"I have spent the last four years watching people die." With these wrenching words, diplomat and humanitarian Stephen Lewis opens his 2005 CBC Massey Lectures. Lewis's determination to bear witness to the desperate plight of so many in Africa and elsewhere is balanced by his unique, personal, and often searing insider's perspective on our ongoing f …

Gabrielle is a bonemender of extraordinary talent.

Between her work as a healer and her duties as one of the royal family of Verdeau, her life is busy, comfortable and predictable—until the day a stranger arrives at her gate, desperately seeking help for his injured friend. To Gabrielle's wonder, they are Elves, a people not seen in Verdeau in man …

Josh had been living in a group home after being ratted out by Scott, his one-time best friend.

Now Josh has moved in with his brother and overbearing sister-in-law and has been sent to a class designed to teach him to deal with his anger. When an old enemy continues to push his buttons and Scott appears to be up to his old tricks, Josh struggles to …

George Most Wanted is the second of three books in the George series

At the end of The True Story of George, George, a small plastic man, went for a ride on a rocket and flew apart. Now, with Katie and Mackenzie’s help, all his parts must find each other. But his head has been frozen deep in a bag of blackberries. Will he ever be whole again?

The …

Montana 1911: A Professor and his Wife among the Blackfeet is the complete text diary kept by Mrs. W.M. Uhlenbeck-Melchior while accompanying her husband, the Dutch anthropologist/linguist, Dr. C.C. Uhlenbeck during his fieldwork on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana in the summer of 1911. Her eyewitness account of their three-month stay gives th …

Originally published in 1993, The Generals is a collective biography of the Canadian army's leaders in World War II, and is the winner of the Dafoe Book Prize for International Relations and the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography. The only book of its kind on this subject, The Generals remains an invaluable resource for academics, policy makers, and …

In The Chevalier de Montmagny, Jean-Claude Dubé documents the extraordinary career of Charles Huault de Montmagny, first governor of the colony of New France. Born in Paris in 1601, and educated by the Jesuits, Montmagny studied law at the Université d'Orléans, joined the Order of Malta, and enjoyed a colourful career as a Hospitalier privateer …

Googol and Googolplex have come back to earth to continue their scavenger hunt. Tutus, sand dollars and peacock feathers are on their list.

Luckily Troy and Pippa are ready to help, and the ocean is nearby, but so is Martin Kelly, the boy next door, who will ruin everything if he gets a chance.

Under the Sea with Googol and Googoplex is the second of …

Wilf is convinced his parents want nothing to do with him.

When he isn't in school, he is left to his own devices or shipped away to camp. But at fifteen, Wilf is adamant that he is too old for summer camp. When his parents ignore his protests and ship him off anyway, he knows how he will get their attention: He will escape from camp by canoe and sp …

Best Books of 2005, Ottawa Xpress

Writer's Trust of Canada's "Warm Weather Reads Recommended by Writers" list (recommended by Robert Hough)

Confessions of a Small Press Racketeer is equal parts literary memoir, advice for the emerging writer, and reckless tirade. Ross has been active in the Canadian literary underground for a quarter of a century: he …

It's summertime and hoops season is over, but that doesn't keep Nick and Kia off the court.

One very hot day they head to the rec center for a swim but end up on the outdoor courts that are usually dominated by older players. Their enjoyment of the court is short-lived, however, when three teens show up and kick the kids and their ball off the court …

What is the best way to tell a story?

In this anthology, the first-ever collection of essays by innovative, cutting-edge writers on the theme of narration, forty of the continent's top experimental writers describe their engagement with language, storytelling and the world. The anthology includes renowned writers like Kathy Acker, Dennis Cooper, Nic …

Can a breakup break you apart?

In Self-Titled, Geoffrey Brown stares into a mirror and writes what he sees, what he thinks, what he feels. The result? A self-portrait that's at once comic and psychotic, a complex consciousness captured in crystalline prose. Memories, manias, miasmas – Brown morphs the machinery of his mind into an utterly original …

The companion volume to the recently reissued Second Words, Moving Targets is an essential collection of critical prose by Margaret Atwood, now available in a handsome new A List edition.

The most precious treasure of this collection is that it gives us the rich back-story and diverse range of influences on Margaret Atwood’s work. From the aunts …

Jeremy should be at home eating his supper, instead, he has traveled through time with a cat named Aristotle to Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods.

Neither he nor Aristotle has any idea how to get home, let alone how to help Mr. Magnus lift Zeus's curse on his theater, where no play has been performed for years. Not knowing what else to do, Jerem …

Pete's pranks have gotten him in plenty of trouble, but they might be the only way to bring justice to a seaside town.

