National Network for Equitable Library Service

After a summer of intense competition, Alberta’s Theo Tams emerged as the 2008 Canadian Idol champion. He had earned the admiration of the public and his fellow contestants with his soaring vocals, emotive piano playing and unmatched ability to mine the emotional core of a song. Theo Tams: Inside the Music is a candid and photo-rich look at the life experiences that prepared him for the Idol stage. It also provides a behind the scenes peek at the Idol experience itself, with testimonials and anecdotes from his fellow competitors and interviews with the Idol personalities.

Struggling for Perfection is the story of the famous pianist, an enigmatic figure who made some of the most acclaimed classical recordings of the last century. A former child prodigy and an unpredictable, passionate man, Glenn Gould was known as much for his eccentricities as his vast musical genius. After retiring prematurely from performing, Gould branched out into work in film and radio and helped bring classical music recording technology into a new age. He has became a national icon in Canada.

This book tells the story of the unique bond between Captain Walters and his schooner the Bluenose. The ship is a Canadian icon and an icon of nautical competition, unbeaten between 1921 and 1939 in the races for the International Fishermans Cup. Its success galvanized a young nations national pride, and the ship remains an important symbol in Nova Scotia today. Walters skill and devotion to his ship helped the Bluenose hold off all challengers, even at the end of its illustrious career.

Yousuf Karsh emigrated to North America from Turkey in the 1920s, eventually settling in Ottawa. An early interest in photography inspired him to open his own studio. As he became known for the quality of his work, Karsh’s close proximity to powerful leaders in Ottawa led to commissions of portraits of politicians. He became known as the worlds’ finest portrait photographer for his gift of drawing out and capturing a subject’s character in a photograph. Over a seventy plus year career, Karsh photographed many famous musicians, artists, actors, captains of industry and politlcians.

As a pioneer in Canada in the early 1800s, Catharine Parr Traill was one of the first writers to record the Ontario wilderness in literary and scientific detail, and her stories for young people became part of a new focus on young people. Her books on emigration encouraged other pioneers who struggled with life in a new country. Catharine was a natural storyteller who loved to write. As an adult in Canada, she wrote while she was hungry and fearful for her family’s safety. Her life was one of hardship and adventure, but also of great joy.

Inside Music Books is pleased to introduce the Fan Lowdown series by music journalist Karen Bliss. These books offer the fan an enhanced experience. Bliss solicits stories from fans via the artist’s message board and mailing list: concert or road trip stories; meeting the artist; making cookies for the band; a song they fell in love to; a lyric that helped get them through a tough time. Bliss has interviewed the band members, sharing her most interesting submissions and getting the bands thoughts and their own memories.

When Emily Stowe was born in Ontario in 1831, every girl’s life followed a set pattern. Regardless of her personality, intelligence, capabilities or creativity, her future was limited to housework and childcare. Emily Stowe was determined to change that pattern. Sydell Waxman, a writer, researcher and lecturer on women of the 1800s, tells of the events in the life of the young Emily Stowe which caused her to become, not only the first woman school principal and the first woman to practise medicine in Canada, but a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights.

This is a story of pioneering courage and compassion in the New World. Jeanne dreamed of devoting her life to caring for others. In 1641, she courageously gave up her comfortable middle-class life in France to journey to the French colonies, today’s province of Quebec. In overcoming incredible hardships, massacres, illness, deprivation and seven gruelling trips across the ocean, Jeanne proved to be a remarkable leader. She ended up founding the first hospital in Montreal as well as being a pioneer and founder of the city of Montreal.

World War Two was the greatest conflict in human history. It gave birth to the Atomic Age, the Cold War and the economic boom of the 1950s and 60s, and planted the seeds of today’s Middle East crises. But it is not distant history. Most Canadians have relatives who were part of this world-wide tragedy. Bitter Ashes puts these events in context for them. This book in the illustrated historical series Stories of Canada is a companion to Desperate Glory: The Story of WWI. A clear and concise text leads the reader though the major military and political events and issues of the war.

Have you ever read a book that you couldn’t put down? Has that book taken you to other countries, to other centuries? Have you found yourself brimming with excitement, exclaiming to all who will listen, "Read this book!" This biography is the story of a child who took her love of childrens’ books and found a way to share it with the world as she grew up. Her voice would be the first to carry the message of childrens’ right to read across the world.