Backlist Catalogue as PDF

Transcription

FICTION
Caroline Adderson (see also Children’s/Young Adult) **See Caroline Adderson’s
website: www.carolineadderson.com
Two-time winner of the CBC Literary Competition
ELLEN IN PIECES
“Teeming with emotion to the last word.” – Quill & Quire, starred review
Ellen McGinty is funny, impulsive, sexy, and chock full of regrets. In her forties, with her
two daughters single-handedly raised, she sells the house she settled for in her long ago
divorce and sets out to rediscover the artistic life abandoned in her youth. Ellen in Pieces then
explodes into multiple points of view, allowing us to see the effect this one ordinary and
extraordinary woman has on the people who are part of her tumultuous life.
Canada:
Patrick Crean/HarperCollins
THE SKY IS FALLING
Shortlisted for the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize: Best Book from Canada and the
Caribbean
“Makes us wonder why all writers aren’t this good…[and] shows how one woman manages,
given enough luck, time, and Chekhov, to balance life’s pleasures with its paranoia.” The Toronto Star
On a spring morning in 2004, Jane Z., a physician’s wife and mother of a teenage son, opens
the paper and is stunned to see a familiar face. Sonia, a friend from twenty years ago, has just
been released from prison. In 1983, when Jane was a student, she rented a room in a house
with a trio of idealists. Inspired by the intensely committed Sonia, Jane is eventually drawn
into the peace movement, joining NAG!, a non-violent, anti-nuclear direct action group.
When a bomb explodes on one of their missions, everything changes. For Sonia, who took
the blame and was convicted as a “terrorist,” the event was tragic. For Jane, the unexpected
result was that her life turned out far better than she expected – except for the guilt and the
lingering dread that some day, when she least expects it, the sky will finally, truly fall.
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
PLEASED TO MEET YOU
Longlisted for the Giller Prize
“If Mavis Gallant and Alice Munro had had a secret love child, it certainly would have grown up to be
Caroline Adderson. These stories are unsurpassable.” Michael Redhill
These nine razor-sharp stories herald the return of one of Canada’s most accomplished
fiction writers to the short story form.
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
Film:
Zephyrus Entertainment Inc.
SITTING PRACTICE
Winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
“Margaret Atwood once cited Adderson as one of the most promising women writers of her generation. It’s
the kind of assertion that often seems hyperbolic but in this case seems overly cautious. We could drop the
word ‘women,’ to begin with. We could now say, further, that Sitting Practice is an example of Adderson’s
early promise, fully realized.” The Vancouver Sun
WCA Backlist Catalogue www.wcaltd.com April 2015
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A newly married couple, amazed by their good fortune, are involved in a terrible accident. It
is the bridegroom Ross’s fault, and his new wife, Iliana, is gravely injured. In the two years
after the accident both of them struggle to accept things as they are. The marriage may
survive her pain, and his guilt, but can it survive infidelity? More importantly, does Iliana
want it to?
Bulgaria:
Zhar Publishers
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
France:
Belfond
Serbia:
Portalibris
UK:
Headline
US:
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
A HISTORY OF FORGETTING
Shortlisted for The Writers’ Development Trust Rogers Cable Award for Fiction and The
Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
“Arresting…Adderson writes with a rare understanding of human frailty.” The Times (London)
At the novel’s centre are two hairdressers: Malcolm watches as Alzheimer’s rots his lover,
Denis’s memory and personality; Alison is young, insecure, lacking ambition and so
disconnected from world history and so unencumbered by cultural memory that she is
ignorant even of the significance of the tattooed numbers she sees on the arm of an elderly
Jewish client. Adderson intercuts the banality of the hair salon with the horror of Denis’s
physical and ethical deterioration, and ultimately Malcolm and Alison confront the
complexity of memory itself in a visit to Auschwitz to bear witness to those soulless acts that
western society most desperately desires to forget.
Film:
Cracked Pot Films Inc.
North America:
Biblioasis
UK:
Headline/Review
BAD IMAGININGS
Winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award
and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize
Funny, always adventurous and deeply felt, these stories fulfil the only real condition of art:
making you feel richer for having read them.
Canada:
Porcupine’s Quill
Agent: Jackie Kaiser
Robert Arthur Alexie
THE PALE INDIAN
“Here, in a novel of compelling and graphic detail, is a reality that we often try to ignore. Read it and weep.”
David MacFarlane on Porcupines and China Dolls
Filled with the beauty of the north and the lore of its people, The Pale Indian reveals the same
power and passion as its predecessor, Porcupines and China Dolls. In 1972, John Daniel, an
eleven-year-old Blue Indian from Aberdeen in Canada’s Northwest Territories, and his sixyear-old sister, Eva, were brought to live with a white couple in Alberta, having been
removed from their parents by the Powers that Be. John promised he’d never go back. But
in October 1984, at twenty-two, he broke that promise. A job with a drilling company
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brought him back to the land of his people, and Tina Joseph, to whom he was deeply
attracted, encouraged him to confront the sad truths of his parents’ lives. In a compelling
combination of storytelling and truth-telling, The Pale Indian conveys the beauty of the far
north and the lore of its people. It is a novel of secrets, lies, and madness written with
power, passion, and eloquence.
World:
Penguin Canada
Agent: Michael A. Levine
Anar Ali
BABY KHAKI’S WINGS
Shortlisted in the Best First Book Category of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize,
Canada and Caribbean Region
“Her stories combine the realism of a Rohinton Mistry with the whimsy of a Barbara Gowdy . . .” Shyam
Selvadurai
These richly imagined tales depict the lives of East African Ismailis, a Muslim community
with origins in India and a history of upheaval and dislocation. At the heart of the stories
are characters caught between home and exile, between what is real and what is imagined,
what is lost and what is found. Reminiscent of Singer and O. Henry.
Canada:
Penguin
Agent: Hilary McMahon
Gail Anderson-Dargatz **See Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s website:
www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca
TURTLE VALLEY
A wildfire is sending flames raining down from the tops of the hills into Turtle Valley, and
Kat, disillusioned with her marriage and with the demands of caregiving, must return to her
childhood home to help her elderly parents prepare to evacuate. As she sifts through her
parents’ belongings, struggling to decide which precious possessions to save and which ones
to leave behind, Kat comes across her grandmother’s tattered old carpet bag. Inside she
finds a yellowed newspaper clipping. As Kat tries to unravel the tangled threads of her
family’s past, she finds herself asking, What is worth saving, and what is best left behind?
Canada:
Knopf
Holland:
De Geus
Germany:
btb/Bertelsmann
A RHINESTONE BUTTON
“Funny, sharp [and] very satisfying.” The Gazette (Montreal), “Few contemporary Canadian novelists can
match [Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s] ability to capture those moments of acutely observed rural life that conjure
mood and a way of life.” The Globe and Mail
Despite growing up in the small farming town of Godsfinger, Alberta, Job Sunstrum was
always a bit of an outsider. A thin young man with blond, curly hair, he loved baking and
cooking, and certainly did not fit in with the rough-and-tumble farmboys around town.
When Job takes over the farm after his father’s death and his brother’s departure to train as a
pastor, his community remains his animals, and perhaps the church women with whom he
shares his baking on Sundays. Lonely beyond belief, overwhelmed by religious guilt, and taut
with fear at the thought of what life might have in store for him, Job can only turn to God
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and hope that someday, things will turn around. A loving and magical portrait of small-town
life that makes us question what we believe is real, and true.
Bulgaria:
Zhar Publishers
UK:
Virago
Canada:
Knopf
A RECIPE FOR BEES
Shortlisted for the Giller Prize
“[A] heady blend of earthy realism and romantic exoticism. This is a bravura work that in several ways
recalls Carol Shields’s The Stone Diaries. What Gail Anderson-Dargatz has achieved is a
commemoration of a lifestyle and a collection of characters that live on when the novel is finished.” The Times
Literary Supplement, “Anyone who thinks rural characters in Canadian fiction are dull and bland should
pick up one of Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s novels.” The Financial Post
Augusta Olsen has seven cats, a son-in-law who is facing brain surgery and a husband who
never says what he thinks. In A Recipe for Bees, Augusta relives the story of her sometimes
harsh, sometimes magical life. A Recipe for Bees is saturated with bee lore, full of rich,
domestic detail, wondrous imagery culled from rural kitchens and gardens, and shining
insights into the delights and exasperations of love and ageing, family and friendship. And at
its heart is the life, death and resurrection of an extraordinary marriage.
Bulgaria:
Zhar
Holland:
De Geus
Canada:
Knopf
Spain:
Maeva
Catalan:
Edicions 62
UK:
Virago
France:
Albin Michel/J’ai Lu
US:
Crown/Anchor
Germany:
Ullstein
THE CURE FOR DEATH BY LIGHTNING
Shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, Winner
of the Betty Trask Award (UK), the Vancouver City Book Prize and the BC Book Prize,
Sold more than 100,000 copies in Canada, A bestseller in the UK
“Some first novelists tiptoe. Not Gail Anderson-Dargatz. She makes her debut in full stride, confidently
breaking the rules to create a fictional style we might call Pacific Northwest Gothic. Its spookiness doesn’t
settle like a Southern miasma; it breaks like thunder from a calm sky and rolls invisibly away.” Boston
Sunday Globe, “Anderson-Dargatz is the real thing.” Calgary Herald, “Superlative … A coming-of-age
story like no other, by turns charming, funny and terrifying … Anderson-Dargatz’s prose is lyrical, precise
and infused with offbeat humour ... Beth Weeks - strong, confused, abused, touched by magic and blasted by
lightning - is simply one of the most engaging young heroines in years.” The Globe and Mail
Some people record the passage of time in diaries while others go by photographs and
memories associated with music, food or scent. The Cure for Death by Lightning captures Beth
Weeks’ story on the pages of her mother’s scrapbook of recipes and home remedies. Set
against the backdrop of daily life in remote Turtle Valley, B.C., it relates the story of her 15th
summer and transition from childhood to adulthood.
Bulgaria:
Zhar
Greece:
Papadopoulos
Canada:
Knopf
Holland:
De Geus
Denmark:
Lindhardt & Ringhof
Japan:
DHC
Denmark:
Den Grimmer Aelling (Audio)
Theatre:
Western Canada
France:
Albin Michel/J’ai Lu
Theatre
Germany:
Ullstein
UK:
Virago
US:
Houghton
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Mifflin/Anchor
THE MISS HEREFORD STORIES
“Anderson-Dargatz’s collection invites comparison with early W.O. Mitchell...It’s as good...[She] has great
comic timing, a shrewd sense of comic characterization, and a knack for the telling line.” Quill & Quire
Visit the town of Likely, Alberta through the eyes of ten-year-old, Martin Winkle. Most
visitors see Likely as nothing more than a sleepy little town. The citizens seem oblivious to
the anti-war protests and love-ins thriving across the country. They are content to focus on
their 4-H contests and meetings with the Hereford Breeders’ Club. As The Miss Hereford
Stories unfolds Martin introduces readers to his community, where the old ways are being
threatened by the new, fathers and sons are fighting and married lovers are rediscovering
one another.
Canada:
Douglas & McIntyre
Gurjinder Basran
EVERYTHING WAS GOOD-BYE
“A tender novel about identity and the search for belonging that is both humorous and heartbreaking, in
Meena, Basran has created a feisty, complicated and irrepressible heroine.” Thirty Umrigar, author of The
Space Between Us
Traces the life of Meena, a young Indo-Canadian woman growing up in British Columbia,
from adolescence to adulthood as she struggles to assert her independence in a strict Sikh
Punjabi community. Raised by her tradition-bound widowed mother in a racially divisive
community, Meena knows that the freedom of her North American peers can never be hers
but, unlike most of her sisters, she is unwilling to submit to a life that is defined by a suitable
marriage.
Canada:
Mother Tongue (original edition); Penguin (paperback reprint)
US:
Pintail
World Spanish: UNAM
Agent: John Pearce
John Bemrose
THE LAST WOMAN
“A near-Tolstoian unfolding of the psychology of love triangles…” The Walrus
Ann and Richard spend their summers on the shores of Lake Nigushi, bordering on a native
reservation. It is here that they are confronted with the abrupt reappearance of Billy, a local
native man, returned after a ten-year absence. For Ann, Billy’s presence means the renewal
of a youthful passion that remains the most powerful experience in both their lives. For
Richard, Billy is a prominent reminder of his failure to wrestle native land back from the
government’s clutches – and Billy is all too ready to remind him of his impotence. The
tension of this seemingly inescapable, devastating situation builds, until each character in the
triangle must face a number of truths and turn away irrevocably from the safety of their life.
Canada:
McClelland & Stewart
UK:
John Murray
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THE ISLAND WALKERS
Longlisted for The Man Booker Prize, Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Regional
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Best First Book and the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First
Novel Award
“A beautiful, elegiac novel about place, family, and community. A profoundly moving book.” Guy
Vanderhaeghe
The story of a family that slips from fortune’s favour in a southwestern Ontario mill town
during the mid-1960s. Alf Walker must balance his loyalty and pride with guilt for past
deeds, as he tries to avert a strike at the mill. His wife Margaret is reconciling her middle
class upbringing and aspirations with working class reality, and is unaware that her husband
has started to stray. And their son Joe’s world is being overturned by the passion and
uncertainty of first love.
Brazil:
Record
Canada:
Film:
John Harkrinder
Italy:
Edizioni e/o (expired)
Serbia:
Portalibris
UK:
John Murray
US:
Metropolitan
David Bergen
LEAVING TOMORROW
“This is a book to treasure.” – Ottawa Citizen
From Giller Prize-winning author David Bergen, a moving, and often humorous novel of growing up and
falling in love.
In the mid-20th century, in the small Alberta town of Tomorrow, young Arthur Wohlgemuht
yearns for a bigger life. His father, a ranch hand, is steeped in his love of horses and good
books, while his mother, a nurse, runs the family guided by practicality and her Mennonite
faith. Bev, his rough-edged brother, is a boy that prizes action over thought. Among them is
the solitary Arthur – intelligent, curious, garrulous, romantic, and at odds with his
surroundings and his religion. His one ally is his adopted cousin, the fearless Isobel. Their
mutual admiration for the land, all things French, and each other, sustain Arthur as he strives
to become a man.
Canada: HarperCollins
THE AGE OF HOPE
Winner of the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
Winner of the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award
“This chronicling is reminiscent of Carol Shields’ depiction of Daisy Flett in The Stone Diaries.
Superficially, Daisy and Hope’s lives aren’t particularly dramatic, but in reality they are anything but
orderly, and don’t live up to the standard tidiness demanded by the mores of the time. They reveal a depth and
richness those around Hope and Daisy are oblivious to. For his part, Bergen reveals with the humanity of the
tale below the surface, the beauty of a life rendered in Hope.” Chatelaine
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Born in 1930 in a small town outside Winnipeg, beautiful Hope Koop appears destined to
have a conventional life. All she has to do is stay with Roy, who loves her. But as the
decades unfold, what seems to be a safe, predictable existence overwhelms Hope. Where among the demands of her children, the expectations of her husband and the challenges of
her best friend- is there room for her? And just who is she anyway? A wife, a mother, a
woman whose life is somehow unrealized?
Canada:
Phyllis Bruce / HarperCollins
Germany:
btb / Bertelsmann
THE MATTER WITH MORRIS
Shortlisted for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize, The Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
and the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award
“Immaculately written, trenchantly honest, hugely compelling ….” The Globe and Mail
Morris Schutt is devastated when he learns that his son Martin, whom he had dared to join
the army during an argument, has been tragically killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
Overnight, the agony in other people’s lives that we read about each day becomes his agony.
Now, Morris, a self-proclaimed pacifist, must face the silent accusations of his grieving wife,
his heartbroken family, and most of all, himself.
Canada:
HarperCollins
France:
Albin Michel
US:
Counterpoint
THE RETREAT
Longlisted for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Set in 1973, in Kenora, Ontario, an Ojibway teen, Raymond Seymour, a victim of poice
brutality and racism, falls in love with young Lizzy Byrd, whose parents have left her and her
younger siblings to their own devices at “The Retreat.” A commune run by an enigmatic
doctor is the backdrop for this coming of age story of love and betrayal. The Retreat is an
account of a clash of two cultures and of the complicated love between a white girl and a
native boy. It is also a view into the world of children who are broken by the whims, desires
and intolerance of the adults in their lives. A tragedy and a love story, the novel moves
towards a conclusion that is both astonishing and heartbreaking.
Canada:
France:
Albin Michel
Germany:
btb/Bertelsmann
Romania:
Leda
THE TIME IN BETWEEN
Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, the
Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, Shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
“A beautifully composed, unflinching and harrowing story. Perhaps the best fiction yet to confront and comprehend the legacy of Vietnam.” Kirkus (starred review)
In search of love, absolution, or forgiveness, Charles Boatman leaves the Fraser Valley of
British Columbia and returns mysteriously to Vietnam, the country where he fought twentynine years earlier as a young, reluctant soldier. But his new encounters seem irreconcilable
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with his memories. When he disappears, his daughter Ada, and her brother, Jon, travel to
Vietnam, to the streets of Danang and beyond, to search for him.
Audio Books: BTC Audiobooks
France:
Albin Michel
Australia:
Scribe
Romania:
Leda
Canada:
US:
Random House
Film:
Cinetel Film Productions Ltd.
Vietnam:
Nha Nam
THE CASE OF LENA S.
Winner of the 2003 Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, Shortlisted for the 2002 Governor
General’s Award, Nominated for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, Nominated for the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, Selected one of the Top Ten books of
the year by the Toronto Star
“A magical piece of writing…. It is taut, affecting and lovely, one of those wonderful works that bears reading and rereading and that in its hard crystalline prose does everything right.” Calgary Herald
Mason Crowe is a high school student just beginning to discover the opposite sex at a time
of strife in his parents’ marriage. Lena Schellendal is the troubled young woman for whom,
after a false start with a young woman already spoken for in an arranged East Indian marriage, he falls. Danny Crowe is the older brother who can’t keep his eyes on his own model
girlfriend when one of Mason’s paramours is around, while Mr. Ferry, a blind man to whom
Mason reads, and Ms. Abendschade, a high school teacher with a narrative speedbump of a
name, are the guides giving out valuable lessons about writing, life, and women.
Canada:
France:
Albin Michel
Film:
Crescent Entertainment
SEE THE CHILD
“A rich, dark novel.” Quill & Quire
When Harry, the local cop, knocks on Paul Unger’s door early one morning to give him the
grim news – that his son, Stephen, has been found drowned – Paul descends into a grief that
carries him to a dark and unfamiliar place. His comfortable life is overturned and he is left
to question his role in his son’s death.
Canada:
HarperCollins
France:
Albin Michel
Film:
Buffalo Gals Pictures
US:
Simon & Schuster
A YEAR OF LESSER
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the
Year
“A finely observed first novel…David Bergen explores what happens when the simplest of contemporary souls
asks the biggest questions.” The New York Times
This richly layered story of sexual intrigue, vanity and betrayal, depicts the small prairie town
of Lesser, a community where everyone’s most private moments become public knowledge.
Canada:
HarperCollins
France:
Albin Michel
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Heather Birrell **See Heather Birrell’s website: www.heatherbirrell.com
MAD HOPE
“This is a beautiful book: funny, whip-smart, compassionate and gorgeously written. Heather Birrell belongs
in the short story pantheon with Alice Munro, Lisa Moore and Zsuzsi Gartner.” Annabel Lyon, author of
The Golden Mean
The stories of Mad Hope explore the universal turning points of life through refreshingly
unconventional characters and situations
World:
Coach House Books
Marilyn Bowering ** See Marilyn Bowering’s website: www.marilynbowering.com
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE HUMAN
“Henri Charrier’s Papillon, or Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest... Lord of the
Flies, The Island of Dr Moreau or even Heart of Darkness... What it Takes to Be Human is a
great novel, as worthy as the other novels mentioned in this review.” The Globe & Mail, “Marilyn Bowering
explores the relationship between innocence, injustice and motiveless malevolence in a story that is so layered
and compelling that you will be dazzled by her wisdom and huge talent. The characters will break your heart,
renew your faith, and remind you what it takes to be human.” Rosemary Sullivan
Sandy Gray wants nothing more than to enlist in the war. Sandy’s father, a fundamentalist
preacher, won’t give him permission to fight. When Sandy’s attempt to oppose his father
and his fundamentalist upbringing turns violent, Sandy is incarcerated in an asylum for the
criminally insane.
World English: Penguin Canada (UK: Maia Press)
CAT’S PILGRIMAGE
“A thing of beauty, a rich act of the imagination that alternately dazzles, puzzles and thrills. To read it, her
first novel since her Orange Prize shortlisted bestseller Visible Worlds, is to be reminded both of the sheer
power of fiction, and of just how pedestrian so much of contemporary fiction has become. ... [A] heady
blending of myth, legend, folklore ... Bowering succeeds marvelously.” Ottawa Citizen
A powerful modern-day fairy tale that explores the nature of evil in all its guises. Fourteenyear-old Cathreen is a bystander at the beating and murder of a schoolgirl in her hometown.
