In the 1940s it was unheard of for women to be members of a professional orchestra, let alone play “masculine” instruments like the bass or trombone. Yet despite these formidable challenges, the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra (MWSO) became the only all-women orchestra in Canadian history. Formed in 1940, the MWSO became the first orchest …

The Gold family lived an idyllic life in pre-war Poland, each doing their part to run the family grocery store and tobacco concession. The oldest daughter, Shoshana, had many friends, her sister Esther was meticulous as she worked at the family store, and young David was doted on by them all. But that life is shattered in 1939 when Germany invades …

Bruna is the youngest of seven children, living an idyllic life in a small Italian village in northern Tuscany. Though the Second World War has been raging in Europe for some time, the dangers haven’t seemed to reach her, and the Italian leader Mussolini’s allegiance with Hitler and the distant reports of fighting seem far away. But before long …

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with this overview of its activities--sometimes quiet and sometimes strident--as a watchdog and safeguard for Canadians and their rights as citizens. Through a series of discussions and interviews, a picture of Canada over the last half-century evolves. From the Charter of …

Elsie MacGill achieved many firsts in science and engineering at a time when women were considered to be inferior in the sciences. In 1923, at the age of nineteen, she became the first woman to attend engineering classes at the University of Toronto. She was the first woman in North America to hold a degree in aeronautical engineering and the first …

Over the last 50 years, the struggles to achieve equity in sport have become central to the feminist mission. This book contains an inspiring collection of stories from the women on the front lines: athletes, coaches, educators, and activists for women's sport, who have done so much to foster change. Many of the women profiled here reflect on their …

Before she began writing books for teens, Liane Shaw was an elementary teacher. She brings her gifts for storytelling and humor to this account of her journey into the lives of emotionally challenged students. With little in the way of experience or resources, she found herself thrust into the most challenging kind of teaching imaginable. From the …

When fifteen-year-old Elizabeth finds an antique doll in a garage sale, she thinks it would be a good gift for her dad who's about to ship out for Afghanistan. She doesn’t realize that the doll might be a missing (and very valuable) historical artifact. With the help of Evan, the cute guy who works at the local used bookstore, Elizabeth discovers …

Lily Toufar and her family arrive in Shanghai in 1938, having fled from Nazi-occupied Vienna and the persecution of Jewish families like theirs. Shanghai is a strange place for a young European girl, but it is one of the few places in the world to offer Jews refuge from the Holocaust. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and under pressure from Hitle …

A history of the persecution of gay men by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. When the Nazis came to power in Europe, the lives of homosexuals came to be ruled by fear as raids, arrests, prison sentences and expulsions became the daily reality. When the concentration camps were built, homosexuals were imprisoned along with Jews. The pink triangl …

Ten short and engaging biographies of First Nations/Native writers complete with photographs, sidebars, and a complete catalog of their work. These writers draw on their cultural history to create novels, poetry, and plays, and are an inspiration to any aspiring writer or avid reader. Includes Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Joseph Boyden, N. Scott …

Do young people today find meaning in the Holocaust? That’s the question that prompted a writing project across North America, Italy, and Australia asking young people to share their ideas about this time in history. Some students wrote short stories. Some discussed the impact of books they had read and wrote about the messages that they understo …

When Michele Landsberg’s first column for the Toronto Star hit newsstands in May 1978 it was the first time a feminist interpretation of the news had made it into daily circulation in a Canadian newspaper. While not sure initially if she wanted to be the Star’s “woman columnist”, Michele tried to use her column as a voice for those who had …

Flower and her parents are escaped slaves, going north to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Over 150 years later, Felicia is starting grade 8 at a new school in a small town in Ontario that was a terminus for the Underground Railroad. She has to write about her ancestry for a class project, but is afraid her classmates won’t want to hear abou …

Based on the true story of the ship St. Louis, which left Germany in May 1939 full of Jewish passengers seeking refuge in Cuba. Denied port in Cuba, the US, and finally Canada, the St. Louis was forced to return Europe, where many passengers later died in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of two children, Sol and Lisa, both of whom survived the war a …

In 1955, two fifteen-year-olds with immeasurable optimism shared a summer working as waitresses in the small town of Franklin's flourishing Britannia Hotel. Forty years later, Hannah, now a successful teacher with a younger lover, rushes home from Toronto to find her mother in hospital while Colleen, still living in Franklin and married with five c …

