Negotiating So Everyone Wins
Every day, people make deals that matter. But very few of us benefit from the public scrutiny and analysis that have helped Canada's leading negotiation experts hone their craft. Hockey team executives, cabinet ministers, bank presidents and labour leaders are constantly under the microscope, and they have learned what it takes to build agreements …
Champion for Health
Clara Hughes has won multiple medals in both summer and winter Olympic Games. As a cyclist and speed skater, Clara pushed through pain to get to the finish line, trying to have her best race every day. Few knew that the same determination and focus were also needed to fight her own personal battles. Abusing drugs and alcohol from her early teens, C …
Killer Drop
Marcus has it all: charm, good looks, successful parents, endless opportunities and anything money can buy. Along with his best friend, Tom, and Tom's crush, Yasmin, he escapes to his parents' resort condo during a school trip to Whistler, B.C. And he can't refuse when drinking makes Yasmin determined to hook up with him instead of Tom. The three d …
Tagged Out
The inner-city Blues baseball team is having a lousy year. Shortstop Nash and the Blues can't seem to win. They especially hate losing to their archrivals, the rich kids of the Parkhill Pirates. When all-star player Jock joins the team, it looks like the Blues might be able to turn the season around. The only problem? When the Pirates find out that …
Crack Coach
Maurice and Vijay are thrilled to be the only grade nine students to make the junior football team. But it soon becomes clear that their coach, Bob Jones, who has just been elected mayor, has his own reasons for giving his two new players preferential treatment.
Massive media coverage of the outspoken Coach Jones starts turning up allegations of ill …
The Beautiful Game
Cody and the Lions are playing great soccer, even if their team has only eleven players. But the arrival of an international company to build a factory on a nearby lake splits the team in two: Cody and his teammates who are worried the factory will pollute the lake vs. the players whose families will benefit from the jobs and opportunities the comp …
Head Hunter
As captain of the Westside Warriors, Colt plays clean and hard. But lately his coach has been losing his temper and ordering the team to win at any cost, even if it means playing dirty. What makes it worse is that Coach is Colt's father, and his erratic behaviour at home and on the field has Colt wondering if something is seriously wrong with his d …
Ice Time
Paul Bidwell dreams of playing on a hockey team but knows that his mother can't afford to pay for the registration fees or the equipment. So he plays boot hockey with his friends and practises alone every night on the open-ice rink in the park. When the flu and mononucleosis hit Paul's school and his best friend, Vincent, is laid up with a concussi …
Fight Back
Tyler Josten has never caught a break. Abandoned by his mother, physically and emotionally abused by his father, he grows up with a wild temper, fighting anyone he sees as a bully -- including the police. When he gets into trouble with the law, his grandmother gives up on him, and he is placed in foster care to wait for his court date.
The Conways w …
Safety Stars
Professional hockey is a fast game, and a dangerous one. Skates slice like razors; a hard-shot puck can take out an eye; and the ice surface is as hard as rock, especially when skulls are slammed against it. Innovations in equipment make the game faster and more exciting -- and have to be countered by measures that keep it safe for players.
From hoc …
Real Justice: Jailed for Life for Being Black
Rubin Carter was in and out of reformatories and prisons from the age of twelve. At twenty-four, he became a winning professional boxer and was turning his life around. But Carter was also very vocal about racism in the local New Jersey police force. In 1966, local policemen arrested Carter and a friend for a triple murder. The two were convicted a …
Red Zone Rivals
When Coach Gordon suddenly retires, Quinn Brown has to prove to a new coach that he deserves to remain the Spartans' starting quarterback. But Coach Miller's style seems to be throwing Quinn off his game -- and big-mouthed second-string Luke is gunning for Quinn's position.
To top it off, Quinn has been paired up with a peer tutor for math, and the …
The Sinkhole
With the arrival of a mysterious letter from Cales estranged father, what looked to be a dull, hot summer becomes an exciting adventure for the Seven Stair Crew!
