Saving Wolfgang

Key Selling Points

• After Wolfgang's father dies, he and his mother move in with his grandfather in Calgary, and Wolfie deals with the ebbs and flows of life during grief, finding moments of joy in playing hockey with his new friend Jimmy.

• While this book takes on difficult topics such as the death of a parent, suicide, and alcoholism, as well as family secrets, it also shows how the love of family and friends can carry us through the difficult times, and how sports can bring release from even the darkest moments.

• The story is set between 1985 and 1986 and includes the Calgary Flames' unexpected defeat of Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers during the playoffs.

• Telling the story through Wolfgang's letters to his father (and later, diary entries) gives the book a sense of time's passage and the wave-like nature of grief, as well as how life goes on and one can find happiness even amid terrible loss.

• Author Gregor Craigie himself lost his father at a young age, which inspired him to tell this story.

• An author's note at the end will include some context for the grandfather's World War II memories, Gregor's personal memories and how he has included himself as a boy in the book, and a short discussion of suicide (including a crisis hotline number).

• Shortlisted for the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes - Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.

© 2025 Orca Book Publishers (Audiobook): 9781459845640

Release date

Audiobook: 14 October 2025