Pete likes to play pranks. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it gets a laugh. When he impersonates his vice-principal on a radio call-in show, he goes too far and is suspended from school. Pete's parents send him to spend the …

Dying Hard: Industrial Carnage in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland is a series of first-hand accounts by miners suffering from industrial diseases contracted while working in the fluorspar mines of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. It tells the stories of men waiting for death to relieve them from the continuing agony of cancer and silicosis; and of the women …

Better break out your sledgehammer – it's time for a little concrete! Concrete poetry, that is. Concrete what? Well, it's poetry that's a lot like art – its meaning comes from what it looks like instead of the order of the words, so it's full of great visual puns and word puzzles. And one of its foremost practitioners is bpNichol, one of Canada …

A street race ends in a tragic accident. Jake's friends tell him to run, but he doesn't know if he can—or should—run from the truth.

Jake has finally got his driver's license, and tonight he has his brother's car as well. He and his friend Mickey take the car out and cruise the strip. When they challenge another driver to a street race, a disast …

The year is 1957, and Bobby lives on the Tsartlip First Nation reserve on Vancouver Island where his family has lived for generations and generations.

Bobby loves his weekend job at the nearby marina. He loves to play marbles with his friends. And he loves being able to give half his weekly earnings to his mother to eke out the grocery money, but he …

It's a new season for Nick and Kia and once again they have to prove they've got what it takes to make the Mississauga Magic rep team.

There is no free ride on Coach Barkley's team. The tryouts are tough but fair and it looks like the nucleus of last yearís team will be together once again. But there is one new player who seems to have the skills t …

This book celebrates the cuisine and the countryside of Niagara and southwestern Ontario. You'll find wonderful recipes, appealing full-colour photographs, and up-to-the-minute profiles of more than 40 fine dining establishments. The Niagara Peninsula and southwestern Ontario grow some of Canada's tastiest fruits and vegetables and produce a wide …

Eric Hanson - Alberta’s first, and arguably greatest, economist - wrote a number of influential books on federal-provincial relations, education finance, health care finance, and energy economics. In 1949, he took a leave from the University of Alberta, where he was a lecturer, to write his PhD at Clark University in Worchester, Massachusetts. Hi …

When an adult neighbor is brutally murdered during a high-school house party, everyone in school seems to have an idea who did it, but no one will go to the police.

Jen was there and saw the body and she has her own ideas about who is responsible. As a reporter for the school TV show, she decides to try and uncover the truth and discover if a classm …

The field of Adapted Physical Activity is a rapidly expanding area in post-secondary education. As the profession grows, so does the demand for new texts that challenge students to think critically. "Adapted Physical Activity" edited by Steadward, Wheeler and Watkinson is a textbook that combines up-to-date information with a critical thinking appr …

Philosophical Theory and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights examines the relations and interrelations among theoretical and practical analyses of human rights. Edited by William Sweet, this volume draws on the works of philosophers, political theorists and those involved in the implementation of human rights. The essays, although diverse in …

pppeeeaaaccceee, is a vast, imaginative and mesmerizing glide through Life and Power. The play is set in Ephemeral; three people firmly floating chat – in O'Donnell's inimitable rapid-fire style - about the revolution. Which revolution? Good question. A gently aggressive meditation, pppeeeaaaccceee examines our being, asks us what we're doing and …

Methadone Maintenance: A Counsellor’s Guide to Treatment presents concepts and strategies that distinguish methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) as an area of specialization within substance use counselling.

This practical guide:

• provides a detailed discussion of opioids and opioid dependence
• summarizes the advantages and limitations of MMT
• orie …

First published by Anansi in 1969, Five Legs was a breakthrough for Canadian experimental fiction, selling 1,000 copies in its first week. At the time Scott Symons wrote that "Five Legs has more potent writing in it, page for page, than any other young Canadian novel that I can think of." Or indeed any young American novel — including Pynchon and …

On August 22, 1922, near Macroom, County Cork, a single bullet from an unknown gunman killed Michael Collins, the Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army. The day Collins was buried, businesses across Dublin shut down as thousands lined the streets to pay their respects. And on that day, Michael Lyons, a cooper from the Guinness factory tak …

Canada's ceramists, tapestry weavers, and other craft artists are recognized amongst the world's finest artisans. Craft Perception and Practice celebrates the excellence of Canadian crafts by bringing together twenty-four essays and critical commentaries by sixteen independent critics and curators, professional artists, art historians, and studio a …

Nick, Kia and their Mississauga Magic teammates are on the road, heading off to an elite hoop tournament in the Midwest.

