The Rink Girl - Paperback

by Mark Brazaitis (Author)

A grandfather reluctantly raising his seven-year-old granddaughter throws her a birthday party to which no one comes-and she's delighted. A former hockey player, about to become a father, suffers flashbacks to times his coach sexually abused him. A one-time Olympic hopeful reveals the heartbreaking reason she failed to land her signature jump-and thereby frees herself to find her next passion. Winner of Prize Americana, The Rink Girl may have a small geographic setting-an ice arena in an unassuming Ohio town-but it's wide in thematic scope: from depression and war to the perils and pleasures of parenting and the thrill (and aching brevity) of first love.

Author Biography

Mark Brazaitis is the author of seven books, including The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, winner of the 1998 Iowa Short Fiction Award, The Incurables: Stories, winner of the 2012 Richard Sullivan Prize and the 2013 Devil's Kitchen Reading Award in Prose, and Truth Poker: Stories, which won the 2014 Autumn House Press Fiction Competition. He wrote the script for the award-winning Peace Corps film How Far Are You Willing to Go to Make a Difference?