In the winter life in McKinley, Minnesota, revolves around the rinks, where kids play hockey and grown-ups skate to scratchy phonograph records. Then, the year Marsh and his best friend, Willy, are 12, Carl appears at the rink, wearing a battered, old leather flight jacket and doing a strange dance that is both beautiful and disturbing to watch.
It is Marsh and Willy who discover the terrible secret behind Carl's dance, a secret that threatens to destroy him. But a small miracle occurs, and Carl's dance becomes a fragile and tentative expression of hope and the healing power of love.
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
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"I've read this several times. Bittersweet. Well-written. A fine book." — Steven (5 out of 5 stars)
"I've read this several times. Bittersweet. Well-written. A fine book."
" An interesting story of a small town who takes care of their own. It's really the ending that got to me, because it resounds the idea that the ending doesn't matter, so much as what happened to get to the end! "
" Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years. "
Gary Paulsen Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor Books: The Winter Room, Hatchet, and Dogsong. He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award given by the ALA for his lifetime achievement in young adult literature. He divides his time between his home in Alaska, his ranch in New Mexico, and his sailboat on the Pacific Ocean
Nick Podehl is a professional voice actor. He has narrated numerous audiobooks, many of which have won prestigious awards, including fourteen AudioFile Earphones Awards. He currently lives and works around Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife.
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