Hockey Dad


Book Description

A revealing look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of minor hockey culture Known as TSN's "Hockey Insider," Canada's Bob McKenzie is synonymous with the sport and one of its most respected analysts. In Hockey Dad, McKenzie describes firsthand the joys and heartbreak of raising two sons, with entirely diverging athletic futures. He details their separate paths, describing Michael, a 22-year-old playing NCAA hockey on scholarship, and Shawn, now 19, whose competitive minor hockey life was cut short at age 14 because of multiple concussions. Their deeply personal stories, and the trials and tribulations of a father creating futures for them, offer readers a compelling look into the world and culture of minor hockey. Includes funny anecdotes, debates on numerous hockey issues, and personal reflections on the game and its culture With an unwavering look at his own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the entire system of minor hockey in Canada, Hockey Dad is an honest, irreverent and sometimes moving look at a sporting culture that is not so much a recreation as it is a way of life.




The Play


Book Description

A brand-new standalone novel in the New York Times bestselling Briar U series! What I learned after last year’s distractions cost my hockey team our entire season? No more screwing up. No more screwing, period. As the new team captain, I need a new philosophy: hockey and school now, women later. Which means that I, Hunter Davenport, am officially going celibate…no matter how hard that makes things. But there’s nothing in the rulebook that says I can’t be friends with a woman. And I won’t lie—my new classmate Demi Davis is one cool chick. Her smart mouth is hot as hell, and so is the rest of her, but the fact that she’s got a boyfriend eliminates the temptation to touch her. Except three months into our friendship, Demi is single and looking for a rebound. And she’s making a play for me. Avoiding her is impossible. We’re paired up on a yearlong school project, but I’m confident I can resist her. We’d never work, anyway. Our backgrounds are too different, our goals aren’t aligned, and her parents hate my guts. Hooking up is a very bad idea. Now I just have to convince my body—and my heart.




Hockey Talk


Book Description

This is another book about hockey. But this one is unique. It contains many stories by and about individuals who broadcast play-by-plays of major junior and provincial junior A games from arenas across Canada. There are even a few chapters about broadcasters from teams in the United States that play in Canadian leagues. There are major junior chapters from the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Chapters from provincial junior A leagues include British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Maritimes. Some of the contributors for this book wrote their own chapters. Others preferred to be interviewed. In all cases, the final version of each chapter was approved by the contributor. The chapters include many descriptions of broadcasters experiences. They describe their early experiences with hockey. Some played, while others listened on the radio, watched on TV, or attended games. The stories include how they became involved as play-by-play broadcasters and who were direct or indirect mentors. Each broadcaster recounts their memories of the first game they called. They also describe some of the notable players, coaches, and color commentators. Where possible, there are even some bus stories. Each chapter concludes with a comment about what the experience of broadcasting play-by-play has meant to each individual.




Tasteful Nudes


Book Description

“Call it potty-humor light: David Sedaris minus the cynicism, but plus an obsession with bodily functions . . . an engaging read.” —The New York Observer Hi. My name is Dave, and this is my very first collection of essays. As you can probably imagine, it pretty much has everything. In fact, if you like stories about stolen meat, animal attacks, young love, death, naked people, clergymen, rock ‘n’ roll, irritable Canadians, and prison, you have just hit a street called Easy because my book talks about all that stuff and a bunch of other stuff, too. It will make you laugh, cry, and maybe even think so much that you will forget all your problems while simultaneously creating a few new ones. In limited instances it has been known to cause severe dehydration and the occasional groin pull, but honestly I don’t know what that’s about. That said, it’s probably not a bad idea to keep a glass of water handy and really stretch things out before strapping yourself in for a literary thrill ride you will want to experience again and again until you are either dead or your eyesight fails completely, whichever comes first. In fact, if I end up being wrong about any of this stuff, you can kick me right in the privates. Also, I will send you a nice ham (serves twenty). In short, you really can’t lose on this one. Your man, Dave Hill “I had to go and reread certain parts again because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t the sun + tequila that was making me laugh so hard.” —The Atlantic




Lessons from Behind the Glass


Book Description

Whether you are about to lace up your child's skates for the first time, or you have a young teen who is coming to the end of his or her Minor Hockey career, Lessons from Behind the Glass is the perfect companion to help you through your most crazy moments in the stands. From politics to perspective to passion, this book will help guide you to a balanced and less stressful life in the arena...and keep you laughing along the way!




