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Staff Picks: Canadiana Happy Canada Day
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Molly of the Mall : Literary Lass & Purveyor of Fine Footwear
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Heidi L. M. Jacobs
Aspiring novelist Molly MacGregor laments she will never be like the literary heroines she reads about. Not only does she live in what she thinks the most unromantic region in the world, she is named after one of literature's least romantic heroines, Moll Flanders. This novel explores Molly's love for the written word, love for the wrong men and the right one, and finally, her hard-won love for her city.
Nicole: "Written by a Windsor author, this is the most recent recipient of the Leacock Medal for the best in Canadian Literary Humour! Smart, funny, and perfect for fans of Jane Austen."
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Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese After losing his entire family, Saul Indian Horse, alone in the world and placed in a horrific boarding school, turns to hockey, a sport in which he has a real shot at a professional career, to escape from the indignities, taunts, racism and hatred in a world that will never welcome him Angela: "This book should be mandatory reading for every Canadian as it deals with the devastating impact of the residential school system. A very powerful and heartbreaking read." Riverside Staff: "a moving novel that really highlights the struggles of Natives living in the Canadian North; really hits you in the gut."
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Oryx and Crake
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Margaret Atwood
As the story opens, the narrator, who calls himself Snowman, is sleeping in a tree, wearing a dirty old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beautiful and beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death. In a world in which science-based corporations have recently taken mankind on an uncontrolled genetic-engineering ride, he now searches for supplies in a wasteland.
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Annabel
by
Kathleen Winter
Raised as a boy but secretly nurtured as a girl by various family members, a hermaphrodite youth in 1970s Canada escapes his hometown and struggles to confront his dual identity as well as his allegiances to those he most loves. A first novel by the award-winning author of the story collection, boYs.
Riverside Staff: "Canada’s answer to “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides."
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Stories From The Vinyl Cafe
by
Stuart McLean
Like an old friend who's turned up in town, Stuart McLean returns with Stories from the Vinyl Cafe. The collection features Canada's much-loved fictional family: Dave, Morley, Stephanie and Sam. Stories from the Vinyl Cafe also introduces a host of other wonderfully imagined characters, such as Margaret Dwyer, a suburban housewife who startles herself by shoplifting a pepperoni sausage, and Flora Perriton, who is consumed with thoughts of lost opportunities when an old friend passes away. Then there's Ed, who-overcome by the death of his favourite rock star-embarks on a pilgrimage to New York City to meet the singer's widow.
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The Best Laid Plans
by
Terry Fallis
Thirty-something Daniel Addison is jaded and burned out from his Parliament Hill job as a speech writer for the Liberal Leader of the Opposition. After a messy breakup with his grilfriend, Daniel is eager to escape the duplicitous world of Canadian politics, so he accepts a faculty position with the University of Ottawa's English Department. He soon moves into a boathouse apartment in nearby Cumberland owned by Angus McLintock, a cranky engineering professor in his sixties who is mourning the recent loss of his wife. Both Angus and Daniel intend to retreat from the world for a while, but fate won't have it
Dina: “I consider it a true talent when an author can thoroughly engage a reader in a topic that they would otherwise find uninteresting. Fallis completely succeeds in doing that in his first novel, and with impeccable humour and wit.”
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The Fionavar Tapestry
by
Guy Gavriel Kay
A trilogy of The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, and The Darkest Road
Pam: "One of my favorite Canadian authors is Guy Gavriel Kay. Although I like all of his books, I would recommend “The Fionvar Tapestry”. It’s a trilogy, I think it’s his first and it’s a great read. There are hints of Tolkien in it – he worked with Christopher Tolkien – but it is also uniquely his own. It is fantasy and it brings in elements of different legends - Arthurian, Norse, etc."
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Alias Grace
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Margaret Atwood
Takes readers into the life and mind of Grace Marks, one of the most notorious women of the 1840s, who is serving a life sentence for murders she claims she cannot remember
Anne: "While reading Alias Grace, you escape into the author’s mind for a while. The quote from Alias Grace that makes me want to delve deeper into Atwood’s mind is this: “Gone mad is what they say, and sometimes Run Mad, as if mad is a different direction, like west...But when you go mad you don’t go any other place, you stay where you are. And somebody else comes in.”
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George & Rue
by
George Elliott Clarke
The writer of the award-winning Execution Poems shares a fictional depiction of the lives and motivations of two ancestral cousins, who suffered underprivileged and violent childhoods and were condemned and hanged by the white community for their role in killing a taxi driver.
