Break Away: Jessie on My Mind (Break Away series) - Softcover

"From the first page it was hard to put down. It is excellent for teens. Sylvain Hotte's writing is captivating, energetic and pure. His characters are lively, likeable and endearing." - Cecile Bertrand, Info-culture|"The story of Alexandre McKenzie is both simple and fascinating... you are immersed in a remote world, little known to urban dwellers, that is dominated by skidoos, moose hunting, trapping, logging, unemployment and related problems of alcohol and drugs... Alex is courageous but above all loyal to his own instinct." Radio-Canada/CBC, Youth books.

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.