National Network for Equitable Library Service

An island off the coast of another island is home to a small community; life is rich with joy and challenges, and the people who live there love their island home. One day they learn that the government will move them off the island, to new homes with modern conveniences like electricity. Life will be simpler, but will it be better?

Key Selling Points - This playful poem introduces young readers to a variety of Canadian (or North American) animals. The author is a substitute teacher at several schools and workshopped her story with her classes. The author has previously published books of essays for adult readers, but this is her first book for children.The book includes brief descriptions of the animals at the end to provide more detailed/factual info about the animals involved in the riotous hijinks.

After her parents are duped by a coyote who is a master of disguise, Harriet ('Harry' for short) and her seven younger siblings are left to fend for themselves. Their only resource is their parents' now-empty bedroom, so Harry and her brothers and sisters open a 'hare bed and breakfast.' It is a great success. Then, the coyote comes calling again and learns that revenge is a dish best served as breakfast.

Set in Spain and Mexico during the 1930s, Matadora tells the story of Luna Caballero Garcia, an impoverished and intrepid servant attempting to make her name in the bullring at a time when it was illegal for a girl to do so.

When Gellhorn, a notable poet, begins a university residency in a 'dynamic metropolis' and stays at the illustrious Máximo College, he finds himself scandalized, and for little known reason. Scrutiny by his new academic neighbours is the least of his worries, as he learns of the existence of Aaron Schnell, his physical pseudo-twin, and an actor and film 'double.' The Chair shares fragments from the oeuvre of Thomas Claque, a recently deceased author who contrived the tale of the pseudo-twins.

Set in Toronto in the blistering summer of 1971, Back to the Garden is about four strangers who take a chance on a new psychological treatment: group therapy. What seems, at first, like a good idea, quickly spirals out of control as the participants connect outside of the sessions in unforeseen and catastrophic ways, each character locked into an escalating crisis.

After the sudden death of her lawyer husband, Nora flees her small town for the anonymity of Toronto. An ad lures her to rent a cheap apartment, where the landlord Henry lives in the next unit. Initially helpful to Nora, his charm hides a desire to manipulate women, leaving Nora vulnerable to his predations. Nora hides some secrets of her own too - secrets that might lead to her undoing. A propulsive plot with terrifying twists, this essential debut novel brings forth a confident new literary voice to the trade.

On the Hua Shan (the Holy Mountain) 250 years before Christ, the most powerful man in the world, the First Emperor, bequeaths a talisman - a narwhal tusk with carvings depicting the growth of Shanghai for the next 2500 years - to his three trusted followers: the Bodyguard, his favourite Courtesan, and his Head Confucian. The warning from the First Emperor before he commits suicide is to watch for the White Ships on Water and so the progeny of the three who are entrusted with the Tusk do. Then, in 1841 they arrive - British Men of War ships. And opium.

A cat shaped pendant with magical powers, takes a detective on a precarious journey through a mysterious city. Award winning artist and animator Patrick Jenkins has devised a story as affecting as his complex line art. A mixture of film noir and magic realism that explores surrealism and metaphysics through graphic storytelling. A game where reality is always in question. Smokey halftones and sumptuous linework are binding elements in a sequence of bizarre twists. A layered vortex of visual delights without linear paths or escape.

Following on the heels of her critically acclaimed first collection Hot Town and Other Stories, an examination of relationships within communities continues in this new collection of short fiction, Something's Burning. The twenty-first century speeds ahead with fast-changing ideas about culture and identity, and a new choir of voices are telling their long-suppressed stories. Outdated belief systems are challenged. Society norms and hierarchies crumble. But fresh ideas cause tension between generations, sexes, races and neighbours. The population is at odds about the revised script.