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Sisters of the spruce : a novel / by Shimotakahara, Leslie,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.World War One is in high gear. Fourteen-year-old Khya Terada moves with her family to a remote, misty inlet on Haida Gwaii, then the Queen Charlotte Islands, in northern British Columbia, known for its Sitka spruces. The Canadian government has passed an act to expedite logging of these majestic trees, desperately needed for the Allies' aircrafts in Europe. At a camp on the inlet, Khya's father, Sannosuke--a talented, daring logger with twenty years of experience since immigrating from Japan--assumes a position of leadership among the Japanese and Chinese workers. But the arrival of a group of white loggers, eager to assert their authority, throws off balance the precarious life that Khya and her family have begun to establish. When a quarrel between Sannosuke and a white man known as "the Captain" escalates, leading to the betrayal of her older sister, Izzy, and humiliation for the family, Khya embarks on a perilous journey with her one friend--a half-Chinese sex worker, on the lam for her own reasons--to track down the man and force him to take responsibility. Yet nothing in the forest is as it appears. Can they save Izzy from ruination and find justice without condemning her to a life of danger, or exposing themselves to the violence of an angry, power-hungry man? Drawing on inspiration from her ancestors' stories and experiences, Shimotakahara weaves an entrancing tale of female adventure, friendship, and survival.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Betrayal; Families; Female friendship; Loggers; Sisters; Sitka spruce; Survival; Japanese Canadians;

Hope by Terry Fox / by Adhiya, Barbara,editor.;
"Inside the mind of a Canadian icon -- the highs, lows, and miles he conquered. Featuring excerpts from Terry's very own Marathon of Hope journal In 1976, when Terry Fox was just 18 years old, he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma and his right leg was amputated just above the knee. It quickly became his mission to help cure cancer so others would not have to endure what he had gone through. He dreamed up a Marathon of Hope -- a fundraising run across Canada, from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia. 7,560 kilometers. 4,700 miles. When he set off on April 12, 1980, Canadians were dubious. But as he continued across the country, enthusiasm grew to a frenzy. Sadly, Terry's cancer returned, and after 143 days and 3,339 miles, he was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope. He passed away in 1981, but the nation picked up his mission where he left off: the annual Terry Fox Run has spread to over 100 countries and has raised more than 850 million dollars to date -- well over Terry's goal of one dollar for every Canadian. Through over 50 interviews with people throughout Terry's life -- ranging from his siblings, nurses, and coaches to volunteers during the Marathon of Hope -- editor Barbara Adhiya discovers how Terry was able to run a marathon a day. Through their stories, passages from Terry's marathon journal, and over 200 photos and documents, Hope shows that with enough resilience, determination, humility, and support, ordinary people can do impossible things."--
Subjects: Anecdotes.; Biographies.; Interviews.; Personal narratives.; Fox, Terry, 1958-1981; Fox, Terry, 1958-1981; Cancer; Runners (Sports);

All the rage : a partial memoir in two acts and a prologue / by Fraser, Brad,1959-author.;
"A Canadian playwright's rise to fame amid the terrors of the AIDS era. Brad Fraser suffered an impoverished and abusive childhood, living with his teenage parents in motel rooms and shacks on the side of the highway in Alberta and Northern British Columbia. He grew to be one of the most celebrated, and controversial, Canadian playwrights, his work produced to acclaim all over the world. All the Rage chronicles Brad Fraser's rise as he breaks with his past and enrolls as a performing arts student. He is pulled into the newly developing Canadian theatre scene, where he shows great promise. But his early career is one of challenge after challenge, some of which result from his upbringing and prejudice against his queerness. But just as many challenges arise from his combative personality and willingness to challenge the establishment. Few Canadian artists have been as abrasive, notorious and polarizing as Fraser was in his youth. Woven through this tale of artistic development is his journey as a queer man coming into himself during the most exhilarating period in the Gay Liberation Movement, and the dawn of a global health crisis. What should have been a triumphant time in a young, successful playwright's life was blighted with the terrifying emergence of AIDS, and the sickness and death of comrades and lovers. This is both the story of an artist's evolution and an important work of gay history that has rarely been recounted from a Canadian perspective. Written with Fraser's trademark wit and candour, All the Rage is unsparing, sometimes shocking and always enthralling."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Fraser, Brad, 1959-; Gay dramatists; Gay liberation movement; Gays; Gays; Dramatists, Canadian (English);