She runs away to England to live with her father, Jag, taking along with her a mysterious cat
called Cutthroat. As we follow the fortunes of Cathreen, Jag, and Cutthroat, we encounter a
world in which retribution and justice loom large and in which the mythic and the ordinary
become ever more blurred: Galt, a bog man, re-enters the world, cats are tortured so an evil
man can father a son, a witness fails to speak her mind, and love is found in the ordinary and
extraordinary, in the midst of cruelty and fear, and in both the human and the animal realms.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Germany:
Goldmann/Bertlesmann
VISIBLE WORLDS
Winner of the Ethel Wilson B.C. Fiction Prize, Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, Nominated
for the Dublin IMPAC Award
“A vast, sprawling feast of a book. You finish reading it glad of the experience, aware that some of the
ingredients were fabulous, even astonishing.” New York Times Book Review
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A beguiling, multi-layered fiction that was compared to the work of John Irving in a starred
Publishers Weekly review, and to Pat Barker’s WWI trilogy in Kirkus. Visible Worlds begins in
1960 with the death of Nathaniel Bone on a Winnipeg football field, as his family and
friends stand by and watch. The story then shifts to the tundra of Siberia, where, at the
same time, a young woman identified only as Fika is trying to make her way from the Soviet
Union to freedom. As the novel unfolds, these two seemingly unrelated events become key
pieces in Bowering’s astonishing fictional puzzle set in Canada, Germany, Korea and the
Soviet Union, and spanning the middle part of our century.
Canada:
HarperCollins
UK:
Flamingo
Translation: HarperCollins US
US:
HarperCollins
(Finland: WSOY; Germany: Goldmann/BTB; Greece: Livanis)
TO ALL APPEARANCES A LADY
Robert Lam believes he is finally free. His stepmother, Lam Fan, has died, relieving him of
all family ties and responsibilities. He sets out on his ship hoping to escape painful memories
unaware that Lam Fan’s cantankerous ghost is guiding his sea voyage along Vancouver’s
coast, transforming it into a journey across the South China Seas to the dangerous British
Columbia opium trade underworld.
Canada:
Penguin
UK:
Hamish Hamilton/Penguin
US:
Viking/Penguin
Gina Buonaguro & Janice Kirk **See Gina Buonaguro & Janice Kirk’s
websites: www.thesidewalkartist.com & www.ciaobellanovel.com
THE WOLVES OF ST. PETER'S
“A zesty mix of high-class brothels and high-level corruption make The Wolves of St. Peter’s a top-notch
historical thriller." Ross King, author of Leonardo and the Last Supper
An exciting, highly atmospheric historical novel that’s also a murder mystery, this is perfect
for fans of Sarah Dunant and Sarah Waters.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Italy:
Newton Compton
CIAO BELLA
A domestic war novel and a portrait of an unforgettable family whose lives have been ripped
apart by international conflict and its aftermath. The novel opens in the summer of 1945.
Ugo Nevicato, a musician and resistance fighter in Venice, is missing, leaving his Canadian
wife Graziella stranded in war-torn Northern Italy with his hostile family. An American
soldier named Frank Austen appears on Graziella’s doorstep. In the weeks that follow,
Frank wins over the entire family, helping them come to terms with Ugo’s disappearance. As
Graziella falls in love with Frank, she is finally able to accept the loss of Ugo. By summer’s
end Ugo returns, a shattered man with a complex story to tell, and Graziella is torn. The
situation is further complicated when she learns that Frank’s appearance at the farm is not a
coincidence.
Hungary:
Tericum Kiado
North America:
Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin’s Press
Norway:
Cappelen Damm
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THE SIDEWALK ARTIST
“A tale dripping with idealized romantic settings, mystery, art, and a touch of magic. [It] will keep readers
wondering what is real and what is artifice – as fine paintings always do.” Susan Vreeland
People magazine gave 3 ½ stars to this short, lyrical début novel that will appeal to fans of
Tracy Chevalier and Sarah Dunant. Tulia Rose, a New York writer escaping a crumbling
relationship, chances on a sidewalk artist in Paris, whose chalk renderings of Raphael angels
she much admires. She begins a novel about Rapahel but also falls in love with the artist,
leading to a disconcerting series of meetings in Venice, Florence, and Rome. But who is he?
As the lines blur between past and present, dream and reality, Tulia realizes that their affair
isn’t simply chance and coincidence, and at the close she uncovers both a mystery from the
past and his true identity.
Germany:
Luebbe
North America:
Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin’s Press
Serbia:
Leo Commerce
Agent: John Pearce
Bonnie Burnard
SUDDENLY
A Globe & Mail Book of the Year
“Another unassuming masterpiece that transports the life unfolding before our eyes onto the canvas of the
page…Suddenly demonstrates how characters in novels, like people in real life, are composed of the sum of
their stories…Burnard delivers a novel about death, teeming with life that is “pressed down, shaken together
and running over…” The Globe & Mail
“This sweeping portrayal of female friendship tested by time is an inspiring read.” Chatelaine
An intimate portrait of three women balanced on the knife edge of middle age. Laughter and
loyalty, pain and loss, desire and fear intermingle as the three friends navigate the inevitable
twists and turns of family life.
Canada:
Phyllis Bruce / HarperCollins
France:
Calmann-Levy
UK & Commonwealth (excl. Canada): Virago / Little, Brown
A GOOD HOUSE
Winner of the Giller Prize, the Marian Engel Award, The Globe and Mail Editor’s Choice Title
“The finest novel published in some years in our country… a daring feat, and one that will move the reader to
recognition and, at times, to tears… deserves to win all [the literary prizes.]” Carol Shields
In this celebrated multigenerational novel, Burnard follows an ordinary family from postWorld War II through the last half of the twentieth century. Spreading out into succeeding
generations, through births and deaths, weddings and funerals, secrets, betrayals, lies and
revelations that test the family’s strength, it is all woven into a luminous, irresistible narrative.
Brazil:
Rocco
Greece:
Psichogios
Canada:
HarperCollins
Holland:
Contact/Het Spectrum
Catalan:
Edicions 62
Latin America: Atlantida
Estonia:
Otava
Poland:
Zysk I Ska
Finland:
Otava
Portugal:
Asa
France:
Calmann-Levy
Spain:
Muchnik
Germany:
Hoffman und Campe/dtv
UK:
Transworld
US:
Holt
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CASINO & OTHER STORIES
Shortlisted for the Giller Prize
“Deserves to win prizes… resonantly detailed, with startling, even shocking twists.” The Globe and Mail
Marriages dissolve, parents fear for their children and young people face uncertain futures in
this finely wrought collection of short stories.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Spoken Art
WOMEN OF INFLUENCE
Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book
“Follows in the steps of Alice Munro…Truly first rank.” The Globe and Mail
14 shorts that share what seems like every single shade of emotional imbalance and slighted
drama that surrounds both the idea and reality of loss.
Canada:
Coteau
Canada French: L’instant Meme
UK:
Women’s Press
Steve Burrows **See Steve Burrow’s website: www.steveburrows.org
A SIEGE OF BITTERNS
Globe and Mail Top 100 pick for the Best Books of 2014
“A murder plot built around birdwatching doesn’t, at first, seem plausible or even possible. But Burrows
pulls it off in a dazzling debut novel… Riveting from first page to final line.” – The Globe and Mail
Inspector Dominic Jejeune’s success has made him a poster boy for the UK police service.
The problem is, Jejeune would rather be birdwatching. Recently reassigned to the small
Norfolk town of Saltmarsh, in the heart of Britain’s premier birding country, Jejeune’s two
worlds collide when he investigates the grisly murder of a prominent ecological activist. To
unravel this mystery, Jejeune must deal with unwelcome public acclaim, the mistrust of
colleagues, and his own insecurities. In the case of the Saltmarsh birder murders, the victims
may not be the only casualties.
World:
Dundurn (UK & Commonwealth excl. Canada: Oneworld)
Agent: Bruce Westwood
Heather Burt **See Heather Burt’s website: www.heatherburt.ca
ADAM’S PEAK
Shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Clare Fraser and Rudy Vantwest were childhood neighbours who became fixtures of each
other’s memories. 25 years later they are connected again, as Clare’s world is shaken by a
disastrous motorcycle ride with Rudy’s brother, and Rudy’s fierce search for independence is
undermined when a bombing in Colombo leaves him at the mercy of relatives he scarcely
knows.
World:
Dundurn
Sharon Butala (see also Non-Fiction) **See Sharon Butala’s website:
www.sharonbutala.com
Winner of the Marian Engel Award
12
REAL LIFE
“In the end, Real Life, just like real life, is beautiful and disquieting, all at once.” Quill & Quire
In a new collection of ten stories, Sharon Butala once again demonstrates why she ranks
amongst the finest short story writers. These stories of women in moments of crisis – a
dying sister, a failing marriage, a love lost, a random act of violence that changes a life
forever – are compelling and unsentimental.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Serbia:
Portalibris
THE GARDEN OF EDEN
“Reads like a literary thriller – missing persons, exotic locale, customs and people, a touch of mystery…. The
reader is overwhelmed with pity and horror.” The Globe and Mail
From bestselling author Sharon Butala comes a sweeping, many-layered novel of death and
redemption that takes us from the North American prairie to famine-stricken Ethiopia, and
into the hearts and souls of two women. Iris, a farm woman like her mother and her
grandmother before her, finds her comfortable rhythm suddenly out of control; grieving for
lost love, she sets out on a search for the niece she raised as a daughter, but has not seen for
ten years. Lannie, fleeing from her own past, is desperately trying to save others – and
herself – in the drought-ravaged deserts of Ethiopia. A profoundly moving tale of two
generations of women and their search to heal themselves.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Buffalo Gal Pictures Inc.
Serbia:
Portalibris
UK:
Virago/Little Brown
THE GATES OF THE SUN
The Gates of the Sun tells the story of a fiercely independent cowboy – an outlaw, rancher,
lover, and father – living amidst the vastness of prairie life, in a manner that inspires her fans
and may garner her new ones.
World English: HarperCollins Canada
LUNA
Luna explores the vast, rich and varied prairie landscape and the fascinating inner lives of its
people.
Canada:
HarperCollins
THE FOURTH ARCHANGEL
Commonwealth Award nominee, winner of National Magazine Award
World:
HarperCollins Canada
FEVER
World:
UPSTREAM
Shortlist, Books in Canada First Novel Award
13
Canada:
HarperCollins
Canada French:Editions de la nouvelle plume
COUNTRY OF THE HEART
The uncluttered expanse of the Canadian Prairies play host to a story of how two women
face their tough lives with courage and love. Sharon Butala introduces Iris, a 40-year-old
woman living with Barnie, her rancher-turned-farmer husband. The other heroine, Lannie, is
Barney’s niece, and she lives with her uncle and Iris.
Canada:
HarperCollins
QUEEN OF THE HEADACHES
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award
World:
Coteau
Bill Cameron
CAT’S CROSSING
When a beloved cat becomes sick and leaves his owner’s home looking for healing, he sets
off a sequence of events that galvanizes a city. His owner, the wife of a prosperous meatpacker, posts a two-million-dollar reward, which brings out TV news cameras and squads of
amateur cat-hunters. As the cat approaches the place he believes holds his salvation there is
ruin, love, death and peace. An audacious fictional debut that offers a portrait of human
cruelty and desire in a world that is just slightly more strange than the one we inhabit.
Canada:
Random House
Film:
Slanted Wheel Entertainment
Natalee Caple **See Natalee Caple’s website: www.nataleecaple.com
IN CALAMITY’S WAKE
“In Calamity’s Wake reinvents the western quest novel with nuanced female characters. It’s ambitious and
smart, and just as suspenseful as its setting would suggest.” —The Globe and Mail
Miette has no desire to meet the mother who abandoned her; a woman she knows only as an
infamous soldier, drinker, and exhibition shooter – a woman named Martha Canary, made
notorious as Calamity Jane. But Miette’s beloved adoptive father makes a deathbed request
that the two be reunited. Set in the Badlands of the North American west in the late 1800s,
In Calamity’s Wake tells the story of Miette’s quest, across a landscape occupied by strangers,
ghosts, and animals.
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
Bloomsbury
World French: Boreal
MACKEREL SKY
“A taut, poetic thriller that probes notions of power, sexuality and morality … Mackerel Sky [is] a story
with not long legs, but bone and sinew, blood and soul.” Quill & Quire
14
Guy has returned to Place Ravel to meet his daughter, Isabelle. When he was sixteen, Guy
was seduced by an exotic, determined, 25-year-old named Martine whose sole use for Guy
was his ability to give her a child. In love with Martine but terrified of the responsibility, Guy
fled. Twenty years later, he’s adrift, regretful, and trying to set things right. But he hasn’t
bargained for the strength and complexity of these women. And he hasn’t expected that
they’d be at the heart of a thriving counterfeiting operation.
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
US:
St. Martin’s Press
THE PLIGHT OF HAPPY PEOPLE IN AN ORDINARY WORLD
“Touching, original and poetic.” National Post
Teenage sisters Nadja and Irma run their family bakery when their father becomes a recluse.
One day, Josef walks into the bakery: an extravagant story-teller and the most charming and
mysterious man they have ever met. His arrival triggers the beginning of their separate lives,
although it also brings them somehow closer together.
Canada:
House of Anansi
THE HEART IS ITS OWN REASON
“Strong…moving…arresting.” The New York Times Review of Books
Fifteen stories probing the passion between mothers and children, sisters and brothers, and
husbands and wives.
World English: Insomniac Press
David Chariandy
SOUCOUYANT: A Novel of Forgetting
Winner of the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award for Literary Fiction (Gold),
Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, Shortlisted for the
2007 Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award, Shortlisted for the 2007 Governor
General’s Literary Award for Fiction, Longlisted for the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize,
Shortlisted for Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize (BC Book Prizes), Finalist for a Re-Lit Award for
Fiction
A soucouyant is an evil spirit in Caribbean folklore, and a symbol of the distant and dimly
remembered legacies that continue to haunt the Americas. This electrifying first novel about
filial love tells the story of a Canadian-born son who despairingly abandons his Caribbeanborn mother when she begins to suffer from Alzheimer’s. When he returns home two years
later, he finds that his mother is disintegrating, and that a young woman also now
mysteriously occupies the house. In his desire to atone for his past, he is compelled to
imagine his mother’s life before it all slips into darkness – her arrival in Canada during the
early sixties, her childhood in Trinidad during World War II, and a lurking secret that each
has tried to forget.
World:
Arsenal Pulp Press (Germany: Suhrkamp Verlag; Macedonia: SHKUPI)
Eliza Clark (see also Non-Fiction)
15
BITE THE STARS
In a unique and personal voice, Grace Larson dramatically recounts the tornado that
destroyed her church on Palm Sunday, killing nineteen people and causing her to go into
labor and give birth to a son. As Cole grows up, it becomes clear that he is as dangerous and
destructive as the storm he was born out of, a dark force of nature himself.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Backroad Films Corp.
World English (excl. Canada):
McAdam/Cage
WHAT YOU NEED
Sparks fly when an escaped husband opens the door to a misguided strip-a-gram performed
by a would-be famous country backup singer who believes she’s just murdered her mean
boyfriend. The strange and fateful convergence of T. Buddy Whelper and Dorene LaTisha
Perney ignites one of the most unusual romances in fiction.
Canada:
HarperCollins
MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY
Miss You Like Crazy is a road novel belonging to Maylou Puce Turner, a young woman
whose beloved mama dies “somewhat triumphantly” after winning a game of gin rummy in a
steamy Florida trailer park. Suddenly alone with her distraught old daddy, Maylou embarks
on a weird and wonderful odyssey to put her mama to rest and somehow get everyone back
to Kansas.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Trevor Cole ** See Trevor Cole’s website: www.trevorcole.com
PRACTICAL JEAN
Recipient of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
Shortlisted for Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
“Readers are right there with Jean as she walks the streets of her town, plans her mercy killings, and gathers
the instruments she needs. The suspenseful plot is propelled by the desire to know whether Jean will murder
all the women on her list. Exceeding the predictable by a long shot, this will beguile readers possessing a
sardonic streak as well those who appreciate gallows humor.” – Booklist
Jean Vale Horemarsh lived in a pretty little town on a lovely little lake. She was a fine citizen,
a devoted wife to Milt, and a bit of an artist, she didn’t mind saying. In fact, Jean was the sort
of person anyone would want to know… until the day she decided to kill her friends. In this
riveting and darkly comic novel, Trevor Cole goes further than he ever has before in
exploring the deep veins of satire in complex female relationships and our common fear of
aging and death
Canada:
US:
HarperPerennial
Germany:
Haffmans & Tolkemitt
THE FEARSOME PARTICLES
Nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction
16
“Cole’s prose is so confident, compassionate and clear that it draws out that neurotic admission: I wish I’d
written that.” Literary Review of Canada
At its heart, The Fearsome Particles is a comic tragedy about the futility of trying to keep at bay
the things that threaten us. Gerald Woodlore is a worrier by nature, who fears and attempts
to control all things unpredictable. His wife, Vicki – a successful “stager” of luxury real
estate – appears to be bending under the pressures of trying to construct and maintain the
image of perfect happiness. Most worrying of all is what has happened to his son, Kyle. A
20-year-old chemistry whiz who quit school to work for a year among the military’s civilian
support staff in Afghanistan, Kyle has returned early in the wake of a traumatic and
mysterious event the military refuses to explain.
Audio:
CBC
Canada:
Film:
Slated Wheel Entertainment
Italy:
Alet (expired)
NORMAN BRAY IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS LIFE
Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, the Governor
General’s Award for Fiction, Longlisted for the IMPAC Award, Winner of the City of
Hamilton Arts Award for Literature
“This is a very, very funny book.... Cole knows how to tell a story of the I-couldn’t-put-it-down variety;
Norman’s performance is filled with giddy surprises and wonderful set pieces.” The Globe and Mail
For years, stage actor Norman Bray has renounced all responsibility in the name of his “art.”
Now, teetering on the edge of financial ruin and clinging to the faded light of his career,
Norman must answer to the bank, the adult children of his recently deceased common-law
wife, and, most of all, his own illusions about himself.
Audio (abridged):
Goose Lane Editions
Canada:
Film:
Pearl Street Films
Stage:
Theatre Orangeville
Agent: Carolyn Forde
Karen Connelly (see also Non-Fiction) ** See Karen Connelly’s website:
www.karenconnelly.ca
THE LIZARD CAGE
Winner of the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers, Shortlisted for the Kiriyama
Prize, Longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Award
“In a feat of epic vision, Karen Connelly uses her every art to tell the urgent story of what The New York
Times calls ‘Myanmar, arguably the most repressive regime in the world.’ The suspense never relents. Hope
is small, but it lives, strengthened by this powerful book.” Maxine Hong Kingston
This exquisitely written and harshly realistic first novel, set during Burma’s military
dictatorship of the mid-1990s, is a hymn to human resilience and love – a potent act of
empathy and witness.
Canada:
Random House
World (excl. Canada):
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday (France: Buchet-Chastel; Greece:
Polis; Holland: Querido; Israel: Kinneret; Italy: Frassinelli;
UK: Harvill Secker)
17
Buffy Cram **See Buffy Cram’s website: www.buffyscram.com
RADIO BELLY
“A man transforms his lover into a chair. A well-to-do suburbanite joins a troupe of cultured, ragtag
vagrants. Buffy Cram’s characters exist in off-kilter realities, just slightly in the future perhaps, yet they’re as
real as the people next door. Such is life in the funny-strange, quirky-sad word of Radio Belly. A wonderful,
inventive debut.” Charlotte Gill, author of Eating Dirt and Ladykiller
A formidable debut of nine surreally funny, politically astute, and emotionally gripping
stories.
World English: Douglas & McIntyre
Lewis DeSoto **See Lewis DeSoto’s website: www.lewisdesoto.com
THE RESTORATION ARTIST
“With the language of a poet and the eye of a painter, Lewis DeSoto has written a book of astonishing
depth.” Lauren B. Davis, author of Our Daily Bread
When Leo Millar, a young painter, arrives on La Mouche, a tiny island off the coast of
Normandy in 1966, he is in crisis. Two years earlier, his French wife and child were killed in
a terrorist attack in Cyprus. The local priest hopes that the island will, in time, work its magic
and free Leo from guilt and despair. Soon, Leo finds himself strangely drawn to Lorca, a
brilliant composer who is fighting demons from her past, and Tobias, an orphaned boy
whose wildness masks an inability to speak. But can Leo ever move beyond his own losses
to find, perhaps, a new definition of love and the restoration of hope?
World excluding UK & US: HarperCollins Canada (Poland: Swiat; World French: XYZ
Editeur)
A BLADE OF GRASS
Longlisted for The Man Booker Prize, An International Book of the Month Selection in the
Book-of-the-Month Club, Shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize
and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
“Beautiful, complex and stunningly evocative…A master work by a powerful new voice in Canadian
fiction…” Ottawa Citizen
On a remote farm in southern Africa, two women – one black, one white, one the mistress,
the other the servant – find themselves isolated by a civil war. Newly widowed Marit
stubbornly resolves to run the farm herself, and comes to depend on Tembi for
companionship and guidance. What follows is a dramatic struggle for survival, as the women
fight society, nature, and each other.
