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The satanic verses : a novel / by Rushdie, Salman,author.;
This book is part of our Book Sanctuary collection. A Book Sanctuary is a physical or digital space that actively protects the freedom to read. It provides shelter and access to endangered books. Launched by Chicago Public Library in 2022, The Book Sanctuary initiative brings attention to challenged titles, and commits to making these books accessible. Innisfil ideaLAB & Library's Book Sanctuary Collection represents books that have been challenged, censored or removed from a public library or school in North America. More than 50 adult, teen, and children's books are in our collection and are available for browsing and borrowing in our branches and online. Explore the collection to learn more about why these books were challenged.
Subjects: Didactic fiction.; Banned book sanctuary.; Airplane crash survival; Survival; Immigrants; East Indians; Families;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Being Chinese in Canada : the struggle for identity, redress and belonging / by Dere, William Ging Wee,1949-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."After the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885-construction of the western stretch was largely built by Chinese workers-the Canadian government imposed a punitive head tax to deter Chinese citizens from coming to Canada. The exorbitant tax strongly discouraged those who had already emigrated from sending for wives and children left in China-effectively splintering families. After raising the tax twice, the Canadian government eventually brought in legislation to stop Chinese immigration altogether. The ban was not repealed until 1947. It was not until June 22, 2006, that Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized to the Chinese Canadian community for the Government of Canada's racist legacy. Until now, little had been written about the events leading up to the apology. William Dere's Being Chinese in Canada is the first book to explore the work of the head tax redress movement and to give voice to the generations of Chinese Canadians involved. Dere explores the many obstacles in the Chinese Canadian community's fight for justice, the lasting effects of state-legislated racism and the unique struggle of being Chinese in Quebec. But Being Chinese in Canada is also a personal story. Dere dedicated himself to the head tax redress campaign for over two decades. His grandfather and father each paid the five-hundred-dollar head tax, and the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act separated his family for thirty years. Dere tells of his family members' experiences; his own political awakenings; the federal government's offer of partial redress and what it means to move forward-for himself, his children and the community as a whole. Many in multicultural Canada feel the issues of cultural identity and the struggle for belonging. Although Being Chinese in Canada is a personal recollection and an exploration of the history and culture of Chinese Canadians, the themes of inclusion and kinship are timely and will resonate with Canadians of all backgrounds."--
Subjects: Dere, William Ging Wee, 1949-; Chinese; Chinese; Chinese; Chinese; Chinese Canadians; Chinese Canadians; Chinese Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Finding Harmony [electronic resource] : by Walters, Eric.aut; cloudLibrary;
So what if Harmony has to be the grown-up? After months living in a foster home (again), Harmony convinces a judge that she can move back in with her mother. Her mom even finds an apartment that the social worker, Gloria, can't find fault with. But now Harmony has an even bigger battle ahead—trying to keep her mom on the straight and narrow, or at least keep Gloria from finding out when she slips. Which she does. A lot. Often left to fend for herself, Harmony finds an ally in Mr. Khaled, the owner of the convenience store across the street. He helps Harmony out with food in exchange for some part-time work. And at school, her principal seems to be on her side. Even so, it feels like Harmony’s life is always one step from falling apart, and she can't really trust anyone. Harmony knows the question is less about whether she'll return to foster care and more about when she's ready to do it. Finding Harmony is the prequel to the Governor General's award-winning The King of Jam Sandwiches. ★ “Tug at the heartstrings and tickle the funny bone…This warm tale is definitely one for the keeper shelves. Highly recommended.” —School Library Journal (SLJ), starred review for The King of Jam SandwichesKey Selling Points Harmony's finally allowed to leave foster care and go home to her mother, who struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism, but Harmony feels like the only one trying to make it work. The book's wise-beyond-her-years narrator, Harmony, shows us a child's experience of the foster care system and of living with a parent struggling so hard with their own mental health issues and addictions that the child essentially raises herself. Yet, the book also demonstrates how kids can resist and persevere in even the direst circumstances. Harmony finds helpers throughout her story—including her supportive friends at her new school, her principal (who also grew up in foster care) and the owner of the corner store, Mr. Khaled, who is a Syrian refugee—giving readers a sense of hope and faith in community. The multigenerational friendship between Harmony and Mr. Khaled shows two people who have survived difficult circumstances finding common ground and sheds light on the immigrant experience. This book is a prequel to the Governor General's award-winning The King of Jam Sandwiches, focusing on Robbie's friend Harmony.Children/juvenile.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Homelessness & Poverty; Orphans & Foster Homes; Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse;
© 2025., Orca Book Publishers,
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Where are you from? / by Méndez, Yamile Saied,author.; Kim, Jaime,illustrator.; Liatis, Maria,narrator.;
Read by Maria Liatis.3-8P-3When a girl is asked where she's from-where she's really from-none of her answers seems to be the right one. Unsure about how to reply, she turns to her loving abuelo for help. He doesn't give her the response she expects. She gets an even better one. Where am I from? You're from hurricanes and dark storms, and a tiny singing frog that calls the island people home when the sun goes to sleep ... With themes of self-acceptance, identity, and home, this powerful, lyrical picture book will resonate with readers young and old, from all backgrounds and of all colors-especially anyone who ever felt that they don't belong.
