Out of all the sports novels I have read during high school, Eleven Seconds by Travis Roy hit me the hardest with its story and the fact that it’s based off a true event that happened.
The book starts out with Travis Roy talking about how his life was before the accident, and how he was supposed to be a huge prospect for the Boston College Ice Hockey team. Travis was a student in Maine, who had dreams of becoming a star ice hockey player; however, his dream was slammed shut when he got hit eleven seconds into his first college hockey game and broke his neck, and became paralyzed from the neck down.
This book tells the story in Travis’s point of view. It talks about what happens before the accident happened, and how his life was affected after he stepped on the ice that faithful day. Roy spent many months in a hospital in Boston, followed by months of rehab; Roy was back in Boston College as a freshman all over again, except this time he wasn’t able to walk through the doors and was not a hockey star anymore. He also had to deal with the changes he had to undergo, not being able to do much for himself, while maintaining his relationship and getting by Boston College.
Roy talks about all of the challenges he had to faced, both emotional and physical. He tells the story from as far back as he can remember, even from when he was only 5 years old when he first wanted to become a hockey player and when he learned how to skate. It then goes to how he went on to high school and how moved around from school to school before finally going to Boston College. Before he got hurt, his all-time goal was to be play in the NHL (National Hockey League), but now, his goal is to finally be able to have some movement in his body. In the end, we learn that Travis Roy has helped many others just like him who have become paralyzed and cannot move whether it be full body or a specific body part.
This book is very inspirational to all readers, not just athletes. It’s really shows you how fast everything can change in such a short amount of time just like how it changed for Travis Roy. In my opinion, it’s a must read for any hockey lover, but it also tells such an amazing story that anybody can pick it up and fall in love with it fast.