World:
HarperCollins Canada (Australia: HarperCollins; Czech: Euromedia; France:
Plon; Germany: Bertelsmann Club; Holland: House of Books; Italy:
Bompiani; Poland: Swiat; Portugal: Circulo de Leitores; Serbia: Rubikon;
Slovak: Ikar; South Africa: Pan MacMillan; Spain: Circulo de Lectores; UK:
Maia Press; US: Ecco)
18
Mary di Michele ** See Mary di Michele’s website: www.hayne.net
TENOR OF LOVE
“Superbly crafted . . . that rare kind of poet’s novel that seamlessly combines a powerful, yet delicately
modulated narrative with deliciously sensual description.” The Gazette (Montreal)
A story of passion and betrayal, art and ambition that bridges two centuries and two
continents, Tenor of Love opens in Tuscany in 1897 as a young singer, Enrico Caruso arrives
at the residence of the Giachetti family. He has come to Livorno to sing on the summer
stage with Ada Giachetti, a beautiful young soprano. With the help of singing lessons from
Ada, Caruso wins the leading role in Puccini’s new opera, La Bohème. Though Caruso loves
Rina, it is Ada he adores, and they soon become lovers off stage as well as on. Heartbroken,
Rina becomes an opera singer too, hoping to take her sister’s place on stage as well as in
Caruso’s bed. But even as his relations with the two sisters break down in scandal and
tragedy, the now world famous Caruso builds a new life for himself as the star of the
Metropolitan Opera in New York, where a shy young American woman will win his heart
and supplant Ada and Rina as his one true love. An unforgettable story of one of the
greatest opera singers of all time.
Canada:
Penguin
Italy:
Marlin Editore (expired)
Serbia:
Laguna
US:
Simon & Schuster
Sean Dixon (see also Children’s/Young Adult) **See Sean Dixon’s
website: www.seandixon.org
THE MANY REVENGES OF KIP FLYNN
It all started with a black rose and a rich man. And then there she was, Kip Flynn, standing
beside her dead boyfriend and agreeing to take a large sum of money from the son of a rich
man to keep quiet. As if she could have done anything else, being so scared and griefstricken and maybe pregnant. But that’s not the end of it. There’s some kind of connection
between Kip and this rich developer’s son. So, when Kip awakens from her grief, intent on
revenge, they find themselves pursuing one another with a ferocity they can barely
understand, Kip torn between vengefulness and growth.
World excluding Romania: Coach House Books
THE GIRLS WHO SAW EVERYTHING [Published in the UK & US as THE
LAST DAYS OF THE LACUNA CABAL]
“A sort of Tristram Shandy for the twenty-first century. Sean Dixon’s first novel is an intellectual, sexual,
logorrheac, bibliophilic, cryptological, political and archaeological rant of the first order. It’ll change your idea
of what ‘written in stone’ means, and it’ll blow your mind too.” Michael Redhill
The Lacuna Cabal Montreal Young Woman’s Book Club loves to bring to life tableaux from
the books they read. But when they begin to enact the Epic of Gilgamesh in the early days of
the Iraq War, the book begins to enact them instead. It’s the story of a group of friends who
find a family of sorts, who learn to cope with love, loss, and growing up in a world that is
falling apart.
Canada:
Coach House
UK:
HarperFiction
Romania:
Sc Leda Editserv
US:
The Other Press
19
Lisa Dow **See Lisa Dow’s website: www.lisadow.com
WITH HER BOOTS ON
Successful, impeccably dressed real-estate agent and slightly neurotic heroine Mel Melrose is
getting ready to be a bridesmaid in her brother’s wedding. But offensive wedding attire and
drunken bridal showers aren’t her only stressors – Mel’s career is turned upside down with
the addition of a personal translator, a sea mammal, and a television commercial producer
with an affinity for very large dogs. In an uncharacteristic moment of spontaneity, Mel hops
a plane to Australia, only to find herself traveling north on Australia’s east coast alongside
the world’s most annoying man. Will Mel clamber off the edge with her four-inch heels
intact, or will she discover that maybe, just maybe, designer boots aren’t the answer to all of
life’s hurdles?
Canada:
McArthur & Company
IT’D BE FUNNY IF IT WASN’T MY LIFE
Kit Jennings has given up on finding Mr. Right, and has decided that “Sex with the Single
Ex” is the only way to protect her heart from being broken again. But then how has she
ended up with three engagement rings, all with marriage proposals attached, and a man’s
scratched-up high school ring?
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Russia:
Exmo
Turkey:
Pozitif Yayinlari
Tricia Dower **See Tricia Dower's website: www.triciadower.com
STONY RIVER
Shortlisted for the CAA Literary Fiction Award
Stony River, New Jersey, 1955: On a sweltering June afternoon, Linda Wise and Tereza
Dobra witness a disturbing scene. A pale, pretty girl who looks about their age is taken from
Crazy Haggerty’s house by two uniformed policemen. Everyone in Stony River thought
Crazy Haggerty lived alone. The pale, pretty girl is about to enter an alien world, and as
Tereza and Linda try to make sense of what they’ve seen, they’re unaware their own lives will
soon be shattered as well.
Canada:
Penguin
Agent: John Pearce
Warren Dunford
THE SCENE STEALER
Mitchell Draper has written a movie about the kidnapping of a famous actress. But as
shooting starts, the lead actress is kidnapped in real life – in exactly the same way as the
scene in the script. As the sole eyewitness, Mitchell is determined to find her. But confusion
grows as a string of clues echoes famous kidnapping cases and celebrity disappearances –
from the Lindbergh baby, Agatha Christie and Patty Hearst to Frank Sinatra Junior, Russell
Crowe and Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham. And rumours fly that the actress faked her own
kidnapping as a giant publicity stunt. The police make it clear that they think Mitchell
20
himself might be involved. Then, just when Mitchell thinks he’s figured out what really
happened, he’s kidnapped too!
Canada:
Cormorant Books
World French: Cormorant Books
MAKING A KILLING
Shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award
Still aiming for fame and fortune, struggling screenwriter Mitchell Draper learns of a longago murder-suicide in Toronto’s high society and decides to turn the grisly tale into a
blockbuster movie. But his quest to get-rich-quick rapidly deepens into a serious murder
investigation.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
Russia:
Amphora
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
“One of the funniest and most shamelessly entertaining novels around,” -- Now Magazine
The story of Mitchell Draper, a struggling Toronto screenwriter who’s hired to write the
script for a Mafia Princess rip-off. Suddenly his world begins to twist into a real-life version
of a movie thriller, as he discovers the tale is more grounded in truth than fiction, and he is
caught up in it…. Actress Anne Bancroft called it “one of the best fun reads of all time.”
Audio:
Fluidwords
Canada:
Cormorant Books
Germany:
Bruno Gmuender
Russia:
Amphora
Spencer Dunmore (see also Non-Fiction)
SQUADRON
A collection of 12 stories about Tuttle, Coombs, Willy, Taffy and Chalky – fighter pilots
stationed at a Bomber Command base in Yorkshire, England during the Second World War,
from harrowing bomber runs over Nazi Germany to tight mess-hall camaraderie.
UK:
Severn House Publishers
NO HOLD BARRED
A hilarious novel following the adventures of an ambitious young man from London’s
Muswell Hill, the New York of the 1950s, as he makes his way through the Machiavellian,
sometimes ingenuous world of Insurance.
Canada:
THE SOUND OF WINGS
“A breathtaking story…it will make your blood run cold, but you’ll find it difficult to stop reading.” Daily
Mirror
Suddenly, shockingly, out of the stormy night sky emerges a small monoplane of oldfashioned design, directly in the path of Heathrow-bound jet-line. Only lightning-swift
action by the jet’s co-pilot averts a catastrophic collision. Or does it? Is there really another
21
aircraft? Or is the entire incident a figment of First Officer Adam Beale’s imagination?
Canada:
ACE-D
“Dunmore creates an atmosphere of tension and stress in the best style of adventure-thriller literature.”
Montreal Star
Ernst Brehme, a fighter pilot serving with the Luftwaffe, is no ordinary flyer. He possesses
the rare combination of qualities that makes him one of the top-scoring pilots of all time – a
national hero. But young and naïve, he falls in love with a French Jewess several years his
senior, and their ill-starred romance is a central theme of this tense, gripping adventure.
Canada:
MEANS OF ESCAPE
“Smashing story...heart-thumping escapes...riveting adventure.” Publishers Weekly
Trapped behind enemy lines, a young sergeant in the RAF meets Carl von Eisner, a renegade
captain of the Third Reich who is in hiding after a failed attempt on Hitler’s life. They form
an unlikely alliance as they struggle to survive.
FINAL APPROACH
Taking the reader from 1911 to 1942 to the present, James Marshall recounts tales of
heroism, romance, and camaraderie. We meet lovely, bold Frances Gray, who dreams of
being the first woman pilot to cross the English Channel. There is Martin Coleman, World
War I hero and winner of the Victoria Cross, whose bravery is only outweighed by his
down-to-earth modesty. And there is Everett Deane, An American WW II lieutenant with
premonitions of his own death.
Canada:
COLLISION OVER TORONTO AIRPORT
Two giant jets crammed with passengers – a Boeing 707 and a Douglas DC-8 – converge
over Toronto in a giant thunderstorm. Suddenly, a lightweight Aeronca flown by an amateur
dives out of the clouds and a seasoned pilot blunders. In a shuddering end-of-the-world
eruption of sound, the two jets collide to become one terrifying, unstable monster…
Canada:
THE LAST HILL
For what is left of the Battalion, surrounded by Japanese troops, strafed by planes, this is the
last hill-the end of their lives. Muswell Hill had looked impregnable, but how long can
exhausted men repulse wave after wave of vicious enemy attacks, while hope of
reinforcement slowly fades? An exciting war novel that rings with the sounds and feelings of
hand-to-hand combat and provokes unforgettable questions about man’s role as a warrior.
Canada:
BOMB RUN
“A screamingly taut narrative…” The New York Times
22
World War II is almost over. It’s the thirtieth and final mission for one British Bomber
Command aircrew. They’ll make one last pass at the Germans and return to England and
peace. But Wally Mann, the pilot of the Landcaster bomber, is cynical and scared, and
convinced he will not survive this war. Meanwhile, a young German whose parents were
killed in a direct hit demands of himself no less revenge.
Canada:
Ann Eriksson
HIGH CLEAR BELL OF MORNING
“Eriksson tells an important story, and she tells it with style, grace and compelling characters and plot.”
Vancouver Sun
Ruby’s life begins to unravel when she hears voices coming from her closet. Diagnosed with
schizophrenia, her treatment goes awry when she meets a drug dealer, Kenny, in group
therapy. Unwilling to let her go, her father, Glen, follows Ruby through the streets, catching
glimpses of the horror-filled world in which his daughter now resides. In a struggle to get his
daughter back, Glen commits an unthinkable act that could cause him to lose everything else
that has ever mattered to him.
Canada:
Douglas & McIntyre
Agent: John Pearce
John Farrow
RIVER CITY
On the night of the Rocket Richard Riot in 1955, the legendary Cartier Dagger is stolen
from Montreal’s Sun Life Building. Many believe the dagger gives whoever possesses it
mystical powers, and its journey through history is as spectacular as it is bloodstained. The
same night, a police informer is found murdered in a nearby park with a dagger wound to his
heart. But who murdered him, and why?
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Mystic Point Productions Inc.
France:
Grasset (Fr. Title: La dague de Cartier)
ICE LAKE
Lured to a frozen lake, Montreal detective Émile Cinq-Marscomes face to face not with the
unknown woman who asked to meet him there, but with a corpse floating under the ice.
Something tells him that his nose is being rubbed in this murder -- and that this is about to
get very personal. In this follow-up to the classic City of Ice, Cinq-Mars must determine the
difference between would-be friends and deadly enemies -- before it’s too late.
Canada:
HarperCollins
France:
Grasset
Germany:
Droemer
Holland:
Bruna
Russia:
Eterna
US:
Random House
UK:
Century / Random House
CITY OF ICE
23
Montreal has been damaged by political uncertainty over separatism, and violent turf wars
leave the police force struggling to keep the city safe. Even Sergeant-Detective Émile CinqMars appears to have been compromised. How has he managed to penetrate Montreal’s
criminal elite? Who are his informants? And who is the young female operative he seems so
desperate to save from the clutches of the mob?
Canada:
HarperCollins
France:
Grasset
Germany:
Droemer
Holland:
Bruna
Japan:
Hayakawa Publishing
Russia:
Eterna
UK:
Random House / Century
US:
Random House
Trevor Ferguson
THE RIVER BURNS
Wakefield is a small town where a unique collection of longstanding citizens has lived mostly
in harmony, accepting of each other’s foibles. But underneath the picture-perfect exterior, a
battle rages between those who wish to preserve the historic single-lane covered bridge
across the river and the loggers who want it replaced with a modern alternative.
The River Burns tells the story of a small town in crisis, the mistakes people make, and the
courage it takes to heal a community after a horrific act of destruction.
North America:
Simon & Schuster
THE TIMEKEEPER
Canada:
Canada French:
Film:
France:
Portugal:
HarperCollins
Bibliothèque Québécoise
La Pleine Lune (expired) (Fr. Title: Train d’enfer)
Louis Bélanger, Director; Réal Chabot, Producer
Le Serpent à Plumes
THE FIRE LINE
Australia:
Canada:
Canada French:
France:
Portugal:
US:
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
La Pleine Lune (Fr. Title: La Ligne de Feu)
HarperCollins
THE TRUE LIFE ADVENTURES OF SPARROW DRINKWATER
Australia:
Canada:
Canada French:
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
Quebec Loisirs (Fr. Title: La Vie Aventureuse d’un drôle du Moineau)
La Pleine Lune (expired)
Portugal:
24
THE KINKAJOU
Canada:
Canada French:
France:
Portugal:
Macmillan of Canada
M&S Paperbacks
La Pleine Lune (Fr. Title: Le Kinkajou)
ONYX JOHN
Canada:
French Canada:
France:
Portugal:
McClelland and Stewart
La Pleine Lune
Editions du Roseau (expired)
HIGH WATER CHANTS
Australia:
Canada:
Canada French:
USA:
HarperCollins
HarperCollins
Macmillan of Canada (expired)
La Pleine Lune (Fr. Title: Sous l’aile du Corbeau) (Quebec: Serpent a
Plumes)
HarperCollins
Agents: Bruce Westwood & Carolyn Forde
Timothy Findley (see also Non-Fiction)
Recipient of the Banff Centre for the Arts National Award
ELIZABETH REX (a play)
Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Drama
“The most powerful theatrical image of the year.” The National Post
In the small hours of the night before Ash Wednesday, 1601, William Shakespeare and the
Lord Chamberlain’s Men receive an unexpected visitor to their humble lodgings. Unable to
rest, the Queen herself has come to keep vigil on the eve of the execution of her former
lover, the Earl of Essex. Her arrival provokes the rapier-sharp wit and keen insight of Ned
Lowenscroft, the company’s brilliant performer of women’s roles, and sparks the
imagination of the Bard of Avon. In the course of the long night and their often turbulent
exchanges, the actor, the queen, and the playwright will confront the roles they have played
and the lives they have lived, wrestling with questions of identity, sexuality, and love, and
asking: what makes a man a man, and a woman a woman?
Canada:
HarperCollins
SPADEWORK
On a summer evening in Stratford, Ontario, a gardener’s spade happens to cut through a
backyard telephone line. This simple accident has devastating effects. With the failure of one
telephone call to reach the house, an ambitious young actor becomes the victim of sexual
blackmail. After the failure of another call, murder is committed. And when Bell Canada
sends a repairman whose innocent male beauty is irresistible, two marriages start to be torn
apart, while other lives are joined together. The novel is classic Findley, peopled by the
25
lonely, the dispossessed and the sexually troubled, whose foibles confound those around
them.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
No Equal Entertainment
Finland:
Gummerus
France:
Serpent à Plumes (expired)
Germany:
List
Portugal:
Europa
Russia:
Inostranka
UK:
Faber
US:
HarperCollins
PILGRIM
Nominated for the Giller Prize, Starred Review in Publishers Weekly, #1 National Bestseller.
“Pilgrim is an intense, bewitching mix of mystery, religion, history, psychology and philosophy that challenges
and provokes while still managing to entertain…” The New York Times
On a spring morning in 1912, a man walks into his garden in London and hangs himself. His
body is discovered by his manservant several hours later – and revived. He is a perfect
gentleman, rich and sophisticated, but deeply unhappy because, as he claims, he cannot die.
An inmate of the Burghölzli Psychiatric Clinic, he is introduced to Carl Jung, and claims he
has lived forever. Jung then receives a gift from a friend, Lady Quartermaine, a set of diaries,
which will gradually reveal the secret of Pilgrim’s past.
Book Club:
France Loisirs
Bulgaria:
Lege Artis
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Lea Pool Inc.
Finland:
Gummerus
France:
Gallimard
France:
Germany:
List
Greece:
Enalios
Holland:
De Geus
Israel:
Hed Arzi
Italy:
Neri Pozza
Korea:
Dulnyouk
Lithuania:
Alma
Portugal:
Europa America
Russia:
AST
Serbia:
Alfa
Turkey:
Can Publishers
UK:
Faber
US:
HarperCollins
DUST TO DUST (stories)
Number One National Bestseller
The dust of death blows across a Mediterranean island and is etched by the footprints of a
small boy. The Vergerine Sisters carefully brush fine particles of dust from the wings of
26
angels in the cathedral. These stories weave the consciousness of mortality with everyday
acts of living and loving, of desire and faith.
Canada:
HarperCollins
YOU WENT AWAY (a novella)
Shortlisted for the Prix Femina, and the Elle Fiction Prize in France
A dashing young RCAF pilot captures the heart of a married woman and her 11-year-old
son, while her philandering, hard-drinking husband jeopardizes his own Air Force career.
Canada:
HarperCollins
France:
THE PIANO MAN’S DAUGHTER
Shortlisted for the Medicis Etranger prize, Longlisted for the Prix Femina, nominated for the
IMPAC Award, National Bestseller
Set between the late years of the 19th Century and the outbreak of World War II, it tells the
tale of piano tuner Charlie Kilworth and his mysterious mother Lily, concentrating on
Charlie’s search for the identity of his father.
Bulgaria:
Lege Artis
Germany:
List/Claassen
Canada:
HarperCollins
Greece:
Enalios Publishers
Denmark:
Cicero
Italy:
Mondadori (expired)
Film:
Sullivan Entertainment
Korea:
Dulnyouk (expired)
Finland:
Gummerus
US:
HarperCollins
France:
France:
Gallimard
THE WARS
Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction
When young Canadian Robert Ross enlists as an officer and is sent into the hell and terror of
1915 Ypres, he is unprepared for the horrors of war. But in the midst of the death and
violence, his own compassion finds voice and he makes a decision that will leave its mark on
him for the rest of his life.
Argentina:
Sudamericana
Canada:
Penguin
Canada French: Hurtubise
Czech:
Dita
Denmark:
Hernov
Film:
Dennis Garnham
Finland:
Gummerus
France:
Phebus
Germany:
Piper
Holland:
Meulenhoff
Italy:
Neri Pozza (expired)
Japan:
Sairyusha
Film:
Torstar
Norway:
Cappelens
Serbia:
Alfa
Sweden:
Norstedts
27
UK:
US:
Faber
Delacorte/Dell
HEADHUNTER
Winner of the City of Toronto Book Award, #1 Bestseller
Lilah Kemp inadvertently lets Kurtz out of page 92 of Heart of Darkness and is unable to
get him back in. While he stalks the streets of Toronto, the rich and powerful are engaged in
a web of depravity and traumatized children are turning up at psychiatric institutes.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Canada French: Boreal (expired)
Denmark:
Cicero
Film:
Shaftesbury Films
France:
France:
Gallimard
Germany:
List
US:
Crown
THE TELLING OF LIES
Nessa Van Horne is vacationing at the prestigious Aurora Sands Hotel in Cape Cod when
odd things begin to happen. Calder Maddox, a well-to-do guest, is found lying dead on the
beach at about the same time that an oversized iceberg floats into the cove. With the
stranger looming off the coast, watching the humans fumble on land, Nessa attempts to
solve the murder and put things back in balance.
Canada:
Penguin
Russia:
Inostranka (reverted)
Finland:
Gummerus
Spain:
Portic
France:
Actes Sud (expired)
Sweden:
Mysterious Press
Germany:
Ullstein
UK:
Macmillan
Italy:
Mondadori
US:
Delacorte
Japan:
Hayakawa
DINNER ALONG THE AMAZON
An impressive collection of 12 short stories written in strong, straightforward prose.
World French: Les Allusifs
NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE
It’s just before the great flood and Noah’s family is living life among the sinners and
preparing for the end of the world. Findley introduces us to a host of characters with a
unique perspective on the world, on Father Noah and on his family.
Canada:
Penguin
Greece:
Aquarius
Croatia:
AGM
Italy:
Garzanti
Denmark:
Hernovs
Musical:
Different Zebra (expired)
Film:
Neil Bartram & Brian Hill
Sweden:
Norstedts
Film (animation): Adam Wojtowicz
UK:
Arrow
Finland:
Gummerus
US:
Delacorte
France:
Actes Sud
Germany:
List
28
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Bulgaria:
Canada:
Denmark:
Film:
Finland:
France:
Germany:
Lege Artis
Penguin
Forum
Stratford Festival of Canada
Gummerus
Serpent à Plumes
List
Holland:
Italy:
Spain:
Sweden:
UK:
US:
Meulenhoff
Neri Pozza (reverted)
Alianza
Norstedts
Faber/Arrow
Delacorte/Dell
Russia:
US:
Insotrannaya (Serial)
Dell/Delacorte
UK:
US:
Andre Deutsch/Corgi
Viking/Bantam
STONES
Winner of the Trillium Book Award 1988
Canada:
Penguin
France:
Actes Sud (expired)
THE BUTTERFLY PLAGUE
Canada:
Germany:
Macmillan/Penguin
List
THE LAST OF THE CRAZY PEOPLE
Canada:
Film:
France:
Germany:
UK:
US:
World French:
General/Penguin
Agat Films, France
List
Macdonald/Corgi
Meredith/Bantam
Libretto/Phebus
Joe Fiorito (see also Non-Fiction)
THE SONG BENEATH THE ICE
“Fiorito’s keen sense of place (a Vietnamese restaurant, the frozen tundra) and character also help anchor
the story in a compelling emotional and sensual realm. The language is clear, precise, and sensitive to nuances
of feeling and thought.” Quill & Quire
A young concert pianist, in the shadow of the late Glenn Gould, slowly loses the will to play.
