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Showing 1 - 20 of 127620 items
By Dan Werb. 2019
Despite its reputation as a carnival of vice, Tijuana was, until recently, no more or less violent than neighboring San…
Diego, its sister city across the border wall. But then something changed. Over the past ten years, Mexico's third-largest city became one of the world's most dangerous. Tijuana's murder rate skyrocketed and produced a staggering number of female victims. Hundreds of women are now found dead in the city each year, or bound and mutilated along the highway that lines the Baja coast. When Dan Werb began to study these murders in 2013, rather than viewing them in isolation, he discovered that they could only be understood as one symptom among many. Environmental toxins, drug overdoses, HIV transmission: all were killing women at overwhelming rates. As an epidemiologist, trained to track epidemics by mining data, Werb sensed the presence of a deeper contagion targeting Tijuana's women. Not a virus, but some awful wrong buried in the city's social order, cutting down its most vulnerable inhabitants from multiple directions. Werb's search for the ultimate causes of Tijuana's femicide casts new light on immigration, human trafficking, addiction, and the true cost of American empire-building. It leads Werb all the way from factory slums to drug dens to the corridors of police corruption, as he follows a thread that ultimately leads to a surprising turn back over the border, looking northward. 2019By Charlotte Gray. 2019
On an island paradise in 1943, Sir Harry Oakes, gold mining tycoon, philanthropist and "richest man in the Empire," was…
murdered. The news of his death surged across the English-speaking world, from London, the Imperial centre, to the remote Canadian mining town of Kirkland Lake, in the Northern Ontario bush. The murder became celebrated as "the crime of the century." The layers of mystery deepened as the involvement of Oakes' son-in-law, Count Alfred de Marigny, came quickly to be questioned, as did the odd machinations of the Governor of the Bahamas, the former King Edward VIII. Despite a sensational trial, no murderer was ever convicted. Rumours were unrelenting about Oakes' missing fortune, and fascination with the Oakes story has persisted for decades. Award-winning biographer and popular historian Charlotte Gray explores, for the first time, the life of the man behind the scandal, a man who was both reviled and admired - from his early, hardscrabble days of mining exploration, to his explosion of wealth, to his grandiose gestures of philanthropy. And Gray brings fresh eyes to the bungled investigation and shocking trial in the remote colonial island streets, proposing an overlooked suspect in this long cold case. 2019.By Alexa Conradi. 2019
In response to rapid and unsettling social, economic, and climate changes, fearmongering now features as a main component of public…
life. Right-wing nationalist populism has become a hallmark of politics around the world. No less so in Quebec. Alexa Conradi has made it her life's work to understand and to generate thoughtful debate about this worrisome trend. As the first president of Québec solidaire and the president of Canada's largest feminist organisation, the Fédération des femmes du Québec, Conradi refused to shy away from difficult issues: the Charter of Quebec Values, religion and Islam, sovereignty, rape culture and violence against women, extractive industries and the treatment of Indigenous women, austerity policy and the growing gap between rich and poor. This determination to address uncomfortable subjects has made Conradi - an anglo-Montrealer - a sometimes controversial leader. Conradi invites us to take off our rose-coloured glasses and to examine Quebec's treatment of women with more honesty. Through her personal reflections on Quebec politics and culture, she dispels the myth that gender equality has been achieved and paves the way for a more critical understanding of what remains to be done. 2019.The Reality Bubble provides a vivid picture of what stalks our blind spots and reveals how the way we look…
at the world has the power to shake civilization. With all of the curiosity and flair that drives her broadcasting, Tong takes us on a journey from the smallest nanoparticle to the very ideas of time and space, pausing along the way to consider the implications of research as diverse as the nature of animal languages, and the consequences of artificial fertilizers on your DNA. She'll explain fascinating science applications, such as the way police linked American nuclear testing to a murder mystery in Vienna. Throughout, what she discovers is that much of what we don't see is deliberately hidden from us. Although we live in a culture of increasingly intrusive surveillance, significant parts of the global system that sustains us are closely guarded secrets: where our food comes from, where our energy comes from, and where our waste goes. 2019.By Sigmund Brouwer. 2019
This riveting narrative told from the astronauts' points of view offers a unique approach to the story behind Apollo 11's…
successful --- though nearly disastrous --- 1969 moon landing. Readers are brought along on the ride of a lifetime, as they relive every step of the mission, including the nail-biting (and relatively unknown) crucial moments when it came close to failure. From ignition to moon walk to splashdown, the story is structured in eleven exciting episodes. And, setting this book apart, each episode is linked to the innovations and discoveries from the past four centuries that made it possible --- from Copernicus to Einstein, the sextant to Velcro. It's a new perspective on an epic journey, and the science, technology, engineering and math that set it in motion! Bestselling and award-winning author Sigmund Brouwer offers children an original look at the historic feat that captivated the world in July of 1969. The information is thoroughly researched and includes NASA-sourced photographs throughout. Highly readable and with a compelling modern graphic design, this engaging book is sure to generate interest among a broad range of readers. At the same time, it's teeming with math, engineering, science and technology lessons that give young readers the opportunity to make the connections between what they learn in school and awesome things that happened in the real world. There are strong curriculum links here, including earth and space systems, physical sciences, chemistry, math, engineering, technology and applied science, as well as history.By Mark Bourrie. 2019
