12 books for the sports fan on your holiday shopping list
CBC Books | | Posted: December 14, 2021 2:10 PM | Last Updated: December 14, 2021
Know a sports fan? Whether they love hockey, soccer or the Olympics, there's a book for them this holiday season.
Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters, edited by Darrell Fox
Forever Terry: A Legacy in Letters celebrates the 40th anniversary of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, which took place in 2020. In 1980, Terry Fox captured Canada's imagination when he embarked on a run across the country to raise money for cancer. The 21-year-old from Port Coquitlam, B.C., had lost part of his right leg to cancer when he was 18. He ran a marathon every day and made it as far as Thunder Bay, Ont., before the cancer spread to his lungs and he had to stop.
The book features 40 letters by 40 prominent Canadians, reflecting on Terry's life and legacy. The book was edited by Terry's younger brother, Darrell Fox.
Contributors include hockey player Bobby Orr, actor Shawn Ashmore, Olympian Perdita Felicien, writer Margaret Atwood, basketball star Steve Nash, singer Jann Arden and athlete and activist Rick Hansen. A portion of the book's proceeds will go to the Terry Fox Foundation to support cancer research.
One Game at a Time by Harnarayan Singh
Harnarayan Singh is the longtime voice and personality behind Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi. Growing up in small-town Alberta, Singh aspired to a career in hockey, but also saw a lack of representation among the broadcasters who presented the sport. From a childhood calling imaginary hockey games with his plastic toy mic, Singh worked his way to becoming the first Sikh to broadcast an NHL game in English and one of the leading ambassadors of the game.
In his memoir, One Game at a Time: My Journey from Small-Town Alberta to Hockey's Biggest Stage, the broadcaster charts his life story and highlights hockey's ability to unite people.
Singh is a sports announcer and journalist, and continues to host the Punjabi-language broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada.
Willie by Willie O'Ree with Michael McKinley
In 1958, Willie O'Ree stepped on the ice for the Boston Bruins, becoming the first Black player to play in the NHL. For the next 20 years, he would continue to play, facing racist taunts from fans and fellow players. After he retired from playing, he would build an even bigger legacy as an advocate for diversity in sport, helping more than 40,000 kids discover the game he loved. Willie, a memoir written with journalist Michael McKinley, looks back on O'Ree's life, legacy and career.
O'Ree was the first Black player in the NHL. He is also the subject of the documentary Willie. Willie is his first book.
McKinley is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and screenwriter from Vancouver. He is also the author of the nonfiction book Hockey: A People's History and the novel The Penalty Killing.
100 Miles of Baseball by Dale Jacobs & Heidi L.M. Jacobs
Dale Jacobs and Heidi L.M. Jacobs are huge baseball fans and have been long-time Detroit Tigers season-ticket holders. But in 2018, they decided to spend their summer of baseball doing something different. Instead, they decided to take in as many different baseball games, from different levels of the sport, as they could within 100 miles of their home in Windsor. 100 Miles of Baseball is the story of that summer.
Dale Jacobs is a professor at the University of Windsor and the editor of the Windsor Review. He is also the author of Graphic Encounters: Comics and the Sponsorship of Multimodal Literacy and has edited several academic anthologies.
Heidi L.M. Jacobs is a writer and librarian who was born in Edmonton and now lives in Windsor. Her debut novel, Molly of the Mall, won the 2020 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.
Crossroads by Kaleb Dahlgren
On April 6, 2018, the news of a bus crash sent shock waves through Canada and around the world. The Humboldt Broncos, a junior hockey team, were travelling to an away game when a semi-truck missed a stop sign and the bus carrying the team crashed right into it. Sixteen people on board the bus were killed. Kaleb Dahlgren, the assistant captain of the team at the time, was one of the crash's 13 survivors. He shared his story of recovery, and eventually went on to study — and play hockey again — at York University. It's been three years since the crash and Dahlgren is now sharing his story in a memoir, Crossroads.
Dahlgren is a student at York University, where he plays on the varsity hockey team. Crossroads is his first book.
