Book It, Cammi

As a player and scout, Cammi Granato is a proven groundbreaker, captaining Team USA to the first-ever Olympic gold medal for women's ice hockey in 1998 and now as the first-ever female pro scout for an NHL franchise.
As a mom raising two boys, Granato was committed to reading to them every night "for like 10 years straight." She noticed her older son, Riley, by age 3, gravitated to sports books, "especially any sports action books."

Granato recognized something else in the nightly sessions (which younger son Reese joined by three months old because, hey, why not get started early).
"There wasn't a lot of female representation in those books and stories," says Granato during a phone conversation.
Starting Wednesday, Granato can add author to her innovative standing in the hockey universe and beyond. Her children's book, "I Can Play Too," aims squarely at empowering girls to believe they belong on hockey rinks and teams as much as boys. It doubles as an inspirational story for any girl following an unconventional dream.
The book, available for sale ($17.99) at Kraken team stores and
onescooppublishing.com
, is three years in the writing and editing but germinated when reading to 3-year-old Riley and baby Reese.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Craig Cunningham All Heart Foundation started by a longtime Granato friend and former NHL player who started a foundation to create awareness about potential sudden cardiac arrest among people of all ages. Cunningham survived his sudden cardiac arrest but it ended his hockey career.
"This book is a long time coming," says Granato, who inspired among many others, Hillary Knight, the current Team USA captain preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. "It's cool to hold the book in my hands ... it's a bit terrifying and completely exciting to put myself out there [as an author]."
No worries there. The delightful, compelling book, targeted for ages 4 to 11, tells the story of Mimi, a young girl with an unrelenting passion for playing hockey who doesn't settle for watching her brothers play the sport.
Granato's words are deepened and amplified by the winsome and striking illustrations of Dom Granato, who happens to be Cammi's nephew (Tony's son) and godson but his work makes it the author-illustrator collaboration is one of love and talent. Readers will enjoy Dom's style and colorizations along with fun bubble comments.
In the book, Mimi lives in a town where girls don't play hockey, which is why her parents sign her up for a figure skating program to join her older sister in that pursuit. But Mimi's heart and eyes are on the other rink at the local ice complex, where it's her dream to join the hockey players. Where the story goes from there is for readers to discover, but it is important to note the book is based on a true story.
That would be Granato's own hockey journey, which ignited with her desire to play hockey with her brothers at her Chicago-area home (driveway, hallway, dinner table, basement) and then local rinks.
Her brothers, Don (now head coach of the Buffalo Sabres) and Tony (a star NHL player and currently head coach of the University of Wisconsin NCAA Division I men's hockey team), welcomed her as an equal and, by all accounts, didn't cut her much slack, resulting is the superior skills and winning mindset that led her to 11 seasons as Team USA captain and a transformative figure in women's hockey both here in the U.S. and around the globe.
Mimi's story has some different plot twists while still delivering the strong message that girls can live their sports dreams or any other life dream, no matter how unconventional or unprepared the rest of a girl's world might be.
The character Mimi is named for Granato's aunt, her mother's "kid sister" who passed away from sudden cardiac arrest at 15 years old, the same condition from which Craig Cunningham endured. Nephew Dom used family photos of Aunt Mimi to draw the book's main protagonist.
"I never got to meet her, but I have always felt a connection to my aunt," says Granato. "It was a devastating part of my mom's life and our family. I'm named after my aunt Mimi. I wanted to honor her. I think it's helped my mom heal a little bit. She's buried it for a long time
Granato mentions a critical moment in the book's story, when Mimi has persuaded her parents to let her switch to hockey from figure skating. When Mimi and her older sister arrive with Mimi proudly donning hockey gear for the first time, the figure skaters make fun of how Mimi looks. Mimi is sad and the older sister responds with a hug and encouraging words.
"Don't worry, they just don't understand," writes Granato, the author. "They've never seen a girl play hockey. You are doing what you love, so hold your head high."
"It's not about blaming the figure skaters," says Granato over the phone. "They just need more time to accept Mimi and her decision to play hockey. What the older sister says to Mimi is 'hey, it's not your fault, hold your head high, be yourself and do what you love."

Fan Alert: Cammi Granato Book Signings

Granato will be reading and signing her books at two separate events at the Kraken Community Iceplex Wednesday at 3:45 p.m .and 4:45 p.m. Wednesday marks the 36th annual Girls and Women in Sports Day.
Plus, Granato will be holding a reading and signing at the Bellevue Mall Kraken team store Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m.
Books will be available for purchase at the Kraken team stores at the Kraken Community Iceplex and the Bellevue Mall and online on Cammi's website
here
.