The praise is piling as high as autumn leaves for Angie Abdou’s HOME ICE (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.
Here’s what everyone is saying about HOME ICE:
“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
“This is a lively, honestly written account of parenting that will resonate with readers who are fully involved in their children’s sports.” –Publishers Weekly
“Home Ice is page-turning and compelling in a whole different way. It’s about Abdou, her family, her relationships with her husband and two children, and her role as a parent; or, as Abdou said, consider it a ‘voyeuristic peek into the writer’s life.’” –Society for International Hockey Research
“You don’t get to pick your kids’ marriages or their sports, and he wants to play hockey.” – CBC Radio Sunday Edition
“It’s a unflinching and revealing account of the toll sports (especially hockey) can take on family dynamics and fortunes.” – CBC Radio Daybreak Alberta (19 min audio clip)
CTV’s The Social (11 min video clip)
“As much as Home Ice skewers Canadian hockey for its escalating costs and obsession with competitiveness, that criticism is balanced by an athlete’s appreciation for the heady benefits of training hard and excelling in a sport.” –Active For Life
“[T]his is a memoir told with humility, and throughout the book, Abdou lets her happy and sensitive son shine through. We see his sense of fairness and justice, his quirky stick-handling, his love for the rowdy speed and sweaty camaraderie of the sport.” –
University of Texas Arlington Sports Literature Association
“…she leaves the reader with as much knowledge and information on both sides of the coin to allow the reader to make a decision on the game’s safety rather than her imposing her decision onto the reader. One gets a sense that Miss Abdou did this with intent, and I feel it really opens the door to thoughtful and intelligent debate…” –Hockey Blog In Canada
About the Author:
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.