Best of
Canada

2005

Three Day Road


Joseph Boyden - 2005
    Xavier Bird, her sole living relation, is gravely wounded and addicted to morphine. As Niska slowly paddles her canoe on the three-day journey to bring Xavier home, travelling through the stark but stunning landscape of Northern Ontario, their respective stories emerge—stories of Niska’s life among her kin and of Xavier’s horrifying experiences in the killing fields of Ypres and the Somme.

The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed


John Vaillant - 2005
    Five months earlier, logger-turned-activist Grant Hadwin had plunged naked into a river in British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands, towing a chainsaw. When his night's work was done, a unique Sitka spruce, 165 feet tall and covered with luminous golden needles, teetered on its stump. Two days later it fell.As vividly as John Krakauer puts readers on Everest, John Vaillant takes us into the heart of North America's last great forest.

Shi-shi-etko


Nicola I. Campbell - 2005
    Finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Ruth Schwartz AwardIn just four days young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave her family and all that she knows to attend residential school.She spends her last days at home treasuring the beauty of her world -- the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather's paddle song. Her mother, father and grandmother, each in turn, share valuable teachings that they want her to remember. And so Shi-shi-etko carefully gathers her memories for safekeeping.Richly hued illustrations complement this gently moving and poetic account of a child who finds solace all around her, even though she is on the verge of great loss -- a loss that native people have endured for generations because of the residential schools system.

Being Caribou


Karsten Heuer - 2005
    In April 2003, wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and filmmaker Leanne Allison embarked on a five-month research journey to follow the 2,000-mile migration of a herd of 120,000 Porcupine Caribou, from their winter range to their calving grounds in Alaska, and back again. From Old Crow, Yukon, the Heuers followed ancient paths and the primordial rhythms of the herd through Canada and over the border to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the United States. The couple travelled on foot and by ski through unforgiving landscapes; fording swift, deadly cold rivers, as well as encountering ravenous grizzlies who tracked them as prey. Having began the expedition as seasoned outdoor adventurers, Karsten and Leanne soon learned they would only be able to find and discern the intent of the herd by adopting the ancient ways of the area's indigenous people. Advised by a Gwich'in native in Old Crow at the start of their trip to "listen to dreams", Karsten and Leanne find they must shed the many insulating layers of pragmatism that distance them from the natural world. They discover a transformational truth in listening to the music of the earth, paying attention to the urgings within dreams, and in truly, beyond their expectations, being caribou.

Terry: Terry Fox and His Marathon of Hope


Douglas Coupland - 2005
    His goal was to raise $1 from every Canadian to help find a cure, and some combination of passion, idealism, and sheer guts led to the impossible notion that he would do this on one good leg and a prosthesis. Beginning in Newfoundland on April 12, 1980, he ran 26 miles each day for 143 consecutive days. But on September 1, the return of his cancer forced him to stop in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He died ten months later, but by then his dream had been realized: over $24 million had been collected in his name. Created to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of his journey, this biography combines over 80 new photographs from a previously unknown family collection with a very personal episodic narrative. The result brings a magic moment in Canadian history, and the young man who inspired it, freshly alive.All royalties from the book will be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation to support cancer research.

Summer's Child & Summer of Roses


Luanne Rice - 2005
    An exclusive 2-in-1 Book Club Edition

A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from Their American Homeland


John Mack Faragher - 2005
    The right of neutrality; to live in peace from the imperial wars waged between France and England; had been one of the founding values of Acadia; its settlers traded and intermarried freely with native Mikmaq Indians and English Protestants alike. But the Acadians' refusal to swear unconditional allegiance to the British Crown in the mid-eighteenth century gave New Englanders, who had long coveted Nova Scotia's fertile farmland, pretense enough to launch a campaign of ethnic cleansing on a massive scale. John Mack Faragher draws on original research to weave 150 years of history into a gripping narrative of both the civilization of Acadia and the British plot to destroy it.

A Short History of Indians in Canada: Stories


Thomas King - 2005
    Winner of the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year and the Aboriginal Fiction Book of the Year--a collection of twenty short stories told in Thomas King's classic, wry, irreverent, and allegorical voice.

