sports

Canceling hockey amid a global pandemic was the socially responsible thing to do, I remind myself regularly. In the absence of watching actual games, I've been re-watching some movies with hockey themes. The first one I bring to you is the heartwarming, comedic, and frequently violent, story of Doug Glatt in the movie Goon.

Doug (Seann William Scott) is a pretty simple man, not very smart but very strong. His strength and fighting ability make him the perfect bouncer for a local bar in his Massachusetts hometown. While he has ample ability in brute strength, Doug has a very simple moral code

On the surface, this book is about a small towns obsessed with ice hockey. Under the surface, it is so much more.

Beartown is a small, dying town where everyone struggles to survive. But they do have a junior hockey team that just might make the state finals and the whole town is relying on them to bring Beartown back to life. The residents believe that a victory will bring much-needed investment and publicity to revitalize the area. When one of the players commits a horrendous crime, who will the town side with - the criminal or the victim? One thing is for sure, life will never be the same

Bethany Hamilton loves surfing. Her biography, Soul Surfer, is the  story of how she became “the bearer of hope for those who have been handed a bad deal in the card game of life.” When she was only thirteen years old she was attacked by a shark and lost her right arm.

She not only escaped death, she came back as strong and faithful as ever to become a champion surfer.

Pictures of Bethany, her family and friends, and even the shark that attacked her add to the interest of Soul Surfer. This is an amazing read and it definitely inspired me.

Jordan Romero was fascinated by a poster in his elementary school of the Seven Summits, the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents. When he was nine years old, he announced to his parents that he wanted to climb the Seven Summits and he wanted to start training immediately. Jordan was familiar with what training involved; his father and stepmother were adventure racers. They traveled the world racing by foot, bike, canoe, kayak and even camel!  After much discussion and consideration, his parents eventually gave their stamp of approval.  On July 22, 2006 Jordan ascended his

Josh Bell, known as Filthy McNasty to those on the court, is one of top two players on his middle school basketball team. The other player is his twin brother, Jordan. The two are expected to become big stars as their father was an amazing basketball player before he retired, known to his fans as Da Man!



Filthy and Jordan are ready for an epic year on their team, taking them all the way to playoffs, when things are complicated by a new girl, who captures Jordan's eye and their father's heart problems. 



This book is an amazing example of poetry crossing all the boundaries! What a

As readers, we all understand the joy of browsing at a bookstore.  Shiny displays with the full book jacket in clear view; it’s like looking at bulk bins of candy. While browsing at a public library might not excite the same sense of wonder, I would like to suggest you give it a try. In browsing at the library, you stand a chance of finding the most wonderful of treats; the hidden gem.

At a bookstore, the author with the most powerful publisher is the author whose book you see on the table by the front door, at checkout and directly at eye level.  But at the public library, John Grisham gets

I am not exactly a huge football fan...ok so about the only reason I will attend a football game is to watch the marching band. However, there is one book that has gotten me more than a little interested in the sport, Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

The book follows the summer of DJ Schwenk, who works on her families struggling dairy farm in Wisconsin. Her family's life, and the lives of everyone in town, revolves around high school football. DJ's brothers were both football stars who have moved on to college scholarships and a chance at the NFL. DJ is shocked with the coach of the

This a wonderful book that celebrates a woman who has broken into male dominated sports. This is a story about Jackie Mitchell who achieved some element of success in the early stages of major league baseball. It celebrates her story and her life and direction. She was a pitcher who developed a very debilitating curve ball. The pitch was effective enough to strike out some of the best major league hitting stars, including Babe Ruth. This is an amazing story of the emergence of women in sports in the 1940's. There is much discussion about what part of information about Jackie Mitchell is her

If you know me you know that I am eternally the fan of the girl power book/movie. Being a tomboy growing up I am always a fan of girls who unabashedly kick butt. I had some pretty high hopes for Whip It! and I was so excited to see one of my favorite sports being featured in a movie with an all star cast! I excitedly went out and read the book Derby Girl by Shauna Cross (recently retitled Whip It, the inspiration for the movie) .

Both the book and the move follow Bliss Cavendar (indie punk girl) growing up in the small conservative town of Bodeen, Texas. Bliss' mother is obsessed with beauty