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Showing 1 - 20 of 614 items
The girl in the green sweater: a life in Holocaust's shadow
By Daniel Paisner, Krystyna Chiger. 2008
In 1943, with Lvov's 150,000 Jews having been exiled, killed, or forced into ghettos and facing extermination, a group of…
Polish Jews sought refuge in the city's sewer system. The last surviving member this group, Krystyna Chiger, provides a first-person account of those fourteen months with her family. Also describes Leopold Socha, a Polish Catholic and former thief, who risked his life to help Chiger's underground family survive, bringing them food and supplies. 2009, c2008.The girl in Saskatoon: a meditation on friendship, memory and murder
By Sharon Butala. 2008
In 1962, Alexandra Wiwcharuk was found murdered on the banks of the Saskatchewan River. Nearly 50 years later, her murder…
still haunts Saskatoon residents, especially those who, like Butala, were Alexandra's friends. Compelled by her memories of Alex, Butala returns to that still-unsolved murder, writing an in-depth investigation of the tragic death, a nostalgic coming-of-age story, and an exploration of the nature of good and evil. Some descriptions of sex and violence. 2008.The damned: the Canadians at the battle of Hong Kong and the POW experience, 1941-45
By Nathan M Greenfield. 2010
Fall, 1941. Almost 2,000 members of the Royal Rifles and Winnipeg Grenadiers were sent to bolster the British garrison at…
Hong Kong, but in the seventeen day battle for the colony following the attack on December 8, the Canadians suffered grievous losses. The second part of their story describes how the Canadians survived the horrendous conditions of Japanese POW camps. Some descriptions of sex, explicit descriptions of violence and strong language. 2010.The Dionne years: a Thirties melodrama
By Pierre Berton. 1977
In 1934, Canada hit the international headlines when Elzire Dionne gave birth to five identical baby girls in northern Ontario.…
Berton examines the exploitation of the famous five by the media, commercial interests and government which created a rift in the Dionne family. 1977. (Reissue)The curse of the narrows: the Halifax explosion, 1917
By Laura MacDonald. 2005
On December 7, 1917, in the heart of the World War I, two ships collided in Halifax harbour. The resulting…
explosion killed over 2,000 people and injured some 6,000 more. Macdonald presents the whole story of how the military, volunteers and ordinary citizens united to organize one of the most complex relief efforts in North American history. Descriptions of violence. 2005.The boy on the beach: my family’s escape from Syria and our hope for a new home
By Tima Kurdi. 2018
Alan Kurdi's body washed up on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea on September 2, 2015, and overnight, the political…
became personal, as the world awoke to the reality of the Syrian refugee crisis. Tima Kurdi first saw the shocking photo of her nephew in her home in Vancouver, Canada. Tima recounts her idyllic childhood in Syria, where she grew up with her brother Abdullah and other siblings in a tight knit family. A strong willed, independent woman, Tima studied to be a hairdresser and had dreams of seeing the world. At twenty two, she emigrated to Canada, but much of her family remained in Damascus. As Tima struggled to adapt to life in a new land, war overtook her homeland. Caught in the crosshairs of civil war, her family risked everything and fled their homes. Tima worked tirelessly to help them find safety, but their journey was far from easy. Although thwarted by politics, hounded by violence, and separated by vast distances, the Kurdis never gave up hope. And when tragedy struck, Tima suddenly found herself thrust onto the world stage as an advocate for refugees everywhere, a role for which she had never prepared but that allowed her to give voice to those who didn't have an opportunity to speak for themselves. Bestseller. 2018.The black grizzly of Whiskey Creek
By Sid Marty. 2008
1980. Many citizens of Banff, Alberta, valued living in a place where wildlife grazed on the front lawn, but none…
were expecting bear attacks that summer. During the massive hunt that followed, Banff was portrayed as a town under siege by a killer bear, and the tourists stayed away. The pressure was on to find and destroy the Whiskey Creek mauler, but he evaded park wardens and struck again - and again. When the fight was over, the hard lessons learned led to changes that would save the lives of both bears and people in the coming years. Some descriptions of violence, some strong language. 2008.Tecumseh & Brock: the War of 1812