One evening, during a recital, he stops in mid-chord, walks off stage and disappears. He
finds himself, several days later, in Wolf Cove, an isolated Arctic Village. He begins to
rediscover the purity of sound. Spring arrives and a young man drowns. When the piano in
the school is vandalized the pianist is asked if he can repair it. Tucked inside the school’s
Steinway, he finds a photo – the source of a deep wound in the community. The following
evening, during a memorial concert, the pianist finds compelling reasons to perform again.
Canada:
29
Sylvia Fraser (see also Non-Fiction and Children’s/Young Adult)
THE ANCESTRAL SUITCASE
Professor Nora Locke takes an old suitcase on her sabbatical to England instead of the new
one she had packed. With the case’s contents serving as a catalyst, time seems to melt
around Nora, carrying her back to 1913, the year that her flamboyant grandmother
emigrated from the Midland’s town of Barrow with the ancestral suitcase. By following the
clues to a grisly turn-of-the-century murder, Nora is able to free herself from the emotional
juggernaut that has kept her tied to her family’s past.
Canada:
Key Porter
Germany:
Ehrenwirth Verlag
BERLIN SOLSTICE
This novel follows the interwoven lives of a number of Germans as they struggle through
the ethical minefield created by Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.
Canada:
THE EMPEROR’S VIRGIN
The time is A.D. 95. Into the glittering court of the infamous Emperor Domitian strides
Maximus Marcus, an ambitious yet idealistic commander, summoned from the provinces to
serve his emperor in the highest councils of Rome. Adding to the conflict between the men
is their mutual desire for Rome’s chief vestal virgin, Cornelia, sworn to a life of chastity. This
is an allegory of power, as old as civilization and as modern as Watergate and Clintongate.
Canada:
US:
Doubleday/Dell
A CASUAL AFFAIR
Two contrary lovers – she a headstrong artist, he a charming but jaded diplomat – pursue
their illicit relationship through sexual confrontations that intensify into violence. A series of
fairytales, written by the artist, lay bare the unconscious forces compelling their lives.
Canada:
US:
Little Brown
THE CANDY FACTORY
An expedition into the tangled relationships between the sexes, the classes and the
generations. Set in a mythic candy factory where life is anything but sweet – ironically
examines the affluent, urban society of the 70s through the lives of eleven main characters.
Canada:
US:
Little Brown
PANDORA
This is a classic story of growing up in Ontario during the 40s, when the breadman delivered
door-to-door from a horsecart, and when the apparent innocence of everyday life was offset
by the horrors of war. Yet, under the veneer of respectability, many a domestic monster
lurked, as witnessed by Sylvia Fraser’s young heroine, the irrepressible Pandora.
Canada:
US:
Little Brown
30
d leonard freeston **See d leonard freeston’s website: www.the-sixth-extinction.com
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
Antihero Jason Conrad, a Nietzschean figure with the wealth of Bill Gates, has taken it upon
himself to preserve for posterity the seeds of as many animal and plant species as possible in
a vast and remote underground facility. Unlike legitimate institutions, Conrad’s secret
doomsday complex is staffed by a combination of environmental experts and mercenaries
who will stop at nothing to achieve their once noble ambitions. After a fellow police officer
is murdered and his award-winning German shepherd disappears, Montreal police officer
Sergeant-Detective Irina Drach and her young partner, Sergeant-Detective Hudson, connect
the crime with a seed bank raid at Ardingly in England and the kidnapping of a Triple
Crown thoroughbred named Zarathustra. It soon becomes apparent that highly organized
abduction teams are raiding seed banks all around the world, as well as scooping up the
finest animal specimens from zoos, nature preserves, and the wild, with a complete disregard
for human life. Despite the global implications and ballooning media interest, Irina never
forgets that her foremost aim is to solve the murder of a friend and fellow officer.
World:
Dundurn
Agent: Chris Casuccio
Elyse Friedman
THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING
“An extraordinary accomplishment… Tragicomedy at its best.” – Toronto Star
Kicked out by his fed-up girlfriend, John Aarons is on the hunt for a cheap place to live
when he stumbles on the ideal set up – an apartment share with Amy, an attractive
psychology student, who lives next door to a pot smoking hippie named Eldrich. When John
realizes that not only is Eldrich philosophically inclined to share, but that he has an oddly
magnetic effect on total strangers, he decides to start a new-age cult called The Answer
Institute, with Eldrich as guru. As Friedman shows to hilarious and heartbreaking effect, it’s
not necessarily answers that the characters seek in this brisk and stylish tale of a new-age cult
gone obscenely wrong. What they’re really after are the usual things we humans long for:
acceptance, community, forgiveness, love, and belonging.
Canada: Patrick Crean/HarperCollins
Kimberly Fu **See Kim Fu’s website: www.kimfu.ca
FOR TODAY I AM A BOY
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction Finalist
New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
Canadian Authors Association Emerging Writer Award Finalist
Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction Finalist
Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction Finalist
Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize Longlist
Longlisted for Canada Reads 2015
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
CBC Books Writers to Watch
31
“[S]ensitively wrought… [Fu] is intimately attuned to the anxieties of first generation go-getters.” – The
New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
Peter Huang is given the Chinese name juan chaun, or powerful king, at birth. He is the
exalted only son in the middle of three daughters, the one who will finally fulfill his father’s
dreams of Western masculinity and lineage. But Peter has different dreams: he knows that he
is a girl. This is a novel about gender and the lengths Asian-American children go to please
their parents. It is also about the seldom acknowledged desire to be white and about finding
your place, not only in the world, but – more elusive still – within your family.
Australia:
Random House
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2 books)
Zsuzsi Gartner **see Zsuzsi Gartner’s website: www.zsuzsigartner.com
BETTER LIVING THROUGH PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES
Shortlisted for the 2011 Scotia Bank Giller Prize
“What crazy, wonderful writing this is – hilarious, exuberant, apocalyptic, heart-stopping. Gartner sees all,
dissects all, loves all. An absolutely irresistible collection.” Barbara Gowdy
“Zsuzsi Gartner’s writing is dazzling, effortless and clear as a bell. She’s able to crystallize a cultural
moment in a way entirely her own that is both instantaneous and eternal. I couldn't let go of it and read it all
in one go.” Douglas Coupland
Whether she takes on evolution and modern manhood, international adoption, real estate,
the movie industry, science and faith, art, or terrorism, Gartner fillets the righteous and the
ridiculous with dexterity in equal, heartbreaking, and glorious measure. Angels crash land,
lovers speak IKEA, a mountain swallows upscale West Coast properties, a killer stalks the
great motivational speakers of North America. These stories ruthlessly expose our covert
fears and fathomless desires and allow us to snort with laughter – while grieving the
grotesque world we’d live in if we all got what we wanted.
World:
Hamish Hamilton / Penguin
Bill Gaston
JULIET WAS A SURPRISE
Finalist for the 2014 Governor General’s Award
“Juliet Was a Surprise is great fun: another robust, distinctive collection from one of our most intriguing
practitioners of the form.” Quill & Quire
Consistently funny, but just as often heartbreaking, Juliet Was a Surprise portrays the humour
and unfairness of life, through the misguided actions of characters with whom we can’t help
but sympathize. Readers will see the world through the prism of unfamiliar perspectives: a
delusional playboy; a tree surgeon better attuned to the values of his patients than to other
people; a literally mad professor; a former pizza delivery boy convinced he’s witnessed magic
– all struggling to justify the choices they’ve made. These lives explore how we can fail to
understand the simplest of truths, and how often we are trapped by the peculiarities of the
way we see the world.
World:
Penguin Canada
32
THE WORLD
Winner of the 2013 BC Book Prize Ethel Wilson Award
"The craftsmanship is superb. There is not one plot thread left to draggle; not one character is left behind. If
it’s possible to cram a world of human existence into a single piece of CanLit, and to do so with grace,
understatement, wry humour, respect and love, then Bill Gaston has done just that." The Globe and Mail
A recently divorced, early retiree accidentally burns down his house on the day he pays off
the mortgage, only to discover that for the first time in his life he’s forgotten to pay a bill: his
insurance premium. An old friend of his, a middle-aged musician, prepares for her suicide to
end the pain of esophageal cancer. Her father, who left his family to study Buddhism in
Nepal, ends his days in a Toronto facility for Alzheimer’s patients. The three are tied
together not only by their bonds of affection, but by a book called The World, written by the
old man in his youth.
World:
Hamish Hamilton / Penguin
Don Gillmor (see also: Non-Fiction) ** See Don Gillmor's website:
www.dongillmor.ca
MOUNT PLEASANT
“A look at the emotional underpinnings of our obsession with wanting more, no matter how much we can't
afford it… This is a book that makes you laugh with (and at) the characters but also, sheepishly, at yourself,
because so much of what Gillmor describes is part of the urban collective consciousness.” The Globe and Mail
In middle age, debt has become the most significant relationship in Harry Salter's life. He
was born to wealthy parents at a time when the city was still defined by its WASP elite. But
nothing in life has turned out the way Harry was led to expect. He's unsure of his place in
society, his marriage is crumbling, his son is bordering on estranged, and on top of it all his
father is dying. As he sits at his father's bedside, Harry inevitably daydreams about his
inheritance. A couple of his father's millions would rescue him from his ballooning debt-maybe even save his marriage. But when the will is read, all that's left for Harry is $4200. Out
of desperation and disbelief, Harry starts to dig into what happened to the money. As he
follows a trail strewn with family secrets and unsavory suspicions, he discovers not only that
old money has lost its grip and new money taken on an ugly hue, but that his whole
existence been cast into shadow by the weight of his expectations.
Canada:
Random House
KANATA: A Novel
“Don Gillmor may well have written ‘The Great Canadian Novel’ here…Brilliantly written, Kanata is a
breathtaking achievement…” Roy MacGregor
In 1759 in Quebec, the battle for a continent took place between British forces commanded
by a suicidal general and the French forces commanded by a Marquis who was desperate to
leave Quebec. The battle lasted less than thirty minutes. The continent was won, but the
prize was still largely an abstraction. Kanata takes readers on a fictionalized, multigenerational journey through millennia and across a continent to examine the stories, myths,
and legends of those who formed the country and who were formed by it. Kanata is the
untold story of the invention of a nation.
Canada: Penguin
33
Béa Gonzalez
THE MAPMAKER’S OPERA
“Béa Gonzalez has created a world bursting at the seams with images and ideas, social history, revolutionary
fervour, all informed by an overwhelming passion for preservation. This is a wonderfully vibrant tapestry,
enveloping the reader with its richness.” Quill & Quire
“An exquisite talent with perfect pitch.” Calgary Herald
From the exquisite beauty of late 19th century Spain to the turmoil of prerevolutionary
Mexico, The Mapmaker’s Opera is a sumptuous story of love and redemption composed
against a backdrop of personal conflict, social upheaval and the threat of extinction itself.
Born in Seville to a dishonoured governess, Diego Clemente finds refuge from the
emotional strife of his early youth inside his stepfather’s bookstore, nurturing the burgeoning
artistic talent that leads him as a young man to the Yucatán Peninsula where he becomes an
apprentice to the American naturalist Edward Nelson. There Diego encounters a world that
is as precarious as it is beautiful—from the affluence of a city built on the slave labour of the
local henequen haciendas to the diversity and magnifi-cence of the birds he illustrates for the
guidebook Nelson is creating. Together with Very Useful, Nelson’s factotum, and Sofia
Duarte, the free-spirited daughter of a local hacienda owner, Diego Clemente embarks on
the journey that will transform all of their lives.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Holland:
Sirene
Opera:
Kevin Purcell
Serbia:
Laguna
Spain:
Suma de Letras
UK:
HarperCollins
US:
Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press
THE BITTER TASTE OF TIME
“A sparkling authorial debut... A lyrical, omniscient approach reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and
Isabel Allende.... the way [Gonzalez] has integrated historical fact, allowing it to impinge only through the
lives of the characters, is one of the great triumphs of the novel.” Calgary Herald
In the tradition of Like Water for Chocolate and Antonia’s Line, The Bitter Taste of Time is a
wondrous, rich and romantic tale of a sweeping history that belongs to a family of
remarkable women, a story of passion, pride, love, and war. By turns funny, tragic and
touched with a fine sense of magic realism, The Bitter Taste of Time is a hugely entertaining
read.
World:
Alison Gordon
PRAIRIE HARDBALL – The Fifth Kate Henry Mystery
Members of the All American Girls Baseball League hold their reunion at the North
Battleford Hall of Fame, and it isn’t long before they run into violent trouble. The answer
lies in the deep past.
North America: McClelland & Stewart (expired)
34
World English: HarperCollins Canada (ebook)
STRIKING OUT – The Fourth Kate Henry Mystery
“A compelling, provocative and witty mystery novel. Ms. Gordon’s best yet.” William Deverell
Major-league baseball players go on strike, and that’s not the only problem…
World English: McClelland & Stewart (Australia: Allen & Unwin; UK: Fourth Estate; US:
St. Martin’s Press) (expired)
NIGHT GAME – The Third Kate Henry Mystery
Toronto baseball writer Henry is in Florida for the Titans’ spring training when pre-season
rituals take a sinister turn.
SAFE AT HOME – The Second Kate Henry Mystery
A serial killer is stalking the streets of Kate Henry’s hometown, claiming one young boy after
another as his victim.
THE DEAD PULL HITTER – The First Kate Henry Mystery
When Sultan Sanchez – the Toronto Titans’ designated hitter – fails to show up for a crucial
big league game, Toronto Planet sportswriter Kate Henry stumbles onto a story bigger than
she bargained for.
Barbara Gowdy
Member of the Order of Canada
Winner of the Marian Engel Award
HELPLESS
Winner of the Trillium Award, Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Fiction Award,
Longlisted for the Giller Prize
“A page-turner that finds tension not in the obvious questions but in more personal ones.” The New York
Times, “A thumping thriller.” The Independent
From Canadian literary superstar Barbara Gowdy, a haunting and provocative novel of
heart-stopping suspense. When nine-year-old Rachel disappears one hot summer night
during a massive blackout, her mother Celia’s terror and guilt threaten to overwhelm her.
But she refuses to break down. She joins the city-wide and soon nation-wide search for the
child with “the face of an angel.” Closely monitoring the media coverage is Ron, a smallappliance repairman who collects vintage vacumes. Thouh Rachel is a stranger to him, his
feelings for her are at once tender, misguided and chillingly possessive.
Bulgaria:
Vessela Lutzkanova
Italy:
Edizioni e/o
35
Canada:
Film:
France:
Germany:
HarperCollins
Foundry Films
Actes Sud
Antje Kunstmann Verlag
Norway:
Russia:
UK:
US:
PAX
Ripol
Little Brown
Metropolitan /Holt
THE ROMANTIC
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Nominated for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Prize; UK
Booksellers’ Choice
“There was never any question about the extraordinary qualities of Carol Shields and Margaret Atwood,
but now Barbara Gowdy has clearly joined them.” Daily Mail, “Exceptional … She is easily as good as
the Canadian novelist Alice Munro, and has the fluency and witty, twisted grace of the wonderful American
writer Lorrie Moore.” The Daily Telegraph, “A new star in that bright Canadian galaxy of Margaret
Atwood, Alice Munro and the late Carol Shields.” The Independent (London)
Ever since her mother disappeared, leaving behind only a terse goodbye note, ten-year-old
Louise Kirk has been a bottomless pit of desire. First she falls for Mrs. Richter, the
immigrant woman down the street. Then, nine months later, her feelings shift to Mrs.
Richter’s adopted son, Abel, and the two of them enter into a relationship that will introduce
Louise to the extremes of joy and agony, but also allow her to learn the hard lesson that
there isn’t just one way to love.
Brazil:
Fundamento
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Rhombus Media Inc.
France:
Actes Sud
Germany:
Antje Kunstmann Verlag
Holland:
Ambo Anthos
Italy:
Edizioni e/o (expired)
Korea:
Hong-Ik
Latin America: Norma
Latvia:
Zvaigzne
Norway:
PAX
Poland:
Rebis
UK:
Flamingo
US:
Metropolitan/Holt
THE WHITE BONE
Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Fiction Award and the Rogers
Writers’ Trust Prize
“I was simply swept up in it. I loved it.” John Irving, The New York Times Review of Books, “...at once
the most risky, the most imaginative, and in its myriad details the most ‘realistic’ of recent novels…. To call
this astonishing novel a tour de force, as critics have done, is to suggest the author’s virtuosity, but not her
power to terrify and console.” Joyce Carol Oates, TLS International Books of the Year and the
Millennium
A classic quest story that has captured the imagination of readers around the world, The
White Bone is the brilliantly conceived story of Mud, who was orphaned at birth and adopted
into a passing herd of elephant cows, and their search for the Safe Place, and the White
Bone that can lead them there.
Brazil:
Rocco
Canada:
Flamingo/HarperCollins
Catalan:
Columna
36
Czech:
Euromedia
Denmark:
Wangels
Denmark:
Den Grimme (Audio)
Film:
Silent Joe Inc.
France:
Actes Sud
Germany:
Antje Kunstmann/Heyne
Holland:
Het Spectrum
Italy:
Edizioni E/O (expired)
Japan:
Hayakawa
Korea:
Hong-Ik
Latin America: Norma Colombia
Norway:
PAX
Portugal:
Quetzal
Russia:
Sophia
Spain:
Maeva
Sweden:
Natur och Kultur
UK:
US:
Metropolitan/Holt
MISTER SANDMAN
Shortlisted for Giller Prize, Governor General’s Award, Trillium Award, Times Literary
Supplement Book of the Year (M. Atwood)
“She writes like an angel.” Carol Shields
A dark, very funny and beautifully compassionate novel that investigates the truths and
deceptions that wind and bind every family together.
Canada:
Norway:
PAX
China:
Rye Field (Complex)
Turkey:
Can
France:
Actes Sud
UK:
Germany:
Antje Kunstmann
US:
Steerforth/Harcourt
Holland:
de Bezige Bij
WE SO SELDOM LOOK ON LOVE
Nominated for the 1992 Trillium Award, We So Seldom Look on Love is a powerful and
intensely original collection of short stories. Whether writing about the dilemma of a twoheaded man or the shock of a woman who discovers she has married a transsexual, Gowdy
treats the strange and unusual with profound compassion and exposes the true nature of our
shifting moral ground.
Canada:
HarperCollins/Flamingo
Holland:
de Bezige Bij
China:
Business Weekly (Complex)
Japan:
Shinchosha
France:
Actes Sud
UK:
Flamingo
Germany:
Antje Kunstmann
US:
Steerforth
FALLING ANGELS
“I loved the story.” Margaret Atwood, “A striking new novel…” The New York Times
These falling angels – tough-talking Lou; sensible, sentimental Norma; chic, naïve Sandy - go
through rites of passage each in her own way. They turn to drugs, swinging sixties sex,
schmaltzy fantasy – and, repeatedly, to one another. And, even after her death, they turn to
37
their mother, and to the bizarre love they discover their father bore her, a love he must
commemorate at Niagara Falls.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Norway:
PAX
Denmark:
Klim
Serbia:
Laguna
Film:
Triptych Media Inc.
Sweden:
Tiden
Finland:
Kiriayhtyma
Turkey:
Can
France:
Actes Sud
UK:
Bloomsbury/Flamingo
Germany:
Antje Kunstmann/Fisher
US:
Soho/Washington
Holland:
de Bezige Bij
THROUGH THE GREEN VALLEY
Canada:
Judy Piatkus
US:
Darren Greer ** See Darren Greer’s website: www.darrengreer.com
JUST BENEATH MY SKIN
“From beginning to end, Just Beneath My Skin offers equal measures of both tragedy and hope.” National
Post
Twenty-eight-year-old mill worker Jake MacNeil moves to the city for a better life, leaving
his eight-year-old son Nathan behind with the woman who refuses to acknowledge Jake as
the father. Six months later he returns with a thousand dollars to ‘buy’ Nathan and rescue
him from his abusive former girlfriend. Just Beneath My Skin takes place over a single twentyfour hour period as Jake tries to navigate his ex, a dangerous figure from the past hell-bent
on dragging him “back down where he belongs,” his own disapproving father and a town
inimical to him, in order to give his son a new life.
