Résultats de recherche de titre
Articles 1 à 20 sur 48824
Murder: And Other Essays
Par David Richards. 2019
A thrilling, revelatory collection from one of the most provocative and original literary voices in Canada today.David Adams Richards is…
one of Canada's greatest writers, his place in the pantheon ensured by seventeen novels of consistent power and vision. He is also the author of four marvelous non-fiction ruminations on religious faith, hockey, hunting and fishing and their roles in his and the nation's identities. His loyal readers may feel they know him well. But they also know that this is a writer who never fails to surprise. This new collection of essays--his first in a quarter-century--is rich with revelations and insights, deepening our appreciation for this major talent and offering a provoking thought on every page. Murder is one of David's great subjects. In his novels, in the Russian classics he loves and in his life, murder has been a shaping force. The title of this volume refers to a suite of essays on the subject: a hitchhiker with whom David strikes up an unnerving philosophical debate; the killers of the Miramichi and their victims; Caligula; the villains of Russian literature; and, forever in David's mind as he examines this grim topic, the self-deception involved in the allure of evil. But in this wide-ranging collection there is much to delight in too: married love; family; travel; the beauty of the natural world; even Wayne Gretzky is invited to the party. David's principled outlook and spirituality inform his thinking throughout. And he draws many of his favourite writers into the discussion--from Tolstoy to Dostoevsky, Mary Shelley to Alden Nowlan--revelling in their work, as we do in David's, as sources of ideas, inspiration and sheer literary pleasure. As a considerable bonus, the book also contains at its midpoint a literary debut: a slim but substantial collection of David's poetry.Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End: A Memoir
Par Liz Levine. 2020
A genuinely moving, funny, and inventive account of loss and grief, mental illness and suicide, from film and TV producer…
Liz Levine (Story of a Girl), written in the aftermath of the deaths of her sister and best friend.I feel like I might be a terrible person to be laughing in these moments. But it turns out, I’m not alone. In November of 2016, Liz Levine’s younger sister, Tamara, reached a breaking point after years of living with mental illness. In the dark hours before dawn, she sent a final message to her family then killed herself. In Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End, Liz weaves the story of what happened to Tamara with another significant death—that of Liz’s childhood love, Judson, to cancer. She writes about her relationship with Judson, Tamara’s struggles, the conflicts that arise in a family of challenging personalities, and how death casts a long shadow. This memorable account of life and loss is haunting yet filled with dark humor—Tamara emails her family when Trump is elected to check if she’s imagining things again, Liz discovers a banana has been indicted as a whistleblower in an alleged family conspiracy, and a little niece declares Tamara’s funeral the “most fun ever!” With honesty, Liz exposes the raw truths about grief and mourning that we often shy away from—and almost never share with others. And she reveals how, in the midst of death, life—with all its messy complications—must also be celebrated.How to Die: A Book About Being Alive
Par Ray Robertson. 2020
“He who would teach men to die would teach them to live,” writes Montaigne in Essais, and in How to…
Die: A Book on Being Alive, Ray Robertson takes up the challenge. Though contemporary society avoids the subject and often values the mere continuation of existence over its quality, Robertson argues that the active and intentional consideration of death is neither morbid nor frivolous, but instead essential to our ability to fully value life. How to Die is both an absorbing excursion through some of Western literature’s most compelling works on the subject of death as well as an anecdote-driven argument for cultivating a better understanding of death in the belief that, if we do, we’ll know more about what it means to live a meaningful life.Imperilled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea
Par Laura Trethewey. 2020
The vulnerable visage of the crown jewel of planet Earth.An exploration of the earth's last wild frontier, filled with high-stakes…
stories of people and places facing an uncertain future.On a life raft in the Mediterranean, a teenager from Ghana wonders whether he will reach Europe alive, and whether he will be allowed to stay. In the North Atlantic, a young chef disappears from a cruise ship, leaving a mystery for his friends and family to solve. A water-squatting community battles eviction from a harbour in British Columbia, raising the question of who owns the water.The Imperilled Ocean by Laura Trethewey is a deeply reported work of narrative journalism that follows people as they head out to sea. What they discover holds inspiring and dire implications for the life of the ocean — and for all of us back on land. Battles are fought, fortunes made, lives lost, and the ocean approaches an uncertain future. Behind this human drama, the ocean is growing ever more unstable, threatening to upend life on land.Dead Mom Walking: A Memoir of Miracle Cures and Other Disasters
Par Rachel Matlow. 2020
"A hilarious memoir of effervescent misadventures." --Toronto Star"How am I laughing at someone's mother's cancer? How? We think we can't…
