Best of
Canada

2017

Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City


Tanya Talaga - 2017
    An inquest was called and four recommendations were made to prevent another tragedy. None of those recommendations were applied.More than a quarter of a century later, from 2000 to 2011, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of miles away from their families, forced to leave home and live in a foreign and unwelcoming city. Five were found dead in the rivers surrounding Lake Superior, below a sacred Indigenous site. Jordan Wabasse, a gentle boy and star hockey player, disappeared into the minus twenty degrees Celsius night. The body of celebrated artist Norval Morrisseau’s grandson, Kyle, was pulled from a river, as was Curran Strang’s. Robyn Harper died in her boarding-house hallway and Paul Panacheese inexplicably collapsed on his kitchen floor. Reggie Bushie’s death finally prompted an inquest, seven years after the discovery of Jethro Anderson, the first boy whose body was found in the water.Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities.

Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present


Robyn Maynard - 2017
    Robyn Maynard provides readers with the first comprehensive account of nearly four hundred years of state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization and punishment of Black lives in Canada.While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state's role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates.Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard's intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities.A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges readers to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.

Feeding My Mother: Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as My Mom Lives with Memory Loss


Jann Arden - 2017
    Funny how time works. Since her dad died in 2015, Jann cooks for her mom five or six times a week. Her mom finds comfort in her daughter's kitchen, not just in the delicious food but also just sitting with her as she cooks. And Jann finds some peace in caring for her mom, even as her mom slowly becomes a stranger. If you told me two years ago that I'd be here, Jann writes, I wouldn't have believed it. And yet we still fall into so much laughter, feel so much insane gladness and joy. It's such a contrast from one minute to the next and it teaches me constantly: it makes me stronger and more humble and more empathetic and caring and kind. The many people who are dealing with a loved one who is losing it will find inspiration and strength in Jann's wholehearted, loving response and her totally Jann take on the upside-down world of a daughter mothering her mother. Feeding My Mother is one heck of an affirmation that life just keeps on keeping on, and a wonderful example of how you have to roll with it.

Christmas at the Vinyl Cafe


Stuart McLean - 2017
    For two decades, Stuart McLean travelled across the country every December with The Vinyl Cafe Christmas tour, bringing the gift of laughter and light during the darkest days of the year. The hilarious world of Dave and Morley was even more real--more vibrant--during the holidays. For many, the Vinyl Cafe Christmas stories became beloved family traditions. Now, for the first time, they have been brought together in this special collection--including the classic Dave Cooks the Turkey, as well as five new, never before published Christmas stories. From mishaps with the Turlingtons and the tale of a young Dave's first holiday disaster to the surprising Christmas Ferret and the touching sign off in The Christmas Card, these wonderful new stories will delight for years to come. Brimming with charm and humour (often at Dave's expense), these twelve stories entertain on every page, reminding us what the holidays are all about.

Scarborough


Catherine Hernandez - 2017
    Scarborough the novel employs a multitude of voices to tell the story of a tight-knit neighborhood under fire: among them, Victor, a black artist harassed by the police; Winsum, a West Indian restaurant owner struggling to keep it together; and Hina, a Muslim school worker who witnesses first-hand the impact of poverty on education.And then there are the three kids who work to rise above a system that consistently fails them: Bing, a gay Filipino boy who lives under the shadow of his father's mental illness; Sylvie, Bing's best friend, a Native girl whose family struggles to find a permanent home to live in; and Laura, whose history of neglect by her mother is destined to repeat itself with her father.Scarborough offers a raw yet empathetic glimpse into a troubled community that locates its dignity in unexpected places: a neighborhood that refuses to be undone.Catherine Hernandez is a queer theatre practitioner and writer who has lived in Scarborough off and on for most of her life. Her plays Singkil and Kilt Pins were published by Playwrights Canada Press, and her children's book M is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book was published by Flamingo Rampant. She is the Artistic Director of Sulong Theatre for women of color.

The Lightkeeper's Daughters


Jean E. Pendziwol - 2017
    No longer able to linger over her beloved books or gaze at the paintings that move her spirit, she fills the void with music and memories of her family—a past that suddenly becomes all too present when her late father's journals are found amid the ruins of an old shipwreck.With the help of Morgan, a delinquent teenager performing community service, Elizabeth goes through the diaries, a journey through time that brings the two women closer together. Entry by entry, these unlikely friends are drawn deep into a world far removed from their own—to Porphyry Island on Lake Superior, where Elizabeth’s father manned the lighthouse seventy years before.As the words on these musty pages come alive, Elizabeth and Morgan begin to realize that their fates are connected to the isolated island in ways they never dreamed. While the discovery of Morgan's connection sheds light onto her own family mysteries, the faded pages of the journals hold more questions than answers for Elizabeth, and threaten the very core of who she is.

A Newfoundlander in Canada: Always Going Somewhere, Always Coming Home


Alan Doyle - 2017
    Often in a van, sometimes in a bus, occasionally in a car with broken wipers "using Bob's belt and a rope found by Paddy's Pond" to pull them back and forth, Alan and his bandmates charted new territory, and he constantly measured what he saw of the vast country against what his forefathers once called the Daemon Canada. In a period punctuated by triumphant leaps forward for the band, deflating steps backward and everything in between--opening for Barney the Dinosaur at an outdoor music festival, being propositioned at a gas station mail-order bride service in Alberta, drinking moonshine with an elderly church-goer on a Sunday morning in PEI--Alan's few established notions about Canada were often debunked and his own identity as a Newfoundlander was constantly challenged. Touring the country, he also discovered how others view Newfoundlanders and how skewed these images can sometimes be. Asked to play in front of the Queen at a massive Canada Day festival on Parliament Hill, the concert organizers assured Alan and his bandmates that the best way to showcase Newfoundland culture was for them to be towed onto stage in a dory and introduced not as Newfoundlanders but as "Newfies." The boys were not amused. Heartfelt, funny and always insightful, these stories tap into the complexities of community and Canadianness, forming the portrait of a young man from a tiny fishing village trying to define and hold on to his sense of home while navigating a vast and diverse and wonder-filled country.

A History of Canada in Ten Maps: Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land


Adam Shoalts - 2017
    Every map tells a story. And every map has a purpose--it invites us to go somewhere we've never been. It's an account of what we know, but also a trace of what we long for.Ten Maps conjures the world as it appeared to those who were called upon to map it. What would the new world look like to wandering Vikings, who thought they had drifted into a land of mythical creatures, or Samuel de Champlain, who had no idea of the vastness of the landmass just beyond the treeline?Adam Shoalts, one of Canada's foremost explorers, tells the stories behind these centuries old maps, and how they came to shape what became "Canada."It's a story that will surprise readers, and reveal the Canada we never knew was hidden. It brings to life the characters and the bloody disputes that forged our history, by showing us what the world looked like before it entered the history books. Combining storytelling, cartography, geography, archaeology and of course history, this book shows us Canada in a way we've never seen it before.

The Agony of Bun O'Keefe


Heather Smith - 2017
    Bun O’Keefe 14, has an eccentric point of view to tell us her unusual story. Her ma told her to go, so she did.. In the nearest city, the girl is taken in by a street musician. The shared house has an eclectic cast: a pot-smoking dishwasher with culinary dreams; a drag queen with a tragic past; a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and the landlord to be avoided at all cost.

The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism


John U. Bacon - 2017
    In December 1917, a freighter carrying 3,000 tons of explosives sailed from Brooklyn bound for the trenches of World War I—en route, a cataclysmic disaster awaited . . .Entering World War I’s fourth demoralizing year, the Allies hoped to break the grueling stalemate by sending thousands of fresh American troops and more munitions than ever to the trenches of France. Before the French freighter Mont-Blanc set sail from Brooklyn on December 1, 1917, with a staggering 3,000 tons of explosives, the captain banned his crew from lighting a single match, and secured the volatile cargo with copper nails because they don’t spark when struck. For four harrowing days, the floating powder keg bobbed up the Eastern seaboard, plowing through a wicked snowstorm and waters infested with German U-Boats, which had already torpedoed a thousand Allied ships that year alone. On December 6, the exhausted crew finally slipped into Halifax Harbour—just as the relief ship Imo was rushing to leave. At 8:45 a.m., the Imo struck the Mont-Blanc’s bow, knocking over barrels of airplane fuel. Fire swept across the decks, sending the Mont-Blanc’s crew scurrying to their lifeboats, while Halifax longshoremen, office workers, and schoolchildren walked down to watch it burn.At 9:04:35 a.m., the Mont-Blanc erupted, leveling 2.5 square miles of Halifax, killing 2,000 people, and wounding 9,000 more—all in one-fifteenth of a second.In this definitive account, bestselling author John U. Bacon recreates the recklessness that caused the tragedy, the selfless rescue efforts that saved thousands, and the inspiring resilience that rebuilt the town. Just hours after the explosion, Boston alone sent 100 doctors, 300 nurses, and a million dollars. The explosion would revolutionize ophthalmology and pediatrics; transform Canada and the U.S. from adversaries to allies; and show J. Robert Oppenheimer, who studied Halifax closely, how much destruction an atomic bomb could inflict on a city. Bacon brings to light one of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century, exploring the long shadow the world’s first “weapon of mass destruction” still casts on our world today.The Great Halifax Explosion includes 25 black-and-white photos.

Roughneck


Jeff Lemire - 2017
    His hockey career ended a decade earlier in a violent incident on ice, and since then he’s been living off his reputation in the remote northern community where he grew up, drinking too much and fighting anyone who crosses him. When his long-lost sister Beth shows up, on the run from an abusive boyfriend, the two escape to a secluded hunting camp in the woods. There, living off the land, they reconnect with each other, the painful secrets of their past, and their Cree heritage...and start to heal. But Beth’s ex-boyfriend is hunting them. As he circles closer, he threatens to shatter this newfound peace and pull both Derek and Beth back into the world of self-destruction they’ve fought so hard to leave behind.

Malagash


Joey Comeau - 2017
    They’ve come home to Malagash, on the north shore of Nova Scotia, so he can die where he grew up. Her mother and her brother are both devastated. But devastated isn’t good enough. Devastated doesn’t fix anything. Sunday has a plan.She’s started recording everything her father says. His boring stories. His stupid jokes. Everything. She’s recording every single “I love you” right alongside every “Could we turn the heat up in here?” It’s all important.Because Sunday is writing a computer virus. A computer virus that will live secretly on the hard drives of millions of people all over the world. A computer virus that will think her father’s thoughts and say her father’s words. She has thousands of lines of code to write. Cryptography to understand. Exploits to test. She doesn’t have time to be sad. Her father is going to live forever.

