Welcome
Welcome to Braille Books Acquired. This quarterly newsletter contains a list of Braille books recently acquired by the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA).
In this issue:
- Announcements
- Uncontracted braille
- Fiction for children
- Fiction for young adults
- Fiction for adults
- Non-fiction for adults
Announcements
Although the majority of these books have been published within the last 5 years, there may be some books listed here which are older, but which were only recently added to our collection. To make this clearer for you, we include the date of the print version of each book at the end of its annotation.
Changes to sending book requests
We have changed our computer systems and website, and as a result, we no longer use the call numbers beginning with B (BR or BI) for braille books. Instead we are now using a book number for each title.
If you normally call, mail or email in your book requests, please list the book number for the book you wish to receive and the format you prefer. If you are leaving a voicemail, be sure to pause between numbers so we know where one number stops and the next one starts.
If you use the website celalibrary.ca to place holds or download books listed in Braille Books Acquired, you can search by title and author, or book number, and select your preferred format.
Braille Books Acquired is now available by e-mail. If you would like to receive it in this format, please get in touch with the CELA Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273, or by e-mail at help@celalibrary.ca. Thank you.
Uncontracted braille
Adventure stories
2582951 Lost! by Terry Lynn Johnson. 2 volumes of Braille, uncontracted (100 pages). In an interview with a reporter, eleven-year-old Carter recounts his tale of survival with twelve-year-old Anna in the perilous jungles of Costa Rica. Includes a list of survival kit items. Grades 4-7. 2018.
Disabilities fiction
2602309 Bat and the waiting game by Elana K Arnold. 3 volumes of Braille, uncontracted (166 pages). When Bat's older sister Janie gets a part in the school play, and can't watch him after school, it means some pretty big changes. For one, someone else will have to take care of his skunk kit Thor in the afternoons. Grades 2-4. Sequel to "A boy called BAT." 2018.
Fantasy
2602326 Sweep: the story of a girl and her monster by Jonathan Auxier. 7 volumes of Braille, uncontracted (526 pages). Nineteenth-century England. After her father's disappearance Nan Sparrow, ten, works as a "climbing boy," aiding chimney sweeps, but when her most treasured possessions end up in a fireplace, she unwittingly creates a golem. Winner of the 2018 Governor General’s Award for Young People's Literature. Grades 4-7. 2018.
Nature
2582961 Do frogs drink hot chocolate?: how animals keep warm by Etta Kaner. 1 volume of Braille, uncontracted (24 pages). Do polar bears build homes to keep warm? Do penguins snuggle with a friend? Yes! But their homes aren't made of wood, and penguins don't cuddle on a couch. Instead, these animals - and many others - have adapted in amazing ways to survive chilly weather. A light-hearted introduction to animal adaptations around the world. Grades K-3. 2018.
2582954 Going wild: helping nature thrive in cities by Michelle Mulder. 2 volumes of Braille, uncontracted (119 pages). Part of the nonfiction Orca Footprints series for middle readers, illustrated with many color photographs. Readers will find out what urban rewilding is and how it can make our lives (and our planet) safer and healthier. Grades 2-4. 2018.
2600211 Top dogs: true stories of canines that made history by Elizabeth MacLeod. 3 volumes of Braille, uncontracted (226 pages). True stories about dogs whose actions influenced the course of history, including the first seeing-eye dog, search and rescue dogs, and military dogs. Among the dogs featured are Stubby, a mutt who rescued American soldiers in the trenches of WWI, Buddy, the first seeing-eye-dog in North America, Brandy, a German Shepherd who discovered a bomb aboard a plane, and Seaman, the Newfoundland, who accompanied Lewis and Clark, helping them complete their expedition by protecting them from wild animals and providing them with food. Grades 4-7. 2017.
Fiction for children
Adventure stories
1693793 The wolf wilder by Katherine Rundell. 4 v. of Braille. Feodora and her mother live in the snowbound woods of Russia, in a house full of food and fireplaces. Ten minutes away, in a ruined chapel, lives a pack of wolves. Feodora's mother is a wolf wilder, and Feo is a wolf wilder in training. A wolf wilder is a person who teaches tamed animals to fend for themselves, to fight, and to be wary of humans. When the murderous hostility of the Russian Army threatens her very existence, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. This is a Bookbuzz 2018 title. Grades 3-6. 2016.
Fantasy
2445626 Finding the fox by Ali Sparkes. 5 v. of Braille. Dax Jones is an ordinary schoolboy until something extraordinary happens. Whilst frightened for his life, he inexplicably changes into a fox! He is offered a place at a secret government school where he can develop, and learn to control, his powers. But if Dax accepts, on no account can he tell anybody. Dax jumps at the chance of getting away from his unhappy home. But before long he begins to wonder who exactly is behind the school, and what they want from the pupils there. Suddenly Dax's fox senses are on high alert. Followed by "Running the risk." Grades 5-8 and older readers. 2006.
2445627 Running the risk by Ali Sparkes. 5 v. of Braille. Ordinary kids: extraordinary powers: amazing adventures. Dax is starting to get used to his life as a shapeshifter. But then everything changes, and Dax finds himself in danger beyond his wildest dreams. And just when he needs his best friend Gideon to be there for him, Gideon's life changes too, dramatically and forever. Now Dax feels more alone than ever. Because he can feel that something is very wrong but no one will take him seriously. No one else can see the danger that threatens to destroy them all. Sequel to "Finding the fox," followed by "Going to ground." Grades 5-8 and older readers. 2007.
2445624 Going to ground by Ali Sparkes. 5 v. of Braille. When Dax receives an urgent call, he knows he has to drop everything and race to the aid of his friends. Unbelievable occurrences seem to be following Dax and his friends wherever they go. Government agents are stalking their every move - tracking them down. The very people who are supposed to be protecting them seem to be the biggest threat. Each of the friends must call upon their special powers to try to outwit their pursuers, but will these abilities spell the end for them all? Sequel to "Running the risk," followed by "Dowsing the dead." Grades 5-8 and older readers. 2016.
Fiction for young adults
Family stories
2446185 The princess diaries by Meg Cabot. 6 volumes of Braille (337 pages). Fourteen-year-old Mia, who is trying to lead a normal life as a teenage girl in New York City, is shocked to learn that her father is the Prince of Genovia, a small European principality, and that she is a princess and the heir to the throne. Followed by "Princess in the Spotlight." For junior high readers. 2000.
Fantasy
2602310 The light between worlds by Laura E Weymouth. 7 volumes of Braille (491 pages). Sisters Evelyn and Philippa Hapwell were swept away to a strange kingdom called the Woodlands, living there for six years before returning to post-WWII England. Ev desperately wants to return to the Woodlands, and Philippa just wants to move on. When Ev goes missing, Philippa must confront the depth of her sister's despair and the painful truths they've been running from. For junior and senior high. 2018.
Friendship stories
2448021 Downsiders by Neal Shusterman. 6 volumes of Braille (332 pages). When fourteen-year-old Lindsay meets Talon, who lives in the secret Downsider community that evolved in the subterranean passages of the subway built in New York in 1867, she and her new friend try to bridge the differences between their two cultures. For junior high and older readers. 1999.
School stories
2444826 Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates. 6 volumes of Braille (342 pages). When sixteen-year-old Matt is falsely accused of threatening to blow up his high school and his friends turn against him, an unlikely classmate comes to his aid. For senior high readers. 2002.
Fiction for adults
General fiction
2602308 The next person you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom. 4 volumes of Braille (236 pages). Fifteen years ago Eddie, an amusement park mechanic, died saving the life of a young girl named Annie. The accident took Annie's left hand, which needed to be surgically reattached. Scarred, and unable to remember why, Annie was whisked away from the world she knew by her guilt-ravaged mother. As a young woman Annie reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, and believes she has finally found happiness. When their wedding night ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey - and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed. Sequel to "The five people you meet in Heaven." Bestseller. 2018.
2602325 Where the crawdads sing by Delia Owens. 8 volumes of Braille (575 pages). For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life, until the unthinkable happens. Bestseller. 2018.
Historical fiction
2478218 Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette; translated by Rhonda Mullins. 5 volumes of Braille (318 pages). Anais Barbeau-Lavalette never knew her grandmother Suzanne, an artist who abandoned her husband and children in her youth and never looked back. This is a fictionalized account of Suzanne's life over 85 years, taking readers through The Great Depression, Québec's Quiet Revolution, women's liberation and the American civil rights movement, offering a portrait of a volatile woman on the margins of history. Bestseller. Canada Reads 2019. 2017.
Multi-cultural fiction
2602347 A place for us: a novel by Fatima Farheen Mirza. 10 volumes of Braille (705 pages). A story of family identity and belonging follows an Indian family through the marriage of their daughter, from the parents' arrival in the United States to the return of their estranged son. 2018.
Mysteries and crime stories
2602311 Dark sacred night by Michael Connelly. 8 volumes of Braille (601 pages). LAPD Detective Renée Ballard returns to Hollywood Station only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Bestseller. 2018.
2602313 The reckoning by John Grisham. 11 volumes of Braille (793 pages). Pete Banning was Clanton's favorite son, a returning war hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning in 1946. he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder wasn't shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete's only statement about it - to the sheriff, to his defense attorney, to the judge, to his family and friends, and to the people of Clanton - was 'I have nothing to say.' And so the murder of the esteemed Reverend Bell became the most mysterious and unforgettable crime Ford County had ever known. Bestseller. 2018.