The Most Precious Substance on Earth


Book Description

Journey Prize winner Shashi Bhat’s "powerful, surprising and terrifying" (Rufi Thorpe) story about a high school student's traumatic experience and how it irrevocably alters her life, for fans of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, Girlhood, and Pen15. Bright, hilarious, and sensitive fourteen-year-old Nina spends her spare time reading Beowulf and flirting with an internet predator. She has a vicious crush on her English teacher, and her best friend Amy is slowly drifting away. Meanwhile, Nina’s mother tries to match her up with local Indian boys unfamiliar with her Saved by the Bell references, and Nina’s worried father has started reciting Hindu prayers outside her bedroom door. Beginning with a disturbing incident at her high school, The Most Precious Substance on Earth tells stories of Nina’s life from the ‘90s to present day, when she returns to the classroom as a high school teacher with a haunting secret and discovers that the past is never far behind her. Darkly funny, deeply affecting, unsettling, and at times even shocking, Shashi Bhat’s irresistible novel-in-stories examines the relationships between those who take and those who have something taken. The Most Precious Substance on Earth is a sharp-edged and devastating look at how women are conditioned to hide their trauma and suppress their fear, loneliness, and anger, and an unforgettable portrait of how silence can shape a life.




Offside by a Mile


Book Description

When four-year-old Conner starts pleading for hockey skates, his mother's dreamy fantasies of après ski's toasty fires, charming chalets, and chilled chardonnay rapidly evaporate. Soon, Astra reluctantly raises the white flag to the culture of hockey, and life becomes a whirlwind of early morning alarms, minivans stuffed with massive amounts of goalie equipment, ice-cold arenas, and appalling nutrition. Offside by a Mile - Confessions of a Hockey Mom, chronicles the frantic and frequently hilarious challenges of one family's fourteen-year odyssey into the world of minor hockey. The universal challenges, joys, and sorrows of supporting childhood passions at the cost of home-decorating ambitions, healthy diet avowals, personal time, gobs of money, full-nights' sleep, or any sort of downtime or personal freedom will be recognizable to parents everywhere. But with its wickedly frank and funny perspectives, Offside by a Mile offers a bubbly and refreshing tonic for it all....




Off the Ice


Book Description

All is fair in love and hockey... Claire O’Connor is back in Juniper Falls, but that doesn’t mean she wants to be. One semester off, that’s what she promised herself. Just long enough to take care of her father and keep the family business—a hockey bar beside the ice rink—afloat. After that, she’s getting the hell out. Again. Enter Tate Tanley. What happened between them the night before she left town resurfaces the second they lay eyes on each other. But the guy she remembers has been replaced by a total hottie. When Tate is unexpectedly called in to take over for the hockey team’s star goalie, suddenly he’s in the spotlight and on his way to becoming just another egotistical varsity hockey player. And Claire’s sworn off Juniper Falls hockey players for good. It’s the absolute worst time to fall in love. For Tate and Claire, hockey isn’t just a game. And they both might not survive a body check to the heart. Each book in the Juniper Falls series is STANDALONE: * Off the Ice * Breaking the Ice




Tall Tales


Book Description




Packaging Boyhood


Book Description

Player. Jock. Slacker. Competitor. Superhero. Goofball. Boys are besieged by images in the media that encourage slacking over studying; competition over teamwork; power over empower - ment; and being cool over being yourself. From cartoons to video games, boys are bombarded with stereotypes about what it means to be a boy, including messages about violence, risktaking, and perfecting an image of just not caring. Straight from the mouths of over 600 boys surveyed from across the U.S., the authors offer parents a long, hard look at what boys are watch ing, reading, hearing, and doing. They give parents advice on how to talk with their sons about these troubling images and provide them with tools to help their sons resist these mes sages and be their unique selves.