laugh about death, about cancer, about our mothers and their suffering . . . and we can't, but we can. And there's so much relief in that. I laughed, I cried, I laughed and laughed and laughed." --Carolyn Taylor, BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOWA traumedy about life and death (and every cosmic joke in between)When her mother is diagnosed with cancer, Rachel Matlow is concerned but hopeful. It's Stage 1, so her mom will get surgery and everything will go back to normal. But growing up in Rachel's family, there was no normal. Elaine, an alternative school teacher and self-help junkie, was never a capital M "Mommy"--she spent more time meditating than packing lunches--and Rachel, who played hockey with the boys and refused to ever wear a dress, was no ordinary daughter.When Elaine decides to forgo conventional treatment and heal herself naturally, Rachel is forced to ponder whether the very things that made her mom so special--her independent spirit, her belief in being the author of her own story--are what will ultimately kill her. As the cancer progresses, so does Elaine's conviction in doing things her way. She assembles a dream team of alternative healers, gulps down herbal tinctures with every meal, and talks (with respect) to her cancer cells. Anxious and confused, Rachel is torn between indulging her pie-in-the-sky pursuits (ayahuasca and all) and pleading with the person who's taking her mother away.With irreverence and honesty--and a little help from Elaine's journals and self-published dating guide, plus hours of conversations recorded in her dying days--Matlow brings her inimitable mother to life on the page. Dead Mom Walking is the hilarious and heartfelt story of what happens when two people who've always written their own script go head to head with each other, and with life's least forgiving plot device.Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past
Par Jessica J. Lee. 2020
An exhilarating, anti-colonial reclamation of nature writing and memoir, rooted in the forests and flatlands of Taiwan, from the winner…
of the RBC Taylor Prize for Emerging Writers. "Two Trees Make a Forest is a finely faceted meditation on memory, love, landscape--and finding a home in language. Its short, shining sections tilt yearningly toward one another; in form as well as content, this is a beautiful book about the distance between people and between places, and the means of their bridging." --Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland. A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she seeks his story while growing closer to the land he knew. Lee hikes mountains home to Formosan flamecrests, birds found nowhere else on earth, and swims in a lake of drowned cedars. She bikes flatlands where spoonbills alight by fish farms, and learns about a tree whose fruit can float in the ocean for years, awaiting landfall. Throughout, Lee unearths surprising parallels between the natural and human stories that have shaped her family and their beloved island. Joyously attentive to the natural world, Lee also turns a critical gaze upon colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, relying on and often effacing the labor and knowledge of local communities.Two Trees Make a Forest is a genre-shattering book encompassing history, travel, nature, and memoir, an extraordinary narrative showing how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories. Winner of the 2020 Roger’s Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Canada Reads 2021.Acting Wild: How We Behave Like Birds, Bugs, and Beasts
Par Maria Birmingham. 2019
How are humans different from other animals? This is a question scientists have long tried to answer. As it turns…
out, some of the very things researchers once though distinguished humans—our creativity, our problem-solving ability, our capacity for planning or abstract thought—actually make us very similar to other animals! This nonfiction book introduces several different behaviors that humans and other animals share, including farming, teaching, laughing, building, mourning, communicating, grooming, playing, traveling, using tools, and working together. Narrated by a funny and friendly ant, this book is packed with humor and playful phrasing to bring lightness to the exploration of animal behavior. Brought to life by bright and wacky cartoon-style illustrations, Acting Wild will leave kids with the understanding that acting like an animal is simply in their nature.I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder: A Memoir
Par Sarah Kurchak. 2020
Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn’t let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer,…
or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become “an autistic success story,” how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover. Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself—from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it? Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak’s enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier and more fulfilling.Still: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Motherhood
Par Emma Hansen. 2020
“Still is one of those rare books that catches you up and does not let you go. With grace, courage,…
and honesty, Emma Hansen adds an important voice to this tragic and too-often silenced subject. I loved this book.” —Beth Powning, author of Shadow Child: An Apprenticeship in Love and Loss A moving, candid account of one woman’s experience with stillbirth.Emma Hansen is 39 weeks and 6 days pregnant when she feels her baby go quiet inside of her. At the hospital, her worst fears are confirmed: doctors explain that her baby has died, and she will need to deliver him, still.Hansen gives birth to her son, Reid, amidst an avalanche of grief. Nine days later, she publishes a candid essay on her website sharing photos from the delivery room. Much to her surprise, her essay goes viral, sparking positive reactions around the world. Still shares what comes next: a struggle with grief and confusion alongside a desire to better understand stillbirth, which is experienced by more than two million women annually, but rarely talked about in public.At once honest, brave, and uplifting, Still is about one woman’s search for her own definition of motherhood, even as she faces one of life’s greatest challenges: learning to live after loss.What Are the Paralympic Games? (What Was?)
