Toronto, Ontario
M46 1E7
March 4, 2009
Mr. Paul Quarrington
17 South Grouse Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
H0C K3Y
Dear Mr. Quarrington,
My name is Riley Wong. I am a fourteen year old student, currently enrolled at Royal Saint George’s College. Over the last couple of weeks, I had reread your book (I had already read it in the summer) King Leary. I really enjoyed the book both times, but the second time around, three specific passages stuck out to me, and I thought I would explain to you what each of the three meant to me.
“‘I say! Mind if I join you chaps?’
We said, “Huh?” because we thought he was speaking a different language. All it was was a classy English accent, but we’d never heard the likes. So he asked again, and Lloyd understood, and he says okay to the fat boy….”
I really enjoyed this passage, and the pages following it because it is the first tale of Clay Clinton. The way you wrote this flashback makes it seem like Little Leary and Clay would not be friends, but through everything they became best friends. This is my first year of high school, and I am at a new school, knowing only but one to start off the year. This passage reminds me that sometimes the oddest of people become the best of friends. I also like that it shows Percy loved hockey, even when he was a child. I think it was a smart memoir to put at the beginning, enforcing his love for the game.
”At the Bowmanville train station, I was turned over to my new keepers. I thought things had gone from bad to worse.
They were monks.”
The second passage that stuck out to me, when Percy was first sent here from his crime, he had thought he had it really badly. From the minute he got off, he saw the monk’s and thought for the worse. He perceived right away his time with them would be long and boring. Following his adventures with the monks, he starts to really get along with them, sharing the common interest of hockey, and really starts having a good time. It is here that he meets Manny Oz, one of his other best friends. From this, I get two messages that I learned when I was growing up. The first being, make the best out of everything. Percy right away assumed he would not like the monks and would have a miserable time. Once he let up and found common ground, he started to enjoy his time with the monks. My second thought is one I take to a bit more than the first. The universe has a plan for you. If Percy had never gone to see the monks, he would have never picked up the hockey skills he used in the pros. He would have never have met Manny Oz either. In my eyes, something such as his trip to the reformatory was all just apart of the plan the universe had for him. As one door closes, another one opens.
“It’s hard to imagine that this is the same town me and Manny came to to recruit ourselves all those many years ago. Everything is lights and loudness in the city. Many of the people are deranged. The psychiatric ward at the South Grouse Home got nothing on these sidewalks, that’s for sure”
The third and final passage, I really liked this one because of the fact that Percy was coming back to a place he had been before, and seeing all the differences from what he remembers. It had been a long time since he had seen the streets of Toronto, and as his ride is going by, small flashbacks of this place are relived in his head. At the same time, he’s noticing what age has done to the place he once knew. As said above, I had gone to a different school than most of my friends, majority going to the local public school. I do see them very often, but it’s not the same as when we were younger and all together. Whether I’m walking to my piano lesson, or driving by, I see the places that I went to often when I was younger. Just like Percy, I saw all the memories that I had, and saw the decay of time. I can relate to this passage, because like a special place, people can change to. I look at some of my friends and see the child I went to kindergarten with, and I can see how they have matured. Needless to say, I’m definitely the same way, it’s just much less evident to see for myself.
To conclude, I would like to commend you on your amazing book, I really enjoyed how much I could relate. Especially because it’s a book about hockey, but I don’t play or watch hockey. But still, I can relate to the emotions of the characters, and compare certain situations to ones above. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter. If you would ever like to reply, send the letter to the address above.
Sincerely,
Riley Wong
Mr. Paul Quarrington
17 South Grouse Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
H0C K3Y
Dear Mr. Quarrington,
My name is Riley Wong. I am a fourteen year old student, currently enrolled at Royal Saint George’s College. Over the last couple of weeks, I had reread your book (I had already read it in the summer) King Leary. I really enjoyed the book both times, but the second time around, three specific passages stuck out to me, and I thought I would explain to you what each of the three meant to me.
“‘I say! Mind if I join you chaps?’
We said, “Huh?” because we thought he was speaking a different language. All it was was a classy English accent, but we’d never heard the likes. So he asked again, and Lloyd understood, and he says okay to the fat boy….”
I really enjoyed this passage, and the pages following it because it is the first tale of Clay Clinton. The way you wrote this flashback makes it seem like Little Leary and Clay would not be friends, but through everything they became best friends. This is my first year of high school, and I am at a new school, knowing only but one to start off the year. This passage reminds me that sometimes the oddest of people become the best of friends. I also like that it shows Percy loved hockey, even when he was a child. I think it was a smart memoir to put at the beginning, enforcing his love for the game.
”At the Bowmanville train station, I was turned over to my new keepers. I thought things had gone from bad to worse.
They were monks.”
The second passage that stuck out to me, when Percy was first sent here from his crime, he had thought he had it really badly. From the minute he got off, he saw the monk’s and thought for the worse. He perceived right away his time with them would be long and boring. Following his adventures with the monks, he starts to really get along with them, sharing the common interest of hockey, and really starts having a good time. It is here that he meets Manny Oz, one of his other best friends. From this, I get two messages that I learned when I was growing up. The first being, make the best out of everything. Percy right away assumed he would not like the monks and would have a miserable time. Once he let up and found common ground, he started to enjoy his time with the monks. My second thought is one I take to a bit more than the first. The universe has a plan for you. If Percy had never gone to see the monks, he would have never picked up the hockey skills he used in the pros. He would have never have met Manny Oz either. In my eyes, something such as his trip to the reformatory was all just apart of the plan the universe had for him. As one door closes, another one opens.
“It’s hard to imagine that this is the same town me and Manny came to to recruit ourselves all those many years ago. Everything is lights and loudness in the city. Many of the people are deranged. The psychiatric ward at the South Grouse Home got nothing on these sidewalks, that’s for sure”
The third and final passage, I really liked this one because of the fact that Percy was coming back to a place he had been before, and seeing all the differences from what he remembers. It had been a long time since he had seen the streets of Toronto, and as his ride is going by, small flashbacks of this place are relived in his head. At the same time, he’s noticing what age has done to the place he once knew. As said above, I had gone to a different school than most of my friends, majority going to the local public school. I do see them very often, but it’s not the same as when we were younger and all together. Whether I’m walking to my piano lesson, or driving by, I see the places that I went to often when I was younger. Just like Percy, I saw all the memories that I had, and saw the decay of time. I can relate to this passage, because like a special place, people can change to. I look at some of my friends and see the child I went to kindergarten with, and I can see how they have matured. Needless to say, I’m definitely the same way, it’s just much less evident to see for myself.
To conclude, I would like to commend you on your amazing book, I really enjoyed how much I could relate. Especially because it’s a book about hockey, but I don’t play or watch hockey. But still, I can relate to the emotions of the characters, and compare certain situations to ones above. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter. If you would ever like to reply, send the letter to the address above.
Sincerely,
Riley Wong
