitman, pap. 2001). While skating at the local ice rink, the children are surprised to meet retired hockey star Kevin Reynolds who has just moved to Greenfield and plans to create a girls hockey team, the Polar Bears, and build a new ice rink. When Kevin sees how well Jessie, a figure skater, skates, he invites her to join the Polar Bears and Henry to be an assistant coach. At their very first practice though, mysterious things begin to happen. First the orange cones to be used by the team during practice go missing, then ink is spilled all over the plans for the new skating rink, and Jessie's figure skates are stolen. The list of their suspects quickly grows to include Kevin's daughter Kathy, a team player's mother, and the figure skating coach. Narrator Aimee Lilly captures the mysterious moments, the thrill of a hockey game, and quiet family times by giving the characters individual personalities with subtle voice changes. The reading is well paced so that listeners can read along with the book. A welcome addition to elementary grade collections.-Veronica Schwartz, Des Plaines Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.