The Dolphin's Tooth: A Decade In Search of Adventure


Bruce Kirkby - 2005
    In a fit of rebellion, he quits his job to bicycle the Karakoram Highway in northern Pakistan. He is twenty-two and absolutely clueless. Miraculously, hilariously, he survives — and discovers his life’s passion.Over the next fifteen years, Kirkby navigates an evermore uncertain and uncommon path, honing his skills on some of the most challenging expeditions the world has to offer. Whether it’s gun fights and crocodile attacks while running Africa’s Blue Nile Gorge, the rescue of a fallen sherpa on Mount Everest, evading capture in Myanmar’s forbidden tropical paradise, or learning to embrace the wilderness on the Tatshenshini River of Canada’s Arctic, Kirkby shares with the reader the excitement, doubts, insights, and even the uncomfortable self-knowledge that a life lived on the edge brings.

An Audience of Chairs


Joan Clark - 2005
    There are few people remaining in her life, as Moranna cannot help but tax the patience of nearly everyone she encounters. Her long-suffering brother Murdoch has her best interests at heart, though he is fatigued by her enormous needs and pressured by his ambitious wife to invest less time in her. Pastor Andy politely sloughs off the peculiarly intelligent yet unpalatable sermons Moranna pens for him. Her neighbour Lottie knows what it is to be an eccentric and can be counted on to come through in a pinch. The local RCMP constabulary smooths over her legal scrapes. And her lover Bun, who lives with her when not working on the ferries between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, knows how to give her a wide berth on her "foul weather" days. Thanks to the assistance of these sometimes reluctant guardian angels, as well as to the carefully planned inheritance left by her father (not to mention her own sheer ingenuity), Moranna has managed to get by all these years despite small-town gossips and tormenting youths. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn more about the devastating effects of Moranna' s mental illness on her life and that of her family. But An Audience of Chairs also gives us a glimpse into the mind of a true iconoclast and wild spirit, who has managed despite overwhelming odds to keep hope alive.

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Explosion 1917


Laura M. MacDonald - 2005
    Nearly 2,000 people are killed; over 9,000 more are injured. The story of one of the world’s worst non-natural disasters has been told before, but never like this.In a sweeping narrative, Curse of the Narrows tells a tale of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation, retracing the steps of survivors through the wreckage of a city destroyed. Laura M. MacDonald weaves a panoramic chronicle of the astonishing international response to the explosion, telling of the generous donations of money and medical specialists made by the city of Boston, of how the number of horrific injuries to Halifax’s children inspired startling developments in pediatric medicine, and exploring the disaster’s chilling link to the creation of the atomic bomb.Filled with archival photos, defined by meticulous research andi nfused with a storyteller’s sensibility, Curse of the Narrows is a compelling and powerful book.

Terry Fox: A Story of Hope


Maxine Trottier - 2005
    Many young Canadians may have heard of Terry Fox, but don’t know the whole story. With more school children than ever participating in the annual Terry Fox Run, this is the perfect tool for teachers and parents to talk about the legacy and life of one of Canada’s greatest heros. Dozens of colour photographs and simple text combine to tell Terry Fox’s story-from his early years as a boy who grew up loving sports and determined to fi nish what he started, through his treatment for cancer and the loss of his leg, to his historic run to raise money for cancer research. His story continues to inspire millions of people around the world, and the foundation carrying his name raises millions of dollars every year. The author’s royalties and a matching donation from Scholastic will go to the Terry Fox Foundation.

Chasing Clayoquot: A Wilderness Almanac


David Pitt-Brooke - 2005
    Kennedy Jr., this book of natural history, environmentalism, and politics explores one of the Earth's last primeval places: Clayoquot Sound. Pitt-Brooke takes the reader on 12 journeys, one for each month of the year. Each journey covers the outstanding natural event of that season, such as whale-watching in April, shorebird migration in May, and the salmon spawn in October.

My Winnipeg


Guy Maddin - 2005
    A bargain bridge. Séances. Golden Boy pageants. A demolished hockey arena. St. Mary's Academy for Girls. Spanky the Guide Dog through Time. An epidemic of sleepwalking.This is the Winnipeg of Guy Maddin, the world's foremost cinéaste planant, and it's not the Winnipeg you'll find in tourist brochures. When the iconoclastic auteur of The Saddest Music in the World decided to tackle the subject of his hometown, it could only have become a 'docu-fantasia,' a melange of personal history, civic tragedy and mystical hypothesizing. The result is wildly delirious, deeply personal and deliciously entertaining.Herewith, venture deeper into the mind of Maddin with the text of his narration, wantonly annotated with an avalanche of marginal digressions, stills, outtakes, family photos, emails, essays, deoculations, animations, notebook pages and collages. There's even an X-ray of Spanky the pug and an in-depth interview with Michael Ondaatje.

