BOOKS
My Left Skate: The Extraordinary Story of Eliezer Sherbatov by Anna Rosner
A 2023 CANADIAN CHILDREN’S BOOK CENTRE “BEST BOOK”!
NOMINATED FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA’S RED CEDAR BOOK AWARDS!
Based on extensive interviews, My Left Skate: The Extraordinary Story of Eliezer Sherbatov is a first-person biography of a teenager who had it all on the hockey rink: guts, drive, and exceptional talent. When a freak accident leaves him with a permanent disability and no feeling below his left knee, everyone believes Eliezer’s career is over – everyone except his mother, a professional power skating coach. She teaches Eliezer to skate using the muscles in his upper leg, and after two and a half years of operations and rehabilitation, he returns to the rink to become one of Quebec’s elite junior players. Still undrafted at age nineteen, Eliezer embarks on a professional career in Europe in the hopes of one day returning to the NHL. His travels lead him to France, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, and to Poland, where he lives and plays hockey just a few kilometres from the Auschwitz death camp, haunted by memories of the past. In its stunning conclusion, My Left Skate describes Eliezer’s life in Ukraine and his struggle to escape from war after Russia invades the very region in which he plays.
Journeyman: The Story of NHL Right-Winger Jamie Leach by Anna Rosner
Journeyman is a first-person biography of Ojibwe right winger Jamie Leach, son of the legendary NHL superstar Reggie Leach. Follow the fascinating hockey trajectory from his childhood years watching his father play for the Philadelphia Flyers, to Jamie’s first goal in the NHL.
Journeyman touches on Jamie’s summers on Lake Winnipeg, the World Junior Hockey Championships, his life in the minor leagues, and his eventual draft into the NHL as a Pittsburgh Penguin. Discover how some of hockey’s biggest stars such as Bobby Clarke, Jaromir Jagr, and Mario Lemieux influenced Jamie’s life.
Written in close consultation with Jamie and his mother, readers will learn about the struggles Jamie conquered, including his father’s alcoholism and his own overwhelming self-doubt. A story of determination, heartbreak and perseverance.