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The end of absence: reclaiming what we've lost in a world of constant connection
By Michael Harris. 2014
Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the internet. For everyone who follows us,…
online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. The author chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we've gained and lost in the bargain. He argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself -- of silence, wonder and solitude. Winner of the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction. 2014.The blind mechanic: the amazing story of Eric Davidson, survivor of the 1917 Halifax Explosion
By Marilyn Elliott, Janet Kitz. 2018
Eric Davidson was a beautiful, fair-haired toddler when the Halifax Explosion struck, killing almost 2,000 people and seriously injuring thousands…
of others. Eric lost both eyes-a tragedy that his mother never fully recovered from. Eric, however, was positive and energetic. He also developed a fascination with cars and how they worked, and he later decided, against all likelihood, to become a mechanic. Assisted by his brothers who read to him from manuals, he worked hard, passed examinations, and carved out a decades-long career. Once the subject of a National Film Board documentary, Eric Davidson was, until his death, a much-admired figure in Halifax. Written by his daughter Marilyn, this book gives new insights into the story of the 1917 Halifax Explosion and contains never-before-seen documents and photographs. Winner of the 2019 The Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction). 2018.Sword of the spirit, shield of faith: religion in American war and diplomacy
By Andrew Preston. 2012
A richly detailed account of how religion has influenced American foreign relations, told through the stories of the men and…
women - from presidents to preachers - who have plotted the country’s course in the world. Winner of the 2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. 2012. If you request this book on CD it will be on 2 or more CDs. You must play the first CD to the end before playing the next CD.Sex is a funny word: a book about bodies, feelings, and YOU
By Cory Silverberg, Fiona Smyth. 2015
A comic book for kids that includes children and families of all makeups, orientations, and gender identities, this is an…
essential resource about bodies, gender, and sexuality for children ages 8 to 10 as well as their parents and caregivers. Much more than the "facts of life" or "the birds and the bees," it opens up conversations between young people and their caregivers in a way that allows adults to convey their values and beliefs while providing information about boundaries, safety, and joy. The follow up to the Lambda-nominated "What Makes a Baby". Winner of the 2016 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction. Grades 2-4. 2015.Smiley: a journey of love
By Joanne George. 2017
Smiley, a most remarkable Golden Retriever, was born without eyes. He was rescued from a puppy mill and has become…
a superb therapy dog, providing therapy to people all over the world through social media and television. This is his story. Winner of the 2018 Silver Birch Express Award. Winner of the 2019 Red Cedar Information Book Award. Winner of the 2019 Hackmatack Award for non-fiction. Grades 4-6. 2017. Smiley, the therapy dog -- Smiley and Joanne -- Smiley and Joanne's new family -- St. John Ambulance therapy dogs -- Smiley, the blind therapy dog -- Smiley, the celebrity -- Ways you can help.Stormy seas: stories of young boat refugees
By Mary Beth Leatherdale. 2017
The plight of refugees risking their lives at sea has, unfortunately, made the headlines all too often in the past…
few years. This book presents five true stories, from 1939 to today, about young people who lived through the harrowing experience of setting sail in search of asylum: Ruth and her family board the St. Louis to escape Nazism; Phu sets out alone from war-torn Vietnam; José tries to reach the United States from Cuba; Najeeba flees Afghanistan and the Taliban; and after losing his family, Mohamed abandons his village on the Ivory Coast in search of a new life. Grades 4-7. Winner of the 2018 Silver Birch Non-Fiction Honour Book Award. 2017.Stephen Harper
By John Ibbitson. 2015
Stephen Harper has made government smaller, justice tougher, and provinces more independent. Those who praise Harper point to the Conservatives'…
skillful economic management, the reformed immigration system, the uncompromising defence of Israel and Ukraine, and the fight against terrorism, while critics accuse the Harper government of being autocratic, secretive and cruel. Ibbitson explores Harper’s suburban youth, the forces that shaped his tempestuous relationship with Reform Leader Preston Manning, how Laureen Harper influences her husband, his devotion to his children--and his cats. Ibbitson explains how this shy, closed, introverted loner united a fractured conservative movement, defeated a Liberal hegemony, and set out to reshape the nation. Bestseller. Winner of the 2015 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. 2015.Seven fallen feathers: racism, death, and hard truths in a northern city
By Tanya Talaga. 2017
Over the span of ten years, seven high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of…
miles away from their families, forced to leave their reserve because there was no high school there for them to attend. Award-winning journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest, and struggle with, human rights violations past and present against aboriginal communities. Bestseller. Winner of the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize and the 2018 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. 2017.Settler education: poems
By Laurie D Graham. 2016
In the stunning poems of "Settler Education", Graham explores the Plains Cree uprising at Frog Lake -- the death of…
nine settlers, the hanging of six Cree warriors, the imprisonment of Big Bear, and the opening of the Prairies to unfettered settlement. In ways possible only with such an honest act of imagination, and with language at once terse and capacious, she reckons with how these pasts repeat and reconstitute themselves in the present. Poems from this book won the 2013 Thomas Morton Poetry Prize. 2016. Uniform title: Poems.Rag cosmology
By Erin Robinsong. 2017
In this time of ecological precarity, "Rag Cosmology" is an urgent invitation to reinvent our modes of engagement with the…
