Break Away: Jessie on My Mind — Sylvain Hotte

Winter, teenagers, and dreams of glory come together in this novel about the reaction of a small working-class town when the local hero decides not to join a professional hockey team. Talented Alexandre McKenzie lives on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River, where in summer he rides the logging trails on his quad, and in winter -- after school and hockey practice -- he likes to head off alone to a bush camp outside town. When he meets and falls in love with an unusual girl, Jessie, who has been plagued by tragedy, his friends and neighbors criticize him for stepping outside the popular crowd. Fighting to hold his head high, Alex takes comfort in his love of nature and his sightings of a magnificent bull moose -- and he knows that he does not want a future in sports.