NOMINATED FOR THE 2020 RBC TAYLOR PRIZE AS SEEN ON GLOBAL NEWS-TV'S THE MORNING SHOW Murderer. Salesman. Pirate. Adventurer. Cannibal.…
Co-founder of the Hudson's Bay Company. Known to some as the first European to explore the upper Mississippi, and widely as the namesake of ships and hotel chains, Pierre-Esprit Radisson is perhaps best described, writes Mark Bourrie, as “an eager hustler with no known scruples.” Kidnapped by Mohawk warriors at the age of fifteen, Radisson assimilated and was adopted by a powerful family, only to escape to New York City after less than a year. After being recaptured, he defected from a raiding party to the Dutch and crossed the Atlantic to Holland—thus beginning a lifetime of seized opportunities and frustrated ambitions. A guest among First Nations communities, French fur traders, and royal courts; witness to London’s Great Plague and Great Fire; and unwitting agent of the Jesuits’ corporate espionage, Radisson double-crossed the English, French, Dutch, and his adoptive Mohawk family alike, found himself marooned by pirates in Spain, and lived through shipwreck on the reefs of Venezuela. His most lasting venture as an Artic fur trader led to the founding of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which operates today, 350 years later, as North America’s oldest corporation. Sourced from Radisson’s journals, which are the best first-hand accounts of 17th century Canada, Bush Runner tells the extraordinary true story of this protean 17th-century figure, a man more trading partner than colonizer, a peddler of goods and not worldview—and with it offers a fresh perspective on the world in which he lived.By Galadriel Watson. 2019
These people did what?! Join author Galadriel Watson as she takes us on a journey of discovery—a tour of the…
human body’s amazing abilities, featuring masters of muscle, speed demons, brain bosses, and more! Extreme Abilities is a fun and fascinating survey of what humans are capable of, with examples from around the world and throughout history. Short sketches of famous individuals, such as Louis Cyr and Usain Bolt, mixed with stories about the amazing physical feats of others not-so-famous, draw readers in and bring these astounding abilities to life in vivid color. Each chapter also features a section on how young readers can work at improving their own skills (and a section on how not to get hurt in the process), plus bite-sized related fast facts and sidebars. Easy-to-follow explanations of anatomy, physics, and other sciences are enhanced by Cornelia Li’s energetic and engaging artwork, and photos throughout further help to illustrate the awesome displays of the human body at work.By Timothy C. Winegard. 2019
“Hugely impressive, a major work.”--NPRA pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the…
history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito. Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power. The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village. Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable. Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito’s reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.By David Wallace-Wells. 2019
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The Uninhabitable Earth hits you like a comet, with an overflow of insanely lyrical…
prose about our pending Armageddon.”—Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday DemonNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New Yorker • The New York Times Book Review • Time • NPR • The Economist • The Paris Review • Toronto Star • GQ • The Times Literary Supplement • The New York Public Library • Kirkus ReviewsIt is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible—food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation. An “epoch-defining book” (The Guardian) and “this generation’s Silent Spring” (The Washington Post), The Uninhabitable Earth is both a travelogue of the near future and a meditation on how that future will look to those living through it—the ways that warming promises to transform global politics, the meaning of technology and nature in the modern world, the sustainability of capitalism and the trajectory of human progress. The Uninhabitable Earth is also an impassioned call to action. For just as the world was brought to the brink of catastrophe within the span of a lifetime, the responsibility to avoid it now belongs to a single generation—today’s.LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD“The Uninhabitable Earth is the most terrifying book I have ever read. Its subject is climate change, and its method is scientific, but its mode is Old Testament. The book is a meticulously documented, white-knuckled tour through the cascading catastrophes that will soon engulf our warming planet.”—Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times“Riveting. . . . Some readers will find Mr. Wallace-Wells’s outline of possible futures alarmist. He is indeed alarmed. You should be, too.”—The Economist“Potent and evocative. . . . Wallace-Wells has resolved to offer something other than the standard narrative of climate change. . . . He avoids the ‘eerily banal language of climatology’ in favor of lush, rolling prose.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times“The book has potential to be this generation’s Silent Spring.”—The Washington Post“The Uninhabitable Earth, which has become a best seller, taps into the underlying emotion of the day: fear. . . . I encourage people to read this book.”—Alan Weisman, The New York Review of BooksBy Amanda Perrot. 2019
