Small Kine Book Club: Heated Rivalry

Every six weeks we’ll read widely across genres—everything from memoir and oral history to fiction, poetry, and graphic novels—so long as the content is “queer.” Though we’ll prioritize work by local and Kānaka writers, we’ll also occasionally venture elsewhere, into the horny zeitgeist of books like Game Changers, the series that inspired the hit show Heated Rivalry. 

About co-host/discussion moderators:

Mitchell Kuga is a writer and editor who runs Small Kine Gift with his gay husband.

Sean Oketani is bookseller at da Shop that enjoys reading queer literature.

About the book:

Heated Rivalry, the second book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, follows the secret relationship between rival hockey stars Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, which you might have watched play out on television. Reid, a hockey fan, said "Game Changers came from a place of me being angry at hockey culture and how clearly homophobic it was and is, and all the other things that made me really ashamed to be a hockey fan. That whole series attacks the NHL and hockey culture quite a bit.” Through writing the series, Reid questioned what it would mean to be a closeted player in a league with such a homophobic culture. "I thought a lot about what it would feel like to come out. And then I started thinking about the ripple effect—what would happen to the other players?"

The book can be purchased at a discount at da Shop and Small Kine Gift. If accessibility is an issue please email [email protected]

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher da Shop: books + curiosities