A series of clues sends the boys on a quest to find "The Empire" -- four super-secret skateboard sites with some of the most thrilling, gnarly set-ups around. Even Toby, the clumsy SSC wann …
Catching Forever
It's awkward enough for any kid going to a new school, but Rose, whose family belongs to a Mennonite community, feels even more out of place. Then, one day, she picks up a baseball.
Inspired by her own childhood memories, Laurel Dee Gugler paints a touching portrait of a young girl throwing herself into a new game and fresh possibilities.
Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard was the greatest hockey player of the 20th century. He was also the most popular and respected hero of French-speaking Canadians. His career paralleled the dramatic changes that occurred in Quebec after the Second World War, when the Quebecois people asserted their equality and their rights.
This new biography of Richard records his …
Hoop Dreams
Playing ball is what keeps Podium Sports Academy's basketball captain going when things get rough. When there's trouble back home, Allie turns to basketball. Ditto when her relationship is in trouble or when she's at odds with her friends. But then tragedy strikes when an old knee injury resurfaces and Allie is told she might not be able to play a …
Pick and Roll
Jazz Smith-Mohapatra is the toughest and best player on her basketball team -- and this year she's determined to lead the team to a championship win. But in the last game of the regular season, Jazz sets an offensive move called a pick and roll. A player on the other team doesn't see it coming; she crashes into Jazz, and then onto the floor. Though …
Annaleise Carr
Over eight months worth of planning, hundreds of hours of hard physical training, amassing a team of dedicated crewmates, approaching sponsors and collecting donations -- and finally, swimming for twenty-seven hours across the cold, rough waters of Lake Ontario.
Why would a fourteen-year-old girl take on such a challenge?
For Annaleise Carr, the moti …
Stupid
Martin's been diagnosed with ADHD, but he feels something about his diagnosis isn't right. The Ritalin he's prescribed doesn't seem to make a difference. When Martin's grades continue to sink no matter how hard he tries, his father writes him off as lazy and just plain stupid. His dad is convinced that Martin just needs to focus more on his studies …
Big League Dreams
This is a history of black major league baseball players and the crumbling of the colour barrier in sport, and the story of how Fergie Jenkins rose to the top to become Canada's first inductee into the American Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fergie Jenkins grew up in the era when Jackie Robinson became the first black man to play major league baseball, and …
Spiked
Eighth-grader Emma is the tallest person in her class. While she used to be into sports in a big way, now that she's hanging out with her new best friend, other things have become more important -- like clothes and makeup and fitting in. When Emma gets roped into volunteering for the girls' volleyball team, she feels the urge to play again. First, …
SAR: Powderhounds
It's the last run of the day and hotdog skier Luc isn't afraid to go out of bounds to get the most out of a downhill experience. Though his girlfriend, Cass, is a bit more cautious, she's not going to let Luc go on his own. But as the weather takes a turn for the worse, the skiers become lost.
When Search and Rescue gets the phone call that the skie …
Skinner's Banks
Cale Finch has just won second place in a skateboarding competition when he's ambushed on his way home by a member of a rival crew, the Mental Posse. They steal the money that Cale was going to use to replace his broken skateboard. Cale feels embarrassed by what happened, so he doesn't tell anyone right away.