Chef at Home


Michael Smith - 2005
    Packed with simple and delicious meals, this cookbook offers kitchen insight and a culinary adventure on every page. Chef Michael Smith has cooked professionally for more than 20 years. In Chef at Home, the companion cookbook to his hit Food Network series, Smith emphasizes simple, stress-free cooking. In his house, every meal is an opportunity to have fun and experiment with flavors. Aspiring home cooks will learn from Smith's professional cooking secrets. Experienced home cooks will appreciate his open, creative approach. Everyone will love the book's simple, healthy flavors and the tips on personalizing each dish. Recipes include: Country Inn Pancakes Maritime Clam Chowder Rosemary Vanilla Chicken Mac and Cheese with Lobster. This book is meant to be ripped, oil-stained, accidentally burnt, and deliberately written on. It works best in the kitchen -- not on the coffee table.

Second Watch


Karen Autio - 2005
    One misfortune after another nibbles at the savings. Still, bit by bit, the coins keep falling into the coffee-tin bank. Saara's hopes rise higher and higher. But why does her beloved Papa scold and storm and talk of looking forward, not back, whenever she mentions the trip? A travelling year, Uncle Arvo predicted. But not the kind of travelling anyone could have foreseen. Before the year is up, Saara will have learned, not so much about where she has come from, as about how far it is possible for her to go. Second Watch is based on true details of Finnish immigrant culture and the sinking of the great Empress of Ireland. Over the eight years that this Canadian Pacific steamship sailed the Atlantic Ocean, it transported more than 117,000 passengers to Canada. The sinking of the Empress on May 29, 1914, remains Canada's worst maritime disaster during peacetime. Of 1,477 passengers and crew on board, 1,012 were lost-more passengers than in the sinking of the Titanic. Yet the Empress of Ireland and its fate remain little known to most Canadians. Autio's novel, the first work of juvenile fiction to feature the Empress of Ireland, is set in 1914 in the Finnish immigrant community within Port Arthur (now part of Thunder Bay). Young readers will be drawn into eleven-year-old Saara's world. They will travel with her as she navigates a challenging time in her life at home-and as she boards the Empress of Ireland on May 28, 1914.

A War Against Truth: An Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq


Paul William Roberts - 2005
    This is his exposi of the politics behind the recent war -- and the brutal reality the Iraqis experienced but the rest of the world didn't see. In Baghdad when the bombs started falling, Roberts witnesses the "shock and awe" campaign firsthand, mourns the loss of his friend's entire family, and escapes to Jordan, only to return two weeks later behind the American army. A scathing indictment of the Bush administration's new imperialism, "A War Against Truth recounts Robert's experiences in the newly "liberated" Iraq, where he meets looters selling priceless artifacts, interviews Tariq Aziz in hiding, is interrogated by U.S. intelligence.

Birds of Ontario


Andy Bezener - 2005
    It contains full-colour illustrations and detailed descriptions of 318 species, with each account including information on: *Size * Status * Habitat * Nesting * Feeding * Voice * Similar species cross-referenced * Best sites for viewing * Range maps showing seasonal occurrences of the bird and migration routes. * Colour-coded header bars and a quick reference guide make finding information fast and easy. Also includes a glossary of terms and a birder's checklist. Technical review by Ross James, former Curator of Ornithology at the Royal Ontario Museum.

At the Vinyl Cafe: The Christmas Concert


Stuart McLean - 2005
    The show is centred around a fictional small record store, The Vinyl Cafe.

For Those Whom God Has Blessed With Fingers


Ken Sparling - 2005
    I have put a great deal of loving devotion into creating something that is just itself and I do everything I can to foil the evil plans of villains determined to summarize and label everything they lay their eyes and minds upon." - Ken SparlingBy the author of [A Novel by Ken Sparling], (Pedlar Press, 2003), and Dad Says He Saw You At The Mall, (Knopf, New York, 1996).

Bear Child: The Life and Times of Jerry Potts


Rodger D. Touchie - 2005
    The son of a Scottish father and a Blood mother, he was given the name Bear Child by his Blood tribe for his bravery and tenacity while he was still a teen. In 1874, when the North West Mounted Police first marched west and sat lost and starving near the Canada-U.S. border, it was Potts who led them to shelter. Over the next 22 years he played a critical role in the peaceful settlement of the Canadian West.Bear Child: The Life and Times of Jerry Potts tells the story of this legendary character who personifies the turmoil of the frontier in two countries, the clash of two cultures he could call his own, and the strikingly different approaches of two expanding nations as they encroached upon the land of the buffalo and the nomadic tribes of the western Plains.