Ken Reid's hometown hockey heroes / by Reid, Ken,1974-author.;
"From Sportsnet Central host and broadcaster Ken Reid comes an inspiring and entertaining new collection of hockey stories about local legends who define the game and its values in communities across Canada. In many communities across Canada, hockey lives in the nearby arenas and leagues that forge both decades-long rivalries and unbreakable friendships. Fans show up to cheer not for distant NHL superstars, but for the homegrown heroes who define their town. These players don't always make it to the big leagues, but they inevitably become legends. In this entertaining collection, Canadian broadcaster and Sportsnet Central host Ken Reid tells their uplifting stories, from Pictou, Nova Scotia, to Kimberley, British Columbia--and everywhere in between. There's Robbie Forbes, who arrived in Newfoundland in the mid-eighties still dreaming of the pros and ended up giving the town a dream of its own when he led the Corner Brook Royals to a Canadian Senior Hockey title. He also happens to be Sidney Crosby's uncle. In a legendary Ontario community, the name Paul Polillo is spoken in the same reverential breath as Wayne Gretzky in their shared hometown of Brantford. There's also the tragic story of George Pelawa, who may have been the inspiration for Tom Cochrane & Red Rider's famous song "Big League." And Tyson Wuttunee, an Indigenous player in Saskatchewan who, through hockey, found the family and home he'd always longed for. Featuring heartwarming stories of grit, leadership, and life-long bonds, Ken Reid's Hometown Hockey Heroes celebrates how hockey, and the values the game teaches, can shape our communities for the better"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Hockey players; Hockey players; Hockey; Hockey; Hockey; Hockey;

Lean out : a meditation on the madness of modern life / by Henley, Tara,author.;
In 2016, journalist Tara Henley was at the top of her game working in Canadian media. She had traveled the world, from Soweto to Bangkok and Borneo to Brooklyn, interviewing authors and community leaders, politicians and Hollywood celebrities. But when she started getting chest pains at her desk in the newsroom, none of that seemed to matter. The health crisis--not cardiac, it turned out, but anxiety--forced her to step off the media treadmill and examine her life and the stressful twenty-first century world around her. Henley was not alone; North America was facing an epidemic of lifestyle-related health problems. And yet, the culture was continually celebrating the elite few who thrived in the always-on work world, those who perpetually leaned in. Henley realized that if we wanted innovative solutions to the wave of burnout and stress-related illness, it was time to talk to those who had leaned out. Part memoir, part travelogue, and part investigation, Lean Out tracks Henley's journey from the heart of the connected city to the fringe communities that surround it. From early retirement enthusiasts in urban British Columbia to moneyless men in rural Ireland, Henley uncovers a parallel track in which everyday citizens are quietly dropping out of the mainstream and reclaiming their lives from overwork. Underlying these disparate movements is a rejection of consumerism, a growing appetite for social contribution, and a quest for meaningful connection in this era of extreme isolation and loneliness. As she connects the dots between anxiety and overwork, Henley confronts the biggest issues of our time.
Subjects: Self-help publications.; Henley, Tara; Journalists; Job stress.; Conduct of life.; Happiness.; Anxiety.;

Becoming a Matriarch A Memoir [electronic resource] : by Knott, Helen.aut; cloudLibrary;
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER Co-winner of the 2024 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature Winner of the Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes (part of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes) Shortlisted for the 2024 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize Finalist for the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction Shortlisted for the 2025 OLA Evergreen Award Longlisted for Canada Reads 2025 When matriarchs begin to disappear, there is a choice to either step into the places they left behind, or to craft a new space. Helen Knott’s debut memoir, In My Own Moccasins, wowed reviewers, award juries, and readers alike with its profoundly honest and moving account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, resilience, and survival. Now, in her highly anticipated second book, Knott returns with a chronicle of grief, love, and legacy. Having lost both her mom and grandmother in just over six months, forced to navigate the fine lines between matriarchy, martyrdom, and codependency, Knott realizes she must let go, not just of the women who raised her, but of the woman she thought she was. Woven into the pages are themes of mourning, sobriety through loss, and generational dreaming. Becoming a Matriarch is charted with poetic insights, sass, humour, and heart, taking the reader over the rivers and mountains of Dane Zaa territory in Northeastern British Columbia, along the cobbled streets of Antigua, Guatemala, and straight to the heart of what matriarchy truly means. This is a journey through pain, on the way to becoming.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Native Americans; Personal Memoirs; Women;
© 2023., Knopf Canada,

The darkest white : a mountain legend and the avalanche that took him / by Blehm, Eric,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."From Eric Blehm, the bestselling author of The Last Season and Fearless, comes an extraordinary new book in the vein of Into the Wild, the story of the legendary snowboarder Craig Kelly and his death in the 2003 Durrand Glacier Avalanche--a devastating and controversial tragedy that claimed the lives of seven people. On January 20, 2003, a thunderous crack rang out and a 100-foot-wide tide of snow barreled down the Northern Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. More than a dozen skiers and snowboarders were thrust down the mountain, buried beneath several tons of rock-hard snow and ice in the Durrand Glacier Avalanche. A heroic search and rescue ensued. Among those buried was Craig Kelly--"the Michael Jordan of snowboarding"--a man who had propelled the sport into the mainstream before walking away from competitions, to rekindle his passion in the untamed alpine wilds of North America. The Darkest White is the story of Craig Kelly's life, a heartbreaking but extraordinary and inspiring odyssey of a latchkey kid whose athletic prowess and innovations would revolutionize winter sports, take him around the globe, and push him into ever more extreme environments that would ultimately take his life. It is also a definitive, immersive account of snowboarding and the cultural movement that exploded around it, growing the sport from minor Gen X cult hobby to Olympic centerpiece and a billion-dollar business full of feuds and rivalries. Finally, The Darkest White is a mesmerizing, cautionary portrait of the mountains, of the allure and the glory they offer, and of the avalanches they unleash with unforgiving fury"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Kelly, Craig Elmer, 1966-2003.; Avalanches; Snowboarders;

Hope by Terry Fox [electronic resource] : by Adhiya, Barbara.aut; cloudLibrary;
Featuring excerpts from Terry’s very own Marathon of Hope journal, Hope by Terry Fox shares the untold story of a well known hero — the goofy, resilient, and courageous 21-year-old who rallied a nation behind his mission. In 1976, when Terry Fox was just eighteen years old, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and his right leg was amputated just above the knee. It quickly became his mission to help cure cancer so others would not have to endure what he had gone through. He dreamed up a Marathon of Hope — a fundraising run across Canada, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia. 5,300 miles. When he set off on April 12, 1980, Canadians were dubious. But as he continued across the country, enthusiasm grew to a frenzy. Sadly, Terry’s cancer returned, and after 143 days and 3,339 miles, he was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope. He passed away in 1981, but the nation picked up his mission where he left off, and the annual Terry Fox Run has even spread to cities around the world, raising more than $850 million to date — well over Terry’s goal of one dollar for every Canadian. After conducting over fifty interviews with people throughout Terry’s life — ranging from his siblings, nurses, and coaches to volunteers during the Marathon of Hope — editor Barbara Adhiya discovers how Terry was able to run a marathon a day. Through their stories, passages from Terry’s marathon journal, and over 200 photos and documents, Hope by Terry Fox shows that with enough resilience, determination, humility, and support, ordinary people can do impossible things.General adult.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Canada; History; Motivational & Inspirational; Sports;
© 2024., ECW Press,

Indian in the Cabinet : speaking truth to power / by Wilson-Raybould, Jody,1971-author.;
Jody Wilson-Raybould was raised to be a leader. Inspired by the example of her grandmother, who persevered throughout her life to keep alive the governing traditions of her people, and raised as the daughter of a hereditary chief and Indigenous leader, Wilson-Raybould always knew she would take on leadership roles and responsibilities. She never anticipated, however, that those roles would lead to a journey from her home community of We Wai Kai in British Columbia to Ottawa as Canada's first Indigenous Minister of Justice and Attorney General in the Cabinet of then newly elected prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Wilson-Raybould's experience in Trudeau's Cabinet reveals important lessons about how we must continue to strengthen our political institutions and culture, and the changes we must make to meet challenges such as racial justice and climate change. As her initial optimism about the possibilities of enacting change while in Cabinet shifted to struggles over inclusivity, deficiencies of political will, and concerns about adherence to core principles of our democracy, Wilson-Raybould stood on principle and, ultimately, resigned. In standing her personal and professional ground and telling the truth in front of the nation, Wilson-Raybould demonstrated the need for greater independence and less partisanship in how we govern. "Indian" in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power is the story of why Wilson-Raybould got into federal politics, her experience as an Indigenous leader sitting around the Cabinet table, her proudest achievements, the very public SNC-Lavalin affair, and how she got out and moved forward. Now sitting as an Independent Member in Parliament, Wilson-Raybould believes there is a better way to govern and a better way for politics--one that will make a better country for all.
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Wilson-Raybould, Jody, 1971-; Attorneys general; Justice ministers; Legislators; Cabinet ministers; Indigenous legislators;

My fight for Canadian healthcare : a thirty-year battle to put patients first / by Day, Brian,1947-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."On July 15, 2022, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that patients in BC were suffering, and many risked dying, as a result of delayed access to care. The ruling included a conclusion that the delays were caused by planned and deliberate government strategies to limit resources and capacity. Despite that, they upheld laws that cause patients to die. Their rationale was that allowing non-government options, which is something every other country on the planet allows, might negatively impact our existing, grossly underperforming, health system. Canada is currently ranked 10th out of 10 universal health systems in highly developed countries. The Appeal Court made its decision despite an admission that the trial data "represents real people, with real pain, a real setbacks, and real risk of dying prematurely" and that "waiting inherently carries the risk of death." This book traces a personal journey through a Canadian health system that has reached the point of imposing serious harm on patients. Governments have stubbornly adhered to principles developed over 60 years ago. Medicare was supposed to act as a safety net. Instead, it has become a trap in which patients are forced to suffer. Wole Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel Prize winner for literature, once stated: "Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress the truth." While this book may not strike terror in those who have opposed me over the years, I hope it will at least promote guilt in the hearts of those who fought us in the courtroom, many of whom have benefitted from their own extensive use of private clinics, including ours"--
Subjects: Clinics; Health care reform; Medical care; Medical care; Right to health;