By James Laxer. 2012
At the turn of the nineteenth century, the British Empire is at the height of its ascendancy; Napoleonic France is…
struggling to maintain its position as a world power; the incumbent American empire is quickly expanding its territory, while the Native peoples struggle to establish their own confederacy. Laxer focusses on the Native struggle for nationhood and sovereignty; the battle between the British Empire and the United States over Upper and Lower Canada; and the unlikely friendship and political alliance between Shawnee chieftain Tecumseh and Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. 2012.The Acadians: in search of a homeland
By James Laxer. 2006
In 1604, a small group of migrants fled political turmoil and famine in France to start a new colony on…
Canada's east coast. Their roughly demarcated territory included what are now Canada's Maritime provinces, land that was fought over by the British and French empires until the Acadians were finally expelled in 1755. In the absence of a state, what defines an Acadian today is elusive, and while their community, centred in New Brunswick, is more confident than ever, it is entering a contentious debate about its future. Some descriptions of violence. 2006.Simone de Beauvoir: biographie (Grandes biographies)
By Huguette Bouchardeau. 2007
Something fierce: memoirs of a revolutionary daughter
By Carmen Aguirre. 2011
Covering the decade from 1979 to 1989, Aguirre takes the reader inside war-ridden Peru, dictatorship-run Bolivia, post-Malvinas Argentina and Pinochet's…
Chile. She captures her constant struggle to reconcile her commitment to the resistance movement with the desires of her youth and her budding sexuality. Winner of Canada Reads 2012. Some descriptions of sex, explicit descriptions of violence. 2011.Stormy weather: the life of Lena Horne
By James Gavin. 2009
Biography of African American singer/actress Lena Horne, born in 1917 Brooklyn, who first performed at Harlem's Cotton Club at age…
sixteen. Interprets Horne's multiracial family background in the pre-civil rights era as the reason for emotional conflicts in both her personal and professional lives. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. c2009.Sophia Tolstoy: a biography
By Alexandra Popoff. 2010
As Leo Tolstoy's wife, Sophia Tolstoy experienced both glory and condemnation during their forty-eight-year marriage. Drawing on newly available archival…
material, including Sophia's unpublished memoir, Alexandra Popoff presents a dramatically different and accurate portrait of the woman and the marriage. Some descriptions of sex. c2010.Shorty, an aviation pioneer: the story of Victor John Hatton
By James Glassco Henderson. 2004
Having survived the First World War in the trenches, Shorty Hatton started his aviation career in a near-fatal crash of…
an Avro 504K and ended it with another Avro aircraft, the Arrow. In the intervening years he was a military, bush, and test pilot, he taught fledgling aviators at Camp Borden, he was the first to fly new air mail routes in an open cockpit plane, and he tested newly-built Hawker Hurricanes before they joined the Battle of Britain. Some descriptions of sex. 2004.Sans faire d'histoire: anecdotes méconnues qui ont fait le Québec
By Anne De Léan. 2014
" On connaît l'histoire avec un grand H du Québec contemporain. Maintenant, découvrons celle qui est juste derrière, celle qu'on…
connaît moins, qui surprend, qui vous fera rire et réfléchir. Saviez-vous qu'Elizabeth Taylor a contribué à l'implantation du mariage civil au Québec? Qu'une femme de chambre a aidé à démasquer un véritable espion allemand en Gaspésie? Que la Pologne a accusé le Québec de vol de biens culturels devant l'ONU? Sans faire d'histoire, ce sont de courtes anecdotes historiques de notre 20e siècle. Aussi invraisemblables qu'elles puissent paraître, elles n'en sont pas moins 100% véridiques. Alimentées des souvenirs de certaines personnalités qui ont elles-mêmes contribué à l'histoire, elles sont toutes rigoureusement fouillées, mais ne se prennent pas au sérieux. Ni dans leur ton ni dans leur présentation! " -- 4e de couv.René Lévesque: 4. L'homme brisé, 1980-1987
By Pierre Godin. 2005
Ce quatrième et dernier volet de la grande biographie de René Lévesque s'ouvre le surlendemain du référendum perdu de mai…