Canada:
Cormorant
STILL LIFE WITH JUNE
Winner of the 2004 ReLit Award, Nominated for the Pearson Canada Reader’s Choice
Award, Finalist for the 2005 Ferro-Grumley Awards
Aspiring writer Cameron Dodds draws inspiration from his day job at a shelter for former
drug addicts, alcoholics, and criminals. One night Darrel, one of the shelter’s “guests” hangs
himself in the closet. Cameron reads Darrel’s file and slowly begins to take on his life –
including visiting Darrel’s mentally challenged sister, June. Day by day, Cameron becomes
more involved in June’s life, finally taking her on a road trip to the town she grew up in, and
the home her brother burnt down.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
UK & US:
Film:
Amaze Films
TYLER’S CAPE
When Luke Conrad’s aging mother breaks her hip, he must return home to the Nova
Scotian fishing village of Tyler’s Cape to take care of her. There, Luke unearths a secret in
his mother’s past – a secret that could be the key to understanding all that has happened to
his family.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
38
Chris Gudgeon
SONG OF KOSOVO
Vida Zankovic has done many things to stay alive. A wily young man caught in the insanity
of the Balkan wars, Vida has dealt drugs, been forced to join the army, and then deserted
when he tried to save a young boy trapped beneath a mountain of corpses. Being accused of
genocide, however, forces Vida into a whole new level of surrealism. In Song of Kosovo,
Chris Gudgeon exposes the universal human experience like never before, fashioning a
satirical world where one earns a following as a levitating holy man while the US Air Force
drops "bombs" of condoms, candy, and Ikea pillows to subvert the populace. Weaving
strands of Balkan mythology and history, threading them through the life of a man who only
wants to live out his days with the woman he loves, Gudgeon crafts a transcendent tale at
once grotesque and absurd, satiric and tragic, touching and real
North America:
Goose Lane Editions
GREETINGS FROM THE VODKA SEA
Greetings from the out-of-kilter world of Chris Gudgeon. In his first book of fiction, the
best-selling author of The Naked Truth: The Untold History of Sex in Canada offers postcard
glimpses into the quirky private lives of an assortment of rather twisted characters. A prim
English bride honeymooning near the so-called Vodka Sea learns the hard way why it’s
better not to drink the water in foreign parts. A chess-playing doctor loses his wife to a
charismatic psychologist during a sensuous group sex session masquerading as therapy, while
a social-climbing adulterer contemplates the seduction of a fleshy, deteriorated middle-aged
woman he once loved but now finds repulsive. Bitterly funny and filled with lusty, rueful,
comical, calculating, and even affectionate sex, these eleven cosmopolitan stories explore the
chasm between loving and being loved in return.
North America: Goose Lane
Agent: John Pearce
Sandra Gulland ** See Sandra Gulland’s website: www.sandragulland.com
THE SHADOW QUEEN
“An epic feast for the senses.” Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author
A rag-poor daughter of a theatrical star leaves the makeshift world of the theatre for the
Court – the so-called real world of money and power – only to become embroiled in a true
dramatic tragedy, emerging the heroine of her own life-script. This is the story of Claude des
Oellets, the impoverished and socially scorned daughter of itinerant actors who nevertheless
rises to become the confidential attendant to the most powerful woman in the 17th century
court: Madame de Montespan, mistress of the charismatic king.
Bulgaria:
Colibri
Canada:
HarperCollins
Romania:
Grup Media Litera
US:
Doubleday/Random House
MISTRESS OF THE SUN
“Teeming with the rich period details that make historical fiction so rewarding, Gulland’s dynamic and
nuanced portrait of Louis’ notorious reign thrums with page-turning expediency and deliciously seductive
machinations.” Booklist
39
The author of the internationally acclaimed Josephine Bonaparte trilogy returns with another
irresistible historical novel, this one based on the life of an extraordinary horsewoman,
Louise de La Vallière, the brave and spirited child of minor nobility who, against all odds,
grows up to become one of the most mysterious consorts of France's King Louis XIV, the
charismatic Sun King.
Audio:
Simon & Schuster US
Canada:
HarperCollins
Czech:
Talpress
World French: Hurtebise HMH
Germany:
Krueger/S. Fischer
Hungary:
Tericum Kiado
Poland:
Wydawnictwo (1); Bukowy Las (2)
Romania:
Gup Media Litera
Russia:
Mir Knigi
Serbia:
Magnet
Turkey:
Artemis Yayinlari
US:
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
THE JOSEPHINE B. TRILOGY
“Huge fun… a stellar performance.” The Guardian, “The best thing is the picture that emerges of Josephine
herself – capricious, coquettish and alluring by turns, she comes across as eminently likable and the sort of
woman over whom one can well imagine an emperor losing his head.” The Times
The meticulously researched and compulsively readable trilogy featuring the fictional diaries
of Josephine Bonaparte, from the age of 14 when she was the unmarriageable daughter of an
impoverished Caribbean planter, to just before her death at 50 as Empress of the French.
Book 1: THE MANY LIVES AND SECRET SORROWS OF JOSEPHINE B.
(A Waterstones Recommends title)
Book 2: TALES OF PASSION, TALES OF WOE (Shortlisted for the Trillium Award)
Book 3: THE LAST GREAT DANCE ON EARTH
Canada:
HarperCollins
Hungary:
Tericum Kiado
Catalan:
Edicions 62
Italy:
Rizzoli (3)
Czech:
Talpress
Portugal:
Bertrand
Denmark:
Lindhardt & Ringhof (Bookclub and 3 volume)
Russia:
Family Leisure Club (2)
Denmark:
Den Grimme (Audio)
Serbia:
Magnet
Film:
Halifax Films
Spain:
Grijalbo Mondadori
France:
Editions Stock
Turkey:
Artemis Yayinlari
Germany:
Krueger
UK:
Headline
US:
Scribner
Ian Hamilton **See Ian Hamilton's website: www. ianhamiltonbooks.com
THE TWO SISTERS OF BORNEO
“Ian Hamilton’s great new Ava Lee mystery has the same wow factor as its five predecessors. The plot is
complex and fast-paced, the writing tight, and its protagonist is one of the most interesting female avengers to
come along in a while.” NOW magazine
The sixth installment in the wildly popular Ava Lee series.
40
Ava has been in Hong Kong looking after Uncle. She has also set up an investment
company with May Ling Wong and her sister-in-law, Amanda Yee. One of their first
investments – a furniture company owned by two sisters in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo – runs
into immediate problems with a Dutch customer. Ava goes to the Netherlands to
investigate, but her life is threatened when she is confronted by a gang of local thugs in
Borneo. Out of the shadows comes a mysterious man from Shanghai…
World:
House of Anansi Press
THE SCOTTISH BANKER OF SURABAYA
“Hamilton deepens Ava’s character, and imbues her with greater mettle and emotional fire, to the extent that
book five is his best, most memorable, to date.” The National Post
The fifth installment in the wildly popular Ava Lee series, The Scottish Banker of Surabaya
exposes the dark world of money laundering and the Italian mob.
World:
Film:
Union Pictures
/ Strada Films
THE RED POLE OF MACAU
“Ava Lee, that wiley, wonderful hunter of nasty business brutes, is back in her best adventure ever… If you
haven’t discovered Ava Lee, start here.” The Globe and Mail
Ava’s half-brother Michael is desperate to pull out of a multi-million dollar real estate deal in
the territory of Macau. The developers are threatening to halt construction unless Michael
and his business partner put up another $80 million; the bank is looking for repayment on
their loan; and her father is prepared to sell everything to protect his first-born son. When
Uncle is unable to help, Ava is forced to turn to a former client, the cunning and seductive
May Ling Wong. As Ava untangles the twisted money trail, she finds herself drawn deeper
and deeper into Hong Kong’s dark and deadly world of organized crime.
World:
House of Anansi Press (Brazil: Editora Sariva [Books 1-4], France: 10/18
[Books 1-4], Germany: Kein & Aber [Books 1-4], Holland: Mouria [Books 1-4], US: Picador
[Books 1-4])
Film:
Union Pictures / Strada Films
THE WILD BEASTS OF WUHAN
The third novel in a new series launching a fascinating and intelligent writer and a
captivating, believable, and thoroughly addictive protagonist, Ava Lee.
“A fascinating story of a hunt for stolen millions. And the hunter, Ava Lee, is a compelling heroine: tough,
smart and resourceful.” Meg Gardiner, author of The Nightmare Thief
Uncle and Ava are summoned by Wong Changxing, “The Emperor of Hubai” and one of
the most powerful men in China, when he discovers that the Fauvist paintings he recently
acquired are in fact forgeries. Ava uncovers a ring of fraudulent art dealers and follows their
twisted trail to Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Dublin, London, and New York. But the job is
further complicated by Wong’s second wife, the cunning and seductive May Ling, who
threatens to interfere with Ava’s investigation.
Film & TV Rights: Union Pictures/Strada Films
World:
House of Anansi Press (Brazil: Editora Sariva [Books 1-4], France: 10/18
[Books 1-4], Germany: Kein & Aber [Books 1-4], Holland: Mouria [Books 1-4], Spain:
Umbriel [Books 1-2], UK: Sphere / Little Brown [Books 1-2], US: Picador [Books 1-4])
41
THE DISCIPLE OF LAS VEGAS
Shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best Crime Novel Award 2011
The second in a new series launching a fascinating and intelligent writer and a captivating, believable and
thoroughly addictive protagonist, Ava Lee.
“Ava Lee’s lethal knowledge…torques up her sex appeal to the approximate level of a female lead in a
Quentin Tarantino film.” National Post
Ava and Uncle are hired by Tommy Ordonez, the richest man in the Philippines, to recover
$50 million in a land swindle that took place in Canada and involves his brother. The
Filipino billionaire's reputation is on the line, and his family is on the brink of disaster. Ava
tracks the missing funds from Canada to San Francisco to accounts in Costa Rica owned by
the Moneida, a First Nations band that owns and operates The River, an online poker web
site. Ava uncovers an illegal online gambling ring, and follows the trail to Las Vegas. There,
she confronts one of the greatest poker players in the world, David "The Disciple" Douglas,
and his partner, Jeremy Ashton.
World:
House of Anansi Press (France: 10/18 [Books 1-4]; Germany: Kein & Aber
[Books 1-4], Holland: Mouria [Books 1-4], Spain: Umbriel [Books 1 & 2], Turkey: Nemesis
[Books 1 & 2]; UK: Little Brown/Sphere [Books 1 & 2], US: Picador [Books 1-4])
THE WATER RAT OF WANCHAI
Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel 2011
“Ian Hamilton achieves the impossible…and he has created a true original in Ava Lee” Lindwood Barclay
“Hamilton…has created a marvelous character in Ava Lee…. Even better news is that the next three
novels in the series are already written and ready to print.” Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail
The first in the series about Ava Lee, a young Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant who specializes in
recovering massive debts and works for an elderly Hong Kong based “Uncle”, who may or may not have ties
to the Triads. Ava is persuaded to help an old friend of Uncle’s whose nephew is owed $5 million from a
seafood company that was producing cooked shrimp for a major US retailer. The deal went sideways. The
money disappeared.
On a journey that takes her to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Guyana and the British Virgin Islands,
Ava encounters everything from the Thai katoey culture to corrupt but helpful law
enforcers. But it’s in Guyana where she meets her match: Captain Robbins, a godfather-like
figure who controls the police, politicians and criminals alike. In exchange for his help,
Robbins decides he wants a piece of Ava’s $5 million action and will do whatever it takes to
get his fair share…
World: House of Anansi Press (France: 10/18 [Books 1-4]; Germany: Kein & Aber [Books
1-4], Holland: Mouria [Books 1-4], Spain: Umbriel [Books 1 & 2], Turkey: Nemesis [Books 1
& 2]; UK: Little Brown/Sphere [Books 1 & 2], US: Picador {Books 1-4])
Agents: Bruce Westwood and Carolyn Forde
Elizabeth Hay **See Elizabeth Hay’s website: www.elizabethhay.com
ALONE IN THE CLASSROOM
National #1 Bestseller / The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Maclean’s
“An elegant and eloquent story about the wounds carried from childhood into adulthood, and the curiosity,
obsessions and passions that can rule and ruin a life…Like all of Hay's earlier fiction, Alone in the
42
Classroom is a novel that can be read solely for its language, for the author's precise choice of words that make
every landscape, every emotion and every reflection shimmer in color and shape and texture.” Winnipeg Free
Press
In a small prairie school in 1929, Connie Flood helps a backward student, Michael Graves,
learn how to read. Observing them and darkening their lives is the principal, Parley Burns,
whose strange behavior culminates in an attack so disturbing it has repercussions to the
present day. Connie’s niece Anne tells the story. Impelled by curiosity about her adventurous
aunt and her more conventional mother, she revisits Connie’s past and her mother’s broken
childhood. In the process she unravels the enigma of Parley Burns and the mysterious deaths
of two young girls.
Canada:
Canada French: XYZ
Croatia:
Hum Naklada
UK:
MacLehose Press/Quercus
US:
MacLehose Press/Quercus
LATE NIGHTS ON AIR
Winner of the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Winner of the 2008 Ottawa Book Award
Winner of the 2008 Libris Award
“Elizabeth Hay’s Late Nights on Air is a splendid achievement. With rare fineness-of-feeling and
unwavering authority, she draws the reader into the unsettling parallel universe of a small Canadian radio
station, where a cast of sad, beautiful dreamers and slightly-crazed zanies proceed to break our hearts even as
they cause us to fall down on the floor laughing. Set against the background of the Mackenzie Valley
Pipeline Inquiry, this extraordinary book is in some ways a dazzling virtuoso praise song to Canada and
things Canadian; but ultimately it is a flawlessly-crafted and timeless story, masterfully told.”- Giller Jury
citation
Harry Boyd, a hard-bitten refugee from failure in Toronto television, has returned to a small
radio station in the Canadian North. There, in the summer of 1975, he falls in love with a
voice on air, though the woman that he imagines is radically different from the real Dido
Paris. This enigma will lie at the heart of a novel that explores the disparity between how we
come across to others and who we really are. Late Nights On Air brings to life the power of a
voice and a place to generate love and haunt the memory. Like radio, the novel creates
sudden intimacy over long distances, and like the North, it is spare, compelling, and charged
with unusual life. The long seduction of Harry Boyd doesn’t end until the last page.
Canada:
English: McClelland & Stewart
Spain: Editiones B. for
French: XYZ
Bruguera Imprint
Estonia:
Eesti Raamat
Taiwan: Yuan-Liou
Germany:
Schoeffling
UK:
MacLehose Press
Italy:
US:
Counterpoint
Netherlands: Ailantus
Norway:
Oktober
Poland:
Muza
GARBO LAUGHS
Winner of the Ottawa Book Award, 2004
43
Finalist, 2003 Governor General's Award for English Language Fiction
“[Garbo Laughs is] a novel so subtle and so wonderfully layered that it resembles a black-and-white movie of
a certain era, full of elegance, aura and wit. A brilliant puppeteer of character, Hay has merged her subject
and form beautifully. Garbo Laughs is a novel about and engaged with movies, their cinematic reflection of
our longings, their dazzling inconsistencies. . . . The reader of this novel will be forced to hesitate, put this
book down from time to time in order to breathe. Hay’s prose is that breathtaking. And her anatomization
of this middle-aged woman is brilliant. . . . Because of Hay’s incredible control over tone and style, the novel
charms us utterly, inveigles us the way that only old black-and-white movies can, by inviting us to witness
wonderfully strategic connections. . . . Intriguing and so seductive. . . . Elizabeth Hay is an insomniac’s
writer, brilliant, subtle, dreamy. Garbo Laughs is intelligent, dense, full of the herbs of diffusion, and
wonderfully satisfying.” - The Globe and Mail
In this comic novel about the tug of war between movie love and real love, it would seem
that real love doesn’t stand a chance. Set in the quiet backwater of 1990’s Ottawa, Garbo
Laughs takes us into a neighbourhood peopled by characters who like movies far too much
for their own good. They constitute the inner and outer circle of a movie club that meets on
Friday nights to watch old movies and revel in the intensity of life on the screen. Breaking in
upon this idiosyncratic world, in time with the devastating ice storm of 1998, come two
refugees from Hollywood. They bring harsh reality and illuminate the pull of family and
friendship, the sting of infidelity and revenge, the shock of illness and sudden loss.
Canada:
Russia:
Rosman
Japan:
Bungai Shunju
UK:
Constable & Robinson
(expired)
Poland:
Muza
US:
Counterpoint (expired)
A STUDENT OF WEATHER
Shortlisted for the 2000 Giller Prize
Globe and Mail Notable Book of the Year
Nominated for the 2002 IMPAC Dublin Literary award
“ [A] spare and elegiac first novel… Hay is keenly attuned to how circumstance forms character in
paradoxically opposite ways… [and] deftly renders her characters’ disconcerting moral ambiguities. Norma
Joyce’s selfishness is profoundly disturbing yet strangely forgivable…you can’t help liking her more than her
irritatingly lovely and long-suffering sister (until, in a welcome twist, Lucinda turns out not to be as virtuous
as she seems)…like its maddening characters, this disquieting novel is impossible not to like.”- New York
Time Book Review
At the worst of the prairie dustbowl of the 1930’s a young man appears out of a blizzard and
two sisters are changed forever. Norma Joyce Hardy is the dark and homely girl whose
boldness and cunning prove so seductive; against this vivid, tricky personality the beautiful
and saintly Lucinda, who has always stood between Norma Joyce and the bitter anger of
their father, can barely hold her own. A Student of Weather traces their rivalry over decades to
the century’s end, from flat, dusty Saskatchewan to old Ontario, to the cityscape of New
York. In this stunningly written novel Elizabeth Hay evokes surprises both tragic and comic,
and lays bare the lasting imprint on the human heart of physical landscape, family rivalries
and first love. From some accidents of love and weather we never quite recover.
Canada:
Poland:
Muza S.A.
Germany:
Hoffman und Campe
UK:
Constable & Robinson
Italy:
(expired)
Netherlands: Querido
US:
44
SMALL CHANGE
“Tightly sprung stories, beautifully balanced, and eminently re-readable.” Quill & Quire
These superbly crafted twenty linked stories navigate the difficult realm of friendship,
charting its beginnings and endings, its intimacies and betrayals, its joys and humiliations.
Canada:
US:
Jack Hodgins **see Jack Hodgins' website: www.jackhodgins.ca
CADILLAC CATHEDRAL
“[A] sweet tale that often finds a Zen spot between funny and wistful.” Quill & Quire
Arvo Saarikoski is a Finn who has worked in logging camps all his life and who now spends
his retirement fixing old cars, often ones that he finds discarded in the bush. When news
arrives that one of their oldest friends has died, Arvo and his friends decide to drive down
island to pick up the body and give it a decent send-off. On the way south, at a slow pace as
befits the stately Cadillac Cathedral, the friends encounter adventures that create detours into
country life. The journey ends back in Portuguese Creek, with a party that brings the entire
community together in a wake to end all wakes.
Canada:
Chor Leoni Men’s Choir (Music)
World English:
Ronsdale Press
THE MASTER OF HAPPY ENDINGS
Shortlisted for the BC Book Awards and the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize: Best Book
from Canada and the Caribbean.
“Jack Hodgins has done for the people of Vancouver Island what John Steinbeck did for the inhabitants of
California's Salinas Valley and William Faulkner did for the American South.” Montreal Gazette
Axel Thorstad is 77, a retired successful teacher who lives alone on a small island off the
coast of British Columbia, still mourning the death of his wife Elena. To combat his
loneliness, he puts himself up for adoption, writing to newspapers to suggest a tutoring
position in exchange for room and board. Some of the replies are touching, others
disturbing. The one he accepts pairs him with a high-school student named Travis Montana,
who has a part in a TV series. This leads Axel into not only some curious adventures in
Malibu and the TV studios of L.A., but also some dramatic encounters with his own past.
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
Agent: John Pearce
Pauline Holdstock **See Pauline Holdstock’s website: www.paulineholdstock.com
INTO THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY
Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
“Holdstock’s writing manages to be both heartbreakingly poetic and densely detailed…a great work of
fiction…” —The Globe & Mail
“Pauline Holdstock writes beautifully but without ever sacrificing reality’s sharp corners and cruel truths;
Into the Heart of the Country succeeds in being both visionary and bracingly real – hallucinatory yet
dramatically vivid – populated both by ghosts and by a richly, desperately human cast.” Steven Heighton
45
Across more than two centuries, the mixed-blood woman Molly Norton, daughter of
Governor Moses and personal favourite of the explorer Samuel Hearne, speaks to us from
her dreams. As the story of her liaison with Hearne unfolds, we learn its privilege and its
price – when their small society is torn apart, Molly and the other women find themselves
and their children abandoned by their British masters.
Canada:
HarperCollins
BEYOND MEASURE [Published in the US as A RARE AND CURIOUS GIFT]
Winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the
Commonwealth Prize for Best Book, Canada and Carribbean region and the City of Victoria
Butler Books Prize
“Holdstock’s evocation of the Italian landscape and her handling of the exquisite detail of the artists’ realm
keep the reader snug in a layered, hideous and lushly beautiful mid-16th-century world.” The Globe and
Mail
Chiara is a young slave girl in Renaissance Firenze; a time and place of exceptional creativity
and invention. Distinguished by a rare skin disorder, she is given as a gift to a woman
painter, Sofonisba, for whom she becomes both servant and model. Immersed in a world
obsessed with perfection, Chiara meets Paolo Pallavicino, who can’t relate to life without
tinkering with it, and the foolish and gullible Alessandro, who shows how our desires drive
our actions. It is the intemperate hedonist – and rapist – Matteo Tassi who comes closest to
embracing the world as it is. After the rape, the perspective of all concerned is radically
shifted, and only Sofonisba manages to hold a steady course, negotiating duty, desire and
ambition. In this, just as in the old morality plays, she is rewarded.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
World (excl. Canada): WW Norton (Brazil: Bertrand; Portugal: Estampa)
THE BLACKBIRD’S SONG
The Blackbird’s Song is the story of conflict between two cultures. Three young Canadian
missionaries working in the remote mountains of Honan, China, become tragic victims of
the Boxer Rebellion, in a suspenseful tale that explores the fine line between courage and
weakness, hope and despair, faith and delusion.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
Robert Hough **See Robert Hough’s website: www.roberthough.ca
DR. BRINKLEY’S TOWER
Longlisted for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Shortlisted for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award
An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick for January 2013
“Stunning... a tapestry-rich, almost magical narrative with dozens of fully realized characters and a vividly
detailed world... [Dr. Brinkley’s Tower] is a thing of wonder.” Edmonton Journal
Set in 1931 Corazon de la Fuente, a tiny Mexican border town where the only industry is a
run-down brothel. Enter Dr. Romulus Brinkley and his gargantuan radio tower, built to
broadcast his revolutionary goat-gland fertility operation. Fortunes in Corazon change
overnight, but not all for the good. Word of the new prosperity spreads, and the town is
overrun by the impoverished, the desperate, and the flat-out criminal. Meanwhile, Dr.
