Icebreaker

Beautifully written, A.L. Graziadei’s Icebreaker is a deeply personal account of a young man’s struggles in his first year of college. Swamped by the expectations of his family, friends, social media, and himself, Mickey is, first and foremost, a hockey prodigy. Icebreaker deals with a host of issues while Mickey navigates his Freshman year. Excessive alcohol use, forming new relationships, and coming out are enough for most young folks. In addition to some prominent family issues, Mickey is also dealing with the pressures of social media on a humongous scale. A.L. Graziadei does a wonderful job of building the tension, and my heart went out to Mickey as he gradually reached the crisis point. Living with mental illness is an ongoing journey, and with all the other challenges heaped on him, this is more than most seventeen year olds have to cope with. If you’re a hockey fan, there are tons of exciting and wonderfully detailed scenes in Icebreaker. I was impressed with A.L. Graziadei’s knowledge of the sport, and the detail adds a fantastic layer to the novel. Tom Picasso is a new narrator for me, and I’ll listen to absolutely anything he performs. His rich, mellow voice is perfect for Mickey, and he brings something unique to each of the many characters in Icebreaker. An outstanding job by Tom Picasso!