Pierre: Colleagues and Friends Talk about the Trudeau They Knew


Nancy Southam - 2005
    Thousands of people across Canada — and all over the world — mourned the loss of one of our greatest prime ministers, a man who touched the hearts and challenged the minds of a nation. In this book, Trudeau’s close friend Nancy Southam has gathered more than 140 reminiscences and anecdotal narratives from journalists, former world leaders, politicians who battled and debated him, his sons’ friends, RCMP bodyguards, girlfriends, canoeing buddies, and household staff. Among the contributors are luminaries as diverse as Conrad Black, Jean Chrétien, Leonard Cohen, John Kenneth Galbraith, Ivan Head, Jacques Hébert, Karen Kain, Margot Kidder, Harrison McCain, Toni Onley, Gordon Pinsent, Christopher Plummer, Roy Romanow, Ed Schreyer, and Barbra Streisand. With the blessing of his sons, Justin and Sacha, Southam has put together a remarkably transparent account of a deeply private person that is funny, honest, affectionate, and illuminating.

Growing Up Degrassi: Television, Identity and Youth Cultures


Michele Byers - 2005
    Sixteen essays bring together scholars and fans of Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High and Degrassi: The Next Generation to examine the pivotal role the series has had in shaping Canadian youth identity over the past twenty-five years. In the first two sections, "Egrassi and Youth Cultures" and "Building Identity on Degrassi," contributors look into topics ranging from how technology and media have shaped character identity and viewer devotion, to the critical contemporary issues of the AIDS crisis among young adults. The third section "Web Sites, Fan Clubs Reminiscences," is a celebration of Degrassi fandom. In her Afterword, Linda Schuyler comments on the twenty-five years it has taken to build the remarkable phenomenon called Degrassi and why it deserves to be both celebrated and critiqued for its unique place in television and youth cultures.

The Mapmaker's Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau


Jack Nisbet - 2005
    Between 1801 and 1812, this fur trader, explorer, and cartographer established two viable trade routes across the Rocky Mountains in Canada and systematically surveyed the entire 1,250-mile course of the Columbia River. In succeeding years he distilled his mathematical notations from dozens of journal notebooks into the first accurate maps of the northwest quadrant of North America. Information from some of his earlier mapwork was even used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.Author Jack Nisbet utilizes fresh research to convey how Thompson experienced the full sweep of the human and natural history etched across the Columbia drainage. He places Thompson's movements within the larger contexts of the European Enlightenment, the British fur trade economy, and American expansion as represented by Lewis and Clark. Packed with illustrations, photographs, and maps, The Mapmaker's Eye is a chronicle of Thompson's life and adventures, especially in the Columbia country.

The Cabin: A Search for Personal Sanctuary


Hap Wilson - 2005
    It was as far north as one could travel by any modern means. Beautiful beyond any simple expletive, the Temagami wilderness was a land rich in timber, clear-water lakes, fast flowing rivers, mystery and adventure. Newcomb befriended the local Aboriginals -- the Deep Water People -- and quickly discovered the best way to explore was by canoe. Bewitched by the spirit of an interior river named after the elusive brook trout, Majamagosibi, Newcomb had a remote cabin built overlooking one of her precipitous cataracts.The cabin remained unused for decades, save for a few passing canoeists; it changed ownership twice and slowly began to show its age. The author discovered the cabin while on a canoe trip in 1970. Like Newcomb, Hap Wilson was lured to Temagami in pursuit of adventure and personal sanctuary. That search for sanctuary took the author incredible distances by canoe and snowshoe, through near death experiences and Herculean challenges. Secretly building cabins, homesteading and working as a park ranger, Wilson finally became owner of The Cabin in 2000.Artist, author and adventurer, Hap Wilson is perhaps best known for his ecotourism/travel guidebooks. He has led over 300 wilderness expeditions in Canada, and served as actor Pierce Brosnan's personal outdoor trainer for the feature film Grey Owl."This is a complex and fascinating story, beautifully told. At first, it draws us in because the author appears to be living the life we all dream of-a simpler life, close to nature, free from the stress and strain of our consumer culture. But the reality, with its myriad challenges, is what holds our attention and gives the book its substance."- Judith Ruan, Muskoka Magazine