46
Brinkley has attracted the affections of Violeta Cruz, Corazon’s most beautiful resident. But
is he really all that he seems?
World:
House of Anansi Press (Canada French: Marchand de Feuilles; US:
Steerforth Press)
THE CULPRITS
Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize, Best Book, Caribbean and Canada, Nominated for
the Rogers/Writers Trust Fiction Prize, Shortlisted for the Trillium Book Prize
“A bravura performance, one part literary ventriloquism and one part ripping narrative . . . funny and warm
and wonderfully extravagant . . . without so much as a single middling paragraph.” The Globe and Mail
A darkly satiric and deeply sympathetic novel about ordinary people who get caught up in
the bleakest, most corrupt conflict on earth: the Chechen war. Following a near-death
experience in a Toronto subway station, Hank attempts to end his loneliness with the help of
a website called “From Russia WithLove.com.” Soon he meets a neurotic young
kleptomaniac named Anna. Smitten, he does everything within his limited powers to woo
her, never dreaming that Anna’s past connections in St. Petersburg will cause him to
unwittingly fund a terrorist act.
Canada:
Random House
THE STOWAWAY
Longlisted for the IMPAC Award, Boston Globe Best Fiction Book of 2004
“Hough’s detailed research is worthy of the best journalism. Fortunately, he never takes his eye off the story
… a moral force akin to Zola [and] an intense focus, as in Camus or Calvino.” The Globe and Mail
In the spring of 1996, three Romanian stowaways were found on a container ship called the
Maersk Dubai, and mercilessly put overboard by the boat’s officers. Shortly after, when the
traumatized crew members found a fourth stowaway, they decided to hide the man until the
boat reached land. Robert Hough’s taut and suspenseful novel, The Stowaway, uses these
events as its point of departure. In chilling, finely-honed detail, he tells the imagined life of
the fourth Romanian, a 19-year-old named Daniel Pacepa. Along the way, Hough illuminates
the desperate circumstances that caused Daniel to abandon his family to get to America,
dramatizes the events causing three men to drown in the middle of the Atlantic, and
recounts the crew’s desperate attempts both to avoid detection and notify the outside world,
all the while conscious that a man was clinging to life in the bowels of the ship.
Canada:
Random House
Holland:
De Geus
Germany:
Unionsverlag
Sweden:
Natur och Kultur
US:
Arcade/Skyhorse Publishing
THE FINAL CONFESSION OF MABEL STARK
“Hough wrangles circus history with a whip, a chair and a pistol to craft a crackerjack entertainment.” The
Globe and Mail, “A life story too unbelievable to be anything but true….Hough has created one of the most
remarkable, sympathetic and finely rendered characters I have come across anywhere.” Lynn Coady, Time
It is 1968, and Mabel Stark is perilously close to turning eighty. She is also close to losing her
job as a tiger trainer with a California theme park, a job she’s held since her retirement from
the circus thirty years earlier. Suffering from “an attack of the maudlins” she looks back on
the highlights, and the lowlights, of her life: the early loss of her parents, her stunted career
47
as a nurse, her committal to a hospital for the mentally insane, her reincarnation as a
sideshow stripper, her start as a tiger trainer with the Al G. Barnes circus, her long, long
string of husbands.
Audio unabridged: Bolinda (UK & Commonwealth)
Australia:
Hodder
Canada:
Random House
Croatia:
Znanje
Denmark:
Rosinante
Finland:
Tammi
Film:
Oberon Films Inc.
Germany:
Unionsverlag
Holland:
De Geus
Japan:
DHC
Norway:
PAX
Poland:
Rebis
Sweden:
Natur och Kultur
UK:
Atlantic Books
US:
Grove/Atlantic Books
June Hutton**see June Hutton's website: www.junehutton.com
UNDERGROUND
“June Hutton has found poetry in the underground worlds of wartime trenches, Chinatown
tunnels, depression-era work camps, and the bomb craters of the Spanish Civil War. In this
novel, Al Fraser’s remarkable story has been given voice by a wise and generous writer.” Jack
Hodgins, author of Broken Ground
Sixteen-year-old Albert Fraser is a young soldier who is buried alive by a shell blast in a
trench at the Somme. He emerges from the horrors of 1917 uncertain of who he is or what
he must do to feel alive again. As he travels through hobo camps, street demonstrations,
Vancouver’s Chinatown and the snowy Yukon wilderness, a sense of belonging still eludes
him. The squalor and strife of the thirties lead him to enlist for the Civil War in Spain – a
solider once more, determined to reclaim all he has lost or die trying. And it is in Spain that
an unexpected answer to his quest awaits him.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
Agent: John Pearce
Anthony Hyde
A PRIVATE HOUSE
Lorraine, a serious Christian and the widow of a civil servant, is in Cuba to honour the dying
wish of an old friend. Mathilde, a modern Parisian, is a journalist covering the twilight of the
Castro regime. The two women don’t have much in common – or so it seems. Lorraine and
Mathilde are drawn into a dangerous mystery that weaves across Havana: from the twisting
streets of the Old City to the sea breezes along the Malecón; from the slums of San Isidro to
the leafy calm of Veradero. Its memorable characters make their own private journeys –
emotional, spiritual, sexual – and what they discover is not what they expect. A Private House
is a novel of the mystery of Cuba, past and present.
Canada:
Penguin
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DOUBLE HELIX
A tale of intrigue and action around the issues of population control and reproductive
technology takes pregnant stock broker Deborah Graham on a hair-raising adventure from
Toronto to Baltimore, to Florida and Brazil.
Canada:
Penguin
Germany:
Droemer
FORMOSA STRAITS
A young businessman in China discovers an underground gang killing and is taken to Taiwan
on a dangerous journey to find the murderer.
Bulgaria:
Atika
Italy:
Mondadori
Canada:
Penguin
Japan:
Bungeishunju
Germany:
Droemer
Taiwan:
Taiwan Elite Press
US:
Knopf/Ballantine
CHINA LAKE
A brilliant military scientist is suspected of leaking a powerful weapon to Russia; his search
to find out who is framing him goes back to the beginnings of modern rocketry.
Argentina:
Atlantida
Audio:
Simon & Schuster
Australia:
Pan Macmillan
Canada:
Penguin
China:
Flower City
Canada French: Boreal/Grand Livre du Mois
Germany:
Droemer
Italy:
Mondadori
Japan:
Bungeishunju
Spain:
Ediciones B
Taiwan:
Hsing Kwang
UK:
Penguin
US:
Knopf
THE RED FOX
A spellbinding hunt through America, Europe and the Soviet Union for a missing man and a
missing fortune, and the key to a tantalising mystery half a century old.
Audio:
Simon & Schuster
Japan:
Bungeishunju
Brazil:
Record
Mexico:
Ediciones B
Canada:
Penguin
Norway:
Cappelen
Croatia:
August Caesarec
Poland:
Ksiaznica
Denmark:
Gyldendal
Portugal:
Difel/Circ. de Leitores
Finland:
Otava
Radio:
CBC Drama
France:
Editions du Seuil
South America:Emece
Germany:
Droemer/Ex Libris
Spain:
Ediciones B
Greece:
Harlenic Hellas
Sweden:
Norstedts
Holland:
Veen
Turkey:
Altin Kitaplar Yayinevi
Iceland:
Svart A. Hvitu
UK:
Hamish Hamilton
Israel:
Ma’ariv
US:
Knopf/Ballantine
49
Italy:
Mondadori
Ghalib Islam
FIRE IN THE UNNAMEABLE COUNTRY
“[A] grandiose and challenging riposte to the timid works of straightforward realism that continue to
dominate our literary landscape.” Quill & Quire
The universe is shaking as Hedayat, the “glossolalist” narrator of Fire in the Unnameable
Country, is born on a flying carpet in the skies above an obscure land whose leader has
manufactured the ability to hear every unspoken utterance of the nation. He records the
contents of his citizens’ minds onto tape reels for archival storage. Later in Hedayat’s young
life, as the unnameable country collapses into disarray around him, he begins an epistle,
wherein, interspersed with accounts of contemporary terrorist attacks and the outbreak of a
mysterious viral epidemic, he invokes the memories of his parents, grandparents, and greatgrandparents to revisit the troubled country’s history and expose the root of its crisis.
Bulgaria:
Iztok-Zapad
Canada:
Hamish Hamilton/Penguin
India:
HarperCollins
Agent: John Pearce
Frances Itani
Member of the Order of Canada
TELL
“Masterful… A triumph of the human spirit that resonates almost physically in the reader… Evocative and
indelible.” – Toronto Star
A tour de force about the aftermath of the Great War: a novel of secrets withheld and
secrets revealed, from the author of the Commonwealth Prize-winning international
sensation, Deafening.
In 1919, only months after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the men and women of
the small Canadian town of Deseronto struggle to recover from wounds, both visible and
hidden. Tell is a deeply moving, emotionally rich story about the burdens of the past. Told
with narrative power and grace, it is a beautifully rendered reminder that the secrets we bury
to protect ourselves can also be the cause of our undoing, and that each of us must decide
what to share and what to hide.
Canada: HarperCollins
US: Grove/Atlantic
REQUIEM
“This is surely Itani’s greatest novel, although calling Requiem a novel does not do it justice. Requiem is a
great work of literature from a determined author at the peak of her powers.” Ottawa Citizen
Bin Okuma, a celebrated visual artist, has recently and quite suddenly lost his wife, Lena. He
and his son, Greg, are left to deal with the shock. But Greg has returned to his studies on the
East Coast, and Bin finds himself alone and pulled into memories he has avoided for much
of his life. In 1942, after Pearl Harbor, his Japanese Canadian family was displaced from the
West Coast. Now, he sets out to drive across the country: to complete the last works needed
for an upcoming exhibition; to revisit the places that have shaped him; to find his biological
father, who has been lost to him. It has been years since his father made a fateful decision
50
that almost destroyed the family. Now, Bin must ask himself whether he really wants to find
him. With the persuasive voice of his wife in his head, and the echo of their great love in his
heart, he embarks on an unforgettable journey that encompasses art and music, love and
hope.
Bulgaria: ARKA/Uniscorp
Germany:
Berlin Verlag
Canada: Phyllis Bruce / HarperCollins
US:
Grove / Atlantic
REMEMBERING THE BONES
Shortlisted for a Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, Canada and the Caribbean
“Itani joins a group of novelists who have chronicled quiet lives from start to finish, uncovering treasure in
their dark corners: Carol Shields with The Stone Diaries, Marilynne Robinson with Gilead. . . .
Carefully observed and beautifully described.” The New York Times Book Review
Georgina Witley has never felt she has led anything but an ordinary life. But here she is on
her way to meet the Queen. Born on April 21, 1926, the exact same day as Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth the Second, Georgie is one of 99 privileged Commonwealth subjects
invited to an 80th birthday lunch at Buckingham Palace. All she has to do is drive two hours
to the airport and board the plane for London. Except that in her excited state, Georgie
drives her car off the road, tumbling hood over trunk into a hidden, thickly wooded ravine.
Canada:
HarperCollins
China:
Yilin Press (simplified)
Germany:
Berlin Verlag
UK:
Hodder
US:
Grove/Atlantic
POACHED EGG ON TOAST: Stories
Winner of the 2005 Canadian Authors Association Jubilee Award for Short Fiction and
the 2005 Ottawa Award for Fiction
“It is said that to be truly an artist, one must learn to see the world through an artist’s eye. In this collection,
Frances Itani … has managed to use her practiced artist’s eye to peer into the very core of the human spirit.
Poached Egg on Toast is a compilation of twenty of Itani’s best short pieces, each one every bit as moving
as her 2003 award-winning novel Deafening.” Books in Canada
Combining precise, subtle observation with a remarkable range of voice and character,
Poached Egg on Toast takes us to many different locales – Bosnia, Japan, Austria, rural Ontario,
a Quebec village. Wherever her stories are set, they leave us with a renewed sense of
humanity and a clear understanding of why Frances Itani is among the top ranks of fiction
writers today.
Canada:
HarperCollins
DEAFENING
Winner of Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Shortlisted for the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation’s Canada Reads 2006 & Combat des Livres 2006 (French Canada Reads)
“War and deafness are the twin themes in this psychologically rich, impeccably crafted debut novel …
wonderfully felt … a timely reminder of war’s cost.” Publishers Weekly (starred)
Set on the eve of the Great War, Deafening is a novel of remarkable virtuosity and power
spanning two continents and the life and loves of a young deaf woman named Grania
O’Neill. As a result of a childhood illness, Grania’s is a world without sound, a world
bounded by a powerful family love that tries to insulate her from undue suffering. When it
becomes clear that Grania can no longer thrive in the world of the hearing, her family sends
51
her to live at the Ontario School for the Deaf where she learns sign language and speech.
Then she meets Jim Lloyd, a hearing man, and the two begin to create a new emotional
vocabulary that encompasses both sound and silence. But, as history would have it, Jim must
leave home only two weeks after their wedding to serve as a stretcher-bearer on the bloodsoaked battlefields of Flanders. During this long and brutal war of attrition, Jim and Grania
are pulled to the center of cataclysmic events that will alter civilization forever.
Brazil:
Objetiva
Bulgaria:
ARKA/Uniscorp
Canada:
HarperCollins
Catalan:
Raval Ediciones
China:
Yilin
France:
Lattes
Germany:
Berlin Verlag
Greece:
Livanis
Holland:
Arena
Hungary:
Proof Studio
Italy:
Frassinelli/Sperling & Kupfer
Japan:
Shinchosha
Poland:
Muza
Portugal:
Dom Quixote
Spain:
Maeva
UK & US:
Grove/Atlantic (UK: Hodder; US Audio: Brilliance)
LEANING, LEANING OVER WATER
“Itani shines; her voice is pitch perfect … Itani is unquestionably a prodigious talent.” Toronto Star
Itani recreates in luminous, compelling prose the post-war lives of a family in the village of
St. Pierre on the banks of the Ottawa River. Jock moves his anglo-Irish family to Quebec for
a job etching fleurs-de-lis onto aluminum trays. He lives with his wife Maura and their three
children in a small bungalow, and tries to teach his children about life and poetry. But
beneath the unrippled domestic surface bubble the anxieties and hopes of the women in the
family. Maura seems isolated from Jock; Lyd is forced to grow up quickly; and Trude, the
narrator, finds herself dealing with a tragedy that encompasses the entire family. Grounded
in the texture of everyday life in the 1950s and echoing the moods of the river itself, the
book captures with exquisite subtlety and wisdom the nuances of a young girl’s growth
towards adulthood. With their wonderfully evocative sense of the past, and their insights
into the heart of an ordinary family, these linked stories are Frances Itani at her finest.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Germany:
Berlin Verlag
UK:
Hodder
MAN WITHOUT FACE
“Heartstopping… mesmerizing… rich and rewarding.” The Montreal Star
Canada:
Oberon
PACK ICE
“Worth reading again and again.” The Ottawa Citizen
Canada:
Oberon
52
TRUTH OR LIES
“Reminiscent of the cool, deep writing of Mavis Gallant.” Books in Canada
Canada:
Oberon
Julie Johnston
AS IF BY ACCIDENT
“A novel of precise craft and generous emotion.” Charles Foran
After her husband dies in a car accident she believes she could have prevented, Val Hudson
must come to terms with her unexpected independence. Struggling with grief and guilt, she
starts digging in the past and soon discovers her husband’s secret life. Enter Gus, an actor
and screenwriter who bases his second novel on Val’s story after reading about it in a local
newspaper. Gus is wrestling with his own demons, and memories of an idiot-savant brother
and an overbearing mother start to threaten his waking life. But then he submits his novel
anonymously to Dobbs, Kendall, where Val works as an editor… This is an impressive
debut novel from a masterful storyteller, that contemplates guilt and serendipity with pathos
and humour.
Canada:
Key Porter
Serbia:
Leo Commerce
Susan Juby (see also Young Adult and Non-Fiction) **See Susan Juby’s website:
www.susanjuby.com
HOME TO WOEFIELD
“In her sparklingly witty and charming first novel for adults, the author of the Alice MacLeod YA series
delightfully combines satire and a distinctly modern voice with old-fashioned sweetness, and her laugh-out-loud
writing is tempered by the characters’ emotional pain and efforts to help one another heal. Woefield Farm
may not produce a single crop, yet it’s fertile ground for superb storytelling.” Booklist
When Prudence Barns inherits her uncle’s farm, she packs up her apartment in New York
and heads back to the land, energetic and well-intentioned but without an iota of skills or
experience. To her surprise the estate of her dreams is a sprawling thirty acres of scrub land
named Woefield Farm, complete with dilapidated buildings and one half-sheared, lonely
sheep named Bertie, and the bank is about to foreclose on the property. With alternating
narratives Susan Juby shows how a team of misfits find acceptance and success in spite of
their highly unorthodox approach.
Canada:
HarperCollins (published as The Woefield Poultry Collective)
US:
HarperCollins
Ailsa Kay
UNDER BUDAPEST
A fictional tour de force, a brilliant novel-in-stories, set mostly in Budapest and partly in
Toronto that moves between 2010 and 1956. It tells the story of three North American
Hungarians who embark on separate return odysseys to Hungary. Their surface lives are
53
quickly invaded from below by Soviet tunnels, wartime violence, and long-buried personal
rivalries.
Canada:
Goose Lane Editions
Agent: John Pearce
Thomas King (see also Non-Fiction)
Winner of the Western American Literary Association Lifetime Achievement Award
BACK OF THE TURTLE
“Timely and thought provoking … King uses his trademark blending of traditional aboriginal beliefs and
stories with the Western literary canon to create a haunting narrative of life, death and the destruction of
nature… The result is both an intimate story of grief in the face of loved ones lost and a searing criticism of
current apathy toward looming environmental disaster” – Publishers Weekly
When Gabriel Quinn, a corporate scientist, abandons his laboratory and returns to the
Smoke River Indian Reserve where his mother and sister lived, he finds that almost everyone
in the community has disappeared. Even the sea turtles are gone, poisoned by an
environment disaster known as The Ruin. The fact is, Gabriel was the chief architect of the
disaster, and he has returned to drown himself in Samaritan Bay. But as he prepares to let
the water take him, he sees a young girl in the waves. Plunging in, he saves her, and soon
finds himself saving others. Who are these people with their long black hair and almond
eyes, who seem to have fallen from the sky?
Canada:
HarperCollins
THE RED POWER MURDERS : A DREADFULWATER MYSTERY
“Worthy of Tony Hillerman or Janet Evanovich.” Books in Canada, “[A] fast-paced and funny take on
the detective genre, featuring a largely Native American cast.” The Globe and Mail
Hailed by critics from his first appearance, Cherokee ex-cop Thumps DreadfulWater is back in
rumpled but razor-sharp form, doing his laconic best to avoid trouble – and catch the bad guys.
Audio:
Goose Lane Editions (abridged)
Canada:
HarperCollins
A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIANS IN CANADA and other stories
“[A] master craftsman at work.” The Globe and Mail
A flock of Indians has just flown smack into the side of a Bay Street skyscraper. Again. It’s
up to Bill and Rudy to tag the live ones, nurse them back to health at the shelter, and release
them back into the wild. At least it’s not as bad as in the old days when their numbers would
black out the entire sky. Bestselling writer Thomas King puts his keen powers of observation
and his instinct for tragicomedy to excellent use in this masterful collection of short stories
that will delight and entertain even as they break your heart. Brimming with wit, wisdom,
and narrative surprises, the stories in A Short History of Indians In Canada showcase for King’s
wholly original brand of imagination and storytelling. At times gently, other times pointedly,
King jams a sharp stick into the gears of the native myth-making machine, slyly exposing the
raw under-belly of both historical and contemporary native-white relationships. Through
hilarity and profundity, these stories crackle with life and shimmer with the universal truths
that unite us all.
Canada:
HarperCollins
54
Canada French:
Film:
US:
Boreal
JB Productions
University of Minnesota Press
DREADFULWATER SHOWS UP (under the pseudonym Hartley GoodWeather)
“Readers who enjoy wry wit, clever writing, amusing characters, a well-tuned plot and a very funny Cherokee
Indian detective with Los Angeles and Canadian fringes are going to love sharing this adventure with
Thumps DreadfulWater.” Tony Hillerman
Thumps DreadfulWater is a Cherokee ex-cop who’s trying to make a living as a
photographer in the small town of Chinook, somewhere in the northwestern United States.
Only he doesn’t count on snapping shots of a dead body languishing in the just-completed
luxury condo resort built by the local Indian band. It’s a mystery that Thumps can’t help
getting involved in, especially since Thumps knows that the police often shoot Indian
suspects first, and ask questions later. DreadfulWater Shows Up marks the arrival of a smart
and savvy Cherokee Indian detective with a killer dry wit and a penchant for self-deprecating
humor.
