National Network for Equitable Library Service

October 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons.

Juneteenth is about being free. Young learners will explore this cultural and historic holiday through engaging text and photos.

The Day of the Dead is a day to remember loved ones who died. Colorful photos and accessible text bring this family tradition to life for young learners.

On Cinco de Mayo, people celebrate Mexican culture. Easy text and full-color photographs give young readers an up-close look at this lively holiday.

Drawing on deep archival research, childhood memories, and conversations with relatives, friends, and fellow hostages, a noted historian, a passenger on an airliner hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1970, sets out to understand both what happened in the Jordan desert and her own fractured family and childhood pain.

As the first Russian bombs drop on Oulu, Finland in early 1940 during the Winter War, Aarne Kovala is a young boy with a great love of the sea. While the war rages, Aarne takes fate into his own hands and joins the Finnish merchant marines. He spends his days delivering war materials between Finland, Poland, and Germany. But when Finland’s ties with Germany are severed after the signing of the Moscow Armistice in 1944, Aarne and his fellow sailors are arrested by the Nazis and sent by cattle car to the infamous Stutthof concentration camp deep in the Polish forest.

From one of Canada’s most beloved performing artists comes an audacious work of non-fiction that explores the stories that shape us and the reach that the past can have across generations. Growing up north of Toronto, R.H. Thomson’s imagination was captured by romantic notions of war.

Each year, more than 400 minors arrive alone in Canada requesting refugee status. They arrive without their parents, accompanied by no adult at all. Alone relates the journey of three of them: Afshin, Alain and Patricia. Their story opens a window onto the many heartbreaks, difficult sacrifices and countless hardships that punctuate their obstacle-filled path. But Alone most especially tells of the courage and resilience that these young people demonstrated before being able to finally obtain a life where threats and danger are no longer a part of their everyday existence.

A sweeping history of data and its technical, political, and ethical impact on our world. From facial recognition—capable of checking people into flights or identifying undocumented residents—to automated decision systems that inform who gets loans and who receives bail, each of us moves through a world determined by data-empowered algorithms. But these technologies didn't just appear: they are part of a history that goes back centuries, from the census enshrined in the US Constitution to the birth of eugenics in Victorian Britain to the development of Google search.

The history of western Canada has its share of disasters, both natural and man-made. The devastation, the loss of life and the courage in the face of adversity make for powerful and poignant stories that are well told in this collection by bestselling author Tony Hollihan.