Search:

The last dance of the debutante / by Kelly, Julia,1986-author.;
"When it's announced that 1958 will be the last year debutantes are to be presented at court, thousands of eager mothers and hopeful daughters flood the palace with letters seeking the year's most coveted invitation: a chance for their daughters to curtsey to the young Queen Elizabeth and officially come out into society. In an effort to appease her traditional mother, aspiring university student Lily Nichols agrees to become a debutante and do the Season, a glittering and grueling string of countless balls and cocktail parties. In doing so, she befriends two very different women: the cool and aloof Leana Hartford whose apparent perfection hides a darker side and the ambitious Katherine Norman who dreams of a career once she helps her parents find their place among the elite. But the glorious effervescence of the Season evaporates once Lily learns a devastating secret that threatens to destroy her entire family. Faced with a dark past, she's forced to ask herself what really matters: her family legacy or her own happiness. With her signature "intricate, tender, and convincing" (Publishers Weekly) storytelling, Julia Kelly weaves an unforgettable tale of female friendship amid the twilight days of Britain's grand coming out balls"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Debutantes; Families; Female friendship; Secrecy; Young women;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 3
unAPI

The mother of all Degrassi : a memoir / by Schuyler, Linda,author.;
"When a young schoolteacher decides to teach her Grade 8 class about filmmaking and creates a documentary that ends up being broadcast internationally, she sets in motion a career of storytelling for an age group largely ignored by TV executives ... and creates one of the most-loved television franchises of all time. Includes fabulous behind-the-scenes photos and stories for Degrassi fans. Linda Schuyler, co-creator and executive producer of the long-running Degrassi series, shares her personal stories about the grit and determination necessary to make it as a woman entrepreneur in the bourgeoning independent Canadian television industry of the early 1980s. After surviving a near-fatal car accident in 1968, Linda found her life continuing to veer in unexpected directions, ultimately leading her to use her innate abilities as an educator to become a successful storyteller and businesswoman. Linda's deep fondness for teenagers has made her a champion for adolescents. In The Mother of All Degrassi, she shares her strong belief that television is all about story, and good story is all about making the political personal. Through anecdotes and introspection--and some great behind-the-scenes stories for Degrassi fans--Linda examines her philosophy to dream big, think small, meet life head-on, and always keep an open heart."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Schuyler, Linda.; Degrassi television programs.; Television producers and directors; Women television producers and directors;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Good morning, monster : five heroic journeys to recovery / by Gildiner, Catherine,1948-author.;
"Catherine Gildiner is a bestselling memoirist, a novelist, and a psychologist who practiced privately for 25 years. This book focuses on five brave men and women who overcame enormous trauma--in her view, heroes who should be celebrated. With a novelist's storytelling gift, Gildiner recounts the details of her patients' struggles and their paths to recovery and weaves in her own tale of her growth as a psychologist. In therapy, patients have to become vulnerable by stripping away their defenses, but so do therapists, who cannot hide behind a title, a desk, or even their specialized knowledge. The five cases described include a successful but lonely musician suffering sexual dysfunction; a young woman who, at the age of eight, had looked after her two siblings after her father, likely a murderer, abandoned them in a rural cottage; a glamorous workaholic whose wealthy, hideously negligent mother had greeted her each morning with "Good Morning, Monster"; an indigenous man who'd suffered greatly at a residential school; and a young woman whose abuse at the hands of her father led to a severe personality disorder. Each patient presents a mystery at first, one that will only be unpacked over years. They arrive, sometimes unwillingly, to try to overcome an immediate challenge in their lives, but discover that the source of their suffering is an entirely different matter. It will take courage to face those realities, and it requires creativity and resourcefulness from their therapist. Each patient embodies the virtues of self-reflection, stoicism, perseverance, and forgiveness as they confront the real source of their problems and work unflinchingly to face the truth. Gildiner's account of her journeys with them is moving and insightful and sometimes humorous. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the therapist's office and explains how the process can heal even the most unimagineable wounds."--
Subjects: Psychotherapy.; Psychotherapy; Psychologists.; Psychologists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Paper Boat New and Selected Poems: 1961-2023 [electronic resource] : by Atwood, Margaret.aut; cloudLibrary;