environment we not only inhabit, but are. Refusing the lamentation that leaves us as resigned witnesses to devastation, "Rag Cosmology" counters fatalist narratives with the pleasures of ecological entanglement and engagement. Tracing relationships between seemingly irreconcilable things--economy and ecology, weather and lust, bills and inner voices, wages of avoidance and wages of listening--these poems offer the intimate and lush language of thought that yearn for an imaginative reinvention of how we understand what we are part of and what we are losing. Winner of the 2017 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry (QWF). 2017.Pink is for blobfish: discovering the world's perfectly pink animals
By Jess Keating. 2016
Some people think pink is a pretty colour. A fluffy, sparkly, princess-y colour. But it's so much more. Sure, pink…
is the colour of princesses and bubblegum, but it's also the colour of monster slugs and poisonous insects. Not to mention ultra-intelligent dolphins, naked mole rats and bizarre, bloated blobfish. Isn't it about time to rethink pink? Grades 3-6. Winner of the 2017 Silver Birch Express Honour Book Award. 2016.Pig girl
By Colleen Murphy. 2015
At 4:00 a.m. on a secluded farm, a woman fights to take her life back from a serial killer as…
her desperate sister and a haunted police officer reach across time and distance in an attempt to rescue her. Winner of the 2016 Governor General’s Award for Drama. 2015.Out of darkness: the Jeff Healey story
By Cindy Watson. 2010
Losing both eyes to retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, opened a door to another world for Jeff Healey. Out…
of darkness he created music, becoming one of the most influential blues-rock and jazz performers of our time. Winner of the 2012 Golden Oak Award. Grades 5-8. 2010.One hour in Paris: a true story of rape and recovery
By Karyn L Freedman. 2014
Philosopher Karyn L. Freedman travels back to a Paris night in 1990 when she was twenty-two and, in one violent…
hour, her life was changed forever by a brutal rape. We follow Freedman from an apartment in Paris to a French courtroom, from a trauma centre in Toronto to a rape clinic in Africa. At a time when as many as one in three women in the world have been victims of sexual assault and when many women are still ashamed to come forward, Freedman's book is a moving and essential look at how survivors cope and persevere. Winner of the 2015 British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. 2014.On not losing my father's ashes in the flood
By Richard Harrison. 2016
In his final years, Richard Harrison's father suffered from a form of dementia, but he died without ever forgetting the…
poems he had memorized as a student and had taught to Richard as a child. In 2013, the poet feared his father's ashes had been lost in the flood water that ravaged Alberta--a crisis that would become the inciting event and central theme of this collection. Combining elements of memoir, elegy, lyrical essay and personal correspondence with appreciations of literary works ranging from haiku to comic books, Richard Harrison has written a book of great intellectual depth that is as generous as it is enchanting. Winner of the 2017 Governor General’s Award for Poetry. 2016. Uniform title: Poems.No shelter here: making the world a kinder place for dogs
By Rob Laidlaw. 2011
Dogs have been loyal to humankind for thousands of years, but today, millions of dogs are neglected and malnourished, and…
millions of other dogs are used in scientific research and for entertainment, and kept as pets in a remarkable diversity of conditions. Laidlaw explores the world of homeless, mistreated, and exploited dogs, and the challenges they face, but he also focuses on the people he calls "dog champions" – people around the world who dedicate their lives to helping dogs. Some descriptions of violence. Grades 3-6. Winner of the 2013 Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award. Winner of the 2013-14 Hackmatack Award for non-fiction. 2011.Nation maker: Sir John A. Macdonald : his life, our times, volume two : 1867-1891
By Richard Gwyn. 2011
From Confederation Day in 1867, John A. Macdonald finessed a reluctant union of four provinces in central and eastern Canada…
into a strong nation, despite indifference from Britain and annexationist sentiment in the United States. Macdonald faced constant crises, from Louis Riel's two rebellions through to the Pacific Scandal that almost undid his government. Gwyn paints a portrait of Canada and its leaders through these formative years and also shows us Macdonald the man, as he wrestles with whether Riel should hang, marries for the second time, deals with the birth of a disabled child, and the assassination of his close friend Darcy McGee. Some descriptions of violence. Sequel to “John A: the man who made us : the life and times of John A. Macdonald” (DC31710). Winner of the 2011 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. c2011.Mordecai: the life & times
By Charles Foran. 2010
Mordecai Richler won multiple awards for adult and children's fiction, and wrote Oscar-nominated screenplays. His influence was larger than life…
in Canada and abroad. Foran describes Mordecai's life as young bohemian, irreverent writer, passionate and controversial Canadian, loyal friend, romantic lover, and devoted husband and father. Some descriptions of sex, some strong language. Canada Reads 2012. Winner of the 2011 Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction. 2010.Mingan my village
By Solange Messier. 2014
"Mingan my village" is a collection of 15 faces and 15 poems written by young Innu. Given a platform to…
be heard, the children chose to transport readers far away from the difficulties and problems related to their realities to see the beauty that surrounds them in nature. Winner of the 2013 Prix jeunesse des libraires du Québec (5-11 years category). Grades K-3 and older readers. 2014.L'Indien malcommode: un portrait inattendu des Autochtones d'Amérique du Nord
By Thomas King, Daniel Poliquin. 2014
« L'Indien malcommode » est à la fois un ouvrage d'histoire et une subversion de l'histoire officielle. En somme, c'est…
le résultat de la réflexion personnelle et critique que Thomas King a menée depuis un demi-siècle sur ce que cela signifie d'être Indien aujourd'hui en Amérique du Nord. Dans ce franc-parler qui ne peut appartenir qu'à un Indien, King démonte avec beaucoup d'esprit les idées reçues touchant les peuples autochtones. Ce livre n'est pas tant une condamnation du comportement des un ou des autres qu'une analyse suprêmement intelligente des liens complexes qu'entretiennent les Blancs et les Indiens. 2014. Titre uniforme: Inconvenient Indian.