The Legend

Griffin Tardiff is a keen hockey player, but he’s been sidelined by a fractured humerus and hockey is off the table for the foreseeable future. Life continues on, however, and Griff finds himself at a new school in Glenavon after the family has relocated for a year due to his dad’s job. One of the obligations in grade 11 is some sort of community service, and Griff is lucky enough to land an internship at the local radio station helping out with coverage of area sports. However, things get a little complicated when his radio station mentor is unreliable, a local boy turns to Griff when he needs a ‘safe place’, and long-distance girlfriend Blair seems less and less interested in their relationship unless it is completely on her terms.

Jean Mills gives her readers an outstanding main character in The Legend. Griff is at the centre of a sort of Venn diagram with intersecting circles containing his old life in Ottawa, his current life in Glenavon and his potential future as a sports journalist. He faces the physical challenge of his hockey injury with strength and resilience despite his frustration, certain that one day he will return to the ice. Griff’s high EQ and willingness to help others shows up when he deals with Noah, a young neighbourhood boy who loves hockey but whose family can’t afford the equipment and extras in order to let him play. Griff goes out of his way to be kind to Noah and to get to the bottom of what is worrying him. He also eventually works with the school in order to help disadvantaged kids participate in sports. And Griff is a confident, capable and hard-working individual who takes on duties at the radio station with calm expertise and an inherent understanding of what makes good journalism. Griffin seems to have it all, and readers will be delighted to experience life with him within this book.

Mills works within the present, past and future of Griffin’s life in an interesting way. Readers meet good friends from his old hockey team in Ottawa and come to realize how important teamwork and solid relationships are during one’s teenage years. The past also includes girlfriend Blair, and readers watch how Griff learns and matures as he works his way through the complications of a long distance relationship with a very needy and self-absorbed young woman.

The present is in the town of Glenavon, and readers see Griff’s very supportive parents and sisters. Noah and his sister Rosie are important new people in Griff’s world, and he appreciates that Rosie is a talented and caring yet independent young woman who knows what she wants. Mills also adds some mystery to the present time in the character of Guy Martin, Griff’s mentor at the radio station. He doesn’t keep his commitments, disappears from time to time and leaves Griff wondering just what kind of relationship he has – or wants to have – with Rosie, Noah and their mother.

And then there’s the future which Mills hints at within the novel. Griff is only learning the ropes of journalism and broadcasting but seems to have what it takes to potentially make this a career. Readers watch him as he reports on local games and then moves on to a wider scene, rubbing shoulders with both professional athletes and the journalists who cover them and their sports. He works at a radio station, The Legend 99.1, and readers can speculate if Griff might have a chance at becoming a legend in his own right, either on the ice or in the press boxes of well-known arenas.

Hockey enthusiasts will enjoy this book as Mills has insights not only into the sport but into the psyche of players and coaches and the way sports teams work. Other young adult readers will relate to the emotions faced by Griff and the other teens. Mills understands teenagers and provides characters that are true-to-life and interesting. And there is just a touch of romance and just a touch of intrigue added to the plot – enough to ensure readers are engaged from beginning to end.

In 2018, I gave Mills’ novel Skating Over Thin Ice an excellent rating, and, if anything, she has only improved since then. The Legend is a top-notch young adult book from a prize-winning author.