One of the Toronto Star’s 25 books to read this season • One of Indigo’s Most Anticipated Books An extraordinary career-spanning collection from one of the most revered poets and storytellers of our age. Tracing the legacy of Margaret Atwood—a writer who has fundamentally shaped the contemporary literary landscapes—Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems, 1961–2023 assembles Atwood’s most vital poems in one essential volume.      In pieces that are at once brilliant, beautiful, and hyper-imagined, Atwood gives voice to remarkably drawn characters—mythological figures, animals, and everyday people—all of whom have something to say about what it means to live in a world as strange as our own. “How can one live with such a heart?” Atwood asks, casting her singular spell upon the reader and ferrying us through life, death, and whatever comes next. Atwood, in her journey through poetry, illuminates our most innate joys and sorrows, desires and fears.      Spanning six decades of work—from her earliest beginnings to brand-new poems—this volume charts the evolution of one of our most iconic and necessary authors.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Subjects & Themes; Canadian; Women Authors;
© 2024., McClelland & Stewart,
unAPI

Between good and evil : the stolen girls of Boko Haram / by Fung, Mellissa,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."In April 2014, the world awoke to the shocking news that the terrorist group Boko Haram had kidnapped nearly 300 school-aged girls and taken them deep into the forests of Nigeria. When veteran journalist Mellissa Fung travelled to Nigeria, she discovered that the scope of the kidnappings had been vastly under-reported. Hundreds--possibly thousands--more girls had been taken against their will and forced to become child brides to soldiers and leaders of Boko Haram. Some of the captives escaped and returned to their villages, many with children in tow. Most of these girls, still children themselves, were shunned by their former friends and family. Other girls have never been seen again. A former captive herself, Mellissa Fung has great empathy for the kidnapped girls. Taken by Taliban sympathizers in Afghanistan, Fung shared her experience in her number-one-bestselling book, Under an Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity. During several visits to Nigeria over four years, she sat down with the girls and their families and conducted hundreds of hours of interviews, listening to horrific stories of capture, rape and torture, as well as escapes and excommunications. Fung tells the stories of Gambo, Asma'u, Zara and other girls taken by Boko Haram. She also portrays strong women fighting against the terrorist group in their own powerful ways: Aisha the Hunter, who moves stealthily into the forest, taking out Boko Haram with her faithful followers, and Mama Boko Haram, an Igbo woman who knows the fighters and those haunted by their experiences and fights to empty the forests of fighters and captives alike. This is raw, honest and heartbreaking storytelling at its best."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Boko Haram.; Abduction; Kidnapping victims; Schoolgirls; Schoolgirls; Schoolgirls; Schoolgirls; Terrorism; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Evidence of things seen : true crime in an era of reckoning / by Weinman, Sarah,editor.;
Includes bibliographical references."In Evidence of Things Seen, fourteen of the most innovative crime writers working today cast a light on the cases that give crucial insight into our society. Wesley Lowery writes about a lynching left unsolved for decades by an indifferent police force and a family's quest for answers. Justine van der Leun reports on the thousands of women in prison for defending themselves from abuse. May Jeong reveals how the Atlanta spa shootings tell a story of America. Edited by acclaimed writer Sarah Weinman, and with an introduction by attorney and host of the Undisclosed podcast Rabia Chaudry, this anthology pulls back the curtain on how crime itself is a by-product of America's systemic harms and inequalities. And in doing so, it reveals how the genre of true crime can be a catalyst for social change. These works combine brilliant storytelling with incisive cultural examinations--and challenge each of us to ask what justice should look like. Evidence of Things Seen introduces the new classics of true crime"--
Subjects: Essays.; True crime stories.; Crime; Crime.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Unearthing : a story of tangled love and family secrets / by Maclear, Kyo,1970-author.;
"For readers of Crying in H Mart and Wintering, an unforgettable memoir about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath, and the indelible power of love. Three months after Kyo Maclear's father dies in December 2018, she gets the results of a DNA test showing that she and the father who raised her are not biologically related. Suddenly Maclear becomes a detective in her own life, unravelling a family mystery piece by piece, and assembling the story of her biological father. Along the way, larger questions arise: what exactly is kinship? And what does it mean to be a family? Thoughtful in its reflections on race and lineage, unflinching in its insights on grief and loyalty, Unearthing is a captivating and propulsive story of inheritance that goes beyond heredity. What gets planted, and what gets buried? What role does storytelling play in unearthing the past and making sense of a life? Can the humble act of tending a garden provide common ground for an inquisitive daughter and her complicated mother? As it seeks to answer these questions, Unearthing bursts with the very love it seeks to understand."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Novels.; Maclear, Kyo, 1970-; Maclear, Kyo, 1970-; Family secrets.; Parent and adult child.; Authors, Canadian (English); Women authors, Canadian (English);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

All our ordinary stories [graphic novel] : a multigenerational family odyssey / by Wong, Teresa,1976-author,illustrator.;
"Beginning with her mother's stroke in 2014, Teresa Wong takes us on a moving journey through time and place to locate the beginnings of the disconnection she feels from her parents. Through a series of stories--some epic, like her mother and father's daring escapes from communes during China's Cultural Revolution, and some banal, like her quitting Chinese school to watch Saturday morning cartoons--Wong carefully examines the cultural, historical, language, and personality barriers to intimacy in her family, seeking answers to the questions "Where did I come from?" and "Where are we going?" At the same time, she discovers how storytelling can bridge distances and help make sense of a life. A book for children of immigrants trying to honour their parents' pasts while also making a different kind of future for themselves, All Our Ordinary Stories is poignant in its understated yet nuanced depictions of complicated family dynamics. Wong's memoir is a heartfelt exploration of identity and inheritance, as well as a testament to the transformative power of stories both told and untold."--
Subjects: Biographical comics.; Nonfiction comics.; Graphic novels.; Wong, Teresa, 1976-; Women cartoonists; Chinese; Chinese; Chinese Canadians; Chinese Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Foreign fruit : a personal history of the orange / by Goh, Katie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."What begins as curiosity about the origins of the orange soon becomes a far-reaching odyssey of citrus for Katie Goh. Goh follows the complicated history of the orange from east to west and west to east, from a luxury item of European kings and Chinese emperors to a modest fruit people take for granted. This investigation parallels Goh's powerful search into her own heritage. Growing up queer in a Chinese-Malaysian-Irish household in the north of Ireland, Goh felt herself at odds with the culture and politics around her. As a teenager, Goh visits her ancestral home in Longyan, China, with her family to better understand her roots, but doesn't find the easy, digestible answers she hoped for. In her midtwenties, when her grandmother falls ill, Goh ventures again to the land of her ancestors, this time to Malaysia, where more questions of self and belonging are raised. In her travels and reflections, she navigates histories that she wants to understand, but has never truly felt a part of. Like the story of the orange, Goh finds that easy and extractable explanations -- even about a seemingly simple fruit -- are impossible. The story that unfolds is Goh's incredible endeavor to flesh out these contradictions, to unpeel the layers of personhood; a reflection on identity through the cipher of the orange. Along the way, the orange becomes so much more than just a fruit -- it emerges as a symbol, a metaphor, and a guide. Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange is a searching, wide-ranging, seamless weaving of storytelling with research and a meditative, deeply moving encounter with the orange and the self"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Goh family.; Goh, Katie; Goh, Katie; Chinese; Citrus fruits; Citrus fruits; Fruit-culture; Oranges; Sexual minorities; Women authors;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Ghosts of crook county : an oil fortune, a phantom child, and the fight for Indigenous land / by Cobb, Russell,1974-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In the early 1900s, at the dawn of the "American Century," few knew the intoxicating power of greed better than white men on the forefront of the black gold rush. When oil was discovered in Oklahoma, these counterfeit tycoons impersonated, defrauded, and murdered Native property owners to snatch up hundreds of acres of oil-rich land. Writer and fourth-generation Oklahoman Russell Cobb sets the stage for one such oilman's chicanery: Tulsa entrepreneur Charles Page's campaign for a young Muscogee boy's land in Creek County. Problem was, "Tommy Atkins," the boy in question, had died years prior -- if he ever lived at all. Ghosts of Crook County traces Tommy's mythologized life through Page's relentless pursuit of his land. We meet Minnie Atkins and the two other women who claimed to be Tommy's "real" mother. Minnie would testify a story of her son's life and death that fulfilled the legal requirements for his land to be transferred to Page. And we meet Tommy himself -- or the men who proclaimed themselves to be him, alive and well in court. Through evocative storytelling, Cobb chronicles with unflinching precision the lasting effects of land-grabbing white men on Indigenous peoples. What emerges are the interconnected stories of unabashedly greedy men, the exploitation of Indigenous land, and the legacy of a boy who may never have existed"--
Subjects: True crime stories.; Indigenous peoples; Petroleum industry and trade; Racism against Indigenous peoples;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI