Unplugged by Joe Barrett

Unplugged by Joe Barrett

2020 Maxy Awards - Best Literary/Humor

2020 PenCraft Award Winner - Humor

The only problem with getting everything you ever wanted is that it forces you to reassess everything you ever wanted in the first place.

Thirty-two-year-old Dan Johnson has it all; a nine-digit net worth, a gorgeous fianc and a luxury riverside brownstone. The only problem is, he doesn't want any of it. And the endless distractions of digitized society give him no head space to figure out what he does want.

So, Dan unplugs. He abandons all things digital technology, effectively retreating from society to live an analog lifestyle geared at perfecting the art of avoidance. When a case of mistaken identity launches Dan into a series of bizarro relationships and absurd events, it represents an unexpected path to reconnect him with a world he never knew existed.

Dark, offbeat and laugh-out-loud funny, Unplugged is a coming of middle-age story about finding authentic connections and meaning in today's hyper-digitized society.

Joe Barrett, EdD, is an associate professor in the department of teacher education at Brock University in Ontario. His research and service duties revolve around school health policy and health and physical education pedagogy. At Brock University, Dr. Barrett teaches a number of elementary and secondary undergraduate courses that focus on physical and health education curriculum and instruction, as well as graduate courses focused on physical and health education policy and curricula using problem-based learning pedagogies. He has served as the Ontario representative on the Physical and Health Education (PHE) Canada Board of Directors (2013-2015) and as co-chair (2010-2012) and chair (2012-2013) of the PHE Canada Research Council. He served a two-year term as the co-chair (2017-2019) of the PHE Canada National Research Forum.

Carol Scaini, MEd, is an instructor in the department of teacher education at Tyndale University College in Ontario and is an experienced health and physical education teacher with the Peel District School Board. At Tyndale University College, she teaches the physical and health education course for both primary/junior and junior/intermediate teacher candidates. She is well known in the field of health and physical education (HPE): She serves on a number of HPE committees, has taught HPE additional qualification courses at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and has authored several health and physical education resources. She has earned numerous teaching awards, including the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence, the Ontario Teacher of the Year award, the Dr. Andy Anderson Young Professional Award from PHE Canada, the Ontario Association for the Support of Physical and Health Educators (OASPHE) Recognition Award and Advocacy Award, and an Award of Distinction from the Peel District School Board.