Riverside Staff: "Based on the true story of George and Rufus Hamilton, brothers from New Brunswick, who were convicted of murder and executed. Canadian historical fiction that offers a view of race relations in the 1940s."
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Washington Black
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Esi Edugyan
Unexpectedly chosen to be a family manservant, an 11-year-old Barbados sugar-plantation slave is initiated into a world of technology and dignity before a devastating betrayal propels him throughout the world in search of his true self.
Margaret: "Washington Black by award winning Calgarian novelist Esi Edugyan is the fabulous tale of a sugar plantation slave and his life choices that result in an unforgettable adventure around the world. This is Canadian literature at its very, very best and my favorite book of all time!"
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Quickening
by
Terry Griggs
Shortlisted for the Governor General's Award, these first short stories from Terry Griggs herald one of the most original voices to appear out of Canada in the last several decades. The stories in Quickening are eccentric, wildly inventive, whimsical and fantastic. Her narrative energy sweeps us along, though the real delight of these stories is the gorgeousness of the writing.
Alexandra: “A unique and original collection of short stories by a great Canadian author.”
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The View from Castle Rock
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Alice Munro
An evocative and compelling compilation of short fiction by the award-winning author of The Love of a Good Woman and other works journeys from the Scotland of the author's own family heritage and a ship en route to the New World, to a family odyssey from Illinois to Canada and in and around Lake Huron.
Riverside Staff: "short stories that offer exceptional insights into Family, will appeal especially to those interested in genealogy and family history."
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My Jardin
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Durre N. Jabeen
Len: "My favorite Canadian book right now is a book by a dyed in the wool Windsor Public Library user Durre N. Jabeen who came to Canada in 2000 . I like this short story book “My Jardin” besides knowing that it was published in our now defunct self-publishing lab, that it just is a darn good insightful read in these pandemic times her stories reminding us ... “The dog will bark but the caravan shall pass”."
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The Chai Factor
by
Farah Heron
Thirty-year-old engineer Amira Khan's no-dating rule is in jeopardy when she meets the strangely charming barbershop-quartet baritone that is living in her grandmother's basement.
Budimir Staff: "A fun multi cultural rom-com about about Amira, an engineer who lives in Toronto with her family and Duncan a musician who is in Toronto for a competition with his barbershop quartet. These characters are bound to steal your heart!"
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Fifth Business
by
Robertson Davies
A retiring Canadian history professor reveals the true nature of his eerie, mystical influence on those around him.
Riverside Staff: "The first book in the Deptford Trilogy, this book explores the consequences of actions, both intended and accidental"
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Greenwood
by
Michael Christie
A metaphorical tale tracing multiple generations of a once-wealthy family finds its members navigating secrets and crimes linked to the trees that have made and broken their fortunes.
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Julian
by
William Bell
Fifteen-year-old Aidan has had more foster parents than he cares to remember. Careful to always keep his distance from those around him, and aided by a deep well of self-reliance and tenacity, he longs for the day that he's old enough to strike out on his own. That day comes sooner than he could ever have imagined. On a miserable March afternoon, Aidan's life is changed so radically as to become unrecognizable. Through a near-tragic event in which he saves the life of a young boy, Aidan earns the gratitude and unqualified support of the child's grandfather, Mr. Bai, a man of wealth, great resources and shadowy influence. When asked how this man can help repay him, Aidan replies, "Can you make me disappear?" With a new identity, an apartment, a job and finally a sense that he's crafting his own destiny, Aidan--now Julian Paladin--finds himself at the centre of forces he can't begin to understand.
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Who Has Seen the Wind
by
W. O. Mitchell
As we enter the world of four-year-old Brian O'Connal, his father the druggist, his Uncle Sean, his mother, and his formidable Scotch grandmother ("she belshes... a lot"), it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book. As we watch Brian grow up, the prairie and its surprising inhabitants like the Ben and Saint Sammy -- and the rich variety of small-town characters -- become unforgettable.
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An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
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Chris Hadfield
Hadfield takes readers into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. He developed an unconventional philosophy at NASA: Prepare for the worst-- and enjoy every moment of it. By thinking like an astronaut, you can change the way you view life on Earth-- especially your own
Angela: "You probably know him as the guy who recorded a music video of Space Oddity while in space. Hadfield is a remarkable Canadian who details his life as an astronaut and the years of training to get there"
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Feast: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip
by
Lindsay Anderson
Two friends. Five months. One car. Ten provinces. Three territories. Seven islands. Eight ferries. Two flights. One 48-hour train ride. And only one call to CAA. The result: over 100 incredible Canadian recipes from coast to coast and the Great White North.