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
Scribner/S&S
Film:
Mystic Point Productions
Germany:
Unionsverlag
TRUTH AND BRIGHT WATER
An ALA Notable Book for 2001, National Bestseller, Selected for The Globe and Mail’s Top
100 Books for 1999, A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Canada Reads 2004 Selection
“A masterful tale that combines the wit of Sherman Alexie with the old-fashioned storytelling of Olive Ann
Burns...” Kirkus (starred), “In this winning bildungsroman, King … demonstrates once again his
extraordinarily moving vision of contemporary Native America… readers familiar with King’s work will
revel in it, while new readers will discover his extraordinary narrative power.” Publishers Weekly (starred),
“This subtle and deceptively simple tale is an elegiac and beautiful tragicomedy.” Newsday
A tale of two young cousins and one long summer. It’s the story of Tecumseh and Lum,
young boys living in Truth, a small American town, and Bright Water, the Indian Reserve
just across the border and over the river. Equally plainspoken and poetic, comic and
poignant, Truth and Bright Water resonates long after the last page is turned.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Serbia:
Evro
Croatia:
Sipar
US:
Grove
France:
Albin Michel
GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER
Winner of the Canadian Authors Award for Fiction, Shortlisted for the Governor General’s
Award
“Impressively ambitious and funny.” The New York Times Book Review
Through a combination of magical humour, revisionist history and muted nostalgia, this
book transports readers to the fictional town of Blossom. The plot centres around Alberta, a
university professor involved with two men who pull her into opposing orbits. There is also
Charlie, a flashy ambitious lawyer; Lionel, the local TV salesman; Latisha, the manager of the
Dead Dog Cafe; and Eli, a lost soul searching for the white man’s grail in Toronto. Although
the characters live seemingly separate lives, they discover their existences are connected in
ways at once coincidental, comical and cosmic.
Audio:
Goose Lane Editions
55
Canada:
Croatia:
Film:
France:
Germany:
Germany:
Japan:
Korea:
Serbia:
US:
HarperCollins
Sipar
Stromhaus Productions
Albin Michel
A1
ORB/SOR Production (Radio)
Sairyusha
Urisidaesa
Filip Visnic
Houghton Mifflin
ONE GOOD STORY, THAT ONE
A short fiction collection steeped in native oral tradition with King’s special brand of wit and
comic imagination, which conjures up Native and Judeo-Christian myths, present-day pop
culture and literature, while mixing in just the right amount of modern perception and
experience.
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
MEDICINE RIVER
Winner of the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta
Award, Runner-up for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.
“Thomas King is off to a wonderful start.” Tony Hillerman
When Will returns to Medicine River, he thinks he is simply attending his mother’s funeral.
He doesn’t count on Harlan Bigbear and his unique brand of community planning.
Canada:
Penguin
Czech:
Melantrick
Film:
Medicine River Prod.
France:
Albin Michel
Germany:
A1
Korea:
Urisidaesa
US:
Viking/Penguin
Robert Kroetsch
THE MAN FROM THE CREEKS
“If this were the good old days, this novel would be worth its weight in gold.” The Financial Post
In the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897–1899, three unlikely travellers make the terrible journey
North, avoiding the con men and thieves, and carrying the barrels of whisky with which they
will set up a new life in Dawson Creek.
Canada:
New Canadian Library/McClelland & Stewart
Germany:
Unionsverlag
THE STUDHORSE MAN
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The Studhorse Man is a classic odyssey – a story told by a madman who works naked in a
bathtub. It is the tale of Hazard Lepage, last of the studhorse men, and owner of a superb
blue stallion named Poseidon... the sole survivor of its breed. Hazard’s maniacal search to
find the perfect mare for this magnificent horse is opposed by his fiancée of thirteen years,
Martha Proudfoot, so much so she refuses him both herself and her Arab mares.
Film:
Film IQ
Serbia:
Nolit
Theatre:
Passe Muraille
World English: U of Alberta Press
WORDS OF MY ROARING
Words of My Roaring tells the hilarious tall tale of one man’s quest to realize the fullness of
himself. With dazzling wordplay and unforgettable characters, this raucous rowdy novel is a
true Canadian classic.
North America:
U of Alberta Press
GONE INDIAN
Jeremy Sadness is a professional grad student of New York State University who heads out
for the wilds of northwestern Canada to work out his academic and sexual inadequacies.
North America:
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
BADLANDS
Fifty years after William Dawe’s 1916 expedition into the Badlands of Alberta, his daughter
revisits the site. Anna, with two cases of gin and her father’s notes, heads into the Badlands
to expose the absurdity of her father’s work.
Canada:
Canada French:
Hurtubise
Film:
Great North Productions
WHAT THE CROW SAID
With his sun-sharpened imagery, unstoppable language play, and frank intimacy with the
landscape, Robert Kroetsch tells the exuberant ribald, elemental tale of the citizens of a town
somewhere on the weather-beaten border between Alberta and Saskatchewan.
North America:
U of Alberta Press
THE PUPPETEER
“In half as many pages Kroetsch gets the complexity and the feel of a [Robertson] Davies narrative.”
George Bowering
Lesley Krueger (see also Non-Fiction) **See Lesley Krueger’s website:
www.lesleykrueger.com
THE CORNER GARDEN
“This writing is a gift of insight, humour and profound slant: new world and old in contagious
communication. The vision is so intelligent as to be almost breathtaking.” Linda Spalding
57
Jessie Barfoot is a precocious, funny, upset girl living in a tent in the back yard of her
mother’s new house. Next door lives Dutch immigrant Martha van Tellingen, a woman with
a searing secret. During the Second World War, Martha was a member of the Youth Storm –
the Dutch equivalent of the Hitler Youth. Set in Canada, the Netherlands and Germany, this
is a grown-up novel about adolescence and its life-altering choices.
Canada:
Penguin (reverted)
DRINK THE SKY
“Elegant prose…a pleasure to read, and when [she] ratchets up the tension, we go with her, hearts in
mouths.” Quill & Quire
A novel of romantic quests set in extravagant Brazil. In the Amazon, Todd Austen searches
obsessively for an elusive tribe of forest people missing from lands now claimed by a sinister
mining conglomerate. In Rio de Janeiro, his artist-wife, Holly, left too much alone, is drawn
to the musician Jay Larkin. As violence circles in on the trio, who is minding the Austen
children?
Canada:
Key Porter
Alice Kuipers **See Alice Kuipers’ website: www.alicekuipers.com
THE DEATH OF US
“Kuipers is ever the master manipulator, artfully deceiving readers to magnify the impact of the denouement…
A brilliant coming-of-age novel with a sharpened corkscrew of a twist that will leave readers breathless.” –
National Reading Campaign
Callie is initially shocked when her friend Ivy reappears after an unexplained three-year
absence, but before long the girls have picked up where they left off. Suddenly, Callie’s
summer is full of parties, boys, and fun. Beneath the surface, however, things aren’t what
they seem. When a handsome boy with a dark past of his own gets tangled up with Ivy, the
girls’ history threatens to destroy their future.
Canada:
HarperCollins
FORTY THINGS I WANT TO TELL YOU
“Gorgeous, heart-ripping, important.” Voices of Young Adults (starred) on Lost for Words
Miss Take Control of Your Life (a.k.a. Bird) seems to have the perfect life: loving parents, a
hot boyfriend, the best friend ever. She even writes an online advice column, full of Top
Tips, to help other teens take control of their lives. But after a new guy shows up at school,
Bird can’t seem to follow her own wisdom. Bird is way out of her comfort zone. All it takes
is one mistake, one momentary loss of control, for her entire future to be blown away…
Canada:
HarperCollins
Canada French:Hurtubise
Croatia:
Skorpion
Denmark:
Alvilda
Germany:
Schatzinsel/Fischer
Greece:
Psichogios
58
THE WORST THING SHE EVER DID
National Bestseller, Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book,
2011 OLA White Pine Official Selection, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s
Books of the Year selection for 2011, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books
for Kids and Teens 2011 selection
“Kuipers artfully manages to make Sophie’s tale achingly real and yet still hopeful. Her distinct, first-person
voice and quirky details shine through the dark tragedy, giving familiar themes a fresh take.” Kirkus
All sixteen-year-old Sophie wants to do is forget what happened last summer – but it’s not
easy now that everything’s changed. Sophie retreats into herself, but there’s only so long she
can keep everything bottled up inside before she explodes and she must meet the horror of
her past head-on. Laced with poignant humour and a startlingly fresh perspective, Kuipers
tells a remarkable story of family, hope, and perseverance in the face of tragedy. Delving
deeply into the emotionally complex relationships between mothers and daughters, between
sisters, and between friends, The Worst Thing She Ever Did brings readers a teenage character
who struggles with a complicated world – and who slowly pulls herself from the wreckage of
loss into a new, better life.
Australia:
Murdoch Books
Canada:
HarperCollins
Croatia:
Skorpion
Denmark:
Alvilda
France:
Albin Michel
Germany:
Schatzinsel / S. Fischer Verlag
Poland:
Nasza Ksiegarnia
Portugal:
Presenca
Turkey:
April Publishing
US:
HarperCollins (published as Lost for Words)
LIFE ON THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR: Notes Between a Mother and a
Daughter (a novel)
A New York Public Library “Book for the Teen Age”; Winner of the Redbridge Teenage
Book Award (UK), the Sheffield Libraries Choice Book Award (UK), the Saskatchewan First
Book Award (Canada), and the Lieutenant Governor’s 30 Below Arts Award (Canada);
Shortlisted for the Salt Lake City Utah Libraries Book Award (US), the Coventry Book
Award (UK) and the Oxfordshire Book Award (UK); Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal
(UK); Nominated for the Livrentête Prize, young adult category (France)
“Bittersweet, funny and achingly real . . .a strong, emotional reminder about the importance of loved ones,
even through times of unceasing complications and challenges.” Publishers Weekly
A poignant and moving story about the bonds of love and frustration that tie mothers and
daughters everywhere. Told entirely in a series of notes left on the fridge, it is the story of
nine months in the life of 15-year-old Claire and her mother. Preoccupied with the demands
and priorities of their separate lives, rarely in the same room at the same time, they
communicate with each other in a series of notes that reflect the daily drama of school,
friends, work and household chores that make up their lives. When a crisis overtakes their
lives, a momentous change occurs that will redefine their relationship and unfold in their
exchanges on the refrigerator door. This is an emotionally rich novel that delivers universal
lessons about love in a wonderfully original and deceptively simple narrative, appealing to
both adult and teen readers.
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Brazil:
Bulgaria:
Canada:
Catalan:
China:
China:
Croatia:
Czech:
Denmark:
Film:
Finland:
France:
Germany:
Holland:
Indonesia:
Israel:
Italy:
Japan:
Korea:
Latvia:
Poland:
Portugal:
Romania:
Russia:
Serbia:
Slovenia:
Spain:
Sweden:
Turkey:
UK:
US:
Martin Fontes
Arka
HarperCollins
Ara Libres
Heliopolis Culture Group
Shanghai Ying Te Song Culture
Desk
Metafora
Alvilda
Bungei Shunju Ltd.
Otava
Albin Michel
S. Fischer Verlag
Mouria
PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Modan
Mondadori (expired)
Bungei Shunju Ltd
BIR Publishing
Turiba Co. Ltd. (Complex)
Rebis
Presenca Co. Ltd. (Simplified)
Rao
AST
Leo Commerce
Desk
Salamandra (expired)gg
Forum
April Publishing
Macmillan
HarperCollins
Aimée Laberge
WHERE THE RIVER NARROWS
“Laberge delivers…with a distinctive narrative voice, an ear attuned to dialogue and a perceptive eye equally
open to the minutiae of domestic life and to the sweep and scope of history.” The Hamilton Spectator
The Tremblay family fight and reconcile, mourn and worship, hate and love one another.
The wilderness of eighteenth century New France and the 60s faux farmhouses of suburban
Sainte-Foy are linked by the character of Lucie, a modern woman in a troubled marriage
who seeks refuge exploring the secrets and history of a vivid place – Quebec – and its
people.
Canada:
HarperFlamingo
France:
Quebec-Amerique (incl. Quebec)
Holland:
Ambo Anthos
Serbia:
Mono I Manjana
Spain:
Mondadori
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Spain Kiosk:
Altaya/Random House
Keith Ross Leckie**See Keith Ross Leckie’s website: www.keithrossleckie.com
COPPERMINE
“At once a literary mystery, an adventure, and a meditation on justice, COPPERMINE’s lessons ring as
true contemporarily as they do historically. A fantastic read.” – Joseph Boyden
Based on a case that was covered in The New York Times and has been described as one of
the most sensational manhunts in Canadian history. Part epic adventure, part true crime
thriller, and part love story, Coppermine is based on true events and set in 1917 in the
extremes of the beautiful High Arctic and the boom town of Edmonton. The story begins
when two missionaries disappear in the remote Arctic region known as the Coppermine.
North West Mounted Police officer Jack Creed and Angituk, a young Copper Inuit
interpreter, are sent on a year-long odyssey to investigate the fate of the lost priests. Jack
tracks and arrests two Inuit hunters who admit to the crime and takes them back to
Edmonton to stand trial for murder.
Canada:
Penguin
Thailand:
Sanskrit Books
Don LePan
ANIMALS: A Novel
“Fearless…reading [Animals] will make you think twice before pulling that steak out of the freezer for
tonight’s dinner. … LePan’s storytelling skills are on full display and the narrative brims with tension…a
brave and frequently fascinating debut novel, wrought with painful choices, harrowing journeys, and a deep
passion for its subject matter.” Montreal Review of Books
Tammy kept losing jobs – but what worried her most was Sam, her youngest child. From the
time he was very young it had been clear that something was wrong with Sam, and though
they didn’t often speak of it, the whole family could certainly see it. Set in an indeterminate
future in which virtually all the species that humans have for millennia used as food have
become extinct, Animals follows Sam on the extraordinary odyssey that begins when the
Stinson family wakes to find a strange creature wrapped in blankets on their doorstep.
Canada English & French: Press Forward
US:
Soft Skull Press/Counterpoint
Allan Levine (see also Non-Fiction) **See Allan Levine’s website:
www.allanlevinebooks.com
EVIL OF THE AGE
In the sizzling summer of 1871, New Yorkers talk about only two things: a murdered
woman cruelly stuffed into a trunk and Tammany Hall’s insidious corruption. Journalist
Charles St. Clair travels from the mansions of Fifth Avenue to the brothels of SoHo on the
trail of both stories. But what he uncovers proves to be even more shocking than he ever
imagined.
Canada:
Heartland Associates Inc.
THE BOLSHEVIK’S REVENGE
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Shortlisted for the Margaret McWilliams Medal for Best Historical Fiction
“History needs to be kept alive, not just in Canada, but around the world…Levine’s book is a triumph,
fascinating and arguably timely.” January Magazine
It’s 1919. The “war to end all wars” has just ended, the Bolsheviks have seized power in
Russia and most of the Western world is convinced that a widespread workers’ revolt is
imminent. Winnipeg is no exception as sector after sector of the city’s economy is shut down
by a massive General Strike. Winnipeg totters on the brink of disaster as the working classes
rise up against the capitalist elite. But when one of those capitalists is murdered, it is up to
Sam Klein to solve the case before the city erupts in chaos.
World:
Great Plains Publications (reverted)
SINS OF THE SUFFRAGETTE
Shortlisted for the Carol Shields City of Winnipeg Book Award and the Margaret
McWilliams Medal for Best Historical Fiction
When hard-boiled detective Sam Klein investigates the murder of Emily Powers, a
suffragette with many sordid secrets, he enters a world of women’s rights in 1914 Winnipeg.
Here he encounters famous activist Nellie McClung as well as the uneasy tension between
Victorian morality and street life.
World:
Great Plains Publications (Germany: Goldmann) (reverted)
THE BLOOD LIBEL
Winner of the Margaret McWilliams Medal for Best Historical Fiction, Shortlisted for the
Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Arthur Ellis First Mystery Novel Award
“Levine delivers something far more substantial than a murder mystery in this story of politics and prejudice.”
Books in Canada
Sam Klein is a street-wise minder at a local brothel who investigates the murder of a Polish
girl – a murder blamed on a North End rabbi. Fighting intolerance as well as the authorities,
Klein faces a desperate race against time to find the real murderer.
World:
Great Plains Publications (Germany: Goldmann) (reverted)
Elise Levine
REQUESTS AND DEDICATIONS
“A dazzling wordsmith, a lexical tease, Levine is like a kid let loose in a leaf pile.” Toronto Star, “A
sensitive, cagey dominatrix of literary form and human psychology.” The Mail Star
A young woman, Tanis, her rough-edged horse dealer uncle, Walker, Tanis’s mother Joy, and
Walker’s girlfriend, former rock and roll groupie Mimi, seek to transcend their constricted
lives and come to terms with their sense of estrangement in a suburban world where the
working poor live side by side with the middle class in their monster homes.
World English: McClelland & Stewart
DRIVING MEN MAD
“[Levine’s] debut must see her ranked as one of Canada’s finest fiction writers in English.” The Mail Star
Elise Levine’s writing is fearless in its exploration of form and style, and her visceral imagery
lingers in the mind long after the page is turned. The characters in Driving Men Mad travel to
the frontiers of emotion, and return to tell their stories unflinchingly, in language that is as
62
grittily real as the worlds they inhabit. Many of the characters exhibit an in-your-face
sexuality that renders them both harshly confrontational and achingly vulnerable. These are
people on the edge, an edge that is constantly shifting and whose perils are ones of sinister
implication.
World:
Ashley Little **See Ashley Little's website: www.ashleylittle.com
ANATOMY OF A GIRL GANG
Winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Longlisted for the IMPAC Award
Finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award
A sharply observed novel told in six voices, Anatomy of a Girl Gang is the powerful
exploration of a young girl gang in Vancouver called the Black Roses. A vivid and unnerving
story of urban girl culture.
Croatia:
EPH Media
Film:
Hoodwink Entertainment Inc.
Italy:
Parallelo45 Edizioni
North America:
Arsenal Pulp Press
Nicole Lundrigan **See Nicole Lundrigan's website: www.nicolelundrigan.com
THE WIDOW TREE
“Sensual and powerful, a coming-of-age story set in a world that eats its young.” Peter Behrens, author of
The O’Briens
A compelling, richly layered story of fatal plans and silent betrayals in a tightly knit
Yugoslavian village, where the postwar air is simultaneously flushed with hope and weighted
with suspicion. Supporting the suspenseful story of a missing boy and lost Roman coins is an
intricate web of cultural tensions, government control, family bonds and past mistakes.
Canada:
Douglas & McIntyre
GLASS BOYS
“Nicole Lundrigan has been teetering on the cusp of “next big thing” status since her debut…there is a very
good chance that her latest effort, Glass Boys, will finally catapult Lundrigan into the spotlight…” Quill &
Quire
When Eli Fagan discovers an old pickle jar full of disturbing Polaroids, his dislike of his
eleven-year-old stepson Garrett is finally justified. Consumed by fury and in haste to destroy
the evidence, Eli burns the contents in a barrel. It’s the wrong time for neighbours Roy and
Lewis Trench to stumble into the backyard, and Roy pays the ultimate price for witnessing
Eli’s anger. When the court rules it an accident and Eli escapes without consequence, Lewis
Trench becomes consumed by guilt and hate. As Lewis – the town constable – rigidly tries
to maintain order in their small community of Knife’s Point, Newfoundland, his sons Melvin
and Toby take justice into their own hands, with dire consequences.
World English:
Douglas & McIntyre
63
David Macfarlane (see also Non-Fiction)
THE FIGURES OF BEAUTY
“The Figures of Beauty is a rich, imaginative novel about art, life and beauty. It’s epic in scale but intimate
in tone, with Macfarlane’s prose as crisp and pure as Carrara marble. One of the best novels I’ve read all
year.” Ross King, bestselling author of Leonardo and the Last Supper
A young man travels to Paris in 1968, where a series of unlikely events takes him to a tiny
village in Italy – and the one great love of his life. A marble merchant meets a couple on
their honeymoon, introducing them to the sensual beauty of the Carrara region. An Italian
woman arrives in Canada to find the father she never knew. A terrible accident in a marble
quarry changes the course of a young boy’s life and, ultimately, sets in motion each of these
stories, which Macfarlane masterfully shapes into a magnificent whole.
Canada:
HarperCollins
French North American:
Editions Pleine Lune
Serbia:
Vulkan Publishing
US:
HarperCollins
SUMMER GONE
Winner of the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, Shortlisted for the Giller Prize
The story of a divorced father and a young son separated by the silence of estrangement, and
how during one extraordinary night on an ill-fated canoe trip, the silence is broken.
Canada:
Knopf
Film:
Creation Films Inc.
Germany:
Goldmann
Italy:
Bompiani
UK:
Little Brown
Agent: Michael Levine
Roy MacGregor (see also Non-Fiction and Children’s/Young Adult)
Officer of the Order of Canada
CANOE LAKE
Fact blends with fiction and the past with the near-present in this intriguing account of the
final years and mysterious death of painter Tom Thomson. Historical reality and conjecture
are skillfully interwoven with intrigue and suspense as three characters move unwittingly
toward tragedy. Canoe Lake opens a window on events now shrouded in myth and raises
again the question of what happened to Tom Thomson that early-summer morning of 1917.
Canada:
THE LAST SEASON
“The best book of fiction on hockey.” The Edmonton Journal
Felix Batterinski enjoyed brief fame as a hockey “enforcer” with the Philadelphia Flyers.
