Happy book birthday to Angie Abdou​‘s HOME ICE, published yesterday with ECW Press​!

HOME ICE chronicles and illuminates a full season in the life of a hockey parent, offering a nuanced and unflinching self-portrait of a mother dedicated to supporting her son’s passion for amateur hockey but struggling with ambivalence over our society’s often troubling sport culture and its impact on her family.

Angie Abdou has published four books, including three novels: The Bone Cage (a CBC Canada Reads finalist in 2011), The Canterbury Trail (a Banff Mountain Book finalist in 2011) and Between (2014, Arsenal Press). Angie is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Athabasca University. Her nonfiction has appeared in various magazines and newspapers, including National Post and Elle Magazine. Her novel IN CASE I GO launched with Arsenal Pulp Press Fall 2017.

Advance Praise for HOME ICE:

Selected as one of 49th Shelf​‘s most anticipated nonfiction books this fall!

“The author brings a novelist’s eye to the story, telling it in first-person present tense; with its sharp characterizations and dialogue in place of autobiographical exposition, the book is a first-rate memoir and a fine example of narrative nonfiction. It’s also a must-read for parents with youngsters who play organized sports.” Booklist, starred review

Home Ice is an open, honest account of minor hockey life and I think parents with kids in hockey, or even considering it, should give this book a try.”
-Allison Hikes, the Bookwoods blog

“A beautifully written and wise look at the troubling culture surrounding amateur sports through the eyes of a conflicted hockey mom. Home Ice reminds us ‘the best lessons we take from hockey have nothing to do with winning.”
-Erica Ehm, Creator and Publisher of YummyMummyClub.ca

“Needing more hockey books written by women in our canon, Angie Abdou delivers with writing so clear you can smell the arena ammonia and feel the ice shavings through a novelist’s eye and a parent’s heart. Abdou has emerged as one of the country’s best writers on sport at any level.”
-Rheostatics’ Dave Bidini, author of Keon and Me and publisher of the West End Phoenix

“Angie Abdou’s son loves playing hockey; she loves her son. Ergo, she must strike a deal with the sport – with the expense, risk of concussion, crazy weekend commutes, early mornings, marital strains and occasional heartbreak involved in being a hockey mom. I don’t give a hoot about hockey but I couldn’t put this memoir down. As a former competitive athlete, Abdou has to rethink her focus on winning at all costs when it comes to her son’s happiness on the rink. Home Ice is searingly honest, compassionate and always engaging. Anyone who has experienced the unique anxiety of watching a son or daughter play a team sport will be grateful for this truth-telling book.”
-Marni Jackson is the author of the bestselling memoir The Mother Zone, and Home Free: The Myth of the Empty Nest

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