"Those born and raised on the prairies are passionate about their bittersweet experiences with this diverse land. Their memories are as valued as any relationship.
If You're Not from the Prairie... is a visual and poetic journey back to those times and the feelings they elicit. David Bouchard's evocative text reminds us of the power of the wind, the sweep of the sky, the adventures in the cold. And Henry Ripplinger's beautiful images are snapshots from the past - playing hockey on the river, lying under the big sky in a field of swaying grass, wading in a spring pond. The result is a nostalgic pilgrimage to a place that symbolizes a unique lifestyle. It is a treasure for mind and soul." (Inside Cover)
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Clara Hughes is one of Canada's most decorated Olympians and a champion for mental health. In 2006, when Clara Hughes stepped onto the Olympic podium in Torino, Italy, she became the first and only athlete ever to win multiple medals in both Summer and Winter Games. Four years later, she was proud to carry the Canadian flag at the head of the Canadian team as they participated in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. But there’s another story behind her celebrated career as an athlete, behind her signature smile. But after more than a decade in the grueling world of professional sports that stripped away her confidence and bruised her body, Clara began to realize that her physical extremes, her emotional setbacks, and her partying habits were masking a severe depression. After winning bronze in the last speed skating race of her career, she decided to retire, determined to repair herself. In 2010, she became national spokesperson for Bell Canada’s Let’s Talk campaign in support of mental health awareness, using her Olympic standing to help try to end the stigma. Told with honesty and passion, Open Heart, Open Mind is Clara’s personal journey through physical and mental pain to a life where love and understanding can thrive. This inspiring story will touch the hearts of readers everywhere. Excerpt: Pages 88 - 89 FYI: This book is rated m for mature. Tibor "Max" Eisen was born in Moldava, Czechoslovakia into a Jewish family. But in the spring of 1944 — five and a half years after his region had been annexed to Hungary and the morning after the family's yearly Passover feast — armed guards forcibly removed Eisen and his family from their home. They were brought to a brickyard and eventually loaded onto crowded cattle cars bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. At 15 years of age, Eisen survived the selection process and was inducted into the camp as a slave labourer. One day, Eisen received a terrible blow from an SS guard. Severely injured, he was dumped at the hospital where a Polish political prisoner and physician, Tadeusz Orzeszko, operated on him. Despite his significant injury, Orzeszko saved Eisen from certain death in the gas chambers by giving him a job as a cleaner in the operating room. After his liberation, Eisen to Canada in 1949, where he has dedicated the last 22 years of his life to educating others about the Holocaust across Canada and around the world. Ultimately, the book offers a message of hope as the author finds his way to a new life in Canada. Book Trailer: https://www.cbc.ca/books/by-chance-alone-by-max-eisen-1.4024041 Excerpt: Pages 3-4 FYI: This book is rated m for mature. "Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst-and enjoy every moment of it. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible." An engaging, informative, and entertaining piece of nonfiction text that is sure to captivate all audiences. Summary courtesy of GoodReads. (excerpt: pages 1- 2) A lockdown drill catches five grade 12 students by surprise and throws them together in the only unlocked room, which just so happens to be the boy’s bathroom. Told in five unique voices through conversation, poetry, text messages, journals, photographs, and homework assignments –each student reveals pieces of their true story as they wait for the drill to end. Alice is the introverted writer who has to take care of her autistic brother Noah. Isabelle is the smart and popular student council president. Hogan is an ex - football player who has had his fair share of trouble. Xander is the socially awkward yearbook photographer. However, things change for the group when it is realized the lockdown is not a drill and that one of them knows more about the shooter than they all realized. (excerpt: pages 52 - 54) FYI: this book is considered M for mature. Drawing on his own experiences in WWI, Charles Yale Harrison tells the story of a young man sent to fight on the Western Front. It is an unimaginable harrowing journey for an eighteen year old from Canada. Harrison conveys the sense of horrors of life in the trenches. This is where soldiers fight and die, entombed in mud, surrounded by rats and lice, forced to survive on insufficient rations. This is a book for anyone who enjoys reading and learning about history. It is fast paced, full of action, and tells the real story of what it was like to serve in the trenches during WWI. (excerpt: pages 45 - 48) FYI: this book is considered M for mature. As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war - ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she travelled to Somalia - "the most dangerous place on Earth." On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road. Held hostage for 460 days, A House in the Sky is Amanda Lindhout's story of survival. This book is powerful beyond words. Lindhout's journey is almost unimaginable. But what is truly remarkable is how she never gives up hope throughout her ordeal. Definitely a book you won't be able to put down. (excerpt: pages 104 - 105) FYI: this book is considered M for mature. "In world nearly destroyed by global warming, the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. 16 year old Frenchie and his companions are struggling to survive. Yet, they don't know that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves." (courtesy of the book back cover) The Marrow Thieves is classified as a dystopian novel (dystopia = an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad). But it also incorporates history, as we learn how the world collapsed into the current state. This is a book written by a Metis Canadian author that has received praise and recognition around the world. (excerpt: pages 2 - 4) FYI: this book is considered M for mature. |
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November 2019
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