National Network for Equitable Library Service

As seen on W NetworkTessa Virtue and Scott Moir dazzled the world when they became the first Canadians -- and first North Americans -- to win an Olympic gold medal in ice dancing in 2010. Now, for the first time ever, they share their incredible and inspiring story with the world.

The fishing industry in Atlantic Canada has gone through massive change in the last twenty years. Now, even small inshore vessels are outfitted with fishing equipment that would astound those mariners who passed on just a generation ago. But still, despite the incredible advances in technology, dozens of fishermen continue to die each year doing what they know best. Simply put, fishing is still one of the most dangerous professions in the world.

The fishing industry kills more people than any other job in the world. On average, Atlantic Canada loses one fisherman every month. From the pages of the Navigator magazine comes a collection of more than twenty sea stories from Jim Wellman’s widely acclaimed series, Final Voyages. This volume marks his fourth venture onto the cold Atlantic waters, to stand alongside captain and crew and tell the stories of these unsung heroes: small-boat fishermen.

Fishing has long been documented as being the most dangerous occupation in the world. That is especially true in the harsh, and often bitter, marine environment of Atlantic Canada. These perilous conditions have caused the sinking and loss of hundreds of Atlantic Canadian fishing vessels, claiming enormous loss of life. Former host of CBC Radio’s “Fisheries Broadcast” and now managing editor of The Navigator, Jim Wellman recounts some of those gripping tales as part of his regular monthly feature in The Navigator.

In his breakaway bestseller 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transformed the agony of defeated sticks into the thrill of a new creation, with a slap of good humour that kept readers chuckling all the way through the book. Now, with the publication of Fabulous Fabrications from Busted Hockey Gear, the hockey stick handyman has turned his creative talents to the rest of the equipment left to fester in the basement — helmets, pads, gloves, skates, and even cast-off hockey uniforms.

From the days when proto-humans lashed animal jawbones to sticks and whacked wildebeest-poop slapshots in Olduvai Arena to today’s super-high-tech computer-assisted extravaganzas, one by-product of the hockey game has gone unnoticed and untapped. Until now . . . In 50 Things to Make with a Broken Hockey Stick, Peter Manchester transforms the agony of a fractured stick into the thrill of creation. Instructions and explicit cartoons show woodworkers of all abilities how to fashion items for outdoors, items for indoors, and items without any purpose at all.

A recreational canoeman in his native Texas, Rick Sparkman thought he knew all about the sport when he moved to Nova Scotia in 1981. The swift, cold rivers and streams of his new home adjusted his thinking in the most personal way: he got dumped. That’s when he started learning to paddle in earnest. Woodlands Canoeing explains the fundamentals of recreational canoeing in the woods of the Maritimes, New England, and anywhere else where the waterways are small, the water is swift and at times shallow, and canoeing varies with the seasons.

Shortlisted, Toronto Book AwardsOn May 2, 1967, Montreal and Toronto faced each other in a battle for hockey supremacy. This was only the fifth time the teams had ever played each other in the Stanley Cup finals. Toronto led the series 3-2. But this wasn't simply a game. From the moment Foster Hewitt announced "Hello Canada and hockey fans in the United States," the game became a turning point in sports history. That night, the Leafs would win the Cup. The next season, the National Hockey League would expand to twelve teams.

A collection of essays for ardent seamheads and casual baseball fans alike, The Utility of Boredom is a book about finding respite and comfort in the order, traditions, and rituals of baseball. It’s a sport that shows us what a human being might be capable of, with extreme dedication—whether we're eating hot dogs in the stands, waiting out a fog delay in our living rooms, or practising the lost art of catching a stray radio signal from an out-of-market broadcast.

Using personal accounts from star players, interviews with sport insiders and striking photographs, On the Edge provides a dramatic look into the business and politics of women's hockey.