All We Leave Behind: A Reporter's Journey Into the Lives of Others


Carol Off - 2017
    Asad Aryubwal became a key figure in their documentary on the terrible power of thuggish warlords who were working arm in arm with Americans and NATO troops. When Asad publicly exposed the deeds of one of the warlords, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, it set off a chain of events from which there was no turning back. Asad, his wife, Mobina, and their five children had to flee their home.The family faced an uncertain future. But their dilemma compelled a journalist to cross the lines of disinterested reporting and become deeply involved. Together, they navigated the Byzantine international bureaucracy and the decidedly unwelcoming policies of Stephen Harper's government until the family finally found a new home.Carol Off's powerful account traces not only one family's journey and fraught attempts to immigrate to a safe place, it also illustrates what happens when a journalist becomes irrevocably caught up in the lives of the people in her story and finds herself unable to leave them behind.

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation


Monique Gray Smith - 2017
    Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by survivors and their families. Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action.

Harmony House


Ruth Hay - 2017
    Both retired widows, they've reached the point in their lives where it would make most sense to move into a retirement community. Neither want that for their future, however, and they devise a plan to solve all their problems and provide a residence designed exactly to their requirements. But it won't work for just two women--and so the search is on for the perfect companions to share Harmony House.

Out Standing in the Field


Sandra Perron - 2017
    Shake Hands with the Devil was one. For 2017, that book is Out Standing in the Field. In her memoir, Sandra Perron describes her experience of the Canadian Military – one of the most important institutions of our nation.In 2016, the Auditor General’s Report noted that the military had no strategy to recruit women, even though they are required to meet a target that 25% of the uniformed personnel be women. According to Statistics Canada, 1,000 members of our military say they have been sexually assaulted in the past year.In her revealing and moving memoir, Sandra Perron, Canada’s first female infantry officer and a member of the Royal 22e Régiment — the legendary “Van Doos” — describes her fight against a system of institutional sexism. Though repeatedly identified as top of her class throughout her training, she was subject to harassment by her male colleagues.Her military experience, however, wasn’t all negative. Through two deployments to Bosnia and Croatia, Perron forged lasting friendships with men and women, serving her country with courage and compassion, and her determination helped pave the way for women’s inclusion in the Armed Forces.Out Standing in the Field is the story of a soldier who refused to let her comrades or her country down, even while serving a military institution that failed her repeatedly. Beautifully written, Perron’s memoir is a testament to her fortitude and patriotism, and serves as proof that the spirit of a true hero cannot be bent or broken.

RNWMP: Bride for Kendall


Kirsten Osbourne - 2017
    She is content with her unmarried status, still living at home with her parents. That is until one of her closest friends moves west to marry the Mountie of her dreams. Once her friend is gone, she feels a bit lost and confused. When Miss Hazel approaches her with a plan to send her out West to marry a Mountie as well, she agrees, not sure at all what to expect. Kendall expects a wife just like his friend married—someone who will cook, clean, and dote on him. When JoAnn arrives, he finds that she’s nothing like he expects, but everything he needs. The two of them make beautiful music together, but he’s not certain it’s enough to sustain a relationship. Will JoAnn agree to stay in the West and marry Kendall? Or will she give in to her insecurities and flee back home to her privileged life in Ottawa?

Brother


David Chariandy - 2017
    With shimmering prose and mesmerizing precision, David Chariandy takes us inside the lives of Michael and Francis. They are the sons of Trinidadian immigrants, their father has disappeared and their mother works double, sometimes triple shifts so her boys might fulfill the elusive promise of their adopted home. Coming of age in The Park, a cluster of town houses and leaning concrete towers in the disparaged outskirts of a sprawling city, Michael and Francis battle against the careless prejudices and low expectations that confront them as young men of black and brown ancestry -- teachers stream them into general classes; shopkeepers see them only as thieves; and strangers quicken their pace when the brothers are behind them. Always Michael and Francis escape into the cool air of the Rouge Valley, a scar of green wilderness that cuts through their neighbourhood, where they are free to imagine better lives for themselves. Propelled by the pulsing beats and styles of hip hop, Francis, the older of the two brothers, dreams of a future in music. Michael's dreams are of Aisha, the smartest girl in their high school whose own eyes are firmly set on a life elsewhere. But the bright hopes of all three are violently, irrevocably thwarted by a tragic shooting, and the police crackdown and suffocating suspicion that follow.With devastating emotional force David Chariandy, a unique and exciting voice in Canadian literature, crafts a heartbreaking and timely story about the profound love that exists between brothers and the senseless loss of lives cut short with the shot of a gun.

The Reconciliation Manifesto: Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy


Arthur Manuel - 2017
    They review the current state of land claims. They tackle the persistence of racism among non-Indigenous people and institutions. They celebrate Indigenous Rights Movements while decrying the role of government-funded organizations like the Assembly of First Nations. They document the federal government's disregard for the substance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while claiming to implement it. These circumstances amount to what they see as a false reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.Instead, Manuel and Derrickson offer an illuminating vision of what Canada and Canadians need for true reconciliation.In this book, which Arthur Manuel and Ron Derrickson completed in the months before Manuel's death in January 2017, readers will recognize their profound understanding of the country, of its past, present, and potential future.Expressed with quiet but firm resolve, humour, and piercing intellect The Reconciliation Manifesto will appeal to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are open and willing to look at the real problems and find real solutions.

Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians


Danielle Martin - 2017
    Danielle Martin sees the challenges in our health care system every day. As a family doctor and a hospital vice president, she observes how those deficiencies adversely affect patients. And as a health policy expert, she knows how to close those gaps. A passionate believer in the value of fairness that underpins the Canadian health care system, Dr. Martin is on a mission to improve medicare. In Better Now, she shows how bold fixes are both achievable and affordable. Her patients' stories and her own family's experiences illustrate the evidence she presents about what works best to improve health care for all.Better Now outlines "Six Big Ideas" to bolster Canada's health care system. Each one is centred on a typical Canadian patient, making it clear how close to home these issues strike.- Ensure every Canadian has regular access to a family doctor or other primary care provider- Bring prescription drugs under medicare- Reduce unnecessary tests and interventions- Reorganize health care delivery to reduce wait times and improve quality- Implement a basic income guarantee to alleviate poverty, which is a major threat to health- Scale up successful local innovations to a national levelPassionate, accessible, and authoritative, Dr. Martin is a fervent supporter of the best of medicare and a persuasive critic of what needs fixing.

The Toronto Book of the Dead


Adam Bunch - 2017
    The Toronto Book of the Dead delves into these: from ancient First Nations burial mounds to the grisly murder of Toronto’s first lighthouse keeper; from the rise and fall of the city’s greatest Victorian baseball star to the final days of the world’s most notorious anarchist. Toronto has witnessed countless lives lived and lost as it grew from a muddy little frontier town into a booming metropolis of concrete and glass. The Toronto Book of the Dead tells the tale of the ever-changing city through the lives and deaths of those who made it their final resting place.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache


Louise Penny - 2017
    Featuring Chief Inspector of Homicide Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec, these extraordinary novels are here together for the first time in a fabulous ebook bundle. Still Life Gamache and his team are called to the scene of a suspicious death in Three Pines. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident, but Gamache smells something foul this Thanksgiving season. A Fatal Grace When CC de Poitiers is found dead the day after Christmas, electrocuted in the middle of a curling match, Gamache digs beneath the surface to find where the real secrets are buried. But it seems he has enemies of his own, and with the coming of the winter winds, something far more chilling is in store. The Cruelest Month A group of Three Pines villagers celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, hoping to rid the town of its evil-until one of their party dies of fright. Was it a natural death, or murder? As Gamache investigates, he will face his own ghosts as well as those residing in this seemingly idyllic town. A Rule Against Murder Gamache and his wife are celebrating their anniversary at the luxurious, isolated Manoir Bellechasse. When a dead body turns up in the midst of a family reunion, Gamache learns that the lodge is a place where visitors come to escape their past, until that past catches up with them. The Brutal Telling A stranger is found murdered in Olivier's Bistro in Three Pines, and Gamache is dismayed to find Olivier's story full of holes. Gamache follows a trail of clues into the woods and across the continent before returning to Three Pines to confront the truth and the final, brutal telling. Bury Your Dead It's Winter Carnival in Quebec City, when Gamache is called to investigate a dead body at the Literary and Historical Society. Meanwhile, Gamache is receiving disquieting letters from Three Pines. A Trick of the Light When Three Pines artist Clara Morrow's former friend is found dead in her garden, Gamache finds the art world is one of shading and nuance, shadow and light. Even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light. The Beautiful Mystery Outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, where the monks are world-famous for their glorious chants. But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Gamache. How the Light Gets In As Christmas approaches, Gamache travels to Three Pines as a favor to the bookshop owner Myrna Landers, whose friend has gone missing. With mounting crises in his own homicide department, Gamache finds himself not only investigating a murder, but also seeking refuge for himself and his still-loyal colleagues--if such a refuge exists. The Long Way Home Happily retired in Three Pines, Gamache has finally found peace. But when Clara Morrow's artist husband, Peter, fails to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation, Gamache agrees to join her on a journey far from Three Pines in search of him. The Nature of the Beast When a boy prone to tall tales disappears from Three Pines, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his stories might have been true. So begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth, sending Gamache deep in the forest and setting off a sequence of events leading to murder, an old crime, and a betrayal. A monster once visited Three Pines, and put down deep roots. Now it is back. A Great Reckoning When an intricate old map, which was given to Armand Gamache on the first day if his new job, is found stuffed into the walls of the bistro in Three Pines, it at first seems no more than a curiosity.

Baseball Life Advice


Stacey May Fowles - 2017
     For Stacey May Fowles, the game of baseball is one of "long pauses punctuated by tiny miracles." In this entertaining and thoughtful book, Fowles gives us a refreshingly candid and personal perspective on subjects ranging from bat flips to bandwagoners, from the romance of spring training to the politics of booing, from the necessity of taking a hard look at players' injuries and mental health issues to finding solace at the ballpark. Fowles confronts head-on the stereotype that female fans lack real knowledge about the game, and also calls out the "boys will be boys" attitude and its implications both on and off the field. She also shares her reverence for the no-hitter, her memories of going to the ballpark with her dad, and the challenges of falling in love with someone who didn't like baseball. Throughout the book, she offers exhilarating snapshots of the Toronto Blue Jays' 2015 and 2016 seasons, and gathers a selection of inspiring "baseball life advice" quotes from players and others that provide unexpected insight into how we could all live better lives. With remarkable verve, intelligence, and an unabashed enthusiasm, Fowles explores how we can use the lens of baseball to examine who we are. And in this passionate ode to the game, its culture, and its community, she reminds us that although baseball can break your heart, it will always find a way to make it whole again.

