Novelist incorporates new sport into teen thriller

New book’s characters practise parkour on Winnipeg streets

When Anita Daher’s editor asked her to write a sports-themed novel, she found herself at a loss for words.

Although the River Heights resident – who has four other juvenile and teen-targeted books under her belt – was an avid runner in her youth, she hadn’t been involved in sports in a long time.

“For the past so many years, I’ve been sitting in a chair in front of a computer – I’m not really involved in sports,” she said.

“I’m not a person who can just write for hire – I need to be passionate about whatever it is.”

Thankfully for Daher, the inspiration came when she discovered an emerging sport called “parkour” – a sport created in France that uses urban landscapes as its playing field.

“The main goal of parkour is to get from point A to point B the most efficiently,” she said.

“If it comes to a partition, you don’t go around, you just vault over it...you also need to know how to properly roll out at the end, which is where gymnastics come into it.

“It’s started picking up popularity among young people...all you need is a pair of running shoes and a good heart, a will to go out and do this.”

Daher’s new book, Two Foot Punch, is a sports thriller for reluctant teen readers, in which parkour figures prominently.

So far, the author has yet to try out parkour for herself in a serious way.

“I’ve come to realize gravity isn’t my friend...but in my head, I’m really good.”

The book is set in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, an area that has been a longtime interest for the author.

“I chose to set it in this area because I just love the Exchange so much. I love the sense of history that’s right here in our faces,” said Daher.

“I started researching parkour and looking into the Exchange history at the same time, and a couple of locations in downtown Winnipeg came up where people do parkour.”

According to Tyler (T-Mac) Crichton, Winnipeg Parkour events co-ordinator, Daher’s setting is perfect.

“It’s excellent. We usually go downtown, because it’s the most urban setting,” said Crichton, adding that Daher’s book is a source of excitement for the local parkour community.

“It’s the first parkour novel ever, which makes it really fun to read,” said Crichton, who Daher honoured by naming a character “T-Mac” in her book.

“She does it so accurately, it sounds like she actually does it – she got it bang on. Plus, we’re kind of in it, and it’s really cool to see yourself in a book.”

Although the sport is an important part of her novel, Daher said Two Foot Punch stays true to her usual style of writing exciting page-turners for young readers.

“It’s a fast-paced, high-intensity story,” she said. “No matter what I write, I’ve always got that ‘thriller’ in there. This one is a sports thriller.”

For Daher, writing for children and teens isn’t a difficult task. She’s a mother of two children herself and says she remembers her adolescence fondly.

“It must be a sad state of affairs,” she said, “I don’t need to do anything to get to (teen) level. I’m already there.”

Two Foot Punch will be launched Nov. 15 at Grant Park mall and will include a demonstration by Crichton and the Winnipeg Parkour team.

More information is available at www.winnipegparkour.com.