Subjects: Children's audiobooks.; Book plus audio.; Dyslexia-friendly books.; Families; Grandparent and child; Identity (Psychology); Family life; Grandparent and child; Identity; JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino.; JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Emigration & Immigration.; JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism.; VOX books.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Lost & Found Based on a True Story [electronic resource] : by Yu, Mei.aut; cloudLibrary;
"This bright and bubbly early reader graphic novel, based on debut creator Yu’s own immigration story, validates the sometimes overwhelming nature of learning an unfamiliar language as a child in a new country." —Publishers Weekly   Being the new kid in school is scary enough. But imagine what it would be like if you were the new kid in a new school, in a new country. That’s exactly the situation Mei Yu finds herself in when her family moves from China to Canada. As she navigates her new school, she discovers a unique way to learn English and makes a new friend along the way in this heartwarming story based on the author's own experiences.  Children/juvenile.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Biography; Asian American; Cultural Heritage;
© 2024., Union Square Kids,
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Wandering souls : a novel / by Pin, Cecile,author.;
"A boldly imagined debut novel about three Vietnamese siblings who seek refuge in the UK, expanding into a luminous meditation on ancestry and love. After the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh, and Minh begin a perilous journey to Hong Kong with the promise that their parents and younger siblings will soon follow. But when tragedy strikes, the three children are left orphaned, and sixteen-year-old Anh becomes the caretaker for her two younger brothers overnight. In the years that follow, Anh and her brothers resettle in the UK and confront their new identities as refugees, first in overcrowded camps and resettlement centers and then, later, in a modernizing London plagued by social inequality and raging anti-immigrant sentiment. Anh works in a clothing factory to pay their bills. Minh loiters about with fellow unemployed high school dropouts. Thanh, the youngest, plays soccer with his British friends after class. As they mature, each sibling reckons with survivor's guilt, unmoored by their parents' absence. With every choice they make, their paths diverge further, until it's unclear if love alone can keep them together. Told through lyrical narrative threads, historical research, voices from lost family, and notes by an unnamed narrator determined to chart their fate, Wandering Souls captures the lives of a family marked by war and loss yet relentless in the pursuit of a better future. With urgency and precision, it affirms that the most important stories are those we claim for ourselves, establishing Cecile Pin as a masterful new literary voice"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Families; Immigrants; Orphans; Siblings; Vietnamese;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Fatherland : a memoir of war, conscience, and family secrets / by Bilger, Burkhard,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."What do we owe the past? How to make peace with a dark family history? Burkhard Bilger hardly knew his grandfather growing up. His parents immigrated to Oklahoma from Germany after World War II, and though his mother was an historian, she rarely talked about her father or what he did during the war. Then one day a packet of letters arrived from Germany, yellowing with age, and a secret history began to unfold. Karl Gönner was a schoolteacher and Nazi party member from the Black Forest. In 1940, he was sent to a village in occupied France and tasked with turning its children into proper Germans. A fervent Nazi when the war began, he grew close to the villagers over the next four years, till he came to think of himself as their protector, shielding them from his own party's brutality. Yet he was arrested in 1946 and accused of war crimes. Was he guilty or innocent? A vicious collaborator or just an ordinary man, struggling to atone for his country's crimes? Bilger goes to Germany to find out"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Gönner, Karl, 1899-1979.; Bilger, Burkhard; Ex-Nazis; Teachers; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The last million : Europe's displaced persons from World War to Cold War / by Nasaw, David,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In May of 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, effectively putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of this global military conflict did not cease with the signing of truces and peace treaties. Millions of lost and homeless POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and concentration camp survivors overwhelmed Germany, a country in complete disarray. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate foreigners, and attempted to repatriate them to Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the USSR. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained over a million displaced persons who either refused to go home or, in the case of many, had no home to which to return. They would spend the next three to five years in displaced persons camps, divided by nationalities, temporary homelands in exile, with their own police forces, churches, schools, newspapers, and medical facilities. The international community couldn't agree on the fate of the Last Million, and after a year of fruitless debate and inaction, an International Refugee Organization was created to resettle them in lands suffering from labor shortages. But no nations were willing to accept the 200,000 to 250,000 Jewish men, women, and children who remained trapped in Germany. In 1948, the United States, among the last countries to accept anyone for resettlement, finally passed a Displaced Persons Bill - but as Cold War fears supplanted memories of WWII atrocities, the bill only granted visas to those who were reliably anti-communist, including thousands of former Nazi collaborators, Waffen-SS members, and war criminals, while barring the Jews who were suspected of being Communist sympathizers or agents because they had been recent residents of Soviet-dominated Poland. Only after the passage of the controversial UN resolution for the partition of Palestine and Israel's declaration of independence were the remaining Jewish survivors finally able to leave their displaced persons camps in Germany."--
Subjects: United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.; International Refugee Organization.; World War, 1939-1945; Refugees; Refugees; Jewish refugees; Political refugees; Jews; Humanitarianism; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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With you always / by Hedlund, Jody,author.;
"When a financial crisis in 1850s New York leaves three orphaned sisters nearly destitute, the oldest, Elise Neumann, knows she must take action. She's had experience as a seamstress, and the New York Children's Aid Society has established a special service: placing out seamstresses and trade girls. Even though Elise doesn't want to leave her sisters for a job in Illinois, she realizes this may be their last chance. The son of one of New York City's wealthiest entrepreneurs, Thornton Quincy faces a dilemma. His father is dying, and in order to decide which of his sons will inherit everything, he is requiring them to do two things in six months: build a sustainable town along the Illinois Central Railroad, and get married. Thornton is tired of standing in his twin brother's shadow and is determined to win his father's challenge. He doesn't plan on meeting a feisty young woman on his way west, though"--Goodreads.com.
Subjects: Religious fiction.; Historical fiction.; Romance fiction.; Man-woman relationships; Women immigrants; Rich people; Eighteen fifties;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The woman with the cure / by Cullen, Lynn,author.;
"She gave up everything - and changed the world. A riveting novel based on the true story of the woman who stopped a pandemic, from the bestselling author of Mrs. Poe. In 1940s and '50s America, polio is as dreaded as the atomic bomb. No one's life is untouched by this disease that kills or paralyzes its victims, particularly children. Outbreaks of the virus across the country regularly put American cities in lockdown. Some of the world's best minds are engaged in the race to find a vaccine. The man who succeeds will be a god. But Dorothy Horstmann is not focused on beating her colleagues to the vaccine. She just wants the world to have a cure. Applying the same determination that lifted her from a humble background as the daughter of immigrants, to becoming a doctor--often the only woman in the room--she hunts down the monster where it lurks: in the blood. This discovery of hers, and an error by a competitor, catapults her closest colleague to a lead in the race. When his chance to win comes on a worldwide scale, she is asked to sink or validate his vaccine--and to decide what is forgivable, and how much should be sacrificed, in pursuit of the cure"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Horstmann, Dorothy M. (Dorothy Millicent), 1911-; Poliomyelitis; Virologists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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