Feeling outmatched by many of the high-profile teams, the kids are still looking forward to a good time. However, Coach Barkley, who played college ball in the area and is still regarded as a hero, has other ideas. As usual, nothi …

Since the first edition of this popular textbook appeared in 1984, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has transformed the role of the courts in Canadian politics. The book introduces students to issues raised by the new political role of Canadian judges. The revised and updated third edition features new introductions and new readings that deal wit …

A welfare cheque floats down the river, a cowboy spreads the Word of the Lord and crotches tick like clocks: the world of Spare Parts is unpredictable, evocative and vividly distorted. Its initial appearance, in 1981, caused a stir; at a time when linear narrative was the m.o. of feminist writing, Gail Scott had the nerve to fracture and dislocate …

All war is hell. But for troops serving in World War I, it was the bloodiest trench warfare ever known. GENERALS DIE IN BED is a first-hand account of one young man catapulted from new recruit to walking wounded on the Western Front.

From day one, he’s surrounded by mud and fear. Artillery whistles down without warning. Boys, barely men, cry out f …

Everybody loves the movies. But a movie about the colour blue, or an isolated mountain range, or a man grown so thin the world floats through his perfect transparency? 'You know what would be really great - to make a two-hour movie about Taylor Mead's ass,' remarked Andy Warhol, the most notorious fringe filmer of them all. Welcome to the strange …

We live in an age dominated by the cult of efficiency. Efficiency in the raging debate about public goods is often used as a code word to advance political agendas. When it is used correctly, efficiency is important: it must always be part of the conversation when resources are scarce and citizens and governments have important choices to make amon …

Balancing wisdom and innocence, joy and foreboding, Sheila Heti’s completely original stories lead you to surprising places. This edition featuring nine new stories.

A frog doles out sage advice to a plumber infatuated with a princess, a boy falls hopelessly in love with a monkey, and a man with a hat keeps apocalyptic thoughts at bay by resolving …

Amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) are a significant but much-neglected component of the natural economy of the province of Alberta. This second edition, which continues both as a field guide and a comprehensive natural history, builds on the strengths of the first with a richly illustrated text and colour photographs of the species taken by re …

"All girls [should read] The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis." — Malala Yousafzai, New York Times

The first book in Deborah Ellis’s riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan.

Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her …

The medieval poem Cursor Mundi is a biblical verse account of the history of the world, offering a chronological overview of salvation history from Creation to Doomsday. Originating in northern England around the year 1300, the poem was frequently copied in the north before appearing in a southern version in substantially altered form. Although it …

Jake is celebrating his tenth birthday. That’s a remarkable feat, because at birth he was given only three years to live. Miriam Edelson is his mother, a dedicated fighter for Jake and families in similar situations. Edelson poses some tough questions: How do parents cope with a child who has special needs? Are we failing, as a society, to care f …

A classic of Canadian literature by the great Quebecoise writer, Kamouraska is based on a real nineteenth-century love-triangle in rural Quebec. It paints a poetic and terrifying tableau of the life of Elisabeth d'Aulnieres: her marriage to Antoine Tassy, squire of Kamouraska; his violent murder; and her passion for George Nelson, an American docto …

In this expanded edition of her bestselling 1989 CBC Massey Lectures, renowned scientist and humanitarian Ursula M. Franklin examines the impact of technology upon our lives and addresses the extraordinary changes since The Real World of Technology was first published.

In four new chapters, Franklin tackles contentious issues, such as the dilution o …

Government and First Nations leaders have tended to operate within two different systems of knowledge and perception regarding treaty rights issues in Canada. While First Nations emphasize the original spirit or intent of an agreement, government stresses the letter of the agreement. The Spirit of the Alberta Indian Treaties has long been acknowled …

This distinguished collection of essays, edited under the direction of David Lyle Jeffrey and Dominic Manganiello, emerged from the discussions that surrounded the 1995-1996 McMartin Lectures. Dedicated to studying the relationship and contributions of historic Christian thought to the intellectual life of university disciplines, this series of lec …

Acclaimed as a man "who inspires the world" (Maclean's) and a "nation builder" (Globe and Mail), Jean Vanier has made a difference in the lives of countless people -- including those with disabilities and the many young people who have been moved by his life's work.

Becoming Human is a modern classic that continues to resonate among the generations …

Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in Ottawa from August 18 to 23, 1996. -- Actes du 22e congrès international des sciences généalogique et héraldique à Ottawa du 18 au 23 août 1996.

George Grant's magnificent four-part meditation sums up much that is central to his own thought, including a critique of modern liberalism, an analysis of John Rawls's Theory of Justice, and insights into the larger Western philosophical tradition.

This edition contains an introduction by Grant scholar Dr Robin Lathangue.

There are no lost women, only women who've forgotten their scripts.' RM Vaughan's play about Hollywood director Dorothy Arzner comes off the stage and onto the page in this handsome edition from Coach House Books. An insightful look at the gender politics behind the cameras and studios of the golden age of cinema.