{"product_id":"9781783012787","title":"Splinter: A Novel About Hockey, a Boy and a Bench","description":"'Once upon an ice rink\u003cbr\u003eAt a time forever more far away,\u003cbr\u003eIn a ramshackle heaven we skate\u003cbr\u003eDay after day after day'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSet in small town New England it's the wild world of 1970's hockey, with haunting echoes from a deeper past. That's when 14-year-old Jerry at last makes his first top team. Only, Jerry swiftly finds that making it, doesn't mean you've got it made.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's a journey through hurt and hope not made complete until after a reluctant coach, a would-be goon, and a not so friendly girlfriend combine, with an uncle, to bring out his best.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith coach Herman Harman's 'not now' frozen to the present, like the ice Jerry thinks he may only ever see from the bench, it takes his uncle's unlikely pep talk, and his unlikelier girlfriend's clarion call, to break him free.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Burn bright!' says undercover mailman Uncle Bob.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'You've got to take it,' says pretend girlfriend, star dancer Nell.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDoes he? Can, he?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJerry finds his answer during a bumpy 1971-72 season skating his last year of youth hockey with the Riverview Voyageurs Bantam A.","brand":"eBookPartnership.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47178154868976,"sku":"9781783012787","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781783012787_p0.jpg?v=1763724401","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781783012787","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}