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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.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.Pride: celebrating diversity & community
By Robin Stevenson. 2016
For lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around the world, Pride is both protest and celebration. It's about embracing diversity.…
It's about fighting for freedom and equality. It's about history, and it's about the future. It's about all of us. Grades 4-7. 2016.Hiding Edith: a true story (A Holocaust remembrance book for young readers #7)
By Kathy Kacer. 2006
The true story of Edith Schwalb, a young Jewish girl sent to live in a safe house after the Nazi…
invasion of France. Edith's courage was remarkable, as was the bravery of those who helped her: an entire village, including its mayor, that heroically conspired to conceal the presence of hundreds of Jewish children who lived in the safe house. Grades 4-7. Winner of the 2007 Silver Birch Award. 2006.Grace Hopper: queen of computer code
By Laurie Wallmark. 2017
Who was Grace Hopper? A software tester, workplace jester, cherished mentor, ace inventor, avid reader, naval leader--AND rule breaker, chance…
taker, and troublemaker. Grace Hopper coined the term “computer bug” and taught computers to “speak English.” Throughout her life, Hopper succeeded in doing what no one had ever done before. Delighting in difficult ideas and in defying expectations, the insatiably curious Hopper truly was “Amazing Grace”, and a role model for science- and math-minded girls and boys. With a wealth of witty quotes, and richly detailed illustrations, this book brings Hopper's incredible accomplishments to life. Grades K-3. 2017.Can your smartphone change the world? (PopActivism)
By Erinne Paisley. 2017
"Can Your Smartphone Change the World?" is a twenty-first-century guide for anyone who has access to a smartphone. This how-to…
manual looks at specific ways you can create social change through the tap of a screen. Filled with examples of successful hashtag campaigns, viral videos and new socially conscious apps, the book provides practical advice for using your smartphone as a tool for social justice. For junior and senior high readers. 2017.A change of heart
By Alice Walsh. 2016
A young African American and the son of sharecroppers, Lanier Phillips escapes the violence, racism, and segregation of his Georgia…
home by joining the navy during the Second World War. But tragedy strikes the USS Truxtun one February night off the southeastern coast of Newfoundland, and Lanier is the lone Black survivor of the terrible shipwreck. Covered in oil when he arrives onshore, the community's kindness and humanity brings him back to health and changes his outlook on life. Grades K-3. 2016.She persisted around the world: 13 women who changed history
By Chelsea Clinton. 2018
With hope in their eyes: compelling stories of the Windrush generation (Unseen history)
By Vivienne Francis. 1998
The stories of the Windrush generation - Britain's first post-war immigrants from the Caribbean. These early pioneers, who came to…
Britain with high expectations, tell it like it really was, covering over fifty years of black presence in Britain.The man who loved libraries: the story of Andrew Carnegie
By Andrew Larsen. 2017
When he was a child in the 1840s, Andrew Carnegie and his family immigrated to America in search of a…
new beginning. His working-class Scottish family arrived at the height of the Industrial Revolution. Carnegie worked hard, in factories and telegraphy. He invested in railroads, eventually becoming the richest man in the world during his time. Carnegie believed strongly in sharing his wealth, and one of the ways he did this was by funding the construction of over 2,500 public libraries around the world. His philanthropy completely revolutionized public libraries, which weren’t widespread at the time. Grades K-3. 2017.Women explorers: one hundred years of courage and audacity (Amazing stories)
By Helen Y Rolfe. 2003
Since the early days of exploration, adventurous women have felt the pull of the mountains. Women of the early 1900s…
climbed some of the highest peaks in Canada wearing woollen knickers and hobnail boots. These pioneers set the standard for the women who followed, such as Sharon Wood and Leanne Allison, who continue to push the limits even further. 2003.Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13
By Helaine Becker. 2018
You've likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 [mission]. But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure…
that Apollo 13 returned safely home? As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as she could about math, about the universe. From Katherine's early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made enormous contributions to history. Grades K-3. 2018.Her special vision: a biography of Jean Little (Contemporary Canadian biographies)
By Barbara Greenwood, Audrey McKim. 1987
As a young girl, Jean Little was teased by the other children because of her visual impairment. Today, Jean is…
the award-winning author of over a dozen books for children. Grades 5-8. Grade I braille. 1987.To be a princess: the fascinating lives of real princesses
By Laurie Coulter, Hugh Brewster. 2001
True stories of twelve real princesses reveal what life behind the palace walls. Among them: Queen Victoria, who ascended the…
throne at age 18, and Hawaii's Princess Ka`iulani, whose mother on her death bed declared that Ka`iulani would never be queen. 2001.Une vie en plus: la longévité, pour quoi faire?
By Joël De Rosnay. 2005
She persisted around the world: 13 women who changed history
By Chelsea Clinton. 2018
City of omens: search for the missing women of the borderlands
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. 2019My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River
By Stella Bowles. 2018
Stella Bowles was a Grade 6 Nova Scotia student when she turned environmental activist to campaign against sewage pipes draining…
straight into the LaHave River. This is the inspirational first person account of Stella's Grade 6 science fair project which caught the eyes of the media, the public and government leaders propelling her into the limelight. Stella details her two and a half year fight to clean up the river, winning numerous awards for her environmental activism along the way. She succeeds in shaming three levels of government and rallying supporters into funding a $$15.7 million cleanup. Today, she continues to campaign for cleaner water and demonstrates to other children how to test water quality in their own backyards, and how to take action if they find their water is polluted too. Grades 3-6.Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End: A Memoir
By Liz Levine. 2020
A genuinely moving, funny, and inventive account of loss and grief, mental illness and suicide, from film and TV producer…
Liz Levine (Story of a Girl), written in the aftermath of the deaths of her sister and best friend.I feel like I might be a terrible person to be laughing in these moments. But it turns out, I’m not alone. In November of 2016, Liz Levine’s younger sister, Tamara, reached a breaking point after years of living with mental illness. In the dark hours before dawn, she sent a final message to her family then killed herself. In Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End, Liz weaves the story of what happened to Tamara with another significant death—that of Liz’s childhood love, Judson, to cancer. She writes about her relationship with Judson, Tamara’s struggles, the conflicts that arise in a family of challenging personalities, and how death casts a long shadow. This memorable account of life and loss is haunting yet filled with dark humor—Tamara emails her family when Trump is elected to check if she’s imagining things again, Liz discovers a banana has been indicted as a whistleblower in an alleged family conspiracy, and a little niece declares Tamara’s funeral the “most fun ever!” With honesty, Liz exposes the raw truths about grief and mourning that we often shy away from—and almost never share with others. And she reveals how, in the midst of death, life—with all its messy complications—must also be celebrated.What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows?: True Stories of Imagination and Courage
By Heather Camlot. 2020
What if the impossible were actually possible? What if we turned our dreams into action? What if our imagination could…
help solve real-world crises, like war, famine, and human rights violations? Through a series of seemingly whimsical questions, this middle-grade nonfiction book introduces readers to people and organizations that are subverting violence, war, and totalitarian power. What if soldiers refused to carry weapons? What if fighter pilots dropped seeds instead of bombs? What if music could be a creative force for democracy? None of these ideas are impossible—in fact, they are all true historical examples of ideas that have been put into action. Accessible, engaging text introduces a different question and example on each spread. Evocative conceptual illustrations provide a light-hearted reminder of the power of imagination. This timely book encourages readers to think critically and dare to ask big questions, which might just change the world.