National Network for Equitable Library Service

The first of its kind, this anthology contains four children's stories by young Deaf authors and Deaf illustrators. Contributors were mentored by some of Canada's most notable authors, editors and illustrators: Phoebe Gilman, Maryann Kovalski, Ian Wallace, Brenda Clark, Ruth Ohi, Laura Walker, and Peter Carver.

It is 1957, and Amal is an inmate of the “Bethlehem Oasis for Troubled Women,” having feigned insanity to avoid being put to death for the murder of her abusive husband. When attacked by a fellow inmate, Amal must confront her traumatic memories.

When Violet's father comes to pick her up at school, one of her classmates asks: How come your Dad is blue and you're not? Violet comes to appreciate the beauty of being different.

She Writes is an anthology that features women writers in Canada. Elizabeth Ruth, Heather Birrell, Kristen den Hartog, Kelly Watt, Dana Bath, Teresa McWhirter and others make up this brilliant new collection of emerging literary voices in the landscape of Canadian literature by women. In "Polish" Elizabeth Ruth deftly portrays the clash between mother and daughter, tradition and innovation. Ruth is shortlisted for both the 2001 Roger's Writer's Trust of Canada Fiction Prize and the Amazon.com/Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award 2001.

Rachel, a young Jewish woman from a small town in Russia, has made an incredible journey. Forced to leave her homeland because of the anti-Semitic violence that killed her father, she made her way across land and sea to find refuge in Shanghai, China where she not only survived but managed to establish herself as a newspaper writer ? no easy task for a woman at the turn of the 20th century. Now eighteen, Rachel remains separated from her sweetheart, Sergei, but she has finally realized her dream of coming to America.

In 1955, girls who played hockey were rare, and there was no chance for them to play on a boy's team. But Abby Hoffman, a nine-year-old girl with a short haircut, supportive parents, and plenty of bravado, manages to bluff her way onto the all-star team in the boy's league. If her secret is discovered, she'll fight to keep the place she's earned on her team. Inspired by the real-life Abby Hoffman's story.

Growing up in the Fiji Islands in the late 1960s, Kalyana Mani Seth is an impressionable, plump young girl suited to the meaning of her name: blissful, blessed, the auspicious one. Her mother educates Kalyana about her Indian heritage, vividly telling tales of mischievous Krishna and powerful Mother Kali, and recounting her grandparents’ migration to the tiny, British colony.

Far from the Tuscan Sun… is Saving Rome. Megan K. Williams, a Rome-based writer and correspondent, knows just how far. In her debut collection, Williams serves up the Eternal City as you’ve never seen it before, turning an insider’s eye on the love, mystery and unholy chaos of Rome. In nine funny and insightful stories, Williams delves into the lives of women searching for meaning (and survival) in an ancient metropolis awhirl in honking Fiats, smouldering cigarettes and teetering high heels.

Growing up in the shadow of a famous mother, Clara has never felt good about her body. Now, at sixteen, she has an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. After a social media disaster, she decides to escape for the summer to Paris to stay with her estranged dad and her six-year-old brother, Alastair, who is on the autism spectrum. Charged with his care, Clara and Alastair set out to explore the city. Paris, and a handsome young French baker, teaches Clara about first love, and a new love of food.

With the potential for cloning already a reality, we all have to face some major ethical questions. Who has a right to determine a person's genetic makeup? And how will we treat our genetic underclass? In Pure, fifteen-year-old Lenni is a gifted healer to some, and to others only a skidge -- an illegal genetic experiment gone horribly wrong. Set in the future where genetic engineering of humans is forbidden, Lenni must escape from Dawn, a community controlled by the Genetic Purity Council, or Pure.