Malcolm MacPhail's Great War


Darrell Duthie - 2017
    THE WESTERN FRONT IS IN STALEMATE. Captain Malcolm MacPhail of the Canadian Corps has been in the trenches for longer than he cares to remember. He’s just landed a new job on the intelligence staff, but if he thinks staying alive is going to become any easier, he’s sorely mistaken.The rain is pelting down, the shells are flying and the dreaded battle for Passchendaele looms. Malcolm reckons matters can still get worse. Which proves to be an accurate assessment, especially as his unruly tongue has a habit of making enemies all on its own.The Allies are fighting desperately to swing the tide of war, and Malcolm’s future hangs in the balance, so keeping his head down is simply not an option… Authentic and gripping military historical fiction. Praise for MALCOLM MACPHAIL'S GREAT WAR: "Darrell Duthie skilfully blends history and fiction... He brings his invented hero, Malcolm MacPhail, into conjunction with real characters, to inform and stimulate readers... Malcolm MacPhail's Great War is realistic and often gripping... deserves a Mentioned-in-Despatches at least!" -- Dr. Peter Stanley, professor, former principal historian of the Australian War Memorial, author"The concept of trench warfare... is a prominent theme in this very readable work of 'faction'... The friction between HQ politics and the front line resonates throughout this tale. All in all, it is an enjoyable read."-- Soldier Magazine (magazine of the British Army)

Annie Muktuk and Other Stories


Norma Dunning - 2017
    White word. White word for white people to wrap around their pink tongues. Esquimaux. Spell it any way you want and it still comes out the same, skid row and all. - from "Kabloona Red"In Annie Muktuk and Other Stories, Norma Dunning portrays the unvarnished realities of northern life through gritty characters who find themselves in difficult situations. Dunning grew up in a silenced form of Aboriginality, experiencing racism, assimilation, and colonialism; as she began exploring her Inukness, her writing bubbled up to the surface. Her stories challenge southern perceptions of the north and Inuit life through evocative, nuanced voices accented with Inuktitut words and symbolism. As with Alootook Ipellie's work, these short stories bring Inuit life into the reality of the present.

Nearly Normal: Surviving the Wilderness, My Family and Myself


Cea Sunrise Person - 2017
    But her struggles do not end when she leaves her family at the age of thirteen to become a model. Honest and daring, Nearly Normal reveals the many ways that Cea’s unconventional childhood continues to reverberate through the years.At the age of thirty-seven, Cea has built a life that looks like the normal one she craved as a child—husband, young son, beautiful house, enviable career. But her carefully art-directed world is about to crumble around her. As she confronts the death of her still-young mother, the disintegration of her second marriage and the demise of her business, all within a few months, she finally faces the need to look at her past to make sense of her present.The Globe and Mail says “Person’s best gifts as a writer are her memory, her knack for knowing when to dig down into the finer details of a scene, and when to pull back.” Nearly Normal chronicles the many stories Cea left untold but that needed telling. Settled into a new and much happier life after the release of her first book, she is nonetheless compelled to continue searching for answers about her enigmatic family. She discovers the value in the lessons they taught her, and the power of taking responsibility for her own choices.

Carson Crosses Canada


Linda Bailey - 2017
    Feisty Annie Magruder and her dog, Carson, live in British Columbia, Canada, and they're setting out to visit her sister, Elsie, in Newfoundland. In their little rattlebang car, packed with Carson's favorite toy, Squeaky Chicken, and plenty of baloney sandwiches, Annie and Carson hit the road! They travel province by province, taking in each unique landscape and experiencing something special to that particular part of this vast, grand country. For example, they marvel at the beauty of the big, open sky -- and grasshoppers! -- in Saskatchewan and discover the gorgeous red earth and delicious lobster rolls in PEI, before finally being greeted by Elsie -- and a suprise for Carson!

All The Way Home


Kim Mills - 2017
    I said I would just be a friend, but when I fell in love instead I joined the army, moved away, and didn’t look back.That is until I find myself calling her up days before I head overseas. Seeing her again may have been a mistake, because now I won’t let her go. Especially when I find her with a split lip and college acceptance papers. Last time I was weak. This time, I won’t back down.JulietteTavish has always been the one for me, but as damaged as I am, I’ve never been good enough for him. When he left to join the army, I figured he was finally done with me for good. Then he came back and rescued me, again, right before he left for the war.When he gets home from Afghanistan, though, everything has changed.This time, he might need me to rescue him. All The Way Home is a Canadian-based military love story, the first in the Way Home series but is a stand-alone with it's own HEA.This book is intended for audiences 18+. For those dealing with combat related PTSD, some scenes may be difficult to read.

Rock Paper Sex: The Oldest Profession in Canada's Oldest City


Kerri Cull - 2017
    John s is known as a flourishing port city, a cultural gem, and popular tourist destination: a picturesque city of pubs and restaurants, music and colourful houses. But a thriving sex trade quietly exists beneath that polished conception, a trade few are aware of or even understand. In an engaging journalistic style, Kerri Cull respectfully reveals the people who make up the city s surprisingly diverse sex industry and, in the process, makes a compelling humanistic argument for understanding before judgment."

Vimy: The Battle and the Legend


Tim Cook - 2017
    The operation that began April 9, 1917, was the first time the four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together. More than 10,000 Canadian soldiers were killed or injured over four days--twice the casualty rate of the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. The Corps' victory solidified its reputation among allies and opponents as an elite fighting force. In the wars' aftermath, Vimy was chosen as the site for the country's strikingly beautiful monument to mark Canadian sacrifice and service. Over time, the legend of Vimy took on new meaning, with some calling it the "birth of the nation."The remarkable story of Vimy is a layered skein of facts, myths, wishful thinking, and conflicting narratives. Award-winning writer Tim Cook explores why the battle continues to resonate with Canadians a century later. He has uncovered fresh material and photographs from official archives and private collections across Canada and from around the world.On the 100th anniversary of the event, and as Canada celebrates 150 years as a country, Vimy is a fitting tribute to those who fought the country's defining battle. It is also a stirring account of Canadian identity and memory, told by a masterful storyteller.

Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home


Tom Wilson - 2017
    For decades Tom carved out a life for himself in shadows. He built an international music career and became a father, he battled demons and addiction, and he waited, hoping for the lies to cease and the truth to emerge. It would. And when it did, it would sweep up the St. Lawrence River to the Mohawk reserves of Quebec, on to the heights of the Manhattan skyline. With a rare gift for storytelling and an astonishing story to tell, Tom writes with unflinching honesty and extraordinary compassion about his search for the truth. It's a story about scars, about the ones that hurt us, and the ones that make us who we are.From Beautiful Scars Even as a kid my existence as the son of Bunny and George Wilson seemed far-fetched to me. When I went over it in my head, none of it added up. The other kids on East 36th Street in Hamilton used to tell me stories of their mothers being pregnant and their newborn siblings coming home from the hospital. Nobody ever talked about Bunny's and my return from the hospital. In my mind my birth was like the nativity, only with gnarly dogs and dirty snow and a chipped picket fence and old blind people with short tempers and dim lights, ashtrays full of Export Plain cigarette butts and bottles of rum. Once, when I was about four, I asked Bunny, "How come I don't look anything like you and George? How come you are old and the other moms are young?" "There are secrets I know about you that I'll take to my grave," she responded. And that pretty well finished that. Bunny built up a wall to protect her secrets, and as a result I built a wall to protect myself.

A Good Man


Rosanna Leo - 2017
    He isalso revered for an act of bravery he’d rather forget. Thepress may hound him, but all he really wants is to helpcouples realize their home renovation dreams.One of these couples is Emily Daniels and her fiancé,Trent. When Emily inherits an old home in Toronto’sLittle Italy, she sees it as the perfect location for her smallbusiness. The house needs a lot of work, but herappearance on the Handymen show means Michael andhis contractor brothers will help her renovate at areasonable cost.When Michael and Emily meet, their chemistry isintense. Emily wants to stay true to Trent, but her fiancéhas done nothing but disappoint her. Michael recognizesTrent for what he is—a cheater. And it isn’t long beforehe breaks Emily’s heart.At first, Michael only intends to comfort Emily, but theirfriendship soon flares into passion. Unfortunately,Michael has secrets and wounds of his own, ones he hasnever trusted to another. Emily is determined to breakdown his walls, but can she trust her heart to a man whocan’t trust himself?

The Patch: The People, Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands


Chris Turner - 2017
    But this is no conventional story about the oil business. Rather, it is a portrait of the lifecycle of the Patch, showing just how deeply it continues to impact the lives of everyone around the world. In its heyday, the oil sands represented an industrial triumph and the culmination of a century of innovation, experiment, engineering, policy, and finance. Fort McMurray was a boomtown, the centre of a new gold rush, and the oilsands were reshaping the global energy, political, and financial landscapes. But in 2008, a new narrative emerged. As financial markets collapsed and the cold, hard, scientific reality of the Patch’s effect on the environment became clear, the region turned into a boogeyman and a lightning rod for the global movement combatting climate change. Suddenly, the streets of Fort McMurray were the front line of a high-stakes collision between two conflicting worldviews–one of industrial triumph and another of environmental stewardship–each backed by major players on the world stage. The Patch is a narrative-driven account of this ongoing conflict. It follows a select group of key characters whose experiences in and with the oil sands overlap in concentric narrative arcs. Through this insightful combination of global perspective and on-the-ground action, The Patch will show how the reach of the oil sands extends to all of us. From Fort Mac to the Bakken shale country of North Dakota, from Houston to London, from Saudi Arabia to the shores of Brazil, the whole world is connected in this enterprise. And it demands that we ask the question: In order to both fuel the world and to save it, what do we do about the Patch?

Everyday Heroes: Inspirational Stories from Men and Women in the Canadian Armed Forces


Jody Mitic - 2017
    Meet the World War II bomb aimer whose plane engines failed over Hamburg during a raid, the naval signalman who patrolled heavily bombarded waters in Southeast Asia during the Korean War, and the unarmed peacekeeper who found himself standing on a road riddled with mines in Rwanda. From the young recruit who marched over thirty kilometres on what turned out to be a broken leg to prove her mettle, to the three brothers in arms who endured a summer of relentless fighting in Afghanistan, this collection captures the pain and sacrifice, the risks and rewards of standing on guard for Canada. Featuring stories of courageous rescues, bravery in the face of conflict, and camaraderie at home and overseas, Everyday Heroes is an authentic and stirring look inside the hearts and minds of the men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces. These stories will make you proud to be a Canadian.

Inside the Inferno: A Firefighter's Story of the Brotherhood that Saved Fort McMurray


Damian Asher - 2017
    A perfect combination of weather, geography and circumstance created a raging wildfire that devoured everything in its path. Winds drove the flames towards the town, forcing the entire population to evacuate. As the fire swept through neighbourhoods, it fell to the men and women of the fire department to protect the city.Born and raised in Fort McMurray, Damian Asher was a fifteen-year veteran and captain in the city’s fire department. Day after day, Damian and his crew remained on the front lines of the burning city. As embers rained down around them, they barely slept, pushing their minds and bodies to the brink as they struggled to contain the fire. As he led his crew through the smoke and the flames, Damian had little time to worry about whether the house he had built for his family was still standing. With media unable to get into the locked-down city, the world watched in hope and fear, wondering what was happening on the fiery streets.Finally, after weeks of battling the wildfire, the firefighters managed to regain control. When the smoke cleared, much of the city had been destroyed. Would things ever be the same? How would the city reunite? What would it take to rebuild life in Fort McMurray?

Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists: The Origins of the Women's Shelter Movement in Canada


Margo Goodhand - 2017
    It wasn't talked about, and women had few, if any, options to escape their abusers. Yet in 1973 -- with no statistics, no money and little public support -- five disparate groups of Canadian women quietly opened Canada's first battered women's shelters. Today, there are well over 600.In Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists, journalist Margo Goodhand tracks down the "rogue feminists" whose work forged an underground railway for women and children, weaving their stories into an unforgettable -- and until now untold -- history.As they lobbied for funding, scrounged for furniture and fended off outraged husbands, these women marked a defining moment in Canadian history, triggering monumental changes in government, schools, courts and law enforcement. But was it enough to stop the cycle of violence? Forty years later, these pioneers describe how and why Canada has lost its ground in the battle for women's rights.

You Might Be From Canada If...


Michael de Adder - 2017
    . . is a delightful, illustrated romp through this country as it celebrates its 150th birthday. Michael de Adder delivers his unique take on this one-of-a-kind country, tickling the funny bone on every page. As de Adder proves, this is a country that is proud of who it is and likes nothing better than a good laugh.

The Sea Was in Their Blood


Quentin Casey - 2017
    The crew of the Miss Ally—a 12-metre Cape Islander from Woods Harbour, Nova Scotia—was fishing for halibut far off the Nova Scotia coast when their boat’s spotlight malfunctioned. A vicious winter storm was approaching from the south, and all other boats at the fishing grounds were steaming for shore. Unable to locate his longlining gear, the Miss Ally’s young captain decided to stay an extra day to retrieve the gear and, hopefully, a big catch. Their retreat delayed, the Miss Ally crew ended up pounded by hurricane-force winds and waves well over 10 metres high. Late on February 17, the boat foundered. The five young men aboard—Katlin Nickerson, Billy Jack Hatfield, Joel Hopkins, Cole Nickerson, and Tyson Townsend—were never found. The Sea Was in Their Blood explores two key questions: who were the men aboard the Miss Ally, and why were they battered and sunk by a storm forecasted days in advance? Through interviews with the crew’s families and friends, rescue personnel, and members of the tight-knit fishing communities of Woods Harbour and Cape Sable Island, award-winning journalist Quentin Casey pieces together the tragic sinking—including important case details not previously reported—and weaves in the backstories of the Miss Ally’s crew and the lingering effects of their disappearance.

The Halifax Explosion: Canada's Worst Disaster


Ken Cuthbertson - 2017
    That accident sparked a fire and an apocalyptic explosion that was the largest man-made blast prior to the 1945 dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Together with the killer tsunami that followed, the explosion devastated the entire city in the wink of an eye and instantly killed more than two thousand people.While much has been written about the disaster, there is still more to the story, including the investigation of the key figures involved, the histories of the ships that collided and the confluence of circumstances that brought these two vessels together to touch off one of the most tragic man-made disasters of the twentieth century.The Halifax Explosion is a fresh, revealing account that finally answers questions that have lingered for a century: Was the explosion a disaster triggered by simple human error? Was it caused by the negligence of the ships’ pilots or captains? Was it the result of shortcomings in harbour practices and protocols? Or was the blast—as many people at the time insisted—the result of sabotage carried out by wartime German agents?December 6, 2017, marks the centennial of the great Halifax explosion. The Halifax Explosion tells the gripping, as-yet untold story of Canada’s worst disaster—a haunting tale of survival, incredible courage and, ultimately, the triumph of the human spirit.

One Brother Shy


Terry Fallis - 2017
    Most of the world sees a painfully and chronically shy software engineer in his mid-20s, soft-spoken, a bit of a loner, and someone easy to escape notice wherever possible—and that’s just the way Alex wants it. Because no matter how many years have passed, the incident known only as “Gabriel” in the MacAskill family is something that still haunts him.But when his mother, one of the only people in the world who Alex felt comfortable as himself around, dies after a long illness, he suddenly has no choice but to face the very thing that he’s been avoiding since that night in high school. In an instant, Alex finds himself trying to piece together the mystery of his identity, and on a search for parts of his family he never knew existed—a search that takes him from Ottawa to London to Moscow, encountering along the way the KGB, painful memories from his past, and even the 1972 Russian hockey team—a search that ultimately helps Alex discover himself.With his trademark wit and captivating storytelling, Terry Fallis has written a novel unlike any of his others. One Brother Shy is at once poignant and humorous, heartbreaking and heartwarming, and readers will not soon forget Alex MacAskill.

None of Us the Same


Jeffrey K. Walker - 2017
    Medallion Honoree 2017 Wishing Shelf Book Awards Bronze MedalFiery Deirdre Brannigan had opinions on everything. She certainly hated the very idea of war in 1914. Childhood pals Jack Oakley and Will Parsons thought it a grand adventure with their friends. But the crushing weight of her guilty conscience pushes Deirdre to leave Ireland and land directly in the fray. Meanwhile the five friends from Newfoundland blithely enlist. After all, the war couldn’t possibly last very long… They learn quickly how wrong they are and each is torn apart by the carnage in France. What began with enthusiastic dreams of parades and dances with handsome young soldiers turned into long days and nights in the hospital wards desperately trying to save lives. And for the good and decent young men in fine new uniforms aching to prove themselves worthy on the field of battle, the horrors of war quickly descended. But it is also the war which brings them together. Deirdre’s path crosses with Jack and Will when they’re brought to her field hospital the first day of the slaughter on the Somme. Their lives part, their journeys forward fraught with physical and emotional scars tossing them through unexpected and often painful twists and turns. But somehow, a sliver of hope, love and redemption emerges. And their paths cross again in St. John’s. When the guns finally fall silent, can Deirdre overcome her secret demons through a new life with battered Jack? Can shell-shocked Will confront his despotic father’s expectations to become the man his young family deserves?

Promises to Keep


Genevieve Graham - 2017
    Along with their friends, the neighbouring Mi’kmaq, the community believes they can remain on neutral political ground despite the rising tides of war. But peace can be fragile, and sometimes faith is not enough. When the Acadians refuse to pledge allegiance to the British in their war against the French, the army invades Grande Pré, claims the land, and rips the people from their homes. Amélie’s entire family, alongside the other Acadians, is exiled to ports unknown aboard dilapidated ships. Fortunately, Amélie has made a powerful ally. Having survived his own harrowing experience at the hands of the English, Corporal Connor MacDonnell is a reluctant participant in the British plan to expel the Acadians from their homeland. His sympathy for Amélie gradually evolves into a profound love, and he resolves to help her and her family in any way he can—even if it means treason. As the last warmth of summer fades, more ships arrive to ferry the Acadians away, and Connor is forced to make a decision that will alter the future forever.

Black Wolf Rising


Lyle Nicholson - 2017
    Her upbringing was sporadic to say the least. In her sixteen years, she’d lived a life on the road with her parents as they pursued a dream of stardom as barroom musicians that would end with their deaths. Her father’s death was from alcohol, and her mother’s death from a broken heart. She’d constantly be dropped off on the reservation in the far north of Canada when her father needed to go on an extended ‘bender,’ and her mother needed to chase him and try to bring him back to his senses. In that time, Bernadette would access her native roots, her grandfather and her grandmother were her caregivers and mentors. But anger rose in Bernadette. She was quick to take offense. Her father was called a white drunk, and her mother a whore. She lived between two worlds, that of her native mother and that of the mournful Irish balladeer that was her father. One day, that world would collide, and Bernadette would need to run. This story is a prequel to the Detective Bernadette Callahan series. Polar Bear Dawn is the first in the series, which is at the end of this book. Also, Polar Bear Dawn is permanently free on most websites to download. The author, Lyle Nicholson, thought that in this world of prequels, where everyone from Star Wars to Batman is doing a prequel, he thought, why not Bernadette Callahan? Don’t readers deserve to know what made her want to fight, want to become a police officer in the fabled Royal Canadian Mounted Police? And from that thought, Black Wolf Rising, the prequel was born. There is myth, there are dreams, there are desires, and even a kick ass Karate Sensei. Lot’s of fun to sit back and enjoy.

Temporary Wife


Tara Crescent - 2017
    Fake marriages have rules. We break all of them. Ryder Drake is the devil. The billionaire architect exudes power and privilege from every pore in his body. Toronto magazines fawn over him, calling him one of the hottest single men in the city. Color me unimpressed. Ryder’s new skyscraper will cut off access to the waterfront for all but the ultra-rich, and I’m determined to stop it. Then he asks me to marry him. It’s a business deal, nothing more. He needs a fake wife and I need money. It should be uncomplicated. Rule 1: No kissing. Rule 2: No sex. Rule 3: No falling in love. I break the first rule within the hour. The second rule? I last less than a week before I give in to Ryder’s raw, animal magnetism. Repeatedly. Before the wedding. After the wedding. With toys. Without toys. I’m having the best, naughtiest, steamiest sex of my life. And rule 3? I’m Ryder’s temporary wife. No matter what happens, I can’t forget that our marriage isn’t real. Temporary Wife is a standalone romance with a guaranteed HEA and no cheating. It was previously released in a boxed set.

Bolt and Keel: The Wild Adventures of Two Rescued Cats


Kayleen VanderRee - 2017
    The women who found them were about to head off on a mountain trek. And the animal shelter was closed. The cats seemed game so their intrepid rescuers brought Bolt and Keel (so named) along for the adventure. It was the first of many. Kayleen VanderRee, an avid photographer, chronicled their trips on Instagram,and soon the cats’ adventures went viral. Stars were born!Bolt and Keel invites readers to join the cats (and their humans)on a striking photographic journey through British Columbia’s beautiful forests, mountains, and rivers. With the cats sitting in the bow of a canoe, perched on Danielle’s shoulder, or navigating snowy hiking trails, Kayleen’s images and charming captions capture an exploration of the natural world that any house cat—and any cat lover or adventure seeker—would envy.

The Unravelling: How Our Caregiving Safety Net Came Unstrung and We Were Left Grasping at Threads, Struggling to Plait a New One


Clem Martini - 2017
    It hasn’t always been a perfect living situation, but it’s worked — Catherine has helped Olivier through the ups and downs of living with a mental illness, and Olivier has cared for his aging mother as her mobility becomes limited, and Olivier’s brothers Clem and Nic have provided support to both as well. But then Olivier experiences a health crisis at the exact same time that his mother starts slipping into dementia.The Martini family’s lifelong struggle with mental illness is suddenly complicated immeasurably as they begin to navigate the convoluted world of assisted living and long-term care. With anger, dry humour, and hope, The Unravelling tells the story of one family’s journey with mental illness, dementia, and caregiving, through a poignant graphic narrative from Olivier accompanied by text from his brother, award-winning playwright and novelist Clem Martini.

The Prisoner and the Chaplain


Michelle Berry - 2017
    As the hours drain away, the chaplain must decide if the prisoner’s story is an off-the-cuff confession or a last bid for salvation. As the chaplain listens he realizes a life has many stories, and he has his own story to tell – a last ditch plea for forgiveness told to someone who will never be able to repeat it. Each man is guilty in his own way, and their stories have led them to the same room, a room that only one of them will leave alive. If you had only twelve hours left to live, what would you have to say?

Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough


Doug Saunders - 2017
    But why and how many?Canada's population has always grown slowly, when it has grown at all. That wasn't by accident. For centuries before Confederation and a century after, colonial economic policies and an inward-facing world view isolated this country, attracting few of the people and building few of the institutions needed to sustain a sovereign nation. In fact, during most years before 1967, a greater number of people fled Canada than immigrated to it. Canada's growth has faltered and left us underpopulated ever since.At Canada's 150th anniversary, a more open, pluralist and international vision has largely overturned that colonial mindset and become consensus across the country and its major political parties. But that consensus is ever fragile. Our small population continues to hamper our competitive clout, our ability to act independently in an increasingly unstable world, and our capacity to build the resources we need to make our future viable.In Maximum Canada, a bold and detailed vision for Canada's future, award-winning author and Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders proposes a most audacious way forward: to avoid global obscurity and create lasting prosperity, to build equality and reconciliation of indigenous and regional divides, and to ensure economic and ecological sustainability, Canada needs to triple its population.

Delay of Game


Tracey Richardson - 2017
    The pressure of the intense USA-Canada rivalry forced an end to their love affair, and both women moved on—Niki to coach and to marry, Eva to stretch out a playing career that her ravaged body can barely sustain anymore. The Games are upon them once again. Eva wants one last chance to beat the Canadians and win hockey’s biggest prize. Niki, now a widow and single mother, strives to coach her country to gold, even as the obstacles against her mount. The locker room seems to have ears and there are few people Niki and Eva can trust. Rivals and former lovers on hockey’s biggest stage, will Niki and Eva feel the same spark that first brought them together? And can they win on—and off—the ice with the whole world watching?

A Lap Around Alaska: An AlCan Adventure


Shawn Inmon - 2017
    Join author Shawn Inmon and his twenty year old Subaru Outback on his epic solo road trip through British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. Part personal odyssey, part travel memoir, take an expedition into one of North America's last remaining wildernesses. If you dream of packing up your four-wheeler, your snow boots and camera, and setting off to explore the wilderness, A Lap Around Alaska will give you a rare glimpse into the Land of the Midnight Sun, of moose, bear, and bald eagles, of monumental glaciers and scenery so staggering it brings tears to your eyes. If you hunger for adventure and want to discover untouched beauty and to experience the majesty of the pristine North for yourself-Shawn saved the passenger seat just for you. This book also includes two bonus memoirs of life in Alaska in the 1970s-My First Alaskan Summer and My Matanuska Summer.

The Vinyl Cafe, the unreleased stories


Stuart McLean - 2017
    

Matters of Life and Death: Public Health Issues in Canada


Andre Picard - 2017
    Matters of Life and Death collects Picard's most compelling columns, covering a broad range of topics including Canada's right-to-die law, the true risks of the Zika virus, the financial challenges of a publicly funded health system, appalling health conditions in First Nations communities, the legalization of marijuana, the social and economic impacts of mental illness, and the healthcare challenges facing transgender people.The topic of health touches on the heart of society, intersecting with many aspects of private and public life—human rights, aging, political debate, economics and death. With his reporting, Picard demonstrates the connection between physical health and the health of society as a whole, provides the facts to help readers make knowledgeable health choices, and acts as a devoted advocate for those whose circumstances bar them from receiving the care they need.Providing an antidote to widespread fear-mongering and misinformation, Matters of Life and Death is essential reading for anyone with an investment in public health topics—in other words, everyone.

Resilience: Navigating Life, Loss and the Road to Success


Lisa Lisson - 2017
    One night, after putting their four children to bed, her husband, Patrick, marvelled that their lives seemed perfectly happy.Just a few hours later, everything changed.One moment Lisa was sleeping beside Patrick, and the next, she was kneeling on the floor beside his unconscious body frantically administering CPR. Patrick had had a massive heart attack and was in a coma, and the doctors were blunt: there was no hope. But for the next two years, Lisa stood by his side and awaited a miracle, while continuing to balance life as a high-powered executive and mother of four.Part leadership guide, part memoir of loss, and part personal empowerment primer on how to achieve your goals no matter what the universe throws at you, Resilience is an inspirational story about how to rise to the top in a man’s world, triumph over adversity, lead a fulfilling life, and live each day with purpose and gratitude.

The Mill: Fifty Years of Pulp and Protest


Joan Baxter - 2017
    But it has also pulped millions of acres of forests, spewed millions of tonnes of noxious emissions into the air, consumed quadrillions of litres of fresh water and then pumped them out again as toxic effluent into nearby Boat Harbour, and eventually into the Northumberland Strait.From the day it began operation in 1967, the mill has fomented protest and created deep divisions and tensions in northern Nova Scotia. This story is about people whose livelihoods depend on the pulp mill and who are willing to live with the “smell of money.” It’s about people whose well-being, health, homes, water, air, and businesses have been harmed by the mill’s emissions and effluent. It’s about the heartache such divisions cause and about people who, for the sake of peace, keep their thoughts about the mill to themselves.

Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal


Kiera L. Ladner - 2017
    Contributors include Mary Eberts, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Leroy Little Bear.

Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing


Angela Hovak Johnston - 2017
    Created with bone needles and caribou sinew soaked in seal oil or soot, these tattoos were an important tradition for many women, symbols stitched in their skin that connected them to their families and communities.But with the rise of missionaries and residential schools in the North, the tradition of tattooing was almost lost. In 2005, when Angela Hovak Johnston heard that the last Inuk woman tattooed in the traditional way had died, she set out to tattoo herself and learn how to tattoo others. What was at first a personal quest became a project to bring the art of traditional tattooing back to Inuit women across Nunavut, starting in the community of Kugluktuk.Collected in this beautiful book are moving photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston’s project. Together, these women are reawakening their ancestors’ lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations.

Most Anything You Please


Trudy J. Morgan-Cole - 2017
    John's. Over the decades that follow, the city and the neighbourhood grow around them, as does the Holloway family. When the Second World War comes to St. John's and Audrey Holloway falls in love with an American soldier, she's sure her glamorous new life will unfold far from the streets of Rabbittown.​But fate leads Audrey back to the corner store, where for the next several decades she and the store will remain a fixture in their working-class neighbourhood. The fate of the Holloway family -- of Audrey, her musician son Henry and Henry's talented daughter Rachel -- seems tied to the fate of the corner store and a changing neighbourhood. Finally, in post-moratorium St. John's of the 1990s, Audrey has to face the possibility that the price of saving the family business may be a higher price than she is willing to pay.

Divide By Two Wheels: Racing a Mountain Bike Unsupported, 2,700 Miles from Canada to Mexico On the Continental Divide


Michael J. Devitt - 2017
    With no awards or prize money for the winners and no entry fee, the Tour Divide is the ultimate athletic test of endurance and self-sufficiency in a battle against nature, the elements, breakdowns (both mechanical and mental), and fatigue, set against the beautiful backdrop of the Continental Divide. Divide by Two Wheels is the story of one man’s experience in racing the 2016 Tour Divide, overcoming the adversities of the route and the challenges of equipment failure while making friends and experiencing the kindness of strangers along the way. This story of an epic adventure will have you dreaming of your own Tour Divide experience, learning what you are truly capable of with new challenges around every corner and over every summit.

The Water Beetles


Michael Kaan - 2017
    But in December 1941, the Empire of Japan invades the colony. The family is quickly dragged into a spiral of violence, repression, and starvation. To survive, they entomb themselves and their friends in the Leung mansion. But this is only a temporary reprieve, and the Leungs are forced to send their children away.The youngest boy, Chung-Man, escapes with some of his siblings, and together they travel deep into the countryside to avoid the Japanese invaders. Thrown into a new world, Chung-Man befriends a young couple who yearn to break free of their rural life. But their friendship ends when the Japanese arrive, and Chung-Man is once again taken captive. Unwittingly and willingly, he enters a new cycle of violence and punishment until he finally breaks free from his captors and returns to Hong Kong.Deeply scarred, Chung-Man drifts along respectfully and dutifully, enveloped by the unspoken vestiges of war. It is only as he leaves home once again this time for university in America that he finally glimpses a way to keep living with his troubled and divided self.Written in restrained, yet beautiful and affecting prose, The Water Beetles is an engrossing story of adventure and survival. Based loosely on the diaries and stories of the author's father, this mesmerizing story captures the horror of war through the eyes of a child with unsettling and unerring grace.

On the Edge of Infinity: A Biography of Michael D. O'Brien


Clemens Cavallin - 2017
    Fortunately, Clemens Cavallin, the biographer chosen by Michael and divine Providence, is up to the task. He avoids the common pitfalls of the genre: muckraking or hagiography on the one hand and rationalistic detachment or irrational subjectivity on the other. Three stories are interwoven in this book, as in O’Brien’s life: the external, material story of his family and the places he has lived; the internal, spiritual story of his faith and thought; and the literary and artistic story of the creation and fate of his novels and paintings. The story is clear, comprehensive, compassionate and character-driven. Like a great novel, it shows, rather than tells us, who and what he is. If readers of his riveting novels want the additional adventure of getting to know the author, this book is the way to do it. There are not many people in the world who are more worth meeting. ~ Peter Kreeft, Boston Colleget is a rare experience to read a biography whose subject comes alive as one turns the pages. Clemens Cavallin brings to this book his gifts as a writer, but also his profound sympathy with his subject, a combination which has given us a work worthy of Michael O’Brien. On The Edge Of Infinity ranks among the great biographies. ~ Richard Bastien, Book Review Editor, Convivium magazine

Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine


James Maskalyk - 2017
    In this deeply personal book, humanitarian doctor and activist James Maskalyk, author of the highly acclaimed Six Months in Sudan, draws upon his experience treating patients in the world's emergency rooms. From Toronto to Addis Ababa, Cambodia to Bolivia, he discovers that although the cultures, resources and medical challenges of each hospital may differ, they are linked indelibly by the ground floor: the location of their emergency rooms. Here, on the ground floor, is where Dr. Maskalyk witnesses the story of -human aliveness---our mourning and laughter, tragedies and hopes, the frailty of being and the resilience of the human spirit. And it's here too that he is swept into the story, confronting his fears and doubts and questioning what it is to be a doctor. Masterfully written and artfully structured, Life on the Ground Floor is more than just an emergency doctor's memoir or travelogue--it's a meditation on health, sickness and the wonder of human life.