My Mother's Daughter by Perdita Felicien
Perdita Felicien's mom Catherine was a poor young woman in St. Lucia when she was given a seemingly random, but ultimately life-changing, opportunity: to come to Canada with a wealthy white family and become their nanny. But when she gets to Canada, life is tougher than she expected, as she endures poverty, domestic violence and even homelessness. However, she still encouraged and supported her youngest daughter's athletic dreams. Felicien would go on to be a world-class hurdler and one of Canada's greatest track athletes. My Mother's Daughter is the story of these two women, and how their love for each other got them through difficult times and changed their lives.
Felicien was a 10-time national champion, a two-time Olympian and became the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal at a world championships. She now works as a sports broadcaster and is part of CBC's team covering the Olympics. My Mother's Daughter is her first book.
Shut Out by Bernie Saunders, with Barry Meisel
Bernie Saunders was one of the few Black hockey players in the NHL, and he shares his story for the first time in the memoir Shut Out. Saunders was talented at hockey, but because he was Black, he was obstructed at every turn and experienced taunting from opponents, spectators, coaches and even his own teammates. Despite this, he continued to play. He was signed by the Quebec Nordiques for two years, but spent most of his career playing collegiately at Western Michigan University and in minor leagues across North America. In the end, the racism became too much and he left hockey to work in the corporate sector.
Saunders is a retired professional hockey right winger who played two seasons in the National Hockey League for the Quebec Nordiques.
Seconds Out by Alison Dean
Alison Dean is an academic and a boxer. In Seconds Out, she combines research, her lived experience and interviews to explore the world of women fighters.The book looks at how women are changing the sport, but it also explores how the sport changes the way women view themselves and their bodies.
Dean is a writer, educator and academic who currently lives in California. She competes in boxing and kickboxing. Seconds Out is her first book.
DeRo by Dwayne De Rosario, with Brendan Dunlop
Dwayne De Rosario is one of Canada's greatest soccer players. He played soccer professionally for 18 years. He won the MLS championship four times and was named one of the league's top 25 greatest players. He grew up in Scarborough, Ont., where his family struggled to get by. He struggled in school, and it was soccer that saved hm. He shares his journey from a street smart kid to the top of the sporting world in DeRo.
De Rosario is one of Canada's greatest soccer players. DeRo is his first book.
Dunlop is a sports broadcaster and writer from Toronto.
Call Me Indian by Fred Sasakamoose
Fred Sasakamoose was the first Indigenous hockey player with Treaty status to play in the NHL. He was sent to residential school when he was seven years old, and endured that horror for a decade. But he became an elite hockey player, joining the Chicago Blackhawks in 1954. He only played 12 games in the NHL, but the legacy he left would have a huge impact for decades to come. He became an activist, dedicated to improving the lives of Indigenous people through sport. He shares his story in the memoir Call Me Indian.
Sasakamoose is a member of the NHL Hall of Fame and the Order of Canada. He died in 2020.
Over the Boards by Hayley Wickenheiser
Hayley Wickenheiser is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. She's played at 13 world championships, six Olympics and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. She holds multiple university degrees and is a medical doctor, all while raising a child. In the memoir Over the Boards, Wickenheiser shares her story and reflects on what the game gave her.
Wickenheiser has represented Canada at 13 world championships and made six Olympic appearances, bringing home four gold medals. She's been inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame, Hockey Hall of Fame and is the founder of Canadian Tire WickFest. She's currently the senior director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a medical doctor.
No One Wins Alone by Mark Messier
Mark Messier, one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of professional sports, tells his inspiring story in the memoir No One Wins Alone. He shares the lessons about leadership and teamwork that defined his career. He recounts his early years with his tight-knit family, learning from his father Doug, who was a hockey player, coach and teacher. He describes what it was like to enter the NHL as an 18-year-old and growing close with teammates during their high-flying years with the Edmonton Oilers. He shares the highs, lows and hard work that brought the New York Rangers to the ultimate moment, lifting the Stanley Cup.
Messier is a former professional hockey player from Alberta. He played in the NHL for 25 years and won six Stanley Cups, five with the Edmonton Oilers and one with the New York Rangers. He's the only player to have captained two NHL franchises to championships. In 2007, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. That same year, the NHL introduced the Mark Messier Leadership Award, given annually to the player who's a great leader to his team, on and off the ice.