What happens when you make all the "responsible" choices, and you still feel like a miserable failure? For Grounded Goodness…
founder, Amanda Perrot, the answer is to get outta town. She crammed her business into a Subaru nicknamed Vladamir to spend 47 days discovering her home province, and what life could look like after her marriage failed. It started as a way to see new parts of Saskatchewan and sell some stuff along the way, but seven weeks later she'd learned more about herself and the power of community than she ever expected. Amanda offers a glimpse of hope for women who know they would be happier if they left their marriage but don’t have an obvious or clear reason to point to when they explain why they want a divorce. This is a first-hand story of transformation that reassures us of the goodness and positivity that can come out of making the terrifying leap back into single life, and inspired to have our own difficult conversations. This is a story for every woman who is tired of questioning herself and wants the unvarnished truth of what happens when we learn to: honour ourselves; be confident about what we want and need; commit to our own happiness; stop beating ourselves up; and, let our intuition take the lead.By Kira Vermond. 2019
Curious kids ask the best questions! What keeps the stars from falling from the sky? Why do metal boats float?…
And more importantly, why don’t cars run on apple juice?! All these questions and more are found in the pages of this science Q & A book with questions from the most inquisitive of science center visitors—kids. With help from a slew of scientists, author Kira Vermond serves up the answers to more than 50 quizzical queries in a fun and engaging style. Vibrant illustrations by Suharu Ogawa add to the appeal, making this a STEM-tastic gift for young graduates, science buffs, and everyone who loves to ask “Why?”.By Maria Birmingham. 2019
How are humans different from other animals? This is a question scientists have long tried to answer. As it turns…
out, some of the very things researchers once though distinguished humans—our creativity, our problem-solving ability, our capacity for planning or abstract thought—actually make us very similar to other animals! This nonfiction book introduces several different behaviors that humans and other animals share, including farming, teaching, laughing, building, mourning, communicating, grooming, playing, traveling, using tools, and working together. Narrated by a funny and friendly ant, this book is packed with humor and playful phrasing to bring lightness to the exploration of animal behavior. Brought to life by bright and wacky cartoon-style illustrations, Acting Wild will leave kids with the understanding that acting like an animal is simply in their nature.By Rowena Rae. 2020
Chemical World: Science in Our Daily Lives explores some of the materials—all of which are made of basic chemical elements—that…
humans use or come into contact with in their day-to-day lives. Some of these chemicals are naturally occurring—clay, mercury, lead. Others have been synthesized by chemists during the past 150 years and used in a bewildering array of products ranging from roof shingles to toothpaste. Many chemical inventions, as well as naturally produced chemicals, have had profound effects on food supply, developing medicines and creating hosts of useful items for modern life. Despite people using both natural and synthetic chemicals with (mainly) good intentions, some chemicals have had unintended negative consequences. Chemical residues have contaminated ecosystems the world over and are compromising the health of many ecosystems, animals and humans. The goal of Chemical World: Science in our Daily Lives is to introduce readers to basic chemistry and chemical history, and to show how chemicals are used for particular reasons but sometimes turn out to be harmful to environmental and human health. It invites readers to take a look at the world around them and ask questions about what’s in their environment and how the things they use and eat every day can affect their own health and the planet’s health.By Frieda Wishinsky, Elizabeth MacLeod. 2019
Don't be afraid to try! Make connections! Be persistent! Ask questions and never take no for an answer! Learn the…
secrets and amazing stories of successful inventors! How to Become an Accidental Genius is full of inspiring tales of famous and lesser-known inventors who have changed the world, from George Washington Carver, Mary Anderson (inventor of the windshield wiper) and inventor and actress Hedy Lamarr to Frank Epperson (of Popsicle fame) and Mary Sherman Morgan (The Woman Who Saved the U.S. Space Race). Readers will be amazed at the inventiveness of these geniuses. The book focuses on inventors from North America but includes stories from around the world. Organized into eleven chapters that highlight the qualities inventors have in common, the book also features profiles of inventive kids and teenagers.By Carey Wallace. 2020
Performing Miracles. Facing Wild Lions. Confronting Demons. Transforming the World. From Augustine to Mother Teresa, officially canonized as St. Teresa…
