Icebreaker

by A. L. Graziadei

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Sports romance enthusiasts should look no further than Icebreaker for their next read. This earnest story of hockey rivals-to-lovers Mickey and Jaysen is sure to tug at heartstrings as the two find themselves – and each other.

A. L. Graziadei's Icebreaker is an irresistible YA debut about two hockey players fighting to be the best—and the romance that catches them by surprise along the way.

Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league's top draft spot.

The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he's willing to risk for it.

This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250777126
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	01/18/2022
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	126,632
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

A.L. Graziadei was born in Buffalo, New York and raised on Sabres hockey and video games, using their free time to write books inspired by both. Now living in Wisconsin, A.L. still plays plenty of video games and is a proud member of the Displaced Buffalo Sabres Fans group. Icebreaker is their first book.

Editorial Reviews

11/29/2021

Mickey James III, who’s white, loves hockey, but the steep expectations—he’s starting college at the school where his father and grandfather were hockey stars, and he’s a projected top-two pick for the next NHL hockey draft—weigh on him, amplifying his depression and anxiety. Plus, he’s bisexual, which he worries won’t go over well in “notoriously homophobic” hockey circles and with the media, even if the school’s athletic department has a zero-tolerance bigotry policy. Even so, Mickey can’t help noticing how attractive Jaysen “Cauler” Caulfield, his teammate and prickly rival for first pick, is. On paper, Mickey’s the consummate insider, whereas Cauler is Black in a largely white sport, has already sustained a career-threatening injury, and, Mickey’s starting to think, might be gay. Debut author Graziadei clearly knows the sport, but even readers who don’t will enjoy a tale that’s more than just enemies-to-lovers. At 17, narrator Mickey’s never really bothered making friends, and now he’s on a team that insists its players get along; their friendly byplay and love for the game, Mickey’s loving relationship with his sisters, and the book’s nuanced discussion of mental health make for a complex read. Ages 14–up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Graziadei’s empathetic first novel is richly plotted and handles its gay themes and hockey action well, making it a natural read-alike for Ngozi Ukazu’s Check, Please! #Hockey (2018). The author shoots and scores!" —Booklist

"A thoughtfully rewarding read for those who need one most." —Kirkus Reviews

"Debut author Graziadei clearly knows the sport, but even readers who don’t will enjoy a tale that’s more than just enemies-to-lovers . . . A complex read." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2021-11-16
Being a hockey phenom doesn’t magically cure overwhelming depression and anxiety, but falling for a teammate definitely complicates things.

At Hartland University in upstate New York, White freshman Mickey James III has the weight of his family’s hockey legacy on his shoulders: His father and grandfather are both alumni and former NHL legends. The all-but-guaranteed trajectory of his seemingly charmed life makes him deeply uneasy but also sows some initial resentment in his teammates, as Mickey’s mental health issues and years of sports-only development have left him a bit awkward. Luckily, they come to be overwhelmingly supportive—even Jaysen Caulfield, the other top NHL prospect and Mickey’s biggest rival, who is a Black player in a mostly White sport. Explicit conversations about mental health make for a refreshing take on the typical athlete’s journey. Mickey’s five older sisters and their respective successes also shed sobering light on gender inequity in sports while raising the stakes for Mickey in a family full of winners. Mickey’s queerness and budding relationship with Jaysen highlight first-time author Graziadei’s ability to balance teen melodrama and well-paced eroticism with a thoughtful, contemporary consideration of queer representation in sports and media. Despite well-worn tropes that move both boys from a tumultuous meet-cute toward as realistic a future as possible for two NHL players in love, Mickey’s progress with his mental health avoids predictability.

Equal measures unabashed romance and sports story; a thoughtfully rewarding read for those who need one most. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews