National Network for Equitable Library Service

Shortlisted, East Coast Literary Award and Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non-FictionIt was over in seconds. In the early hours of January 12, 2008, seven members of a high school basketball team and their coach’s wife died instantly when their school van collided with a tractor trailer. Travelling in dirty weather, minutes from their Bathurst, New Brunswick, homes, the impact forever shattered the lives of eight families and their community. In the weeks that followed the horrific crash, two women who lost their sons in the accident forged a bond.

In the late 1920s, Canada's economy was showing all the signs of a full-fledged depression. Life savings were evaporating, unemployment was up, and exports were dramatically down. Riding on the popularity of his promise to "blast" Canada's way into world markets — and thus stop the economy's downward spiral — Richard Bedford Bennett defeated William Lyon Mackenzie King at the polls on July 28, 1930, and assumed the leadership of the country.

Winner, Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction, and W.O. Mitchell Book PrizeShortlisted, Dolman Travel Book AwardLonglisted, Alberta Readers’ Choice Award, BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, and Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-FictionIn this ambitious blend of travel and reportage, Marcello Di Cintio travels to the world’s most disputed edges to meet the people who live alongside the razor wire and answer the question: What does it mean to live against the walls?

Shortlisted Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical WritingOnce, a single francophone settlement shared both sides of the Saint John River, until a political trade-off between countries split it down the middle. From that inauspicious start, the Maine-New Brunswick border, the first boundary to be drawn between the two nations, has served as a microcosm for Canada-U.S. relations. For centuries, friends, lovers, schemers and smugglers have reached across the line.

Shortlisted for the Donner Prize and the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction AwardDroughts, floods, and contamination of fresh water in the american Southwest, in the Great Lakes region, in Australia, in northern china, in the Middle East, and in India have broguht the critical issue of water supply to the forefront of public consciousness. In dozens of countries, ordinary citizens have cause to worry about what (or how much) will come out of their taps — if they even have taps — and who will make sure it is available, affordable, and safe.

In The Right Fight: Bernard Lord and the Conservative Dilemma, CBC reporter Jacques Poitras provides a journalist’s account of how Bernard Lord rose to the top in provincial politics and why his path could lead to Ottawa. The clean sweep of Frank McKenna’s Liberals in 1987 shook the foundations of the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party, but election night 1991 utterly shattered the Tory dream. As expected, the Liberals won a second majority, but the fervently anti-bilingualism Confederation of Regions (COR) Party formed the official Opposition.

Born in 1889, Gertrude Harding spent a boistrous childhood on a Welsford, New Brunswick, farm. She travelled to Hawaii to live with her sister, and, when her sister moved to London in 1912, Harding went with her. One day, from the top of a London bus, she saw a parade of women carrying large white posters. Attended by a policeman, they walked in single file on the street close to the curb as passersby stared and shouted rude remarks. It was a poster-parade of Militant Suffragettes demanding votes for women; after more than two decades of mild action, the Suffragettes were on the warpath.

Goose Lane Editions has released a biography that reveals the private world of one of Canada’s most fascinating politicians. Almost four years after stepping down as Premier of New Brunswick, Frank McKenna is as much on the minds of political watchers across Canada as ever. The question today, however, is will he or won’t he get back into the political ring. While the guessing game continues, Philip Lee’s new book Frank: The Life and Politics of Frank McKenna provides fresh insights into the man and his politics.

Marion Dewar could never ignore a person who was begging in the street. Along with money, she would offer words of encouragement and friendship. Perhaps it was her training as a nurse, her devout Catholic upbringing, or maybe it was simply because she was a genuinely compassionate woman. As mayor of Ottawa from 1978-1985, Marion Dewar worked tirelessly to bring about non-profit housing, better public transportation, support and encouragement for the arts, for peace, and for women’s rights.

The true story of Emily Eaton. Born with severe cerebral palsy, Emily and her family had to fight for her right to go to school with non-disabled children in a regular classroom. Unwilling to take no for an answer, her fight would take her all the way to the Supreme Court. Eventually victorious, Emily’s story makes her an amazing role model for children everywhere - whether they are living with a disability or not.