Canada 123


Paul Covello - 2017
    From the author of the beloved Canada ABC.

Trumping Trudeau: How Donald Trump will change Canada even if Justin Trudeau doesn't know it yet


Ezra Levant - 2017
    On everything from carbon taxes to Cuba, Canadian policy is suddenly obsolete. Will Trudeau and his advisors realign themselves with our largest trading partner and ally? Or will Trudeau do what his father did — play the role of anti-American gadfly, to the delight of the Third World but the detriment of Canadians? Ezra Levant, the best-selling author of Ethical Oil and other trouble-making books, is here to say what no-one in the liberal media will: Trudeau vs. Trump is shaping up to be Bambi vs. Godzilla.

Shadow of Doubt


Linda Poitevin - 2017
    But when she meets an injured, altogether too sexy ATF agent, her entire world is turned upside down.Jonas Burke is a wanted man. Framed for murder, he needs sanctuary – now. Finding it in the arms of a beautiful, feisty fellow cop isn't exactly his best plan, but he's desperate and wounded, and time is running out for him to prove his innocence. Armed with a little more than a conspiracy theory, Jonas has no choice but to ask for Kate's help.Kate is torn between her duty to “serve and protect” and her growing desire for this man on the run. With her colleagues in pursuit and Jonas's enemies closing in, she and Jonas will have to work together if they want to survive. But can she really trust him beyond a shadow of doubt?

The World Needs More Canada


Indigo . - 2017
    This one-of-a-kind coffee-table book features anecdotes, insights, and candid photography from an eclectic mix of over 100 storytellers and visionaries who have made their mark on the True North, from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Drake, Margaret Atwood to Malcolm Gladwell.Celebrate Canada with this exclusive collection of heartwarming, hilarious, and inspiring personal stories, photos, wishes, laughs, and dreams by Canadians for Canadians on the 150th anniversary of Confederation.

Moriah's Lighthouse


Serena B. Miller - 2017
    A forgotten past. A derelict lighthouse.Moriah Robertson, owner and caretaker of a Canadian fishing resort, can fix anything—except the broken lighthouse her family tended for over a century.Ben is one of the best stonemasons in the world. He’s the right man for the job and the right man for her.As Moriah and Ben fall in love, they discover that they share a terrifying past—a past that will have to be resolved before they can be together.

The Clothesline Swing


Danny Ramadan - 2017
    A former Syrian refugee himself, Ramadan unveils an enthralling tale of courage that weaves through the mountains of Syria, the valleys of Lebanon, the encircling seas of Turkey, the heat of Egypt and finally, the hope of a new home in Canada.Inspired by Arabian Tales of One Thousand and One Nights, The Clothesline Swing tells the epic story of two lovers anchored to the memory of a dying Syria. One is a Hakawati, a storyteller, keeping life in forward motion by relaying remembered fables to his dying partner. Each night he weaves stories of his childhood in Damascus, of the cruelty he has endured for his sexuality, of leaving home, of war, of his fated meeting with his lover. Meanwhile Death himself, in his dark cloak, shares the house with the two men, eavesdropping on their secrets as he awaits their final undoing.Winner of the Canadian Authors Association's Fred Kerner Award for Best Overall Fiction Book.Winner of Independent Publisher Gold Medal - LGBT FictionFinalist for the Lambda Literary Award - Gay Fiction - 2018.Shortlisted for The OLA's Evergreen Award - 2018Longlisted for Canada Reads - 2018Top Ten Books in 2017 by Toronto StarBest 100 Books by The Globe and Mail.

Slow War


Benjamin Hertwig - 2017
    It stands in the tradition of Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" and Kevin Powers’s "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting." A century after the First World War, Hertwig presents both the personal cost of war in poems such as "Somewhere in Flanders/Afghanistan" and "Food Habits of Coyotes, as Determined by Examination of Stomach Contents," and the potential for healing in unlikely places in "A Poem Is Not Guantánamo Bay." This collection provides no easy answers – Hertwig looks at the war in Afghanistan with the unflinching gaze of a soldier and the sustained attention of a poet. In his accounting of warfare and its difficult aftermath on the homefront, the personal becomes political. While these poems inhabit both experimental and traditional forms, the breakdown of language channels a descent into violence and an ascent into a future that no longer feels certain, where history and trauma are forever intertwined. Hertwig reminds us that remembering war is a political act and that writing about war is a way we remember.

Lightfoot


Nicholas Jennings - 2017
    Beloved by a devoted Canadian audience, Lightfoot's work has been performed and admired by musicians from around the world, including Joni Mitchell, Nico, Ronnie Hawkins and Robbie Robertson. Nobel Prize-winner Bob Dylan once listed Sundown and If You Could Read My Mind among his favourite Lightfoot songs, before adding, I can't think of any I don't like. In addition to winning nearly every Canadian music award, in 2012, Lightfoot was inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside such luminaries as Leonard Cohen, Kris Kristoffersen, and Dylan; it honoured Lightfoot as a singer who helped "define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and '70s."Biographer Nick Jennings has had unprecedented access to the notoriously reticent musician. He chronicles Lightfoot's early efforts--his school principal recorded a disc of "Gordie" singing at age 9--to his beginnings as a songwriter to his heyday in concert halls around the globe. Possessed of a strong work ethic and a perfectionist bent, Lightfoot brought discipline to his craft and performances. But he partied just as hard in that rock 'n' roll era, and alcoholism began to take its toll. Lightfoot toured relentlessly and his personal life suffered as marriages and relationships unravelled. At 63, he suffered an aortic aneurysm that nearly killed him and kept him in a coma for six weeks. But his amazing stamina helped him survive and miraculously saw him on stage once again, resuming his touring and yearly sold-out show at Massey Hall.Jennings paints an unforgettable portrait of an artist in the making, set against the turbulent era of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. Voices from the music industry mix with loyal fans to illustrate how the boy from small-town Ontario became the legendary bard of Canada. Stuffed with anecdotes and the singer's own reminisences, Lightfoot is an exhilarating read.

North of Familiar: A Woman's Story of Homesteading and Adventure in the Canadian Wilderness


Terry Milos - 2017
    Following the seventies trend of the back-to-landers she and her partner left the city life for what they imagined would be a simpler existence. Sometimes humorous and often insightful, North of Familiar is the story of a woman who learned to hunt, fish, and live off the land in what most would consider an utterly hostile and unbelievably cold environment.After a few months of cobbling together a living, Terry reluctantly leaves the north to further her education but with a dream of returning as a teacher. A year later Terry accepts a job in the small town of Atlin where she grows to expect the unexpected. Terry’s adventures in the north push her beyond the familiar as she tries to apply her street savvy skills to negotiate a desolate mountain trail, or mush her dogs to school when the deep cold renders her car useless. But there are also times when unfamiliar becomes pure fear, such as when the pilot of a bush plane on which she is the only passenger falls asleep, sending the plane on a downward descent, or when a strange man is repeatedly seen lurking in the woods by Terry’s cabin after a trapper mysteriously goes missing.North of Familiar is about coming to grips with life in the bush far away from the luxuries of the city. In Carcross, Carmacks, Dawson City and Old Crow, Terry navigates the cultural differences between her urban upbringing and the communities of Canada’s Indigenous north. In spite of the harsh country, Terry survives and thrives, while raising a family and becoming a part of a strong and unique community. This story is not only entertaining and inspiring, it is also a story of joy, friendship, and change.NORTH OF FAMILIAR is a BC Bestseller and won the 2018 Bronze Medal in the Canada-West, Best Non-Fiction by IPPY, Independent Publisher Book Awards, an annual book awards contest conducted to honor the year's best independently published titles from around the world!

Blackbird Song


Randy Lundy - 2017
    Lundy accepts the weight and the richness of memory, drawing lyric portraits of intriguing people who have touched his life. Of his aboriginal mother he writes, "She exists for me \ the way the owl \ perches \ on black spruce \ backlit by streetlight \ grey against the night sky \ Just before taking flight." His words send a shiver up the spine with their edgy intimacy, as he speaks of the power of understanding and reconciliation. Lundy's "honour songs" celebrate the beauty, wisdom and power of the earth and sky and their creatures: all things that existed long before humankind. In this exciting new collection, his most contemplative to date, he finds a sense of peace and belonging.

Austerity Apparatus


J. Moufawad-Paul - 2017
    In this sense, the austerity apparatus is simply that which functions to police the everyday operations of crisis capitalism. In another sense this apparatus is the mobilization of operations that are a normative part of capitalism even without a crisis But this is simply due to the fact that economic crises are also part of capitalism's day-to-day functioning: capitalism is crisis, implicitly or explicitly." An excavation of the ideology of austerity and its relationship to the mechanisms of capitalism, Austerity Apparatus is a philosophical excursion through a variety of concepts surrounding capitalist crisis and class struggle. Written as a series of interconnected meditations on the problematic of austerity, Austerity Apparatus is a creative intervention rather than a polemic or rigorous analysis; it is designed to force reflection on the ways in which contemporary capitalism conditions its subjects to accept its limits.In examining the problematic of austerity, Moufawad-Paul also discusses the relationship between neoliberalism and fascism and the ways in which the latter is immanent to capitalism. This aspect of Austerity Apparatus should be of particular interest to readers exploring the meaning of the contemporary re-emergence of fascist politics.

Things She Could Never Have


Tehmina Khan - 2017
    “Whisperings of the Devil” takes us into the mind of a mistreated maidservant’s boy who gets seduced into the role of a suicide bomber. In “To Allah We Pray,” two privileged and educated young men, one of them home from Toronto, gallivant through the streets of Karachi, finally walking into a doomed mosque. “Things She Could Never Have” is a love story about two young trans women living in Karachi. “Born on the First of July” opens the door into the home of a Toronto girl who has left to join ISIS and the devastated family she leaves behind. “The First” will astonish many readers by its depiction of sexual encounters of young college girls in Pakistan. These and other stories link us into the complexities of a sometimes troubled and often misrepresented Muslim society.

To Me You Seem Giant


Greg Rhyno - 2017
    He's graduating high school and playing drums in a band that's ready to hit the road. Even though his parents, teachers, and new girlfriend seem a little underwhelmed, Pete knows he's on the verge of indie rock greatness.Fast-forward ten years, Pete finds himself stuck teaching high school in the hometown he longed to escape, while his best friend and former bandmate is a bona fide rock star.Greg Rhyno's debut novel is full of catchy hooks, compelling voices, and duelling time signatures. Told in two alternating decades, To Me You Seem Giant is a raucous and evocative story about trying to live in the present when you can't escape your past.