Par Gail Herman, Who Hq. 2020
It's time to cheer for the inspiring athletes of the Paralympic Games! As the Opening Ceremony for the 1948 Summer…
Olympic Games commenced in London, a similar sporting competition was taking place a few miles away. But the men at Stoke Mandeville weren't your typical athletes. They were paralyzed World War II veterans. The games at Stoke Mandeville were so successful that they would eventually lead evolve into the Paralympics. Participants from all around the world vie for the gold medal in a variety of sports, including archery, basketball, swimming, speed skating, and ice hockey. Author Gail Herman highlights their achievements, describes how these athletes train--both mentally and physically--for the games, and gives the reader a better understanding of what makes the Paralympic Games one of the world's most viewed sporting events.Chemical World: Science in Our Daily Lives (Orca Footprints #17)
Par Rowena Rae. 2020
Chemical World: Science in Our Daily Lives explores some of the materials—all of which are made of basic chemical elements—that…
humans use or come into contact with in their day-to-day lives. Some of these chemicals are naturally occurring—clay, mercury, lead. Others have been synthesized by chemists during the past 150 years and used in a bewildering array of products ranging from roof shingles to toothpaste. Many chemical inventions, as well as naturally produced chemicals, have had profound effects on food supply, developing medicines and creating hosts of useful items for modern life. Despite people using both natural and synthetic chemicals with (mainly) good intentions, some chemicals have had unintended negative consequences. Chemical residues have contaminated ecosystems the world over and are compromising the health of many ecosystems, animals and humans. The goal of Chemical World: Science in our Daily Lives is to introduce readers to basic chemistry and chemical history, and to show how chemicals are used for particular reasons but sometimes turn out to be harmful to environmental and human health. It invites readers to take a look at the world around them and ask questions about what’s in their environment and how the things they use and eat every day can affect their own health and the planet’s health.A World without Martha: A Memoir of Sisters, Disability, and Difference
Par Victoria Freeman. 2019
Victoria Freeman was only four when her parents followed medical advice and sent her sister away to a distant, overcrowded…
institution. Martha was not yet two, but in 1960s Ontario there was little community acceptance or support for raising children with intellectual disabilities at home. In this frank and moving memoir, Victoria describes growing up in a world that excluded and dehumanized her sister, and how society’s insistence that only a “normal” life was worth living affected her sister, her family, and herself, until changing attitudes to disability and difference offered both sisters new possibilities for healing and self-discovery.Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body
Par Rebekah Taussig. 2020
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to…
paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life. Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.This Is Your Brain on Stereotypes: How Science Is Tackling Unconscious Bias
Par Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Drew Shannon. 2020
An essential overview of the science behind stereotypes: from why our brains form them to how recognizing them can help…
us be less biased. From the time we're babies, our brains constantly sort and label the world around us --- a skill that's crucial for our survival. But, as adolescents are all too aware, there's a tremendous downside: when we do this to groups of people it can cause great harm. Here's a comprehensive introduction to the science behind stereotypes that will help young people make sense of why we classify people, and how we can change our thinking. It covers the history of identifying stereotypes, secret biases in our brains, and how stereotypes affect our sense of self. Most importantly, it covers current research into how science can help us overcome our biases, offering hope for a future where stereotypes are less prevalent and the world is more fair for everyone. Written by award-winning author Tanya Lloyd Kyi, this timely and hopeful book addresses the issues of discrimination, racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia and offers concrete suggestions on how to make change. It uses scientific inquiry and loads of relatable and interesting examples to explore these uncomfortable topics in age-appropriate and engaging ways. Chapters, sidebars and colorful illustrations break the text into manageable chunks. Besides the many ways this book could be used to inspire frank and in-depth discussions on the importance of addressing stereotypes and bias, it also links to many science and social studies curriculum topics. Backmatter includes an extensive list of sources, suggestions for further reading and an index.Recycle and Remake: Creative Projects for Eco Kids
Par Dk. 2020
Kids are on a mission to save the Earth! Recycle and Remake is the hands-on, practical guide you need to…
get started.This gentle, but empowering book is full of creative making activities, information, and ideas that give young eco-warriors (like you!) the know-how to really help the environment.With Recycle and Remake, you will soon be saving trees by making your own seeded recycled paper from junk mail, cleaning up the oceans by turning old carrier bags into kites, friendship bracelets, and colorful weaved baskets and repurposing a cardboard box into a periscope.You'll also learn about sustainable energies by creating a simple solar oven, cutting down on cling-film by making a food wrap from scrap cotton and beeswax, and turning an old t-shirt into a reusable tote bag so you never need to buy a plastic carrier bag again. You can even grow new plants to clean the air in your own upcycled milk bottle planters and using homemade compost.Each of the activities directly relates to an environmental hot topic, such as plastic pollution, food waste, or deforestation. Budding environmentalists all over the world are feeling inspired to do their bit for our unique planet.If a Tree Falls: The Global Impact of Deforestation (Orca Footprints #18)
