Sheldon Kennedy

June 13th 7:00 PM

Sheldon Kennedy, author of Why I Didn't Say Anything: The Sheldon Kennedy Story, will be at Pennywise Books to read from, discuss and sign copies of his book. Admission is free and everyone is invited to attend.

The following is information about Kennedy's book from the publisher's website (www.insomniacpress.com):

In 1996, Sheldon Kennedy rocked the insular world of Canadian hockey by announcing that his former minor-league coach, Graham James — the Hockey News 1989 Man of the Year — had sexually abused him more than 300 times.

The media portrayed Kennedy as a hero for breaking the code of silence in professional hockey and bringing James to justice. The heroic myth intensified in 1998 when Kennedy announced that he was going to in-line skate from Newfoundland to British Columbia to raise awareness of sexual abuse. The skate raised over $1 million for Canadian Red Cross sexual abuse programs, and Kennedy settled in Calgary with his wife and young daughter.

Anyone who has followed hockey in the last ten years is familiar with the story of ex-NHL player Sheldon Kennedy. As one of the most promising hockey talents to emerge from the Canadian minor leagues in the last two decades, Kennedy was destined for hockey greatness. But after he was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1988, he was attracted more attention for his off-ice antics than for his contributions to the score sheet. Plagued by rumours of drug and alcohol abuse and a string of injuries, Kennedy drifted from team to team.

The happy ending promised by the headlines never materialized. Still haunted by the demons of sexual abuse, Kennedy's life spiralled out of control. Now he has finally come forward to tell his story, and the story of coach Graham James, who is out of prison and currently coaching hockey in Europe.

Coming Events

Coming events:

Saturday, May 27
2:00 - 4:00 PM

Local illustrator, writer and graphic designer Nevin Arnold will be on hand to sign copies of the first issue of "Honor of the Damned", a four issue comic book series he created and wrote. Published by Boston publisher Americanime Productions this series is in release across North America. Be sure to pick up the first issue of this series from the author himself!

You can learn more about Nevin Arnold at his website: www.nevinarnold.com.

Saturday, June 3
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Our back room is too full! We simply have too much stock in our store. On June 3 (weather permitting), we will be having a massive sidewalk sale in order to get rid of as much of this excess stock as possible. Fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, and much, much more will be available for $2.50/book or 5 books for $10. Be sure to get here early!

If it is raining or simply too windy, we will postpone the sale to a later date. Please note the price quoted above only apply to the sidewalk sale items.

The Da Vinci Code

Since it first hit bookstore shelves, it has inspired controversy and made headlines. Now with a major motion picture release only days away, the debate has been refreshed and people are once again hearing about (or, perhaps more accurately, hearing MORE about) Dan Brown’s bestselling The Da Vinci Code.

The second novel featuring Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this story begins with a murder that leads to a series of clues and through a labyrinth of history, art and religion in a race to save lives and find the ultimate prize. An ambiguous description of the book, yes, but I would rather you read it for yourself.

Over the past few years, most people have heard about this book and have formed an opinion one way or another. What is often forgotten by many people – both those who enjoy the book and those who are vehemently opposed to it (and intriguingly, the media) – is that it is a fictional novel. And, as is the fact with almost all fictional books, the author has taken some liberties with the facts. Note that word: fictional.

Much of the furor over The Da Vinci Code is centered on the fact that the story revolves around the idea that Jesus Christ fathered children with Mary Magdalene. As this concept flies in the face of many people’s deeply held personal beliefs, the entire book is condemned. Likewise, many individuals who are interested in alternative versions of history or are conspiracy theorists want to believe some of the ideas presented in this story and thus accept many of Brown’s statements as fact.

Both groups of individuals should consider The Da Vinci Code again in this light: it is a fictional novel filled with highly unlikely events and action sequences. The characters are all intelligent, rich and/or beautiful. Things go right for them when the narrative demands it and things go wrong when it furthers the plot.

It is a novel.

If we lived in a more rational world where people thought things through before simply over-reacting, both groups could even consider the book a boon to their point of view because it is exposing a large readership to their ideas.

Brown lifted a great deal of the material that constitutes the underpinnings of his novel from Holy Blood, Holy Grail. You may have seen/heard/read something about the court case. If you haven't read this "nonfiction" book, you may want to do so. It is an interesting read, but the authors make a few staggering leaps of logic that make the book less a book of history than a book of conjecture. Since the "factual" basis for The Da Vinci Code is seriously flawed, I find it difficult to understand the hubbub and furor surrounding this novel.

In any case, the movie adaptation of The Da Vinci Code will soon be in theatres. Anyone even remotely considering going to see this film should get their copy of the book and read it prior to buying their popcorn.

Introduction

Welcome to the new, if not very original Pennywise Books website. Because there is always something happening down here (1031 Rosser Ave in Brandon, MB) I thought it would be a good idea to have a place to provide notices of upcoming authors, signings, sales, changes to our hours, and my thoughts about books in general.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of coming into the store (or, conversely, who have not allowed me the pleasure of meeting you), please allow me to explain a little bit about Pennywise Books:

Pennywise is an independant new and used bookstore. We are not a store for book collectors, we are a store for readers and book lovers. Not only do we provide a friendly environment for browsing, we also try to help you find that certain book to meet your needs, do special orders, host book-related events and try to offer intelligent conversation.

In the past few months, we have hosted events with such authors as Giller Prizer winner David Bergen, CBC Radio's Stuart McLean and Dr. David Suzuki. As soon as we have confirmed more events, we will post notice here. Sound fair?

Our hours are 9:30 to 5:30 Monday to Friday and 10:00 to 5:00 on Saturday. This might change for the summer, but for the moment that's how it stands.

Do we take used books? Sometimes. It depends on what you have to trade. We DO NOT take Harlequin romances or series westerns. If your mass market paperbacks are in good condition and we don't already have several copies, we do two-for-one trades. For other books, it depends on the books, their condition, your skills as a negotiator, and my mood at the moment. In these cases, we offer store credit. It is very rare we buy book outright -- it has to be a heck of a collection for us to do that... but feel free to ask.

That's it for the moment, but come back soon as there are some events coming up that you might be interested it...