Blue Ice

By Hammond Innes

Book Overview

Nick Stirling figures his life is over. His dad's been laid off and doesn't seem to care, his family has to move to a crummy house on the wrong side of town, and Nick is transferred to another school. But that's not the half of it. He can't play inline hockey anymore for the team sponsored by his dad's old company. And his new neighbourhood has a team - the Phantoms - made up of a bunch of losers in old roller blades who can't skate backward.

When Nick is asked to join the "losers" in a minor tournament, he discovers that what they lack in skill they make up for in guts. After the Phantoms get a sponsor and a coach, Nick has a chance to make a difference with his new team. And for the first time, he begins to make real friends.

There's no way he'd ever go back to his old team, even if they begged. . . Or would he?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550415468
• ISBN13: 9781550415469
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Hero vs Norway

Hammond Innes wrote this shortly after the war and the characters are all carrying some aspect of their wartime pasts with them. Ostensibly a quest to find the man who knows where there are valuable Thorite deposits in Norway, the Hammond Innes reader knows they are in for some very rich scene setting. This book covers in depth sailing including in bad and icy conditions, a whaling station (ie slaughterhouse), and an icy trail on foot and skis across Norwegian mountains. Each is described with the eye of one who has lived it, and that is the primary treat in every Hammond Innes book. He went there, he lived it, he flensed, he gybed, he trekked. The story is a standard one with bad guys and good guys and a pretty girl, but the characters are deeply enough drawn to make the experience vivid and alive. If you see it, buy it. If you're new to Hammond Innes, then dive in and enjoy...

Superior espionage mayhem -- one of the best

Innes's thriller is one of the finest espionage novels I have read. Dark and icy Norwegian atmosphere, very strong characters, solid plotting. From page one, you know you're in the hands of a pro. It's too bad this little gem in out of print. See if you can track it down! Highly recommended.

Top of the line

I was weaned on maritime espionage novels in the tradition of Alistair MacLean. "The Blue Ice" is probably the best of these I have ever read -- superlative in every way. Icy Norwegian atmosphere, excellent characterizations, strong plotting. Thrillers just don't get better than this one!