1980. Cet échec, René Lévesque allait le payer très cher. Après leur face-à-face de novembre 1981, Pierre Trudeau lui impose une constitution si inacceptable qu'il refuse de la parapher. René Lévesque affronte ensuite un parti déboussolé qui enterre référendum et association avec le Canada. En 1984, il saisit la main tendue par le nouveau premier ministre canadien, Brian Mulroney. Il est prêt à donner une dernière chance au fédéralisme. C'est l'épisode du " beau risque " qui cristallise la scission à l'intérieur du parti. En janvier 1985, c'est le burnout et la détresse psychologique. À soixante ans, il paraît fini. Dans une ambiance de conspiration et de révolution de palais, il s'accroche jusqu'au jour où il jette l'éponge avant que le parti qu'il a mis au monde ne lui indique plus brutalement encore la sortie. 2005.Rosemary, l'enfant que l'on cachait
By Kate Clifford Larson, Marie-Anne de Béru. 2016
Rosemary est la fille de Joe Kennedy et la petite soeur du futur président John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Joe Kennedy est…
le patriarche d'une famille qui incarne le rêve américain. D'origine irlandaise il connaît une fulgurante ascension dans l'industrie et dans la finance. Obsédé par la réussite, la sienne et celle de sa famille, il est sans état d'âme pour ses enfants qu'il dédie à de grandes ambitions politiques. Née en 1918, Rosemary est différente des autres membres de la fratrie. Très vite, on lui décèle un léger retard mental associé plus tard à des troubles de l'humeur. Un peu rebelle, elle affectionne les fêtes, pratique la voile et le tennis. En 1939, elle obtient un diplôme d'enseignante. Mais sa santé mentale se dégrade. Elle séjourne régulièrement dans des établissements spécialisés. Son père craint que Rosemary soit à l'origine d'un éventuel scandale. Il décide alors d'employer les grands moyens et accepte que sa fille soit lobotomisée. L'opération tourne mal. Rosemary en sort lourdement handicapée, à la fois physiquement et mentalement. Elle est alors internée, cachée, effacée. Pendant longtemps, ses propres frères et soeurs ignorent ce qu'est devenue Rosemary. Seule l'attaque cérébrale de Joe en 1961 permet à la famille de la revoir. 2016.Ride the rising wind: one woman's journey across Canada
By Barbara Bradbury Kingscote. 2006
In May 1949, at the age of twenty, Barbara Kingscote left her farm in Mascouche, Quebec, and set out for…
the Pacific Ocean on horseback. Barbara and her equine companion Zazy reached the West Coast just over a year later. After travelling 4,000 miles, she discovered both herself and her country on the journey of a lifetime. 2006.Reporter in disguise: the intrepid Vic Steinberg
By Christine Welldon. 2012
Who was Vic Stein? A man who enjoyed a pint of beer at the rugby match? A young woman who…
worked behind the counter at a local department store? A seamstress in a sweatshop? Yes - she could be any and all of these characters, depending on the story she was chasing for her popular column in the Toronto News. Over 100 years ago, Vic Stein was one of the New Women, a Bachelor Girl who pursued a career in investigative journalism - hardly the type of lifestyle for an upper-middle class young lady. But she had to be stealthy, secretive, and cunning if she wanted her scoop. There are many details we do not know about this secretive and feisty journalist - we don't even know her real name! - but one thing we know for sure: Vic Steinberg would be laughing if she knew that decades after her death, people are still wondering about her and trying to solve the puzzle that was her life. Grades 3-6. 2012.Rethinking normal: a memoir in transition
By Ariel Schrag, Katie Rain Hill. 2014
Katie never felt comfortable in her own skin. She realized very young that a serious mistake had been made; she…
was a girl who had been born in the body of a boy. Suffocating under her peers’ bullying and the mounting pressure to be “normal,” Katie tried to take her life at the age of eight years old. After several other failed attempts, she finally understood that “Katie” - the girl trapped within her - was determined to live. She reflects on her pain-filled childhood and the events leading up to the life-changing decision to undergo gender reassignment as a teenager. She reveals the unique challenges she faced while unlearning how to be a boy and shares what it was like to navigate the dating world and experience heartbreak. For senior high readers and older. 2014.