Gladys Sage escaped the backwoods of Northern Ontario, leaving behind the body of her stepfather, to arrive in New York and the world of political revolutionaries. Hired to find her is Pinkerton detective James Kelly, a recent Irish immigrant mainly interested in easy money, drink, and women. Going undercover among the radical followers of Emma Gol …

Ten inspirational biographies of women who risked everything – including their lives – to bring us the world’s stories. Whether reporting from the front lines or the anchor desk, they pushed the boundaries of print, radio, TV, and internet journalism. By reading about their lives we learn the history of modern journalism. From abolitionist Ma …

The story of the Reesers, a Jewish family who emigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia on the eve of WWII. They fled the Nazis and left behind four valuable oil paintings. It would take years for the Reeser family, led by matriarch Mari Reeser, and then her son Karl, to retrieve them. Along the way they had help from two unlikely sources - a mid-lev …

The women profiled here have become masters of their art, dancing and choreographing their way around the world. All of them have helped transform their style of dance, paving the way for the next generation. As you read about their lives, you will see that these women share a commitment to making a difference in the world of dance and beyond. Anna …

In the spring of 2000, Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of a small Holocaust education centre for children in Tokyo, received a special shipment of artifacts from the Auschwitz museum. Among the items was an empty suitcase. From the moment she saw it, Fumiko was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner – Hana Brady, May 16, 1 …

The acclaimed Women’s Hall of Fame series continues with profiles of ten women wordsmiths who made history in their own uniquely creative ways. From L.M. Montgomery and George Eliot to Margaret Atwood and J.K. Rowling, Ball covers a wide range of both time periods and styles. Remarkable Women Writers inspires even reluctant scribes to pick up a p …

Edith’s story is remarkable not only for her own bravery, but for the bravery of those that helped her: an entire village, including its mayor and citizenry, heroically conspired to conceal the presence of hundreds of Jewish children who lived in the safe house. The children went to the local school, roamed the streets and ate good food, all with …

This book features a selection of politically-active, inspiring women who have made important contributions to music history. Their stories begin in the mid-18th Century with Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart, a gifted German composer whose abilities were obscured by the popularity of her younger brother Wolfgang. They end in present with popular fem …

A thirst for adventure, a deep desire to push themselves beyond their comfort zones, and an innate curiosity about the world and its peoples drive the biographies of the ten women explorers profiled here. As explorers they bring skills in cartography, geography, history, anthropology, botany, photography, linguistics and writing to their travels. T …

An award-winning children's playwright tells all for kids. Using several of her plays, which have toured in Canada and the United States, as the centrepiece, Kathleen McDonnell talks about the history of theater and drama, with a who's who of players, inc

Bobbie Rosenfeld may be Canada’s greatest female athlete of the twentieth century. A Canada's Sports Hall of Famer, Bobbie was born in 1904 in a small Russian town and came to Canada with her immigrant parents when she was less than a month old. Her love for all sports showed itself early. As a young girl she excelled in track and field, ice hock …

In Budejovice, a quiet village in Czechoslovakia, laws and rules were introduced to restrict the freedom of Jewish people during the dark days of World War II. A small plot of land by the river was allocated to the village’s Jewish youth. While almost all areas of the village were off limits to the children, here they were able to meet and play.

A …

This collection features the writing of women from places as diverse as Slovakia and Portugal, India and Uruguay, Korea and Kenya, Italy and Iran. They look and think differently. They have distinctive traditions, cultures and history. They speak a world of languages. All of these women are immigrants with unique heritages, who have come to North A …

In March 2000, a suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education center in Tokyo, Japan from the Auschwitz museum in Germany. Fumiko Ishioka, the center's curator, was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner: "Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (the German word for orphan)." Children visiting the center asked: who …

Not satisfied by the established roles assigned to them, Jewish women have begun to uncover their history, religion and culture using tradition and memory to inspire and transform their lives. In From Memory to Transformation, women activists, rabbis, sch

Using personal accounts from star players, interviews with sport insiders and striking photographs, On the Edge provides a dramatic look into the business and politics of women's hockey.

Faye Schulman was a happy teenager learning to become a photographer when the Nazis invaded her small town on the Russian-Polish border. She had a loving family, good friends and neighbours, most of whom were soon lost in the horrors of the Holocaust. But Faye survived, becoming a Partisan and fighting against the Nazis. Her rare and powerful photo …

The first of its kind, this anthology showcases women's writing previously available only in Yiddish. A book of voices from an almost forgotten female heritage, it features eighteen writers who speak powerfully of the events that shaped their lives; the d