Through a Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775


Thomas A. Desjardin - 2005
    They were American colonists who had volunteered for a secret mission to paddle and march nearly two hundred miles through some of the wildest country in the colonies and seize the fortress city of Quebec, the last British stronghold in Canada. The march, under the command of Colonel Benedict Arnold, proved to be a tragic journey. Before they reached the outskirts of Quebec, hundreds died from hypothermia, drowning, small pox, lightning strikes, exposure, and starvation. The survivors ate dogs, shoes, clothing, leather, cartridge boxes, shaving soap, and lip salve. Their trek toward Quebec was nearly twice the length shown on their maps. In the midst of the journey, the most unlikely of events befell them: a hurricane. The rains fell in such torrents that their boats floated off or sunk, taking their meager provisions along, and then it began to snow. The men woke up frozen in their tattered clothing. One third of the force deserted, returning to Massachusetts. Of those remaining, more than four hundred were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. Finally, in the midst of a raging blizzard, those remaining attacked Quebec. In the assault, their wet muskets failed to fire. Undaunted, they overtook the first of two barricades and pressed on toward the other, nearly taking Canada from the British. Demonstrating Benedict Arnold's prowess as a military strategist, the attack on Quebec accomplished another goal for the colonial army: It forced the British to commit thousands of troops to Canada, subsequently weakening the British hand against George Washington. A great military history about the early days of the American Revolution, Through a Howling Wilderness is also a timeless adventure narrative that tells of heroic acts, men pitted against nature's fury, and a fledgling nation's fight against a tyrannical oppressor.

A Soldier's View


Blake Heathcote - 2005
    Now, with A Soldier’s View, Blake Heathcote opens his extensive archive of photos, rarely before published or seen, to share with us the face of the Second World War as it was witnessed by those who fought it.Blake Heathcote has spent years crisscrossing the country, interviewing Canadian war veterans on video so that their stories will be preserved for generations to come. In the course of these interviews he has compiled an archive of more than 8,700 photographs digitally scanned from the personal collections of the men and women he has met, veterans who were involved in all branches of the service and on all fronts of the war.A Soldier’s View: The Personal Photographs of Canadians at War 1939–1945 includes five hundred images from this stunning collection. Cameras were strictly forbidden by the military (for fear of espionage), and individuals used them at significant personal risk. Later generations should be grateful that these contraband cameras were put to good use: documenting a story that would otherwise have been lost.We see the images captured by Alex Gray, an RCAF photographer who often saw war at its most devastating. In addition to the pictures used for official purposes, Gray captured many images that he kept for his personal collection, a rich sample of which is included in A Soldier’s View: pilots still in flight gear celebrating their return from enemy airspace, and a gravely prohibited shot of the acres of vehicles and armour assembled for the Canadian assault on Normandy.We meet Tom Ingham, a stoker on HMCS Iroquois, and the crew’s forbidden Kodak Brownie, which captured life aboard a combat destroyer: a boxing match used to settle disputes between sailors, an informal group of seamen singing around an accordion, the spectacular explosion of a merchant ship.We see the devastation of Europe through the lens of Percy Loosemore, a paymaster who traveled the front lines hot on the heels of the advancing Canadians. His images of makeshift Canadian graves, Dutch street urchins, and shattered towns are unforgettable.A Soldier’s View captures the diversity of human experience and emotion inspired by war — life and death, destruction and hate, adventure, bravery and sacrifice, friendship, hope and the wisdom of experience — and offers a unique and powerful way of entering a time in Canada’s past so fundamental in shaping the country and the world as we have come to know it.

Case Critical: Social Services and Social Justice in Canada


Ben Carniol - 2005
    Social service providers, the authors argue, should become social activists, working in solidarity with progressive grassroots social movements in order to de-legitimatize colonial and neoliberal policies.

Islands in the Salish Sea: A Community Atlas


Sheila Harrington - 2005
    The community on each island decided what elements should be depicted, and local artists then created each of the magnificent and wildly different maps. This volume is a treasure-trove of cherished information that could have been lost, presented with imagination and great beauty. The Islands in the Salish Sea Community Mapping Project was coordinated by Sheila Harrington and Judi Stevenson, who live on Salt Spring Island.