Eventually, Mark Skinner, an older skat …
TT: Full Throttle
Scott has one obsession: to fulfill his late father's dream of racing in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Races, the most dangerous and prestigious motorcycle road race in the world. Far from their home in British Columbia and still reeling from a recent tragedy, Scott and his roommates-turned-pit crew have only five days during Practice Week to secu …
Striker
Thirteen-year-old Cody is aching to get back onto the pitch. Last year he had a tumor removed from his leg. Though it's a struggle, Cody tries out for the Lions and makes the team as a "super sub" -- one of eleven players who jokingly named themselves that because they're never allowed to play. Secretly Cody is relieved, since he hasn't told anyone …
Big Air
Aboriginal snowboarder Jax has it made. He's in his last year at Podium Sports Academy and he's got a sponsorship from a big snowboarding company in the bag. But then his older brother, always the troublemaker in the family, shows up in Calgary unexpectedly. Suddenly Jax's sponsorship is threatened when the police come asking questions about a brea …
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have had a long and storied history as one of the original -- and dominant -- Canadian hockey franchises. Stocked with skilled and adventurous players, the early Senators were known for their aggressive play and never-say-die attitude. The fascinating story of the team continues into the present with the thrilling account of how …
Montreal Canadiens
In 1917, the Montreal Canadiens became one of the four founding teams of the National Hockey League. Since then, the team has enjoyed countless breathtaking triumphs. Not only have they won more Stanley Cup Championships than any other team in the NHL, they have also boasted some of the best players the league has ever seen. Through it all, they ha …
Toronto Maple Leafs
"Since its construction in 1931, the Maple Leaf Gardens had seen its share of powerful, memorable moments and held its share of championship glory. But there was something different about this evening of May 2, 1967."
This book will be especially facinating for readers interested in hockey or sports. The Toronto Maple Leafs is one of Canada's great …
Double Play
Allie loves baseball. It's the one thing that has been consistent in her lately complicated life. Allie's father left recently, and now Allie has a new family -- her mother's new girlfriend, Phyllis, and son Miles have moved in. It's taking some adjustment, mostly because Miles seems determined to get under her skin. Things start looking up when Al …
Street Kings
Cale Finch's plans for Spring Break? EAT, SLEEP, SKATE.
Cale's determined that this time he'll successfully ollie the set of seven stairs that mark initiation into the Seven Stair Crew, a group of older, junior-high skaters. But Cale soon finds that not all local skaters are welcoming to grommets (new skaters) like him. He has to find his voice, lea …
Forward Pass
Podium Sports Academy's star goalkeeper wants nothing more than to play on Canada's National Team. Parmita works hard at school and on the pitch, so if it seems like she's avoiding boys, she hopes everyone will think it's because she wants to be the best, and not because she's secretly attracted to girls.
The team's new assistant coach may actually …
Playing Favourites
Gavin and his friends Mido and Critter are starting high school this year, which means moving from a school with a championship-winning soccer team to a school that doesn't have a team at all. With a little encouragement from his friends and granddad, a former "footballer" from England, Gavin musters up his courage and makes a deal with the school …
Willie O'Ree
Willie O'Ree quietly made NHL history at the Montreal Forum on January 18, 1958, when he became the first black player to take to the ice. In the dressing room before the game, his Boston Bruins teammates told him not to worry. If any one of the Montreal players said anything to him, they'd have his back.
There was a round of applause when O'Ree ste …
One Cycle
Of all Podium Sports Academy's attackmen, Calgary native Nathan Moore stands the best chance of getting a lacrosse scholarship at a U.S. college. But at 5'10" and 125 lbs, Nathan's told by the scouts that he has some filling out to do before he can take the hard hits. Waiting for his body to catch up to his dreams isn't an option, so Nathan takes d …
Jump Ball
Abby and Sarah are as different as two sisters can be, but they get along well -- that is, until they join the same school basketball team. Older sister Abby is bound and determined that their team will win this season. But outgoing and carefree Sarah seems to treat practices as a chance to goof off with friends, when she bothers to show up at all. …
Not Out
Since Dexter's parents' death, he's been living with his aunt in her Scarborough apartment. Even though it's been two years, Dexter is still struggling to control his anger and so far the best way for him to do this is through sports. Then one day he snaps and attacks the pitcher during a baseball game, and Dex suddenly finds himself off the team. …
Summit Series '72
It wasn't until Canadian teams started losing in international tournaments in the mid 1950s that an epic hockey rivalry between Canada and the Soviet Union began. Canadians believed hockey was
"their game." So Canadians were in for a rude awakening when they lost Game One of the 1972 Summit Series to the Soviets. The eight-game tournament quickly …
Breakaway
Adam loves hockey, and he's good at it. So when his family moves to Vancouver, he's sure he'll impress in the elite hockey league his father signs him up for. The only problem is that he'll have to wait three weeks to find out, and it's tougher than Adam thought to make friends in the big city. But then he meets Rodrigo, a soccer nut whose family i …
Star Power
Nicknamed "Cyclone" for his breathtaking speed, Fred Taylor was hockey's first superstar. Though known for his squeaky clean game, Taylor was often caught up in the politics and turmoil of hockey's early professional years. Star Power is the story of one of Canada's greatest athletes and a game in transition.