Carla: "One part travelogue, one part cookbook, this gorgeous book highlights Canada’s regional identities and cultures through cuisine."
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21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
by
Bob Joseph
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer. The Indian Act, after 141 years, continues to shape, control, and constrain the lives and opportunities of Indigenous peoples, and is at the root of many lasting stereotypes.
Jim: "an examination of Canada’s historical and legal relationship with Canada’s First Nation people"
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The Discovery of Insulin
by
Michael Bliss
When insulin was discovered in the early 1920s, even jaded professionals marveled at how it brought starved, sometimes comatose diabetics back to life. Michael Bliss resolves a longstanding controversy about scientific collaboration at its most fractious and fascinating: who ultimately deserves credit for the discovery?
Pat: "My favourite Canadian title would be The Discovery of Insulin by Michael Bliss. The title is self-explanatory, but the text reads like a fast-paced novel of two nobodies (Banting and Best) who out of nowhere make one of the greatest medical discoveries of the 20th century."
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Seven Fallen Feathers
by
Tanya Talaga
Over the span of ten years, seven high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The seven were hundreds of miles away from their families, forced to leave their reserve because there was no high school there for them to attend. Award-winning journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest, and struggle with, human rights violations past and present against aboriginal communities.
Adam: "Journalist Tanya Talaga investigates Canada's long struggle with human rights violations against indigenous peoples. An important and necessary read."
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The Tipping Point : How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by
Malcolm Gladwell
By exposing the importance of the "tipping point" in human affairs--that moment when a trend, idea, or social behavior crosses the threshold into acceptability--the author sheds important light on the forces that drive group dynamics and mass culture.
Charles: "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference explores what happens when a trend crosses a threshold and spreads like an epidemic. With the Covid-19 pandemic front of mind, I reread this wonderful book which is now over 20 years. It’s even better now than in 2000."
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The Slasher Killings : a Canadian Sex-crime Panic, 1945-1946
by
Patrick Brode
As the city of Windsor, Ontario, celebrated the end of World War II and the return of its troops with parades and public revelry, the industrial city in the south of Canada was shaken by a series of brutal stabbings. The failure of the police to catch the murderer, a "blood lusting maniac" as the local newspaper described him, the turbulence of the times, and the seemingly random nature of the killings plunged the city into a panic.
Mary-Lou: "If you enjoy true crime or topics that involve profiling, Patrick Brode’s book, The Slasher Killings will offer an engaging and fascinating study of a person’s self-hate and a community’s reaction to what was then considered, undiscussed matters and unusual crimes. As a local history librarian, I have examined many intriguing topics about Windsor’s past. However, most local residents are unaware of the serial killer that roamed the riverfront between 1945-1946. Dubbed “The Slasher” by the local media, he attacked and murdered gay men looking for companionship. Ferociously stabbing the victims, he would leave behind messages vindicating his crimes. Brode’s work provides historical insight to Windsor’s gay community and the crimes committed against it."
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Where I Belong: Small Town to Great Big Sea
by
Alan Doyle
From the lead singer of the band Great Big Sea comes a memoir about growing up in the tiny fishing village of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, and then taking to the world stage. Alan paints a vivid and raucous portrait of a curious young lad born into the small coastal fishing community of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, a childhood surrounded by larger-than-life characters who made an indelible impression on his music and work.
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Rino's Kitchen
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Rino Bortolin
Rino's Kitchen is the product of decades of Bortolin's experience, both as a chef, a restauranteur, a supplier, and a cooking instructor. With easy-to-follow recipes arranged by season, guides to butchery and local suppliers, and instructions on canning and preservemaking, Rino's Kitchen is all you need to learn how to buy and cook locally
Chris: "a favourite at our house, particularly the tasty lamb recipes, with the marsala spiced lamb shank at the top of the list. The instructions are great and easy to follow which helps us chef wannabees!"
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The Inconvenient Indian
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Thomas King
At once a history and a subversion of history, this book has launched a national conversation about what it means to be "Indian" in North America, and the relationship between Natives and non-Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
Adam: "Humorous and powerful, King offers a personal meditation on what it means to be Native in North America and Canada."
