National Network for Equitable Library Service

Gisèle Villeneuve’s short stories test the elastic pull between passion and terror. For inspiration, Villeneuve turned to her personal history to examine what lures urban dwellers outdoors, to test themselves against peaks and valleys. Using the overarching metaphor of mountain climbing, she plays with form, language, and narrative to reveal our fears, our loves, our passions. Rising Abruptly is a perfect companion for anyone who likes to travel, loves a climber, or simply glories in the allure of the mountains.

Panic-stricken by the news that she needs exploratory surgery, forty-eight-year-old Mercy Beth Fanjoy drafts a monumental "to do" list and sets about putting her messy life in order. Among other things (hide the vibrator!), she's determined to finally uncover the identity of her secret admirer; reconnect with a lost friend and rival Teen Gaudet; and, most importantly, get her hands on the note her father left her before committing suicide all those years ago. But tidying up the edges of her life means the past comes rushing back to haunt her and the present keeps throwing up more to do's.

Scattered Bones is a story of the complicated, fragile and sometimes fatal relations between Indigenous people and settlers in Northern Saskatchewan in the 1920s. Aboriginal spiritual traditions are beginning to cross paths with the construction of a residential school, and ancient acts of violent vengeance are shaping the trajectory of events in the town 200 years later.

Been in the Storm So Long is a story of one man’s journey from the East Coast of Canada to New Orleans and back, from whaler to thief, murder accomplice to father and husband, alive to dead and back (more than once). The intimate story of Healy’s life as he navigates an emotional journey fraught with unbearable death and loss, keeps unspoken truths from those who matter most, and finds redemption when all seems lost, is a story that transcends time. Can John Healy leave what happened in the past where it belongs, or will it shape his future in ways he can’t possibly imagine?

It’s 1842. 14-year-old Jennie Lawrence has been found guilty of stealing, and finds herself aboard one of the few women-only convict ships destined for Australia.

Jennie had been desperate – and, as she gets to know the other women on the convict ship – she realizes she’s not the only one. Many of the women she gets to know were trying to survive, and feed themselves and their families, before they were caught and sentenced to Australia.

Winner, Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Prize, 2017 Saskatchewan Book Awards.

The dinosaur bones in Drumheller, Alberta, rest by daylight, and come out and dance when the moon rises.

Hokk is a criminal outcast who has been scavenging the bodies that fall from the sky to Below for meagre treasures to help him survive. Elia hails from the floating kingdoms in the skies of Above, where the islands' edges are borders no one dares to cross except for the ritual burials that send their dead to Below. Together, these teens embarked on a quest to return to the homes they've lost-but now their journeys have diverged, and their futures are more uncertain than ever. Without Hokk, does Elia have any hope of returning to Above and rescuing her family?

"Jojo's back, released from jail, and people are tense and afraid all over again. They wonder if his friends will start showing up again. They wonder if they'll be walking down the street one day and they'll run into Jojo and Jojo will give them attitude or shove them around, just for fun. Jojo's friends have a way of making it hard-really hard-on people who decide to press charges against Jojo. Those people just wish Jojo would go away and never come back. Then there are the people who have hate in their hearts.

Evie is determined to care for her baby - even if it means kidnapping her.