A beautiful upper middle grade novel in verse about hockey, anxiety, and learning to have empathy for yourself. I loved it.

Game Face by Shari Green introduces readers to hockey player Jonah who struggles with anxiety. He plays goalie and is finding that his anxiety is starting to affect his game play. After a scary medical emergency during a game impacts his teammate/best friend, his anxiety spirals. Jonah is conflicted about seeking help but will need to find the courage to do so. While hockey is at the forefront of this novel in verse and the game is captured beautifully in the poems, this is not simply a sports book. Game Face addresses anxiety in a way that readers will be able to access and provides an example of how reaching out for help is okay.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC to read and review.

I thought that the in-verse writing was okay as well as the plot. I do think that kids would be drawn to this book because of the content

This was one of my favorite novels in verse that I read in 2023. I loved this book so much and this beautiful story about friendship and anxiety. I absolutely loved the messy family dynamics and focus on emotions in this one!

GAME FACE is a really interesting new novel in verse for lovers of Kwame Alexander's THE CROSSOVER or Dusti Bowling's THE CANYON'S EDGE. Jonah and his best friend play for the same competitive hockey team, and Jonah's starting to feel overwhelmed by the pressure to perform on the ice. He's also dealing with his mom's death (in a car crash) and his father's resulting retreat into anxiety. Then his best friend has an intense medical emergency, and Jonah's own anxiety starts to spiral.

What I liked: the relationship Jonah develops with his neighbour Rosie, the dynamic with his Oma, and the use of space on the page. And obviously, hockey is a big win for a key segment of my student population.

What didn't work for me: The beginning felt a bit unbelievable/forced. I didn't believe that Jonah was 13 (he seemed much younger) and it kind of felt like a trauma dump at the start. After about halfway it got much better, in my opinion. I'm worried it will lose kids before then... but I'm often wrong about that kind of thing!

Game Face is a novel in verse about a boy named Jonah, who struggles with anxiety. When his best friend experiences a life-changing medical emergency his anxiety becomes worse and he finds he is no longer able to conceal it from his friends and family. This is an interesting way to talk about anxiety in a middle grade novel and the verse really helps the reader understand Jonah's feelings. There is a lot of hockey in the book as well, which makes it a good option for those students who will only read sports books.

Shari Green's newest novel-in-verse holds the nuance and emotional power her readers have come to expect from her. Thirteen-year-old Jonah is afraid he's facing the same monster his father is: an anxiety disorder that has only grown bigger since the death of his mom several years prior. When his anxiety begins to mess with his hockey game, frustrating his best friend, a fight followed by a medical emergency in his friend's life sends his anxiety into overdrive. Jonah must find the courage to reach out for help, and trust friends enough to be open about his struggles, or he may find himself as isolated and homebound as his dad.

As usual Shari brings her special magic in intergenerational companionship. I always appreciate how deftly she explores the losses the elderly face, while bringing more understanding to kids and how those changes affect them.

I also love that the sport highlighted in this verse novel is hockey. I've read so many baseball and basketball books, but hockey is the sport I grew up around the most. And I don't often see it portrayed like it is in this story. Highly reccommend!

Game Face is a novel in verse about two bits obsessed with ice hockey- until one has a medical emergency. Guilt, anxiety, loss, friendship- so much to sift through and process. Wonderfully written.

As a hockey fan and someone with anxiety, this book resonated with me. Novels in verse are not something I usually select, but I found myself devouring this book. Not everyone will appreciate the poetic descriptions of hockey, but as a hockey fan, I love the ways Green highlights the beauty of an often violent game. Students may not initially pick a novel in verse, but if they’re interested in the topic, they’ll stick with it. Can’t wait to add it to my library!

3.5 stars.

Game Face is a middle grade novel in verse that explores an abundance of life's challenges including (but not limited to) anxiety, mortality, grief, and Alzheimer's. It's no small feat to tackle all of these (and more) complex themes in one novel, but Green accomplishes this in an authentic, even-handed, and considerate manner.

