National Network for Equitable Library Service

From Captain George Vancouver to Muriel “Curve of Time” Blanchet to Jim “Spilsbury's Coast” Spilsbury, visitors to Desolation Sound have left behind a trail of books endowing the area with a romantic aura that helps to make it British Columbia's most popular marine park. In this hilarious and captivating book, CBC personality Grant Lawrence adds a whole new chapter to the saga of this storied piece of BC coastline.

The legendary Emily Carr was primarily a painter, but she first gained recognition as an author. She wrote seven popular, critically acclaimed books about her journeys to remote Native communities and about her life as an artist—as well as her life as a small child in Victoria at the turn of the last century. The Book of Small is a collection of 36 short stories about a childhood in a town that still had vestiges of its pioneer past.

A sweeping family history, chronicling the journey of a group of Russian refugees who settled in rural Alberta in 1924, this book pays tribute to countless people who have found a safe haven in Canada over the past 100 years. Every refugee has a story. This book follows the life of Nikifor Andriev, driven from his homeland in 1924, to settle in Canada as part of a group of 116 privately sponsored Russian refugees. Their new home, the aptly named Homeglen, Alberta, was a symbol of promise and prosperity.

Larry Kwong became the first player of Asian descent in the NHL when he played one shift with the New York Rangers in 1948. Even though Larry's achievement happened more than 70 years ago, his contribution to hockey is only now being recognized. He broke hockey's color barrier and fought racism and discrimination at every step of his career. From his humble beginnings on the outdoor rinks in Vernon, British Columbia's Chinatown all the way to playing at Madison Square Garden and in the NHL, this inspiring hero has a timeless story for young readers.

Deeply personal yet incredibly witty. This memoir about Grant Lawrence's relationship with hockey passes back and forth between tales of his life and a fascinating history of hockey, complete with lively anecdotes about the many colorful characters of the NHL. Through Lawrence's early life, he struggled with the idea of hockey. An undersized child who wore thick glasses and knee-braces, he understood what it was like to be in the attack zone of the hockey-obsessed jocks at his school. For Lawrence, bullying and the violent game of hockey seemed to go hand-in-hand.

From the wisdom of fishing legend Mo Bradley, an essential guide to fly fishing for trout in the Thompson-Okanagan. Among fly fishers, the Kamloops region in British Columbia's Thompson-Okanagan is known as one of the best places in the world for catching trout. It owes its reputation in part to Mo Bradley, a man of humble origins now known as a pioneer of fly-fishing culture. In Trout School, award-winning author and journalist Mark Hume passes on what he's learned from his countless hours on—and off—the lake with the master.

A story of the Skwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation): past, present, and future. One hundred years after Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) leadership signed an amalgamation agreement that declared several communities in Squamish territory as one nation, this accessible history of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people traces our stories from ancient times to the present. Tiná7 Cht Ti Temíxw: We Come from This Land offers the culmination of generations of knowledge about the Squamish People and Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh Temíxw (Squamish People's Territory).

For more than 150 years, thousands of Indigenous children were taken from their families and sent to residential schools across Canada. Artist Carey Newman created the Witness Blanket to make sure that history is never forgotten. The Blanket is a living work of art—a collection of hundreds of objects from those schools. It includes everything from photos, bricks, hockey skates, graduation certificates, dolls and piano keys to braids of hair. Behind every piece is a story. And behind every story is a residential school Survivor, including Carey's father.

For more than two decades, Hilary Peach worked as a transient welder, and one of the only women, in the Boilermakers Union. Distilled from a vast cache of journals, notes, and keen observations, Thick Skin follows Peach from the West Coast shipyards and pulp mills of British Columbia, through the Alberta tar sands and the Ontario rust belt, to the colossal power generating stations of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

A lively collection of wilder-than-fiction poaching stories from across Canada and the US, including insights from investigating officers involved in real poaching situations. Get ready to read some of the wildest true crime imaginable. Showcasing fish and wildlife poaching stories from every province and territory in Canada and every state in the United States, decorated fishery officer Randy Nelson offers a thrilling look into a dangerous industry.