MUSKEGON, Mich. (October 26, 2011) – The Muskegon Lumberjacks and author Jay VandeVoorde are proud to announce the release of “Muskegon Lumberjacks: The Life of a Hockey Puck,” a unique children’s book describing hockey from the view of a puck.

The book’s official launch will take place Saturday, Nov. 5 at L.C. Walker Arena, as the Jacks host the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Players will be available to sign copies of the book following the game.

Six members of the Jacks’ 2010-11 club helped VandeVoorde write the whimsical tale, which Jacks players will read in classrooms throughout the course of the current season. “It’s very cool to have your name on something like that,” said Lumberjacks goaltender Paul Berrafato. “We’ll be able to show it to our kids and you can read it to your kids. It’s great to see the smiles on kids’ faces.”

Former Lumberjacks Brendan Woods, Casey Thrush and Micki Mihailovich, along with current Jacks Mark Yanis and Matt DeBlouw, all assisted in the book’s writing. Children can follow the antics of an official USHL hockey puck as he is slapped, passed and scored during a Muskegon Lumberjacks game.

"As a teacher and author I realize the importance of literacy and the challenges to teachers,” VandeVoorde said. “The Muskegon Lumberjacks and the six players who helped write this book have proven their commitment to education in Muskegon. It has been a wonderful experience creating this book together with the players and I'm sure children will enjoy it."

While Berrafato won’t give away the book’s ending, he is willing to provide a different sort of spoiler.

“It was a great experience,” Berrafato said. “Now I look forward to doing the second book with him.”