No Fury Like That


Lisa de Nikolits - 2017
    The novel takes you on a fast-paced, funny, adventurous ride, exploring love, the meaning of life, friendship, revenge, family and the transformation of a character under trying circumstance. No Fury Like That is about how a person can change and grow, and how different things will come to mean more than others; friendship is more important than success, love is more important than money and family is more important than power.Julia Redner has to die before she can find these things out for herself – but is she really dead or is she being given the opportunity to rethink her life and solve an intricate puzzle of murders?"Imagine if characters from The Devil Wears Prada got trapped in Sartre's play No Exit, where "hell is other people." No Fury Like That uses the lens of female souls stuck in purgatory to examine loss, love, rage, angst, and what there really is to live for. Alternately funny, melancholy, philosophical, and raunchy, it's a wild ride and another gutsy novel from de Nikolits."— John Oughton, author of Death by Triangulation

The Gift


Stephanie M. Matthews - 2017
    Matthews, “The Gift” will leave you breathless in this story about a darkness that haunts a little Belgium village, and the lengths it will take to save a young woman from being lost to it forever. “The Gift” is a vividly haunting Christmas story that will not be easily forgotten. The darkness begins here. Fae Peeters is an exchange student in Belgium pursuing her Master’s Degree in architecture. As Christmas approaches, she receives a letter from her beloved grandmother inviting her to visit her own childhood village in southern Belgium, and there find her Christmas gift. The letter is unusually vague and bewildering but Fae follows it, the mystery of the gift leading her on. Arriving in the village, Fae is greeted by a picturesque holiday villagescape. . . and an unshakable feeling that the quaint village is hiding something. Almost immediately upon arriving she begins hearing a voice that isn’t really there and imagining dark things she’d never seen or dreamed before. Her mind starts to unravel and she wonders if she’s starting to go insane—but is she? Or is something much darker going on? The longer Fae stays in the village the more disconcerted she becomes as she begins to uncover more mysteries and fewer answers. Desperate to keep a hold on her fleeting sanity, and determined not to disappoint her Grandmother by quitting the village before Christmas morning, Fae befriends the only person who seems to want to help her, but even he might not be what he appears. . . Fae’s fight for her life and her soul, and the realization of what living through this Christmas Eve will cost not only her, but others around her, is a heart-pounding, page-turning experience. Edited by New York Times Best Seller editor Steve Parolini, “The Gift” is a supernatural thriller that will carry you away to the wintery streets of Europe and insert you into the struggle against a darkness that haunts an innocent village. A mind-bending struggle of hidden truths against the darkest of evils, “The Gift” is a story of survival that will challenge your perception of the world around you in a narrative to satisfy thrill seekers and holiday lovers alike.

Huff & Stitch


Cliff Cardinal - 2017
    From an award-winning Cree playwright comes two powerful solo shows that promise visceral journeys into the lives of marginalized characters.

Dazzle Patterns


Alison Watt - 2017
    Clare Holmes, a flaw checker at the local glassworks, is saving up for passage to England, to work for the Red Cross and be near her fiancé, Leo, who is fighting in France. But one normal Thursday morning, a deadly explosion in the Halifax harbour shatters the city – and Clare is caught up in the blast.As Clare struggles to recover from her injuries, she stumbles upon the School of Art, where she finds solace in drawing, and a mentor who encourages Clare’s burgeoning artistic ambitions. But how can one be an artist when the whole world has gone mad? When her own city is half-destroyed? When she’s not sure if Leo will ever come home?Meanwhile the city, weary from the seemingly endless war and torn apart by the devastating explosion, is wracked with fear and mistrust of foreigners. Clare’s new friend Fred, a glassmaker from Germany, is pulled into a web of suspicion, causing Clare to question everything she thought she knew.Dazzle Patterns is an unforgettable story about resilience, art, and the casualties of war, abroad and at home. With extraordinary vision and clarity, Alison Watt’s remarkable debut novel brings the past to life.

The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes


Bridget Canning - 2017
    But Wanda's life changes radically on a routine trip to the grocery store when a gunman enters the supermarket and opens fire. The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes is the highly anticipated debut novel by Bridget Canning, one of the most promising new writers from Newfoundland, and is an energetic page-turner about the power of selflessness in a contemporary culture of fear and suspicion.

Klee Wyck Journal: The Making of a Wilderness Retreat


Lou McKee - 2017
    During the first trip that Pacific Northwestern summer, they chanced upon an enchanting stretch of beach and spent several days collecting stones polished by the ocean, exploring the nearby creek, and breathing in the wonder of untamed water and wilderness.This remote coastal beach drew them back year after year, though the coastal rains become almost too much to endure. Thus, the Klee Wyck Cabin, as it came to be named, was borne from found cedar beach logs and other reclaimed wood to shield the travelers from summer storms. For a few weeks each year, friends and family came together to share stories, heartaches, celebrations, and the building of the tiny wilderness retreat cabin.Lou took her journal and sketchbook with her to the cabin, documenting the construction and rendering local flora and fauna in colored ink and pencil drawings. Collected together in print for the first time, Klee Wyck Journal showcases the cabin and Lou's remarkable lifetime on and near the water in exquisite, full color sketches.

True Confessions from the Ninth Concession


Dan Needles - 2017
    Together they stocked their farm with sheep, cattle, chickens, pigs and, eventually, four children. Needles' charming chronicle unfolds in essays dated from 1997 to 2016, offering homespun advice for successful country living--like whether to wave from the elbow or to merely raise one finger from the steering wheel when passing a neighbour in the car. He cautions on rural superstitions, such as when his neighbour hesitated before selling him weaner pigs because every time he does the wife of the farmer who's buying them becomes pregnant--which turned out to be true. Here too is the tale of an unlikely friendship between a "borderline" collie ("he's never bitten anything in his life and the sheep are catching on") and an odd duck named Ferdinand, as well as other hilarious stories involving an assortment of farm animals, including the weapon of choice to properly dispatch a rooster-gone-bad; the risks of giving a name to a potential Sunday dinner entrée; and how to outsmart a free-range pig. With his witty insight, Needles shares the art of neighbouring in the country--a place made for visits, and "where a figure walking across your field is more of a reason to put the kettle on than to call the police."True Confessions from the Ninth Concession is a sesquicentennial crop of antics and aphorisms by Canada's funniest farmer--one that presents a wonderful escape for world-weary city dwellers, and affirmative reading for anyone who is from, or has moved to, rural Canada.

Triple Crown: Winning Canada's Energy Future


Jim Prentice - 2017
    But as former federal cabinet minister and Alberta premier Jim Prentice argues in this provocative and timely new book, we have lost our way. He outlines how our nation has repeatedly stumbled in its attempts to become a global player in the field, and how our policies and practices have failed to advance Canada’s international interests as an energy producer and exporter with a record of sound environmental achievement. He highlights, for example, our stalled efforts to work with the United States to build new pipelines to the Gulf Coast, and the absence of the infrastructure Canada needs to make further inroads into the Asia-Pacific market. He notes how we have even faltered in our attempts to build pipelines across Canada to service our own citizens, and how Canada has also, to date, failed to craft fair and enduring business partnerships with its own indigenous peoples. Ultimately, one of Canada’s greatest strengths has become a liability—economically, socially and environmentally.But what will the path forward look like? In Triple Crown, Jim Prentice makes a powerful argument for the inadequacy of current Canadian energy policy and asserts a new and forward-looking vision for converting our nation’s vast resources into a secure, prosperous and environmentally responsible future that benefits all Canadians.Completed with his friend and colleague Jean-Sébastien Rioux shortly before Prentice's unexpected death in October 2016 at the age of 60, Triple Crown is a heartening and inspiring must-read, and a lasting legacy for a man who did so much for Canada.

Panicle


Gillian Sze - 2017
    It’s a collection that challenges our notion of seeing as a passive or automatic activity by asking us to question the process of looking. The book’s first section, “Underway,” deals with the moving image and includes both poetic responses to film theory and lyrical long poems while also reimagining fairy tales. The next section, “Stagings,” takes its inspiration from the still image and explores a wide range of periods, movements, and media. Sze’s focus on the process of looking anticipates “Guillemets,” a creative translation of Roland Giguère’s 1966 chapbook, Pouvoir du Noir, which contains a series of poems accompanied by his own paintings. Sze’s approach to Giguère is two-fold: she “translates” his text, and artist Jessica Hiemstra provides a visual response to her translation. The final section, “Panicle,” continues the meditative quality of “Guillemets” in a suite of poems that ruminate on nature, desire, and history.

Canada's Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests


Peter H. Russell - 2017
    But the road to contemporary Canada is a winding one, a story of division and conflict as well as union and accommodation.In Canada’s Odyssey, renowned scholar Peter H. Russell provides an expansive, accessible account of Canadian history from the pre-Confederation period to the present day. By focusing on what he calls the "three pillars" of English Canada, French Canada, and Aboriginal Canada, Russell advances an important view of our country as one founded on and informed by "incomplete conquests". It is the very incompleteness of these conquests that have made Canada what it is today, not just a multicultural society but a multinational one.Featuring the scope and vivid characterizations of an epic novel, Canada’s /i>Odyssey

Peninsula Sinking


David Huebert - 2017
    Veterinarians, prison guards, and prosthetic phallus designers develop various schemes to navigate the ruins of their capsizing lives and to confront the beauty of their bruised worlds.

Save Your Mind: Seven Rules to Avoid Dementia


Antoine Hakim - 2017
    From the winner of Canada’s most prestigious science award, The Canada Gairdner Awards, this book also offers an authoritative and easy-to-understand explanation of how the brain works and what happens when dementia afflicts it. Author Dr. Antoine Hakim tells about some of the mind-blowing research that shows how elderly nuns maintained their cognitive abilities even though their brains displayed the physical signs of Alzheimer’s. He argues that you can build up a defensive system, a cognitive reserve, to protect your mind if you have a stroke. It’s even possible to reverse the early signs of dementia. Save Your Mind is an essential book for anyone who wants to take proactive steps to prevent dementia and the loss of mental control.

