National Network for Equitable Library Service

Forty years ago, droves of young women migrated away from urban settings and settled in rural areas across North America. Many settled on the north coast of British Columbia, on Haida Gwaii or around Prince Rupert. Gumboot Girls tells the stories of thirty-four women, through their own eyes, as they moved from their comfortable city-dwelling surroundings to the rugged north coast. Part back-to-the-land, part adventure, heartbreak and love, this collection of stories edited by Lou Allison and compiled by Jane Wilde was inspired by the book Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller.

Broadcaster and bestselling author Mike McCardell haunts British Columbia's past in order to summon spellbinding tales of Western Canada. Reprising his 2013 bestseller Haunting Vancouver, Mike McCardell summons the ghost of real-life pioneer Jock Linn to provide hair-raising and humorous versions of what really happened during some of the formative events that shaped British Columbia.

A whimsical exploration of Vancouver's favourite family landmark, filled with gorgeous illustrations and fascinating facts. Granville Island ABC is a visual treasure hunt that invites families to explore the sights, sounds, and smells of this exciting arts and culture destination. With fun (and mostly free) discoveries for every letter of the alphabet—from buskers to houseboats, industrial relics to parks, seawalls to turtles—this book is the perfect companion to a family outing.

A fascinating tour through BC's historical gold rush trails, focusing on the nineteenth-century churches that were pivotal to the establishment of early settler communities. Much has been written about the Cariboo gold rush—from the trails and wagon roads to the rowdy mining camps, from tales of great luck to those of disappointment and despair. This book paints a different picture of those pioneer days. It is a guide to the nineteenth-century churches that were built during the gold rush or in the settlement days that followed.

The unusual and moving tale of Muggins, a famed fundraising dog who became a mascot of the Canadian Red Cross during the First World War. Born in 1913 in the home of a millionaire philanthropist, Muggins was a purebred Spitz, a sharp-eared, sharp-nosed, fluffy-tailed sort of dog most often seen in the lap of a lady of leisure. But Muggins defied the odds, rising to unlikely fame during the First World War, when he became Victoria, BC's most diminutive fundraiser.

We all share a common humanity. No matter how long or difficult the path ahead, we are all one. Reconciliation belongs to everyone. In this profound book, Chief Robert Joseph, globally recognized peacebuilder and Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk People, traces his journey from his childhood surviving residential school to his present-day role as a leader who inspires individual hope, collective change, and global transformation. Before we get to know where we are going, we need to know where we came from.

Veteran hockey writer Ed Willes takes an irreverent look back at the sometimes thrilling, often infuriating and always fascinating history of the Vancouver Canucks. Cheering for the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks over the last half century has required patience, commitment and a forgiving nature. It's not that the Canucks have been uniformly awful or drearily predictable. Far from it (as this past season would attest).

The nautical reference book you never knew you needed: an encyclopedia of all superstitions maritime and marine, learn your A-B-Seas of sailors' guiding magic and mythos—and why you should never stir your tea with a knife, lest you invite trouble and strife. Ever wondered why the skipper gave you a hairy eyeball when you stepped aboard the ship with your left foot? Or why a brolly or a bumbershoot—for the newly seasoned sailor, an umbrella—will bring trouble aboard?

Set in the wild country north of Lillooet and west of the great Fraser River, Old Lives: In the Chilcotin Backcountry paints the rugged landscape and equally rugged lives of the Chilcotin's enigmatic old-timers: Aboriginal and settler, male and female, deceased and alive. It takes vigilance, persistence, courage and humour to live where survival requires a deep knowledge and trust of the land, where prosperity is synonymous with self-sufficiency and where thriving is dependent upon a community of neighbours and friends who can be counted on in the direst of times.

The BC tradition of fighting back against unfair pay and unsafe working conditions has been around since before the colony joined Confederation. In 1849 Scottish labourers at BC's first coal mine at Fort Rupert went on strike to protest wretched working conditions, and it's been a wild ride ever since.