Par Nikki Tate. 2020
Every day more of the world’s forests disappear. Trees are cleared for agriculture, lost in wildfires and harvested for the…
valuable products they supply. Called the lungs of the planet, forests play a critical role in climate moderation. What happens when they’re gone? Are replanting and afforestation efforts helping? In If A Tree Falls: The Global Impact of Deforestation, author Nikki Tate gives an accessible and balanced look at forest practices throughout history, the growth of industry and the fight for preservation. Global deforestation affects us all. Find out what you can do to protect forests today and keep them healthy for future generations.Ours to Share: Coexisting in a Crowded World (Orca Footprints #16)
Par Kari Jones. 2019
There are almost eight billion people alive today. Having that many people in the world puts pressure on both social…
and natural resources, and we have to ask ourselves difficult questions like, What is our fair share? And how do we share more equitably? Ours to Share starts by giving an overview of human population growth, from the time when there were only a few hundred thousand people until now. The book goes on to examine some of the inequities that happen between people when natural and social resources are stressed and provides examples of people who have found innovative ways to share more equitably with their neighbors. The book also examines the impact our expanding population has had on other species. Finally, the book offers suggestions for actions kids can take to better the world from their own home, school and community.Our Environment: Everything You Need to Know
Par Shelley Tanaka, Jacques Pasquet, Yves Dumont. 2019
The environment is an essential but sometimes tough and weighty concept to grasp. This engaging nonfiction book takes readers back…
to the basics, offering an accessible overview of what makes up our environment, how those parts work, and why they matter. Divided into five sections—water, air, soil, energy, and climate—the book uses facts, figures, and simple language to give an overarching survey of our environment. Questions run throughout the text, creating a spirit of inquiry. Where does the water we use every day come from? What is the atmosphere? How does pollution affect soil? What is renewable energy? What influences climate? And how do we protect our planet for the future? With an appealing design and simple drawings and diagrams to support comprehension, this book takes a positive spin on the environment, reinforcing the importance of taking care of each element. Informational text features include a table of contents, sidebars, diagrams, and glossary.In the Dark: The Science of What Happens at Night
Par Josh Holinaty, Lisa Deresti Betik. 2020
Ever wonder what happens when you go to sleep at night? Discover all that's still going on in the world…
after dark, in this intriguing, fact-packed introduction to the science of night. What happens when we go to sleep at night? Now young readers can find out, in this entertaining exploration of the science of night. Nocturnal animals are hunting for food. Plants are using math (!) to conserve their overnight energy. Celestial objects only visible after dark are shining brightly in the night sky. Even our own bodies and brains are still working to keep us healthy! Amazing as it is, the world doesn't stop just because we've closed our eyes. Lisa Deresti Betik has created a fun, engaging and fact-packed introduction to the science of what happens in the world after dark. Children will be delighted to find the answers to questions such as: Why do we dream? How do bats use echolocation? What blooms in the moonlight? Why do stars twinkle? Thoroughly researched and vetted by several experts, this book covers multiple STEM topics, leading to tons of direct curriculum links in earth science, life science and physical science. The comprehensive, wide-ranging approach allows for loads of fun facts that will appeal to children. Josh Holinaty's stylish illustrations create a striking nighttime look with a limited, dark color palette. The text is supported by a glossary, an index and suggested sources for further reading.Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya
Par Bruce Kirkby. 2020
One morning at breakfast, while gawking at his phone and feeling increasingly disconnected from family and everything else of importance…
in his world, it strikes writer Bruce Kirkby: this isn’t how he wants to live. Within days, plans begin to take shape. Bruce, his wife Christine, and their two children—seven-year-old Bodi and three-year-old Taj—will cross the Pacific by container ship, then travel onward through South Korea, China, India and Nepal aboard bus, riverboat and train, eventually traversing the Himalaya by foot. Their destination: a thousand-year-old Buddhist monastery in the remote Zanskar valley, one of the last places where Tibetan Buddhism is still practised freely in its original setting. Taken into the mud-brick home of a senior lama, Tsering Wangyal, the family spends the summer absorbed by monastery life. In this refuge, where ancient traditions intersect with the modern world, Bruce discovers ways to slow down, to observe and listen, and ultimately, to better understand his son on the autism spectrum—to surrender all expectations and connect with Bodi exactly as he is. Recounted with wit and humility, Blue Sky Kingdom is an engaging travel memoir as well as a thoughtful exploration of modern distraction, the loss of ancient wisdom, and the challenges and rewards of intercultural friendships.