Saskatchewan: A New History


Bill Waiser - 2005
    Writing with clarity, candor, and compassion, Waiser describes in detail his province and its people through the stimulating, often tumultuous years since joining Confederation in 1905.A gift to the province from the University of Saskatchewan, written in commemoration of the province's centennial celebrations in 2005, Saskatchewan: A New History tells, above all, the engaging stories of the people of Saskatchewan. Their wisdom, foresight, bravery, toil, and eternal optimism gave birth to one hundred years of extraordinary history.Waiser leaves no stone unturned as he records the events and stories of the people who experienced them: from the province's earliest days, when anything seemed possible; through the years of the Great Depression, when the prospect of greatness seemed all but lost; to the second half of the century, when an intense, at times bitter, debate raged over how best to govern Saskatchewan. Relying on the most up-to-date historical research available, he offers new perspectives on traditional views and tackles previously neglected, often difficult, concepts and events."What is most striking about these images, aside from the richness of their color and the skillful use of light, are the happy, smiling faces. He could see things like no one else with a camera. He had an uncanny skill to set the scene. He caught people in everyday life and everyday activities and people wanted to have their picture taken by him."Generously illustrated with carefully selected archival images and two sixteen-page color inserts of commissioned photographs by Saskatoon's John Perret, Saskatchewan: A New History also pays a stunning visual tribute to the historical, urban, and natural splendour of Saskatchewan and its people.Includes: two 16-page color photo inserts by John Perret, 205 Black and White photographs and illustrations, 20 reference tables, 15 maps . . . and more.Saskatchewan Book Award for Non-Fiction nominee, 2005Saskatchewan Book Award for Scholarly Writing nominee, 2005

Desert Hawk: The True Story of Stocky Edwards, World War II Flying Ace


Barbara Hehner - 2005
    "Stocky" Edwards, one of Canada’s greatest WWII air aces, a fighter pilot who earned his nickname not because of his build, but because he would stand up to anything. A Saskatchewan farm boy whose bird-shooting skills would serve him well later in battle, he joined the RCAF and at 20 years old was leading the 260 Squadron over more senior officers. Edwards racked up victories in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, and by war’s end he was a decorated wing commander, legendary for his victories and his irrepressible personality. In December 2004, he was made a member of the Order of Canada.Like Barbara Hehner’s bestselling The Tunnel King, which scored highly with kids and was nominated for several awards, including the Silver Birch, The Desert Hawk is another lively, action-adventure read of a great Canadian war hero.

Bora Laskin: Bringing Law to Life


Philip Girard - 2005
    Born in northern Ontario to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Laskin became a prominent human rights activist, university professor, and labour arbitrator before embarking on his 'accidental career' as a judge on the Ontario Court of Appeal (1965) and later Chief Justice of Canada (1973-1984). Throughout his professional career, he used the law to make Canada a better place for workers, racial and ethnic minorities, and the disadvantaged. As a judge, he sought to make the judiciary more responsive to modern Canadian expectations of justice and fundamental rights.In "Bora Laskin: Bringing Law to Life," Philip Girard chronicles the life of a man who, at all points of his life, was a fighter for a better Canada: he fought antisemitism, corporate capital, omnipotent university boards, the Law Society of Upper Canada, and his own judicial colleagues in an effort to modernize institutions and re-shape Canadian law. Girard exploits a wealth of previously untapped archival sources to provide, in vivid detail, a critical assessment of a restless man on an important mission.

Stole This from a Hockey Card: A Philosophy of Hockey, Doug Harvey, Identity and Booze


Chris Robinson - 2005
    Chris Robinson pushes the bounds of both hockey writing and creative non-fiction in this hard-boiled contemplation of where hockey fits into a man's life--whether he be a casual beer-league player who first embraced the game to avoid a difficult home-life, or one of the most celebrated defencemen in the history of the game.Partly influenced by the life of legendary Montreal Canadiens defenceman Doug Harvey, Stole This from a Hockey Card probes for answers to how one of the game's greatest defencemen could also lead one of the most tragic and mysterious personal lives. The book juxtaposes these investigations with the author's own humble beginnings as a troubled youth who found escape in the cardboard identities put forth by hockey cards and by his own identity as a street-hockey hotshot. Another means of escape for both men became alcohol, a facet of hockey culture thoroughly explored by Robinson's skeptical eye. Informing everything is Robinson's scrappy-yet-meditative, harsh-yet-humorous thoughts on a game that so many Canadians love to hate, or hate to love.