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Favorite Garden Tips
by
Marjorie Harris
Marjorie Harris is the Canadian Gardener, Her books, The Canadian Gardener's Guide to Foliage and Garden Design, The Canadian Gardener and The Canadian Gardener's Year, combined with her popular Globe and Mail column, regular stints on CBC Radio and her irreverent, down-to-earth have, have turned her into our own national gardening guru.
Central Librarian: "When I first had my own bit of earth and wanted to try gardening, Marjorie Harris was there to provide Favorite Gardening Tips relevant to our own climate zone."
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Never Cry Wolf
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Farley Mowat
Hordes of bloodthirsty wolves are slaughtering the arctic caribou, and the government's Wildlife Service assigns naturalist Farley Mowat to investigate. Mowat is dropped alone onto the frozen tundra, where he begins his mission to live among the howling wolf packs and study their ways. Contact with his quarry comes quickly, and Mowat discovers not a den of marauding killers but a courageous family of skillful providers and devoted protectors of their young.
Drew: "“A great slice of real Canadiana!”
EDITOR'S NOTE:Farley Mowat’s father, Angus, worked at Windsor Public Library
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This One Summer
by
Mariko Tamaki
The team behind Skim presents the sumptuous graphic tale of a young teen whose latest summer at a beach lake house is overshadowed by her parents' constant arguments, her younger friend's secret sorrows and the dangerous activities of older teens. Simultaneous.
Nancy: "Graphic novel about two friends dealing with family tragedies."
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Louis Riel : a Comic-Strip Biography
by
Chester Brown
Examines the life of the Métis leader whose fight to win rights for his people that led to a rebellion on Canada's western frontier
Budimir Staff: "Brown brings Louis Riel to life through is unique use of comic strips. You are guaranteed to learn something new about Canada’s history and be thoroughly entertained along the way. Great for teens and adults. (Available in English and French) "
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The Paper Bag Princess
by
Robert N. Munsch
After her castle and clothes are destroyed by a dragon, Princess Elizabeth, dressed only in a paper bag, sets out to rescue her fiancé, Prince Ronald, who was taken captive
Kitty: "My all-time favorite Canadian book is the effervescent The Paper Bag Princess by Guelph’s own Bob Munsch. Published over 40 years ago, it’s still relevant, though provoking and always makes me smile."
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Anne of Green Gables
by
L. M. Montgomery
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her
Kitty: "She is our girl!"
Mary-Lou: "I absolutely adore Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. When I was a young, Anne helped me through bullying at school. The characters were just like the boys and girls of my elementary school, teasing, laughing and playing with each other. When the character of Gilbert Blythe (the most popular boy in school) teases Anne by making fun of her red hair and calling her “Carrots”, she refuses to be mocked and “Thwack! Anne had brought her slate down on Gilbert's head and cracked it--slate not head--clear across.” She had courage and imagination, something I admire."
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Anung's Journey
by
Carl Nordgren
When the orphaned Anung sets out on his vision quest, he sees clearly that his purpose in life is to find the greatest chief of all and tell him of the many acts of kindness the mothers and fathers of the village have given to Anung. For every man of the village loves Anung as his son. Every woman is his mother.Book Annotation
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Awake & Dreaming
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Kit Pearson
While living a miserable, poverty-stricken life with her young, irresponsible mother, nine-year-old Theo dreams of belonging to a real family but, through her escapes into reading, she finds a shadowy figure haunting her thoughts
Alexandra: “A beautiful – though heartbreaking – novel with strong, memorable characters.”
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Moose, Goose, Animals on the Loose!
by
Geraldo Valério
An alphabetical look at Canadian animals
Beth: "2 of my favorite items for my nieces and nephews when they were small and the neighborhood children"
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I Know Here
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Laurel Croza
A simple but vibrantly illustrated story based on the author's own experiences of leaving behind a place one loves, learning to cope with change and having the courage to embrace the new experiences that life brings while cherishing the world that was familiar and precious.
Agatha: "this award-winning work captures a universal childhood uncertainty when a young girl must move from northern Saskatchewan to the unknown of Toronto."
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From There to Here
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Laurel Croza
A young girl tries to adjust to moving from northeastern Saskatchewan to Toronto, where she misses her father coming home for lunch and looking at the stars at night with her family, but an eight-year-old girl from next door helps her to feel better
Agatha: "Read the sequel to I Know Here to find out what happened after the move to Toronto."
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Read Me a Book
by
Barbara Reid
Warm and detailed Plasticine illustrations of adults and children reading together join with bouncy, rhythmic verse to invite children and parents to share the joy of reading indoors and out, at any time of day!
