Blind Squirrel - Dave Mishkin

A moving story of family, loss, love, and hope.

Noah Nicholson has a gift. He is blessed with extraordinary hand-eye coordination. This gift has helped him build a successful career as a minor-league hockey player. But Noah is damaged. His parents died in a car accident when he was twelve, and he has dealt with mental health issues ever since. It's only after Noah loses his gift in a career-ending injury that he is able to begin the healing process.

Readers will meet indelible characters: Noah's mother, cerebral and mentally tough; his good-natured, even-keeled father; his crusty grandmother, who has a soft spot for Boston's sports teams; his effervescent, talented, Russian-born teammate, who becomes Noah's mentee; an orange cat whose meow doesn't have an 'm'; an eleven-year-old girl who looks like Pippi Longstocking; and the pediatric dentist with a sense of humor and a crooked smile who makes her way past Noah's defenses and captures his heart. Then, of course, there is Noah himself. Smart, selfless, and silently struggling. We cheer for Noah, but unlike the fans who come to watch him play, it is not in appreciation of his singular, one-of-a-kind gift. Instead, we cheer for Noah because he is

plainly, ordinarily human.