As her dad tells the story, when 8-year-old Zoey Kramer came slip-sliding off the ice after her first official hockey game, she was in tears. “Well, I guess that’s it,” he thought. “She tried.”

Zoey Kramer as an 8-year-old hockey player. Credit: Sharon Rosenblatt Kramer

Then Dad realized those were tears of joy. “I love it!” Zoey shouted.

It was the beginning of Zoey’s life as a hockey girl, which eventually led to a book called Hockey Girl: The Story of a Girl Who Wanted to Play Ice Hockey. It’s a 60-page illustrated self-published paperback that Zoey, then 14, and her grandmother, 84, Sharon Rosenblatt Kramer, co-authored last year and debuted at a launch party in March.

Zoey is completing her freshman year at ETHS and Sharon is a loving, determined, self-taught-hockey-aficionado grandmother. Dad is Andrew, a home improvement professional. Mom is Joanna, owner of Joanna Ceramics at 1100 Florence Ave. And double ditto the hockey aficionado part.

“I just love the fastness of the sport, the fast pacing of it and how it’s always exciting,” Zoey says. “It feels like you’re flying, and there’s always something happening.”

Knocked down? Get up.

What about contact? Do you get hurt?

“There’s supposed to be contact,” Zoey explains, “but there’s no checking, which is full-blown hits. There’s definitely a lot of contact in girls hockey but not as much as the boys, which I like because it means it’s not based on who’s the biggest guy out there but more on skill and how good you are.”

Even without checking, Zoey says, “We still use our bodies pushing and shoving. You’re using your body to hit people all the time. It’s a really physical sport.”

Two years ago Zoey slipped at a practice and “my head slammed into the boards.” She left the ice with a concussion.

Written in two parts, “Zoey’s Story” and “A Beginner’s Guide to the Game,” the book also offers sections on common hockey phrases and a list of resources for other girls who want to play hockey.

Zoey Kramer (left) and her grandmother Sharon Rosenblatt Kramer show copies of Hockey Girl. Credit: Scott Pemberton

“I never dreamed she’d get into a sport like this,” Sharon admits. They began the book three years ago with Zoey mainly talking and Sharon mainly writing, asking questions and tracking down an illustrator, who lives in Italy.

Born in Chicago, Sharon is a retired teacher — elementary school, junior high social studies, ex-convicts, and lawyers, who were tough: “They were competitive with each other. They didn’t want to give each other any information.”

Zoey got the urge to play hockey watching a friend on the ice in this truly get-knocked-down-get-up-or-go-home game. In the book, his name is Will but at a recent launch party and reading everybody was guessing just who the real Will was. “Was it Green?” a mom in the crowd ventured. The answer was yes. “I thought so!”

Fun facts, fun questions

Pink and blue boxes of straightforward “Fun Facts” and “Fun Questions” are scattered throughout the book. Fact: Professional hockey players can skate up to 30 miles an hour and the hard rubber pucks are frozen before each game. “Frozen pucks don’t bounce as much,” the book explains, keeping players and fans safer. Who knew?

Question: “In what order do you think hockey players put on their equipment?” Unh, haven’t thought much about that one. Answer: There are 11 steps that follow any normal get-out-of-bed-get-dressed routine, except for the accessories, but there is an order. Elbow pads go on before the neck guard which goes on before helmet, skates, shoulder pads and gloves. So, no, the skates do not go on last.

Why? Once all the gear is on — especially pants and shin guards — lacing up skates can be a challenge, especially if you like to lace them up in a certain way — say, looser, tighter or just right.

Have girls sports arrived? An ongoing question, but the March issue of Sports Illustrated may be an indicator. The magazine included a 30-page wraparound advertising section featuring 10 young female athletes in sports ranging from wrestling (10-year-old Honor Smoke) to archery and wheelchair track (Noelan Spicer, 12) to fencing (Julia Dinar, 13) and, yes, let’s not forget hockey: 11-year-old Liana Chan. All right there, all together.

Also telling is that Smoke is on the cover that readers see first, before they see $300 million NBA star Jaylen Brown on the “real” cover. Have girls sports arrived? Advertisers don’t buy 30 pages in national magazines — and the cover — without a sure audience.

Zoey has played wing (left and right) for Mammoth Hockey for three years with one undefeated season. Mammoth is a Tier II program so designated by the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois. Tier ll emphasizes competitiveness and player development. USA Hockey claims about 390,000 youth members. More than 70,000 are girls, according to the Baltimore Sun.

What’s next for Zoey Kramer, Hockey Girl? “I mostly play hockey, but I’m starting lacrosse,” she says. “I just want to try something different with some of my friends. But hockey’s been the main one.”

And how could it not be? After all, in a nod to the familiar ice-resurfacing machine, her cat is named Zamboni.

Hockey Girl is available for $14.99 at sharonkramer67@gmail.com.

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