[Fry Reading Level - 4.8
Long Shot
The sons of Icelandic immigrants and friends since boyhood, the Winnipeg Falcons were a superbly talented team of just eight players who brought home Canada's first Olympic gold medal in hockey in 1920. But before they became world champions, the Falcons endured years of prejudice on and off the ice.
Author and renowned hockey historian Eric Zweig b …
Fearless
George Chuvalo only wanted one thing: to become a boxer. When Chuvalo stepped into the ring, he was fearless. In ninety-three professional fights between 1956 and 1979, boxing everyone from George Foreman to Muhammad Ali, he was never once knocked out. But this heavyweight boxing legend never had it easy. After losing many loved ones to drugs, Chuv …
Kayak Combat
Kayak Combat is set in the highly competitive sport of kayak racing.
When it's announced that Cody's Calgary kayaking club will host a Canada-wide competition, no one doubts that Cody will represent them. He is the team's best paddler, after all. But Cody and the others aren't counting on a new guy from Ontario arriving who can out-paddle them al …
Bassett
John White Hughes Bassett is an extraordinary figure in Canadian public life, a man who's been at the centre of politics, sports, the media and business for over forty years.
True to his style, John Bassett doesn't approve of an independent journalist who's neither a bosom friend nor an implacable foe writing his story. But his public career belon …
Suspended
Fast-paced sports action novels that get kids reading.
Shay and his pal Toby are among the players on the school soccer team who fall foul of the "fair play contract" introduced by the new school administration. After being banned from playing on behalf of the school for the rest of the season, the dismissed players form their own unofficial team -- …
Just for Kicks
The soccer-mad gang from Brunswick Valley School featured in Robert Rayner's two previous books for this series is back, gathering every Saturday afternoon to play a friendly game against friends from a neighboring town. A well-meaning adult spots potential in some of the players and offers guidance, inspiring parents of the other side to get thei …
Power Play
When Zach Thomas broke his wrist going into the boards early in the hockey season, he thought he was done for the year. But as his Cochrane, Alberta, Pee Wee team gets ready for the play-offs, his doctor tells him he's healed-up enough to pay. Zach isn't so sure.
His fear of being checked hard in the corner makes him very reluctant to head back o …
Soccer Star!
Samantha Aqsarniq Keyes is used to a life on the move. Her military family has been transferred across Canada, and she's grown up with stories of her Inuit ancestors exploring the far north. For Sam, soccer has been the one constant in her life. But now that she's thirteen, her home base isn't the only thing that's changing.
Sam longs to show up C …
Free Throw
Matthew Eagletail is the star player for the Warriors, his basketball team on the Tsuu T'ina First Nation near Calgary.
When his mother remarries, everything in Matthew's life is suddenly different and new: a new school, a new father, five pesky new sisters, a new dog named Precious. Worst of all, he has to quit the Warriors. When he's asked to j …
Forever Champions
Between 1915 to 1940, the Edmonton Commercial Graduates Basketball Club ("the Grads") went from a small-city, girl's high school team to world champs with an unparalleled winning record. Sports journalist Richard Brignall tells the story of this talented upstart team, whose sportsmanship and unwavering determination inspired generations of female a …