Jay Versus the Saxophone of Doom

Kootstra, Kara. Jay Versus the Saxophone of Doom. 2017. 182p. ISBN 978-0-670-06940-8. Available at FIC KOO on the library shelves.

One of the best hockey player in Parry Sound, Ontario, Jay Roberts lives and breathes the sport. His idol is Bobby Orr, who also grew up in Parry Sound. Jay proudly wears the #4 for his team, the Parry Sound Shamrocks. This year, he encounters a challenge he dimly expected but now must face full on. In music class, he gets an instrument, and he will be expected to perform in front of his entire class. If Jay doesn’t want to repeat 6th grade, he must quickly learn how to play an instrument.

Unfortunately for him, instruments are assigned in alphabetical order. By the time his music teacher gets to him, he gets stuck with the saxophone, this strange instrument that must be assembled every time. To say that Jay has no ear or rhythm for music is an understatement. Instead of cradling a saxophone, Jay would rather hold a hockey stick and push a puck forward.

Though one of the best players on his team, Jay’s often bullied by Mick Bartlet, a classmate who’s bigger and meaner. Avoiding Mick can be done at school, but it’s harder on the ice. With the saxophone now present in his life, Jay is not sure which one is worse: Mick or the sax? As the school year progresses, Jay will have to draw inspiration from his hero Bobby Orr and find a way to transform the saxophone in his clumsy hands into an instrument he can use to play passable music. What if learning how to play the saxophone was just like learning how to play hockey? On the ice or in the band room, Jay’s year is about to get challenging!