2602312 A spark of light: a novel by Jodi Picoult. 9 volumes of Braille (618 pages). The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center - a women's reproductive health services clinic - its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic. But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard. Bestseller. 2018.
2445976 Friend of the devil by Peter Robinson. 15 volumes of Braille. When Karen Drew is found sitting in her wheelchair staring out to sea with her throat cut one chilly morning, DI Annie Cabbot, on loan to Eastern Area, gets lumbered with the case. Back in Eastvale, that same Sunday morning, 19-year-old Hayley Daniels is found raped and strangled in the dark tangle of cobbled alleyways they call the Maze, and DCI Alan Banks is called in. Banks finds suspects galore, while Annie seems to hit a brick wall - until she reaches a breakthrough, one that also involves Banks. It soon becomes clear that there are two killers in their midst, and that at any moment either one might strike again. Violence and strong language. 2008, c2007.
2412771 Piece of my heart by Peter Robinson. 12 volumes of Braille. As he launches a probe into the killing of a freelance music journalist, Detective Inspector Alan Banks finds his investigation journeying back in time more than thirty years and into the heart of the mystery surrounding a decades-old crime. 2006.
Native peoples fiction
2602350 Moon of the crusted snow: a novel by Waubgeshig Rice. 5 volumes of Braille (327 pages). With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision. Bestseller. 2018.
2602327 Trickster drift by Eden Robinson. 8 volumes of Braille (582 pages). In an effort to keep all forms of magic at bay, Jared, 17, has quit drugs and drinking. But his troubles are not over: now he's being stalked by David, his mom's ex - a preppy, khaki-wearing psycho with a proclivity for rib-breaking. And his mother, Maggie, a living, breathing badass as well as a witch, can't protect him like she used to because he's moved away from Kitimat to Vancouver for school. Even though he's got a year of sobriety under his belt (no thanks to his enabling, ever-partying mom), Jared also struggles with the temptation of drinking. And he's got to get his grades up, find a job that doesn't involve weed cookies, and somehow live peacefully with his Aunt Mave, who has been estranged from the family ever since she tried to "rescue" him as a baby from his mother. An indigenous activist and writer, Mave smothers him with pet names and hugs, but she is blind to the real dangers that lurk around them - the spirits and supernatural activity that fill her apartment. As the son of a Trickster, Jared is a magnet for magic, whether he hates it or not - he sees ghosts, he sees the monster moving underneath his Aunt Georgina's skin, he sees the creature that comes out of his bedroom wall and creepily wants to suck his toes. He also still hears the Trickster in his head, and other voices too. When the David situation becomes a crisis, Jared can't ignore his true nature any longer. Bestseller. Sequel to "Son of a trickster." 2018.
Science fiction
2602352 Rejoice, a knife to the heart by Steven Erikson. 11 volumes of Braille (782 pages). Imagine a First Contact without contact, and an alien arrival where no aliens show up. Imagine the sudden appearance of exclusion zones all over the planet, into which no humans are allowed. Imagine an end to all violence, from the schoolyard bully to nations at war. Imagine an end to borders, an end to all crime. Imagine a world where hate has no outlet and the only harm one can do is to oneself. Leaders of governments are not in the loop. Scientists have no answers. The military's hardware has stopped working. We're calling, but ET's not answering. Imagine a world transformed, but with no guidance and no hint of what's coming next. What would you do? How would you feel? What questions can you ask - what questions dare you ask - when the only possible answers come from the all-too-human face in your mirror? 2018.
Non-fiction for adults
Biography
2602332 Small fry: a memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs. 9 volumes of Braille (614 pages). Born on a farm and named in a field by her parents - artist Chrisann Brennan and Steve Jobs - Lisa Brennan-Jobs' childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley. When she was young, Lisa's father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, her father took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, vacations, and private schools. His attention was thrilling, but he could also be cold, critical and unpredictable. When her relationship with her mother grew strained in high school, Lisa decided to move in with her father, hoping he'd become the parent she'd always wanted him to be. Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the seventies and eighties, "Small Fry" is the poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes. Bestseller. 2018.
2602330 Roger Miller: dang him by Don Cusic. 10 volumes of Braille (711 pages). In 1964 Roger Miller hit the pop charts with “Dang Me” - the same year the Beatles hit America and began the British Invasion. Roger received five Grammys for that year - and six more in 1965 when he had “King of the Road.” Roger Miller was not an overnight success - he was a successful country songwriter since 1958, penning hits for Ray Price (“Invitation to the Blues"), Jim Reeves (“Billy Bayou” and “Home”) and Ernest Tubb (“Half a Mind”). Later, he wrote the score to the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Big River. In this biography, Don Cusic traces the personal life and career of Roger Miller, from Erick, Oklahoma to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and shows why Roger Miller was an American Genius. 2012.