Dropout: How School Is Failing Our Kids (And What We Can Do About It)


Leslie Gavel - 2017
     In the fall of 2000, while in Grade 7, Leslie Gavel's daughter Avery began what would be a four-year disengagement from school. Avery didn't fit the stereotype of the "dropout." Why would a privileged, middle-class adolescent choose this path when dropping out was a social stigma and would complicate her personal life and career choices?Leslie began to analyze the school system itself, but all of her research led not to answers but to further questions. Did school--its history, structure, practice--play any role in underachievement? Was the problem of marginal or failing grades, chronic student dissatisfaction, and disruptive classroom behaviour always the fault of the student--and, by extension, her parents--or could it be the fault of the school system itself? And did dropping out--an ultimate taboo for teenagers, along with pregnancy and drug abuse--really have to mean the end of the world for child and parent?Told from the deeply personal perspective of a concerned parent, Dropout is a memoir about one family's experience in the public school system. It also considers the latest research in alternative approaches to school, and offers suggestions for students who may not fit the educational mould or society's definition of "success." Leslie Gavel, a former social worker, is a Calgary freelance writer. Her work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Canadian Living, More, Today's Parent, Avenue and several Canadian and American newspapers, and has been produced for CBC national radio. Born and raised in Regina, she has lived in Calgary for decades. Advance praise for Dropout: "In a courageous act of often painful self-disclosure, Leslie Gavel exposes the secret, massive and most crippling bullying that haunts Western educational systems: our abandonment and degradation of students who do not fit our perception of 'school success.' Like callous physicians who coldly dismiss patients who have illnesses they don't understand, our schools treat non-achievers as pariahs, as 'lepers' confronting us with things we'd rather not see. This bullying is even more damaging than peer abuse for struggling kids like Gavel's daughter since the devastating rejection comes not from teenaged jerks, but from admired and respected adult authorities. This brave book should be required reading for anyone who claims the title of 'educator' and will help parents to bind the wounds of these suffering children and nurture them back to life success and happiness." --Dr. Michael J. Bradley, author of Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind"Dropout is not only a ruthlessly honest saga of one family's conflict over school, it is also a polemic that rails against a system that cries out for fundamental reform. Through research and storytelling, Leslie Gavel shows the reader what's wrong with school as it's conducted today, which is not unlike how it was conducted one hundred years ago when the goal was to produce workers for factories who'd do as they were told. Gavel warns something must change or our children will continue to be victims of an oppressive, authoritarian institution. I wish I'd read Dropout before my own kids faced off against our one-size-fits-all educational system." --Robert W. Fuller, Ph.D., former president of Oberlin College

Common Place


Sarah Pinder - 2017
    From thin threads of text messages across borders to encounters with strangers in the crush of rush-hour transit, Sarah Pinder names our most private and public moments of seeing and being seen. With considered, quiet urgency, this poem witnesses our ambiguous, aching present and looks towards what comes next.Sarah Pinder is the author of the poetry collection Cutting Room. Her writing has been included in magazines including Geist, Arc, and Poetry is Dead. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

Rainy Lake House: Twilight of Empire on the Northern Frontier


Theodore Catton - 2017
    Dr. John McLoughlin, the proprietor of Rainy Lake House, was in charge of the borderlands west of Lake Superior, where he was tasked with opposing the petty traders who operated out of US territory. Major Stephen H. Long, an officer in the US Army Topographical Engineers, was on an expedition to explore the wooded borderlands west of Lake Superior and the northern prairies from the upper Mississippi to the forty-ninth parallel. John Tanner, a "white Indian" living among the Ojibwa nation, arrived in search of his missing daughters, who, Tanner believed, were at risk of being raped by the white traders holding them captive at a nearby fort.Rainy Lake House weaves together the captivating stories of these men who cast their fortunes in different ways with the western fur trade. Drawing on their combined experiences, Theodore Catton creates a vivid depiction of the beautiful and dangerous northern frontier from a collision of vantage points: American, British, and Indian; imperial, capital, and labor; explorer, trader, and hunter. At the center of this history is the deeply personal story of John Tanner's search for kinship: first among his adopted Ojibwa nation; then in the search for his white family of origin; and finally in his quest for custody of his half-Indian children.Rainy Lake House is a character-driven narrative about ambition, adventure, alienation, and revenge. Catton deftly crafts one grand narrative out of three and reveals the perilous lives of the white adventurers and their Indian families, who lived on the fringe of empire.

Canada In Decay: Mass Immigration, Diversity, and the Ethnocide of Euro-Canadians


Ricardo Duchesne - 2017
    Canada In Decay is the first scholarly book questioning the undemocratic policy of mass immigration and racial diversification in Canada.

Grounded Authority: The Algonquins of Barriere Lake against the State


Shiri Pasternak - 2017
    Shiri Pasternak corrects this misconception, showing that colonialism is very much alive in Canada. From the perspective of Indigenous law and jurisdiction, she tells the story of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, in western Quebec, and their tireless resistance to federal land claims policy.Grounded Authority chronicles the band’s ongoing attempts to restore full governance over its lands and natural resources through an agreement signed by settler governments almost three decades ago—an agreement the state refuses to fully implement. Pasternak argues that the state’s aversion to recognizing Algonquin jurisdiction stems from its goal of perfecting its sovereignty by replacing the inherent jurisdiction of Indigenous peoples with its own, delegated authority. From police brutality and fabricated sexual abuse cases to an intervention into and overthrow of a customary government, Pasternak provides a compelling, richly detailed account of rarely documented coercive mechanisms employed to force Indigenous communities into compliance with federal policy.A rigorous account of the incredible struggle fought by the Algonquins to maintain responsibility over their territory, Grounded Authority provides a powerful alternative model to one nation’s land claims policy and a vital contribution to current debates in the study of colonialism and Indigenous peoples in North America and globally.

The Shawinigan Fox: How Jean Chrétien Defied the Elites and Reshaped Canada


Bob Plamondon - 2017
    

The Last Gang in Town: The Epic Story of the Vancouver Police vs. the Clark Park Gang


Aaron Chapman - 2017
    Corrupt cops, hapless criminals, and murder figure in this raucous history with contemporary overtones that questions which gang was tougher: the petty criminals, or the police themselves.Aaron Chapman is a writer, historian, and musician and the author of two Vancouver nightclub histories, Live at the Commodore and Liquor, Lust, and the Law.

The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities


Frances Henry - 2017
    In reality, the university still excludes many people and is a site of racialization that is subtle, complex, and sophisticated. This book, the first comprehensive, data-based study of racialized and Indigenous faculty members’ experiences in Canadian universities, challenges the myth of equity in higher education. Drawing on a rich body of survey data, interviews, and analysis of universities’ stated policies, leading scholars scrutinize what universities have done and question the effectiveness of their employment equity programs. They also make important recommendations as to how universities can address racialization and fulfill the promise of equity in the academy.

The Tide


Jake Byrne - 2017
    Jake Byrne is an alumnus of Concordia University, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief for Soliloquies Anthology from 2016 to 2017 and won the Irving Layton Prize in Poetry. In 2017, he was a participant in the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity’s Writing Studio program. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in PRISM international, Lambda Literary’s Poetry Spotlight, The Puritan, Plenitude, BAD NUDES, and Poetry is Dead. He lives and writes in Montreal, Quebec, on the traditional and unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka people.

Hey, Baby!: A Collection of Pictures, Poems, and Stories from Nature's Nursery


Stephanie Drimmer - 2017
    Get up close to adorable baby animals – from the teensiest turtle hatchling to the biggest baby whales; from black bear cubs frolicking free in the Rocky Mountains to a kangaroo joey lounging safely in its mother's pouch. Readers will ooh and aah over the cute baby pictures, sweet stories, folktales, and poems in this lovely keepsake book. Ideal for reading to sleepy little ones!

The Redpath Canadian Bake Book: Over 200 Delectable Recipes for Cakes, Breads, Desserts and More


Redpath Sugar Ltd - 2017
    In this, their first full cookbook, they share more than 200 recipes that showcase and celebrate the many distinct (and delicious!) culinary traditions of Canada. This cookbook offers recipes for everything from cookies, brownies, muffins, cakes, pies, and frostings, as well as recipes for holiday goodies, puddings, jams, and candies to be eaten and enjoyed year-round. From Cinnamon-Spice Haystacks to Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies; Chinese Egg Tarts to Double Chocolate Brownies; and Zesty Lemon Curd to Chocolate-Orange Babka, this baking book has it all. The Baker's Kitchen section starts readers off with useful advice about baking ingredients, equipment, terms, and techniques. You'll find helpful tips on how to test the freshness of key baking ingredients such as yeast, baking powder, and baking soda. And there are simple-to-use, straightforward, and accessible guides throughout, designed to ensure a stress-free and accurate baking outcome every time. You'll learn to demystify the baking process through suggestions on adding and substituting ingredients, time-saving ways to prep, piping and decorating tips, and storing and freezing ingredients and baked goods. A bakebook for all skill levels, this go-to guide covers everything you need to know about baking. The Redpath Canadian Bakebook is sure to become a classic on your bookshelf and your essential consultant for truly delicious and timeless recipes for many years to come.

The Robert Munsch Collection Volume One: Ten Books in One


Robert Munsch - 2017
    With his entertaining and outrageously funny stories full of spunky, clever characters—often inspired by real children he’s met—bestselling author Robert Munsch has delighted millions of readers for over three decades. Now you can enjoy Munsch’s imaginative capers in this collection of ten fully illustrated stories.   Feisty Princess Elizabeth dons a paper bag, bests a dragon, and dumps an unworthy prince in Munsch’s delightful fairy-tale revision. The New York Times says: “Some of the best children’s books ever written have been about girls—like The Paper Bag Princess.” Find out how Stephanie uses her hair to blaze her own trail, Jason solves his dad’s most unusual problem, Ben shocks everyone at show and tell, and much, much more in these classics that will make story time everyone’s favorite time of the day.   This ebook includes The Paper Bag Princess, Stephanie’s Ponytail, 50 Below Zero, Pigs, The Fire Station, A Promise Is a Promise, Jonathan Cleaned Up—Then He Heard a Sound, Moira’s Birthday, Show and Tell, and Mortimer.

Unpacked: From Pei To Palawan


Mo Duffy Cobb - 2017
    My grief needed the whole world. It needed isolation. It needed inspiration. It needed something to change, something to be released. It needed an answer."In 2008, Maureen and Mitch Cobb took drastic action in the wake of the stillbirth death of their second child, Tya. They packed up two-year-old Leila and set out on a journey through Southeast Asia, a trip of courage, love, and, ultimately, redemption. They left their small town in the Maritimes to fill the silence of their grief with the noisy spice markets of Bali, the crashing waves of the Philippines, and the golden surrenders of Borneo's hot sun. Through twelve countries and nine months, in the chaos of difficult travel plans and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, this young family begins to find acceptance in the humanity that surrounds them, the inspiration in each other to continue, and the courage to come back from their complicated grief.Unpacked is the inspiring story of a mother in search of herself, a husband and wife fighting for a marriage, a young daughter who rises from confusion, and the scenes and revelations that bring Mo out of her paralyzing grief and into the perspective of a new world.

In Spirit


Tara Beagan - 2017
    He asked if she could get in and help him back to the highway, and said he could bring her back to her bike after. Molly declined, out of interest for her own safety. The next things Molly remembers are dirt, branches, trees, pain, and darkness.Molly is now a spirit.Mustering up some courage, she pieces together her short life for herself and her family while she reassembles her bicycle—the same one that was found thrown into the trees on the side of the road. Juxtaposed with flashes of news, sounds, and videos, Molly’s chilling tale becomes more and more vivid, challenging humanity not to forget her presence and importance.