Fight Song

A talented yet cynical Indigenous teen hockey player escapes a dangerous situation in the foster care system in this powerful and timely YA novel.

It's not easy to miss Nokes Lasley, especially when she's on the ice. Towering over the competition at over six feet tall, she routinely dominates on the right wing — and her no-nonsense approach and fiery temper have helped to solidify her reputation as a hockey superstar. Despite her tenuous situation at home, she dreams of hitting the Olympics one day and proving that she can compete in the big leagues.

But suddenly, Nokes's life is turned upside-down when her father is arrested for murder and she's forced to enter the foster care system. Nokes bounces from home to home, from one dangerous setting to the next . . . until she decides to escape across the border to Minnesota, where the promise of a family friend with professional hockey connections far outweighs the abuse she's experiencing in her home province of Ontario.

Through careful lies, and with the help of Aidan, an attractive new friend, Nokes is able to start a new life in a new country — and, most importantly, keep playing hockey. But the past has a nasty way of catching up to her, and soon Nokes has to make a terrible choice: keep running or face her past head-on . . . and maybe even come to terms with her Indigenous heritage.KIRK VAN BRUNT is a lawyer and writer currently living in Maryland. Growing up, he lived outside the town of Nespelem on the Colville reservation in Washington State, where his father was a tribal leader for many years. Kirk is the author of the young adult series The Cracked Chronicles among others.