Budimir Staff: "Barbara Reid is a world renowned Canadian author and illustrator. Reid has won just about every Canadian award for children's authors or illustrators, and her unique plasticine illustrations are known and recognized the world over. In this story she not only uses her trademark images to encourage reading and family activities, it's a great little book!"
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Canada ABC
by
Paul Covello
Introduces the letters of the alphabet with objects related to Canada's geography, history, and culture, including A for Arctic, D for dogsleds, H for hockey, N for Niagara falls, and Y for Yukon
Beth: "2 of my favorite items for my nieces and nephews when they were small and the neighborhood children"
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The Boundless
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Kenneth Oppel
Aboard "The Boundless," the greatest train ever built, on its maiden voyage across Canada, teenaged Will enlists the aid of a traveling circus to save the train from villains
Riverside Staff: "thrills, threats, and ingenuity abound in this Canadian adventure set in the late 1800s aboard “The Boundless”, a rolling marvel of innovation."
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Joni : The Lyrical Life of Joni Mitchell
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Selina Alko
Illustrated with sumptuous mixed-media art, a picture book celebration of the life and times of the iconic folk artist and feminist describes her childhood on the Canadian prairie, her battle with polio and the cultural turbulence that inspired her influential music.
Graheme: "simply a beautiful picture book and for a boy from the prairies, it makes my heart sing “Rows and flows of angel hair.....”
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Lost in the Barrens
by
Farley Mowat
When Jamie Macnair, a city boy, comes to live with his uncle in the northland, an Indian boy adopts him as his brother and teaches him the ways of the wilderness
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The Blue Castle
by
L. M. Montgomery
This early work by Lucy Maud Montgomery was originally published in 1926 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Blue Castle' is a novel full of humour and romance about a woman named Valency and her discovery of a new world of love and happiness.
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Amos's Sweater
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Janet Louise Swoboda Lunn
Amos, an old sheep, is tired of having his wool cut off, and tries to take the sweater that has been made from it
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Scaredy Squirrel
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Mélanie Watt
Scaredy Squirrel thinks about all the things that could happen to him if he left the safety of his home, but he has no choice when he accidently drops his emergency kit, in a text with one fold-out page
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Sing a Song of Mother Goose
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Barbara Reid
An illustrated collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, including "Georgie Porgie," "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," "Little Boy Blue," and "Old Mother Hubbard."
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Bud, Not Buddy
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Christopher Paul Curtis
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids
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Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang
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Mordecai Richler
Unjustly imprisoned by the Hooded Fang and other big people, Jacob Two-Two awaits the aid of the members of Child Power to free him and two hundred other children
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Corner Gas
Follows the adventures of gas station owner Brent Leroy, and the local residents in the small town of Dog River, Saskatchewan
Nicole: "Forget Friends! This hilarious sitcom set in Saskatchewan is still my comfort go-to when I need cheering up."
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Fully Completely is the third studio album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. The lyrics on Fully Completely are heavily centered on Canadian icons and history. Katie: "Canadian album that made my teenage years all the more bearable!" Carla: "From start to finish, this album overflows with the Hip’s unique brand of Canadiana. There’s a reason why they’re known as “Canada’s band!”
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Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released on 22 October 1993, in Canada. The album was an immediate hit in Canada, where McLachlan was already an established star. Over the next two years, it became her breakthrough album internationally as well. Katie: "Canadian album that made my teenage years all the more bearable!"
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Rush - The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987
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Rush
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974–1987 is a compilation album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on February 11, 2003. It includes many of the band's most popular songs from their Mercury Records era, but does not feature any material from their third album Caress of Steel.
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Randy Bachman: Vinyl Tap Tour
Legendary Canadian rock musician Randy Bachman returns in 2014 with his latest project, Vinyl Tap Tour. Every Song Tells A Story. Recorded at the historic Pantages Playhouse Theatre, Winnipeg in April 2013 during a National Canadian tour, Vinyl Tap Tour. Every Song Tells A Story DVD features an 85 minute DVD of live footage direct from the show, all in stunning 5.1 surround sound.
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The Best Of Raffi by Raffi Dina: “Raffi songs bring a smile to my face and immediately illicit happy memories for me!”
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Island Of Echoes
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Wilderness of Manitoba
This is a band in transition, but if its destination is as lush and beautiful as its transformation, Crank up Island of Echoes, grab that cup of tea and enjoy the fall leaves now before Mother Nature dumps the snow on us.
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