2584193 By chance alone: a remarkable true story of courage and survival at Auschwitz by Max Eisen. 5 volumes of Braille (379 pages). This autobiography of Canadian Max Eisen details the rural Hungarian deportations to Auschwitz-Birkenau, back-breaking slave labour in Auschwitz I, the infamous 'death march' of January 1945, the painful aftermath of liberation, and a journey of physical and psychological healing. Winner of Canada Reads 2019. Bestseller. 2016.
2602346 Becoming by Michelle Obama. 12 volumes of Braille (879 pages). In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America, she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private. A deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations. Bestseller. 2018.
General non-fiction
2602329 21 lessons for the 21st century by Yuval N. Harari. 10 volumes of Braille (751 pages). How do computers and robots change the meaning of being human? How do we deal with the epidemic of fake news? Are nations and religions still relevant? What should we teach our children? As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Yuval Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive. How can we retain freedom of choice when Big Data is watching us? What will the future workforce look like, and how should we ready ourselves for it? How should we deal with the threat of terrorism? Why is liberal democracy in crisis? Harari invites us to consider values, meaning, and personal engagement in a world full of noise and uncertainty. When we are deluged with irrelevant information, clarity is power. Bestseller. 2018.
History
2602333 The library book by Susan Orlean. 8 volumes of Braille (578 pages). Reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history; chronicles the Los Angeles Public Library fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and re-examines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. Bestseller. 2018.
Literature
2602351 Wayside sang: poems by Cecily Nicholson. 2 volumes of Braille (116 pages). "Wayside Sang" concerns entwined migrations of Black-other diaspora coming to terms with fossil-fuel psyches in times of trauma and movement. This is a poetic account of economy travel on North American roadways, across Peace and Ambassador bridges and through the Fleetway tunnel, above and beneath Great Lake rivers between nation states. Nicholson reimagines the trajectories of her birth father and his labour as it criss-crossed these borders in a study that engages the automobile object, its industry, roadways and hospitality, through and beyond the Great Lakes region. Winner of the 2018 Governor General’s Award for Poetry. 2018.
Native peoples
2602334 All our relations: finding the path forward by Tanya Talaga. 5 volumes of Braille (356 pages). Every single year in Canada, one-third of all deaths among Indigenous youth are due to suicide. Studies indicate youth between the ages of ten and nineteen, living on reserve, are five to six times more likely to commit suicide than their peers in the rest of the population. Suicide is a new behaviour for First Nations people. There is no record of any suicide epidemics prior to the establishment of the 130 residential schools across Canada. Bestselling author Talaga argues that the aftershocks of cultural genocide have resulted in a disturbing rise in youth suicides in Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond. She examinees the tragic reality of children feeling so hopeless they want to die, of kids perishing in clusters, forming suicide pacts, or becoming romanced by the notion of dying - a phenomenon that experts call "suicidal ideation." She also looks at the rising global crisis, as evidenced by the high suicide rates among the Inuit of Greenland and Aboriginal youth in Australia. Finally, she documents suicide prevention strategies in Nunavut, Seabird Island, and Greenland; Facebook's development of AI software to actively link kids in crisis with mental health providers; and the push by First Nations leadership in Northern Ontario for a new national health strategy that could ultimately lead communities towards healing from the pain of suicide. Bestseller. 2018.
Politics and government
2602328 Right here right now: politics and leadership in the age of disruption by Stephen Harper. 8 volumes of Braille (537 pages). The world is in flux. Disruptive technologies, ideas, and politicians are challenging business models, norms, and political conventions everywhere. How we, as leaders in business and politics, choose to respond matters greatly. Some voices refuse to concede the need for any change, while others advocate for radical realignment. But neither of these positions can sustainably address the legitimate concerns of disaffected citizens. "Right Here, Right Now" sets out a forward-looking vision by analyzing how economic, social, and public policy trends have affected our economies, communities, and governments. Mr. Harper contends that Donald Trump's surprise election victory and governing agenda clearly signal that political, economic, and social institutions must be more responsive to legitimate concerns about market policies, trade, globalization, and immigration. Urging readers to look past questions of style and gravitas, Mr. Harper thoughtfully examines the substantive underpinnings of how and why Donald Trump was able to succeed Barack Obama as President of the United States, and how these forces are manifesting themselves in several other western democracies. Bestseller. 2018.
Science and technology
2602353 Brief answers to the big questions by Stephen Hawking. 4 volumes of Braille (299 pages). Dr. Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his ground-breaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues. Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe's greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us. Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? Bestseller. 2018.
Self help
2602331 Girl, wash your face: stop believing the lies about who you are so you can become who you were meant to be by Rachel Hollis. 5 volumes of Braille (348 pages). Founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Rachel Hollis has created an online fan base by sharing tips for living a better life while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own. Each chapter begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward. From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son's request that she buy a necklace to "be like the other moms," Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals. 2018.