At FriesenPress we celebrate each and every book our authors publish. Below are a few that staff have nominated as their picks. Selections change frequently, so be sure to check back for new recommended books. And, of course, all the titles you see below are available here at the FriesenPress Bookstore. Happy reading!
SOMETIMES THE WORLD SEEMS LIKE A VERY DARK PLACE. In this angry world, I have seen a glimpse of light. I have seen kindness, love and hope at a homeless shelter. Siloam Mission is named after a pool where, in Biblical times, Jesus healed a blind man. In this tradition, the Mission has a medical clinic, and I have had the privilege of working there. The homeless men and women I have met at Siloam have taught me profound lessons about perseverance through suffering, expressing joy in dire circumstances, and the rewards of service to those in need. I want to share those lessons with you.
Hockey My Door to Europe details the author’s personal - sometimes harrowing - experiences covering international hockey, especially behind the Iron Curtain, including the start of youth hockey exchanges between Canada and communist countries. The book also provides an in-depth view of the following events: - The author’s detainment by the Czechoslovak secret police in 1983; - The nuclear plant explosion in Chernobyl, which occurred during the 1986 World Championship in Moscow; - The defection of Soviet hockey star Alexander Mogilny following the 1989 World Championship in Stockholm; - The fall of the Berlin Wall, which took place in November of 1989 while the author was in Moscow; - The uprising in Kiev, Ukraine, which occurred during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, leading to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Sayni and the Windowjet Brothers is about the importance of finding your own individual path regardless of the pressures to conform to a straightforward, mainstream route through life. Follow young Sayni as she seeks to find her passion in life by searching for pieces to build her life’s compass. Every child’s compass must be made very precisely, and each one is unique. As each compass develops, its child can follow theirs and find their way to a life of fulfilment and purpose. Sayni faces confusion when the opportunity arises to settle for a ready-made compass from a factory. Will she grasp the opportunity to own a completed compass, or continue in her struggle to build her very own? One thing’s certain: the Windowjet people will have something to say!
This raw and powerful autobiography follows the life of a registered nurse who turns to alcohol to help chase away her demons brought on by persistent physical and mental domestic abuse, rape, workplace bullying, and deteriorating mental health. At first, it seems like a magic cure, and she is able to live nearly a normal life. But as the siren call of the bottle increases, her dependence on drinking grows. Soon she is unable to work, and what was left of her social life disappears. After attempting suicide and spending time recovering in the hospital, she begins her long and difficult road to recovery, focused on building a new life. Sorrows Can Swim is a dramatic reminder that addiction and trauma can affect anyone, even those educated in how to treat them. It is a rallying cry for those fighting addiction and dealing with trauma, and brings an inspiring message of hope for us all.
In 2006, Christopher Jacob Rooney left his home in Vancouver to go on a pilgrimage, visiting, living, and working in Catholic Worker Communities across Canada and the United States, serving the poor while protesting the war in Iraq. With candid journal entries, powerful essays, and prayers, Inspired by Love and Anger follows this journey of self-discovery, faith, and inspiration, as he struggles to follow in the footsteps of great leaders and pacifists, searching for his own place in the community of service.
Canadians have been playing hockey for generations, with excited little boys being driven to their local arenas over and over again, at the crack of dawn, by sleep-deprived parents who just want them to be happy. After all, hockey is the most exciting and Canadian sport there is! But who said it was just for boys? More than ever, little girls are getting in on the excitement, proving to their brothers and fathers (and themselves), that they are every bit as fast and skilled as the boys—and enjoying every minute of it! With this, her first published children’s story, Charlene Barnes celebrates these young female hockey players, in rhyme, as they take to the ice, make friends, and play the game that she has grown to love. She offers you She Shoots... She Scores!
Dizzy Pollen is at the top of his game as a jazz bandleader and trumpet player in 1930s San Francisco. When his group is booked for a multi-country tour of Europe, he sets out on what he knows will be the trip of a lifetime. The tour takes them to Romania, where Dizzy realizes he is just a few hours from his ancestral home in Moldova. Knowing little of his family history, he decides to investigate, and borrows a car in search of adventure. After bribing a drunken border guard, his car breaks down in a small, isolated village. He is lucky to meet the area’s only English speaker, but soon realizes that the place is not what it seems. His arrival, it seems, comes just days before a ritual that happens there just once every seven years. In the dark of a moonless night, the villagers meet at an ancient castle. Dressed in elaborate costumes, an orchestra plays a single piece. When it ends, precisely at midnight, one among them will die.
Lama and Lamie, extraordinary child-geniuses, are living out their dreams. They are studying in a world-class German university and working together for an international spy agency called SPION. Their thirteenth birthday is just around the corner. Best of all their arch-nemesis The Caped Genius, has disappeared for over 9 years. Suddenly they are asked to embark on an urgent mission, one of puzzling origins. Before they can solve their new case a war erupts, almost out of nowhere, which threatens to engulf the entire world. The resourceful girls assemble their families and friends in a desperate attempt to complete their mission before it is too late. As the pieces begin to come together, nothing is as it seems. Order is replaced with suspicion and former friends become enemies. The world as they know it will surely end if they cannot complete their mission, and solve the mystery in time.