of Calcutta, discover seventy of the best-known and best-loved saints and read their riveting stories. Meet Joan of Arc, whose transcendent faith compelled her to lead an army when the king’s courage failed. Francis of Assisi, whose gentleness tamed a man-eating wolf. Valentine, a bishop in the time of ancient Rome, who spoke so often of Christ’s love that his saint’s day, February 12, has been associated with courtly love since the Middle Ages. St. Thomas Aquinas, the great teacher. Peter Claver, who cared for hundreds of thousands of people on slave ships after their voyage as captives. And Bernadette, whose vision of Mary instructed her to dig the spring that became the healing waters of Lourdes. Each saint is illustrated in a dramatic and stylized full-color portrait, and included in every entry are the saint’s dates, location, emblems, feast days, and patronage. Taken together, these stories create a rich, inspiring, and entertaining history of faith and courage. For kids age 10 and up. A perfect gift for Confirmation.By Vashti Harrison. 2017
This beautifully illustrated board book edition of instant bestseller Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History showcases women who changed…
the world and is the perfect goodnight book to inspire big dreams. Featuring 18 trailblazing black women in American history, Dream Big, Little One is the irresistible board book adaptation of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History. Among these women, you'll find heroes, role models, and everyday women who did extraordinary things - bold women whose actions and beliefs contributed to making the world better for generations of girls and women to come. Whether they were putting pen to paper, soaring through the air or speaking up for the rights of others, the women profiled in these pages were all taking a stand against a world that didn't always accept them. The leaders in this book may be little, but they all did something big and amazing, inspiring generations to come.Beloved science commentator Bob McDonald takes us on a tour of our galaxy, unraveling the mysteries of the universe and…
helping us navigate our place among the stars.How big is our galaxy? Is there life on those distant planets? Are we really made of star dust? And where do stars even come from? In An Earthling’s Guide to Outer Space, we finally have the answers to all those questions and more. With clarity, wisdom, and a great deal of enthusiasm, McDonald explores the curiosities of the big blue planet we call home as well as our galactic neighbours—from Martian caves to storm clouds on Jupiter to the nebulae at the far end of the universe. So if you’re pondering how to become an astronaut, or what dark matter really is, or how an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, look no further. Through a captivating mix of stories, experiments, and illustrations, McDonald walks us through space exploration past and present, and reveals what we can look forward to in the future. An Earthling’s Guide to Outer Space is sure to satisfy science readers of all ages, and to remind us earthbound terrestrials just how special our place in the universe truly is.By John Read, Jennifer Read. 2020
Since the earliest days of flight and space travel, scientists have worked with animals to pave the way for human…
exploration. In 1783, a rooster, a duck, and a sheep were placed in a hot-air balloon, becoming the first living creatures to fly in an artificial vehicle. Since 1949, when a monkey became the first animal to reach space, many creatures followed, and most returned safely to Earth. Many experiments were designed by high-school students. From cats and dogs to chimpanzees, spiders, frogs, and even a colony of honeybees, this book tells the fascinating stories of 50 space missions featuring pioneering animals at the forefront of science.By Marie-Ève Tremblay, Tanya Lloyd Kyi. 2019
Adolescents are no strangers to stress. Here's a book just for them that explores the science behind that sweaty, heart-racing,…
under-pressure feeling they sometimes get as they struggle to navigate their changing world. It covers the fight-or-flight reaction to sudden danger, how people cope with chronic stress, how trauma can affect the brain, the ways athletes put pressure to work and the surprising treatments scientists have found for stress in everyday life. By examining how pressure affects the human body and different ways to manage it, this book allows middle graders to get a handle on what normal stress is and isn't --- and how to deal with it either way. Because knowing the facts can make all the difference. Tanya Lloyd Kyi has written a clear, well-organized, fact-packed book that is meant to empower adolescents with information about stress. With experts increasingly embracing mindfulness techniques and stress-reduction programs for children, this book is an ideal tool for parents, teachers and students to learn the science behind it all. And its unique focus means it supports science, social studies and health education curricula. The book is divided into chapters and sections that break the information into easily readable chunks, with sidebars and factoids throughout. And the text contains loads of stories and examples, along with simple and often humorous illustrations by Marie-Ève Tremblay, which make learning about stress an enjoyable and interesting experience.By Kira Vermond, Clayton Hanmer. 2020
Fads and trends: How do they start? Why do they spread? And how deep can their impact be? Although trends…
might seem trivial, if you dig deeper, you’ll find that our desire to chase the next big thing can have an even bigger impact than expected. Established middle-grade author Kira Vermond and cartoonist Clayton Hanmer team up in this fun and accessible nonfiction look at fads. In four short chapters, the book explores what a fad is, how the latest crazes catch on, and what makes us jump on the bandwagon. Finally, it looks at the fascinating and even frightening effects of fads both modern and historic. Who knew the beaver pelt craze in 17th century Europe would change ecosystems, start wars, and disrupt life as people knew it? Comic-strip illustrations, an upbeat tone, and reader-friendly text make this a fun and timely tool for young readers who are building critical-thinking skills in the age of fake news and a world gone viral.