Main character Jonah is the goalie on his hockey team, and he feels tremendous anxiety about being responsible for each goal scored against his team. He receives empathetic support from best friend Ty, but cannot share his struggles with his father, who wrestles with his own crippling anxiety which has gotten worse since the recent and unexpected death of Jonah's mother. When Ty experiences a medical trauma, Jonah spirals into worry, guilt, and loneliness. Game Face teaches its readers the pragmatic lesson that many of life's problems offer no simple solutions. Luckily, the overarching theme of the novel is not one of curing a problem, but developing resilience through positive coping and the courage to seek professional help.

Previous to Game Face, I had only read one other novel in verse, Fly by Alison Hughes. Hughes uses the novel-in-verse to its full potential, employing powerful language and poetic devices. While I enjoyed the plot of Game Face and am confident that it will appeal to middle school readers, I wish Green's narrative had been, for lack of a better word, prettier. I might have enjoyed Game Face more if I hadn't read Fly.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Game Face will be published in September, 2023.

This is personally a 2.5/5 for me. For the intended audience it might be 3.5/5 or a 4/5 if they are specifically a hockey fan.
I think a large portion of this comes from how the story takes awhile to be good. It took me almost halfway through to really begin enjoy reading it. Prior to that it was so focused on topics like hockey and school drama I was uninterested and felt this was a book just not for me but for sure was worth merit. After about 40% through it really ramps up about handling of anxiety as Jonah's anxiety takes center stage along with the (in the book) recently-turned-complex relationship between Jonah and his best friend Ty. There is also a side story and foil with Rose, who is Jonah's friend and neighbor, as she tackles her own personal issues and supports Jonah. I found her side story to be a great inclusion as she understands Jonah's plight with more clarity from her current experience but still struggles herself. This gives her a unique voice in the story. But the main focus is on Jonah and Ty's relationship and Jonah's anxiety. These are two things the book handles and writes the best and I was glad to see them be the focus of the story. But there is so much lead-up to these topics that it makes the beginning a rough read.
I really enjoyed the poetic form of this verse novel. There is a lot of spacing to handle thoughts or phrases that run multiple lines as well to create or reflect certain emotions that Jonah has. I enjoyed this but I can see some of the intended age finding it too confusing or weird. I cant believe I'm saying but I actually might prefer a more straight forward verse for a verse novel? I mean, I love it. Older readers will love it. Poetry fans will like it. But a middle schooler who likes sports and picks this up since it's a looks like a short book to read and has his favorite topic in it? I don't know. They would get used to it as the format is consistent. But, it can detract from initial interest and reading motivation. If the beginning was less intense with its poetic form it might not been as much of a potential issue for the intended audience. But is good poetic form ever really an issue? Lol.
As previously mentioned, a key point of this verse novel is Jonah's anxiety. I appreciate how the topic of anxiety is handled. It's written realistically (actually reminds me of how it manifests in my boyfriend a lot lol) and I believe many readers of the intended audience can easily relate and learn from Jonah's experiences to deal with their own struggles with anxiety. But poetry-wise it takes awhile for the anxiety to be written well. In the first third it feels awkwardly written into the verse and after that the author seems to massively improve writing it.
I will personally one reason I gave this a 2.5/5 is that I struggled to relate in general. The poems just lacked some special OOMPH for me. Even when it was good I struggled to relate. I felt myself glazing over or wishing it was written slightly better as other than the unique form the actual words and writing is kinda... plain. It would work for the intended audience but this might be one of those younger middle-grade YA stories that is less engaging to older readers. This isn't a bad thing. I think middle grade YA that is specifically meant to be engaging to mostly middle schoolers is a good thing. But it does color my opinion.
Part of the issue might have been that I am not a hockey dude. There is a lot of hockey terms thrown around and the verse novel expects you to understand hockey. I'm not a hockey guy. So it left me a bit confused.
Overall its a great verse novel for middle schoolers but maybe not strong enough (or written for them) to be read for the larger reading community.

My Review of Game Face

Okay, I never knew what a ‘novel in verse’ was until I read this, and now that I do, I know it’s not for me. Before you buy this book, make sure that it’s a style you or your child will enjoy reading in this style.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.