Stanley Park's Secret: The Forgotten Families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch, and Brockton Point


Jean Barman - 2005
    Writing and PublishingEach year, over eight million people visit Stanley Park, a 400-hectare (1000-acre) haven of beauty that offers a backdrop of majestic cedars and firs and an environment teeming with wildlife just steps from the sidewalks and skyscrapers of Vancouver. But few visitors stop to contemplate the secret past of British Columbia’s most popular tourist destination. Officially opened in 1888, Stanley Park was born alongside the city of Vancouver, so it is easy to assume that the park was a pristine wilderness when it was first created. But much of it had been logged and it was home to a number of settlements. Aboriginal people lived at the villages of Whoi Whoi, now Lumberman’s Arch, and nearby Chaythoos. Some of the immigrant Hawaiians earlier employed in the fur trade took jobs at the lumber mills that dotted Burrard Inlet from the 1860s and settled at “Kanaka Ranch,” which was located just outside the park’s southeast boundary. Others resided at Brockton Point on the peninsula’s eastern tip. Only in 1958 was the last of the many families forced out of their homes and the park returned to its supposed “pristine” character.Working in collaboration with descendants of the families who once lived in the park area, historian Jean Barman skilfully weaves together the families’ stories with archival documents, Vancouver Parks Board records and court proceedings to reveal a troubling, yet deeply important facet of BC’s history.

Monarchs and Other Butterflies


Rob Knight - 2005
    World Book's Animals of the World appeals to student's curiosity of animals while providing a quick source for answers to commonly asked questions.Each of these valuable books focuses on a particular animal and its related species, providing students with detailed information about each animal's appearance, habitat, and behavior.Features include:•All books include instructive animal classification charts to show students where the featured animals fit in the Animal Kingdom.•A detailed table of contents, glossary, and index help to ensure that readers get the most out of each book.•Lists of additional print and website resources are included.•These pictures of animals in their natural habitat are an excellent photo reference for high school and college art students.Animals of the World is an ideal collection for the future zoologist, biologist, or veterinarian.

Canadian Christmas Traditions: Festive Recipes and Stories from Coast to Coast


Deeann Mandryk - 2005
    The origin of a Canadian Christmas is a fascinating blend of different traditions and festivities. The stories behind the celebration originate from around the world, and paint a wonderful picture of a season of joy, faith, superstition, and celebration stretching back over thousands of years.

The Canadian Football League: The Phoenix of Professional Sports Leagues (Revised Edition)


Steve O'Brien - 2005
    For decades, though, the growth of Canadian football was slow to change from its rugby traditions. In recent decades, it has been in the shadow of its largest competitor, the National Football League. Although hockey is held up as Canada's number one sport, the CFL has enjoyed as rich and storied a tradition in Canadian sports history. This book is not the usual general history detailing on-field accomplishments, Grey Cup winners etc. Instead, it combines an historical look through 2003 with discussion of continuous themes which have shaped the League. These include the role of the Canadian player, competition from other pro sports, the media's role in creating an image of the CFL, Canadians' attitudes towards pro sports, and how the CFL continually struggles to survive - often in spite of itself.

Top 100 Unusual Things to See in Ontario


Ron Brown - 2005
    This book features 100 of the very best trips from his three best-selling "50 Unusual" collections: 50 Unusual Things to See in Ontario, 50 Even More Unusual Things to See in Ontario, and Ontario's Secret Landscapes: 50 More Visits to Unusual Ontario.What's an unusual thing? "Anything that is unexpected. Something that shouldn't belong where you found it." Most locations are easy to reach from Ontario's major population centers, and a few are for more adventurous explorers. Locations include:North America's longest wooden bridge Ontario's Stonehenge The dune that ate the town Ghosts of the gold fields Boats in the air Holleford meteor crater Strange serpent mounds of Rice Lake The swamp that feeds the world Hell holes of Eastern Ontario Ontario's Taj Mahal Birdhouse City The floating mansions of Lemonville Magical Cyprus Lake grotto The country's smallest jail The eight-sided Main Street The mud church of Shanty Bay The telltale grave The world's shortest railway.

The Wake of War: Encounters in Iraq and Afghanistan


Anne Nivat - 2005
    The acclaimed journalist shares her experiences traveling in both Iraq and Afghanistan after the outbreak of war in those countries, sharing the conversations she had with teachers, political leaders, engineers, and ex-soldiers.

