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Searching for serafim: The life and legacy of serafim "joe" fortes
By Ruby Smith Díaz. 2025
DAISY audio (Direct to player), DAISY audio (Zip)
Biography, Customs and cultures, Social issues, Canadian authors (Non-fiction)
Human-narrated audio
The life and legacy of Serafim "Joe" Fortes, a trailblazing Black lifeguard, who became a cultural icon in a racist…
society Searching for Serafim is a layered exploration of the life of Vancouver's first lifeguard, Serafim "Joe" Fortes. A Trinidad native who arrived on the shores of Canada in 1885, Fortes was heralded as a hero in Vancouver for saving dozens of people from drowning, and his funeral drew the largest crowd ever recorded in the city's history. Since his passing, Fortes has been commemorated with a Canada Post-issued stamp and local buildings named in his honour. Yet, little has been discussed about how he navigated an openly white supremacist society as an Afro Latino man. In Searching for Serafim , author Ruby Smith Díaz seeks to unravel the complicated legacy of a local legend to learn more about who Fortes was as a person. She draws from historical documents to form an insightful critique of the role that settler colonialism and anti-Black racism played in Fortes's publicized story and reconstructs his life, from over a century later, through a contemporary Black perspective, weaving poetry and personal reflections alongside archival research. The result is a moving and thought-provoking book about displacement, identity, and dignity. Searching for Serafim conjures a new side to one of Vancouver's most beloved — and misunderstood — public figures
Rise, Red River
By Tara Beagan. 2025
Braille (Contracted), Electronic braille (Contracted), DAISY Audio (Direct to Player), DAISY Audio (Zip), DAISY text (Direct to player), DAISY text (Zip), Word (Zip), ePub (Zip)
Canadian non-fiction, Drama
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
“The map of the land is in our blood.”A woman trawls the bottom of a riverbed with a makeshift plough,…
hoping to dislodge something—anything. The world has drastically changed: rivers run dry, rampant bushfires leave little left to burn. Still she persists searching for the stories of her loved ones, maybe even her own. She is not alone—an ancestor watches nearby. This desolate landscape is about to unearth its long-held secrets.Inspired by the grassroots organization Drag the Red, which searches for evidence of missing Indigenous and settler women, girls, 2 Spirit, and people of all genders in the Red River of Treaty One Territory, this ethereal and engrossing drama is a profound offering to those who persevere in spite of sorrow. Told in Anishinaabemowin, English, and French, Tara Beagan’s prophetic play draws a direct connection between the treatment of Indigenous peoples and the abuse inflicted on the land. Fluid and majestic like the river itself, Rise, Red River is an invocation, a revelation, and a call to action.
Little Pretty and The Exceptional
By Null Anusree Roy. 2025
Braille (Contracted), Electronic braille (Contracted), DAISY Audio (Direct to Player), DAISY Audio (Zip), DAISY text (Direct to player), DAISY text (Zip), Word (Zip), ePub (Zip)
Canadian non-fiction, Drama
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
In the vibrant heart of Toronto’s Gerrard India Bazaar, Dilpreet and his daughters, Jasmeet and Simran, are frantically preparing to…
open their new sari shop in time for Canada Day. While Jasmeet prepares designs for the store’s logo and signs, she is also preparing for her high-school prom. Meanwhile, Simran anxiously awaits her LSAT scores that will grant her access to the best law schools in the country. Amidst the flurry of activity, Simran experiences a mental-health crisis, threatening to derail not only her future but the family’s shared dream. As she spirals into a dangerous breakdown, the family's dedication to their shop and to each other is put to the ultimate test.Little Pretty and The Exceptional is a candid and compassionate portrait of a family haunted by a traumatic past, exposing the stigmas surrounding mental health in the South Asian community. This heartfelt tale reveals what it truly means to support and care for our loved ones during their darkest times.