Teammate Turnaround

Teammate Turnaround is a story about friendship and supporting your friends through difficult transitions in life. Brady and Chester love to play hockey together, but when they go to “sort outs” to find out which team they will each be playing on, Chester discovers that he is going to be playing on a new team and not with Brady on the Icehogs anymore. Chester is devastated and proceeds to leave his hockey gear out in the front of the arena with a sign that it is free. Brady sees what Chester has done, and he works really hard to persuade his friend to continue playing hockey even if they can’t play on the same team this year.

Chester decides he does want to continue playing hockey, but, when he returns to the arena to pick up his gear, it has gone missing. Brady and Chester search for the gear and end up asking some other kids for help in looking. Eventually, the kids find the equipment in a storage locker, but they need to create a human pyramid in order to be able to reach the tall shelf. Chester gets back his equipment and realizes that the kids who helped him find his gear are going to be his new teammates. The first game of the season is the game between Chester and Brady’s teams, and Chester recognizes that it doesn’t matter which team he is on as long as he gets to play hockey, something he loves.

Teammate Turnaround covers a variety of topics, including friendship, hobbies and stepping outside of your comfort zone. It highlights that change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Its contents are relatable to children who play sports of any kind or who engage in any sort of team activity. The dialogue in the book is very natural and well-written.

The illustrations are colourful and very representative of a sports arena and team colours. That the kids’ hockey jerseys indicate which children are on the same team helps readers follow the storyline. Most of the children in the book are Caucasian, including both main characters. There could have been a better effort to show a more diverse team dynamic so that all kids can see themselves represented.