North of Unknown: Mina Hubbard's Extraordinary Expedition into the Labrador Wilderness


Randall Silvis - 2005
    In 1903, following an ambitious expedition to map the interior of Labrador, Mina's husband, Leonidas, died of starvation in a cold, boggy, wind-scoured landscape. The news devastated Mina, but even more devastating were the accusations by Dillon Wallace, Leonidas' partner, that the expedition failed due to his incompetence. The allegations so infuriated her that she launched her own expedition at a time when a woman's place was the home, not adventuring. The expedition took place at the same time that Dillon Wallace was launching his; so the race was on. Using her late husband's original route so as to vindicate both her and Leonidas, she and her Native crew discover a landscape that is at once alluring and formidable. Driven by her devotion, Mina wins the race, beating Wallace by a month and a half, and becomes in the process the first white woman to make contact with the elusive Naskapis Indians. Using original source material and the memoirs of the main actors of this remarkable drama, the author pieces together a page-turning narrative of the race between Mina and Wallace, as well as the fateful first expedition of Leonidas Hubbard.

Rebel Women of the East Coast: Daring to Go Beyond the Limits


Michelle Porter - 2005
    The incredible women in these stories - who lived from 350 years ago to the late twentieth century - contributed their courage, their vision, and their strength to their families and their communities.

Sleds, Sleighs & Snow: A Canadian Christmas Carol


Anne Tempelman-Kluit - 2005
    The Canadian Christmas experience is filled with many different traditions: from horse-drawn sleigh rides around Mount Royal in Montreal to dog sledding trips in the North, and from musical feasts in British Columbian mining camps to bittersweet dinners in isolated Yukon cabins. From around the world, new Canadians brought cherished customs and blended them with those of this new land.Sleds, Sleights and Snow brings to life the best holiday stories from across Canada. It captures Christmas celebrations through stories, poems, letters, newspaper clippings, and personal reminiscences from every province and territory and from peoples of many heritages.It also includes antique Christmas cards, photographs, recipes, and drawings that highlight the many facets of Canada's colorful Christmas season. Covering the early pioneer days to modern times, this is a collection to treasure for many years to come.Contributors include: Margaret Laurence E. Pauline Johnson Lucy Maude Montgomery Grey Owl Emily Carr

The Kids Book of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada


Diane Silvey - 2005
    Their story is central to the nation's identity -- indeed, the word "Canada" is derived from the Huron-Haudenosaunee word "kanata," which means "our village." This title in the acclaimed Kids Book of series is a balanced, in-depth look at the cultures, struggles and triumphs of Canada's first peoples. Exhaustively researched and reviewed by specialists in the field, this groundbreaking book is by far the most comprehensive of its kind. The detailed illustrations based on museum artifacts, written records of long ago and contemporary scholarship help bring the traditional ways to life for young readers.

A Profound Weakness: Christians and Kitsch


Betty Spackman - 2005
    Having set out to critique these poor relations of ecclesiastical art, she finds herself torn between being deeply moved and outraged by their sentimental appeal. Her gentle deconstructions and playful permutations elicit new life from them to illustrate her observations, and to surprise and at times unsettle the reader. A closing questionnaire prompts further reflection. This is a book that can help us greatly to make sense of the pictures that unwittingly may have shaped our faith or unfaith. In particular Spackman wonders why, if kitsch is 'easy, formulaic and a lie', the church is so quick to adopt it to 'tell the truth'! This beautifully produced, full-colour textbook is highly recommended for artists, teachers, preachers, youth leaders, parents and spiritual counsellors.'Paradoxically, the simplistic nature of kitsch both conceals and reveals the vestiges of wonder, the underlying mysteries of faith, through the most garish of guises and a disturbing exhibitionism. In a way, kitsch represents a closet desire for spiritual reality, and the creative longing to manifest mystery. . .' [p17]

Canada Moves West : An Omnibus


Pierre Berton - 2005
    Originally printed as separate volumes in the "Adventures in Canadian History" series, the titles in this omnibus include: "The Railway Pathfinders; The Men in Sheepskin Coats; A Prairie Nightmare; Steel Across the Plains"; and "Steel Across the Shield." Although the books read like novels, with exciting story lines and vivid characters, there is archival evidence for every story and, indeed, very remark made on their pages' nothing has been made up. Berton's ability to infuse history and its characters with the excitement, personality, and immediacy of contemporary events appeals strongly to young readers. The reading level is appropriate for Grade 5 and up, but the interest level carries well into adult reading.

the Métis Alphabet Book


Joseph Jean Fauchon - 2005