When he’s cut from the team he tries for a second career as a playing coach with a Finnish
club, but a controversial play spells the end of his come-back bid. Faced with his
obsolescence, Felix begins his personal descent into disillusion, despair and ultimately a
bizarre death.
World:
Dundurn
Agents: Bruce Westwood
64
Kyo Maclear (see also Children’s/Young Adult) **see Kyo Maclear’s website:
www.kyomaclear.ca
STRAY LOVE
“Beautiful, sensitive, multi-layered… Maclear has created an emotionally challenging examination of family,
race, and, above all, love.” Quill & Quire (starred)
Born of an adulterous affair in London, England, Marcel is ethnically ambiguous, growing
up in the racially charged 1960s with a white surrogate father named Oliver. Abandoned as
an infant, Marcel is haunted by vague memories of his bohemian mother, and is desperate to
know who his real parents are. Now, as his fiftieth birthday approaches, Marcel is asked to
take care of his friend’s eleven-year-old daughter, Iris. Prodded by her sharp-eyed company,
he reflects on his own bittersweet childhood and the experiences that have shaped his
present.
Australia:
Picador / Macmillan
Canada:
HarperCollins
Israel:
Matar
THE LETTER OPENER
Shortlisted for the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Evergreen
Award
“Kyo Maclear has produced an ingenious work of fiction that combines rich, intimate characters with a
narrative that unfolds like a puzzle box. The Letter Opener is that rare book that nourishes both the
mind and the heart, at once wise and tender. A stunning, lyrical debut.” Naomi Klein
It is 1989 and Naiko Guildford is working in the Undeliverable Mail Office, a cavernous
space that resembles a giant congested pawnshop. Immersed in things lost and missing, she
searches for clues to match undeliverable mail with their intended recipients, a job that
allows her to achieve a semblance of order in a disorderly world. It is a shock, then, when
Naiko’s co-worker Andrei, an enigmatic Romanian refugee who has become the unlikely
object of Naiko’s fascination, suddenly vanishes.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Rabindranath Maharaj** See Rabindranath Maharaj’s website:
www.rmaharaj.wordpress.com
THE AMAZING ABSORBING BOY
Winner of the Trillium Book Award, shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award,
longlisted for the 2011 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
“An exhilarating interpretation of immigrant experience. . . . Maharaj superbly articulates the longing for
home, on the one hand, and the dream of success in Canada on the other.” The Globe and Mail
Seventeen-year-old Samuel, naïve and inexperienced, leaves his home in Trinidad following
the death of his mother. He hasn’t seen his father since he was six years old and now, thrust
into a new life together, Samuel soon realizes that he is considered a burden. Undaunted
though still wide-eyed, and propelled by a comic book sensibility, Samuel begins to explore
the foreign landscape that is Toronto. There he encounters molemen, super-villains, trolls,
chimeras, and a host of sidekicks. But his fantasy world is sorely tested by his father, who
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rarely ventures out of the apartment and is frustrated by his son’s optimism. Samuel’s
dreams are threatened, but amazingly, he finds a solution inspired by his comic book world.
Canada:
Knopf
A PERFECT PLEDGE
Shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, Shortlisted for the Commonwealth
Writers’ Prize for Best Book in Canada and the Caribbean
“…[Maharaj] is an extremely fine writer, whose sense of the comic and the tragic is as acute as his ability to
depict the absurdities and subtle injustices of his native and adopted lands.” The Toronto Star
Narpat is a cane farmer who sees the dismantling of the sugar plantations as a sign of larger
chaos. His wife quietly wages her own battle against neglect, and, when Narpat decides to
single-handedly build a factory, against the deprivation inflicted on her children. Jeeves
helplessly observes his father’s obsession, his increasing cruelty, and his mother’s decline.
Unable to prevent his mother’s death, he tries to redeem his father by constantly reminding
him of the fables Narpat told his young children. And these fables, with their undertones of
pledges and duty, steel the son for a terrible sacrifice.
Canada:
Knopf
France:
Actes Sud
Holland:
Mouria
US:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
THE BOOK OF IFS AND BUTS
A novella of eleven stories, the pieces are unified by characters who are searching, in some
way, for a sense of home, whose points of reference are not the places they have left behind
or even their new areas of settlement, but an idealized place where memory and longing
intersect. Maharaj portrays immigrants as travellers, ordinary people whose lives have been
made interesting by their journeys.
Canada:
Knopf
THE LAGAHOO’S APPRENTICE
“Almost everywhere Maharaj dares to tread, there are imprints of Naipaul.” The Toronto Star
One of the top ten books of the year as selected by The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star
Looking to regain the joys of his youth, Stephen Sagar returns to his native Trinidad when
he accepts a job writing the biography of an aging statesman. There, he realizes that life in
his little paradise is not all innocent, and the island is no longer the home he remembers. In a
windswept resort, he meets a woman who once loved him, and his own longing begins to
evolve, together with his understanding of how memory shapes our lives.
Canada:
Knopf
Turkey:
Kültür Publishers
HOMER IN FLIGHT
Shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award
“Maharaj’s characters are vivid and entertaining; Dickensian, in a word.” Andre Alexis
Audio:
Goose Lane Editions
Radio:
CBC
World:
Goose Lane Editions
66
THE INTERLOPER
Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Best First Book Award, Canada & Caribbean
“This book is wonderful!” The Chronicle-Herald
World:
Goose Lane Editions
Kevin Major (see also Children’s/Young Adult)
NEW UNDER THE SUN
“A deft hopscotch through history. Major’s strongest work in years – which is saying something.” The
Telegram
Needing a change, Shannon Carew takes a job in the National Parks system in
Newfoundland and Labrador. The journey brings her life full circle, returning her to the
birthplace she abandoned years before. As she makes new connections, and unearths old
ones, Shannon learns the land holds many memories, stories of Maritime Archaic, the
Vikings, the Basques, the Beothuk, and the Europeans who came after.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
GAFFER
“Bold and imaginative.” The Globe and Mail
The haunting tale of a boy who metamorphoses into a sea creature, whose watery journeys
take him through 500 years of Newfoundland history and fifty years into its dark future. A
love letter to a place, a people and a way of life: distinctive, poetic and profoundly moving.
World English:
Doubleday
NO MAN’S LAND
“I was deeply moved. The simple but skilful construction creates an enormous accumulation of tension and
foreboding towards an inexorable and heart-breaking conclusion.” Robert MacNeil, The
MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour
The tragic story of a single day, July 1, 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, and a regiment that
took more casualties than any other unit on the battlefield.
World English:
Doubleday
Agent: Linda McKnight
Yann Martel (see also Non-Fiction)
BEATRICE AND VIRGIL
A New York Times Bestseller, A Washington Post Bestseller, A Boston Globe Bestseller, An L.A.
Times Bestseller, A Minneapolis Star Tribune Bestseller, A Sydney Morning Herald Bestseller,
National #1 Bestseller in The Globe & Mail, National #1 Bestseller in Maclean’s, #1
Bestseller in The Toronto Star, Financial Times 2010 Fiction of the Year, Chosen for May 2010
Indie Next List
“Audaciously original, never less than engrossing.” The Telegraph “A masterpiece.”
USA Today “Mesmerizing.” Booklist (starred review) “So imbued with passionate
moral and intellectual ardor that even the cynical should find it engaging.” The Wall
Street Journal “Audaciously original, never less than engrossing, often disturbing.”
The Telegraph UK “A wild, provocative novel.” The Independent on Sunday
This is a story of an extraordinary journey undertaken by a man named Henry. It begins with
a mysterious parcel. It ends in a place that will make you think again about one of the most
67
significant events of the 20th century. It also involves a howler monkey, a donkey, an
enigmatic taxidermist, and a dog named Erasmus. Once you have finished reading it, it is
impossible to forget.
Brazil:
Nova Fronteira / Ediouro
Canada:
Knopf / Random House
Catalan:
Columna
China (Complex):
Business Weekly
China (Simplified):
Yilin Press
Croatia:
Profil
Czech:
Argo
Denmark:
The People’s Press
Finland:
Minerva
France:
Flammarion
Germany:
Fischer
Greece:
Psichogios
Holland:
Prometheus
Hungary:
Cartaphilus Kaido
India:
Penguin
Indonesia:
Ufuk Press
Israel:
Modan
Italy:
Piemme
Korea:
Jakkajungsin
Macedonia:
TRI Publishing Centar
North America French:Les Editions XYZ
Norway:
Cappelen Damm
Poland:
Albatros
Poland:
Albatros (Audio)
Portugal:
Presenca
Russia:
Exmo
Serbia:
Geopoetika
Slovenia:
Mladinska Knjiga Zalozba
Spain:
Destino
Sweden:
Brombergs
Thailand:
Banlue
Turkey:
Inkilap Kitabevi
UK & Comm:
Canongate (Australia: Text)
US:
Spiegel & Grau / Random House
LIFE OF PI / ILLUSTRATIONS BY TOMISLAV TORJANAC
Stunning full-colour illustrations by Tomislav Torjanac for Yann Martel’s internationally
bestselling Man Booker Prize winning novel.
Canada: Knopf
China Simplied: Yilin Press
Croatia: Mladinska Knjiga Zalozba
Germany: S. Fischer
Hungary: Europa
Poland: Znak
68
Slovenia: Mladinska Knjiga Zalozba;
UK: Canongate
US: Harcourt
LIFE OF PI
Winner of the Man Booker Prize, the Quality Paperback Book Club’s New Voices Award
for Best New Fiction, the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, The Boeke Prize (South
Africa), the Deutschen Bücherpreis 2004, the La Presse Prix du Grand Public, Shortlisted
for the Dublin IMPAC Award, the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction, the Borders
Original Voices Award for Fiction, 2003, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for
Comic Writing, the Spoken Word Award for Abridged Modern Fiction and the Spoken
Word Award for Best Abridgment, and a Torgi Award; A Quill & Quire Best Book of 2001,
A Poets & Writers Magazine Best Book of Fiction for 2002, A CBC Canada Reads 2003
Selection, A 2003 Selection of the One Book Arizona Program, A 2003 Selection of the One
Book Santa Barbara Program, An International Bestseller
“[Life of Pi] could renew your faith in the ability of novelists to invest even the most outrageous scenario with
plausible life…Extraordinary.” The New York Times Book Review
An old man in India told the author, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” In
Life of Pi, a novel of astonishing depth, humour and imagination, we meet the sole survivor
of a shipwreck, Pi Patel, a practicing Hindu, Muslim and Catholic, and he tells his terrible
tale: how he and his family and their zoo were crossing the Pacific for the New World. How
the ship sank and the only five survivors – Pi, a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a tiger – all
ended up in the same lifeboat. And how the boy survived for 227 days in the company of a
wild, adult Bengal tiger.
Audio (abridged UK): HarperCollins
Audio (abridged/unabridged World English): HighBridge
Albania:
Morava Publishing House
Arabic:
Al-Kamel Verlag
Azerbaijan:
Alatoran
Bengali:
Sandesh
Brazil:
Rocco (expired)
Brazil (new): Nova Fronteira
Bulgaria:
Prozoretz
Canada:
Knopf
Canada French: Les Editions XYZ
Catalan:
Columna
China:
Crown (Complex)
China:
Yilin (Simplified)
Croatia:
Znanje
Czech:
Argo
Czech:
Czech National Radio (Radio)
Denmark:
Borgens (expired)
Denmark:
People’s Press
Denmark:
Den Grimme Aelling (Audio)
Estonia:
Pegasus
Film:
Fox 2000
69
Finland:
France:
France:
Georgia:
Germany:
Greece:
Gujarati:
Hindi:
Holland:
Holland:
Hungary:
Hungary:
Iceland:
India:
India (Tamil)
Indonesia:
Israel:
Italy:
Japan:
Korea:
Latvia:
Latvia:
Lithuania:
Malayalam:
Marathi:
Mongolia:
Norway:
Norway:
Poland:
Poland:
Poland:
Portugal:
Portugal:
Romania:
Romania:
Romania:
Russia:
Russia:
Russia:
Serbia:
Slovakia:
Slovenia:
Slovenia:
Spain:
Sri Lanka:
Sweden:
Sweden:
Tammi
Editions Denoel (expired)
Folio/Gallimard
Bakur Sulakauri Publishing
S. Fischer Verlag
Psichogios
R. R. Sheth & Co.
Penguin India
Prometheus
Storytel (abridged audio)
Europa
Hungarian Broadcasting (Audio)
Bjartur
Penguin
Ethir Veliyedu
Gramedia
Kinneret
Piemme
Take Shobo
Jakkajungsin
Atena (expired)
Zvaigzne ABC
Jotema
DC Books
Penguin India
Xinjiang People’s Publishing House
Dinamo
Lydbokforlaget (Audio)
Albatros
Znak (expired)
QES Agency (Audio)
Difel 82 (expired)
Presenca
Humanitas Editura (expired)
Editura Polirom
Universe Publishing (kiosk edition)
Sophia (expired)
Exmo
Soyuz (Audio)
Alfa
Ikar
Mladinska
Mladinska (Audio)
Destino
Sarasavi
Brombergs
Bonnier (Audio)
70
Thailand:
Thailand:
Turkey:
UK & Comm:
UK:
Ukraine:
Urdu:
US:
Vietnam:
Bliss Publishing (expired)
Earnest Publishing
Inkilap Kitabevi
Scholastic (language simplification)
Old Lion Publishing House
Jumhoori Publications
Harcourt
Nha Nam Publishing
SELF
Air Canada Best Young Writer Award
“Let me tell you a secret: the name of the greatest living writer of the generation born in the sixties is Yann
Martel.” L’Humanite
Edgy, funny, devastating – Self is the fictional autobiography of a young writer and traveller.
From first memories of great tenderness, early love and friendship, to the troubled pangs of
adolescence, culminating in the sudden and shocking news of an accident abroad. At the
heart of the novel is a startling twist.
Canada:
Knopf
Canada French: Les Editions XYZ
China:
People’s Literature Publishing House (simplified)
Holland:
Prometheus
Italy:
Piemme (expired)
Korea:
Jakkajungsin
Poland:
Bertelsmann (expired)
Poland:
Albatros
Sweden:
Raben Prisma/Arlsekar
UK:
Faber
THE FACTS BEHIND THE HELSINKI ROCCAMATIOS and other stories
“Those who would believe that the art of fiction is moribund – let them read Yann Martel with
astonishment, delight and gratitude.” Alberto Manguel
This memorable debut fiction collection from Booker Prize winner Yann Martel, originally
published in 1993, was hailed for its power and elegance on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dealing with such themes as storytelling and illness, war and music, death and bureaucracy,
science and sex, these tales are moving and thought provoking, as inventive in form as they
are timeless in content. They display that startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made
Yann Martel an international phenomenon. The title novella, “The Facts Behind the
Helsinki Roccamatios,” won the prestigious Journey Prize in 1991 in Canada, and was
included in the 1991–1992 Pushcart Prize Anthology in the US. The Globe and Mail praised
Martel’s debut as “brilliant,” the Guardian hailed it as “a small masterpiece,” and Booklist echoed
that sentiment, calling the title story “a masterpiece by any standard.” The quartet of stories
in this collection have been revised by the author for this new edition, which also features an
introductory note from the author.
Audio:
HighBridge
Bulgaria:
Prozoretz
Canada:
Knopf
71
Canada French: Boreal
China:
Crown (Complex)
China :
Yilin Press (Simple)
Czech:
Argo
Finland:
Tammi
France:
Editions Rivages
Germany:
S. Fischer
Holland:
Prometheus
Hungary:
Europa Konyvkiado
Israel:
Kinneret
Italy:
Edizione e/o (title story)
Korea:
Jakkajungsin
Poland:
Znak
Russia:
Sophia (expired)
Russia:
Exmo
Spain:
Destino
Sweden:
Brombergs
UK:
Faber (expired)
UK:
US:
Harcourt
Alen Mattich
HEART OF HELL
It’s 1991 and Yugoslavia’s civil war has started, but Marko della Torre has another and more
immediate preoccupation. The former Yugoslav secret policeman – now an officer with
independent Croatia’s military intelligence – finds himself in a precarious position after the
body of an American agent is discovered bound and washed up on an Italian beach – the
third American agent to have been murdered. A dark propulsive thriller, reminiscent of both
Tarantino and Hiassen, Heart of Hell is tense, addictive, and impossible to put down.
World:
Spiderline / House of Anansi
KILLING PILGRIM (MARKO DELLA TORRE SERIES)
“Alen Mattich is smart, dark, and killingly funny.” Alan Bradley, author of The Sweetness at the
Bottom of the Pie
Early autumn, 1991: Croatia and Slovenia officially declared independence from Yugoslavia,
and war is imminent between the Croats and the Serbs. Department VI of the UDBA has
been dismantled, while the Yugoslav government scrambles to protect the State. In the
midst of the political maelstrom, secret policeman Marko della Torre gets caught in an
intricate web woven by the CIA and members of the Croat nationalist movement. They
enlist della Torre to make contact with a man living in the shadows: the ex-UDBA agent
who assassinated Olof Palme, the former Prime Minister of Sweden…
World:
ZAGREB COWBOY
Yugoslavia, 1991. The State is crumbling, and in the midst of the political chaos secret
policeman Marko della Torre has been working both sides of the law -- but somewhere
72
along the way he's crossed the line. When a corrupt cop called Strumbic helps three hired
Bosnian thugs to hunt him down and kill him, della Torre makes a run for it through
Croatia, Italy, and finally to London, where he’ll take Strumbic for all he's worth.
World:
Derek McCormack **See Derek McCormack’s website:
www.derekmccormach.com
THE SHOW THAT SMELLS
“Derek McCormack has written the most delightfully innovative charmer of a book – a mini-masterpiece
that keeps swelling with invention long after you’ve put it down.” Guy Maddin
In the most shocking story ever shown on the silver screen, country music singer Jimmie is
dying of tuberculosis and Carrie, his wife, tries to save him by selling her soul to a devil who
designs haute couture clothing. Elsa is a powerful Parisian dress designer, and a vampire,
who wants to do much more than make Carrie look beautiful…Starring a host of stars
including Coco Chanel, Lon Chaney and the Carter family, The Show that Smells is a thrilling
tale of hillbillies, high fashion and horror.
US:
Akashic
World (excluding US): ECW Press
THE HAUNTED HILLBILLY
Nominated for a Lambda Award, Best Gay Fiction
“If Proust’s writing stands as the acme of the realist novel of memory, then McCormack’s spare prose,
evocative of Hemingway, Stein, and the other modernist technicians of the very short sentence, is closer to its
antithesis.” Books in Canada
Just before his first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, country singer Hank Williams caught
the eye of a gifted tailor named Nudie, who outfitted him in a spectacular magenta suit
resplendent with musical notes and acted as a catalyst for Hank’s meteoric rise. Now, fifty
years after Hank Williams’ untimely death, Derek McCormack has immortalized the country
star in a fantastic take-off of the horror genre. Nudie, the vampire narrator, is carefully
building Hank’s image and spin-off empire. But he’s also grinding bones to make sequins,
disguising a man to look like Hank’s ex-wife, and engineering accidents, romantic trysts, and
misunderstandings for his own lustful purposes.
Film:
Ocular Productions Inc.
US:
Soft Skull Press
World (excluding US): ECW Press
WISH BOOK
“Weird, wry tragedies… You could love these stories for their use of language, the idiom of the midway or the
40s department store. You could love them for their themes of illusion and magic, delusion and deception.
But love them you will.” Georgia Straight, “Contains a self-taught embalmer, carnival hucksters, a
taxidermist with a thing for woodchucks and a series of gay romantic humiliations.” Eye, 4 stars. Quill &
Quire, starred review
McCormack’s spare, lean prose packs a punch.
Canada:
Gutter Press
US:
Akashic
73
DARK RIDES
“A fresh, thrilling, perfect book…” Dennis Cooper
A dazzling first novel in which Derek McCormack, a gay teenager, describes his life in a
small town in 1952. Unable to voice his forbidden desires, he moves like an automaton
through a world that notices him only when he self-destructs. He is an ephemeral being
obsessed with ephemera – fireworks, midway rides, holiday ornaments and country music.
Canada:
Gutter Press
US:
Akashic
Agent: Hilary MacMahon
Rohinton Mistry
2012 Neustadt Prize Laureate
FAMILY MATTERS
Winner of the Kiriyama Prize, Nominated for the IMPAC International Dublin Literary
Award, Shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize, and the James Tait Black Memorial Award,
Winner of the 2006 Rogers Writers’ Trust Timothy Findley Award
About the Booker Prize, it has been said that “Family Matters deserves this year finally to carry the day.
Some people have even likened him to Dickens or Balzac.” The Economist
An intricate story of domestic conflict set against modern-day Bombay. The story centres on
a 79-year-old Parsi widower named Nariman who lives with his step-son and step-daughter.
Nariman’s wife died many years before, leaving behind two children from her first marriage
and the daughter, Roxana, they had together. Wanting above all for Roxana not to have to
live with him in this ‘house of unhappiness’ as he calls it, Nariman spent all of his money to
give her and her husband, Yezad, a place of their own. Now, beset by Parkinson’s Disease,
Nariman tries to endure his family’s protectiveness until he finally defies their wishes and
ventures outside. He falls and hurts his ankle and after a brief stay in hospital comes home
more needy and cantankerous than ever. His step-children can’t cope and Nariman goes to
live with Roxana and Yezad. This sets in motion a series of events which do nothing to
assuage growing family conflict and the unravelling of affections.
Brazil:
Objetiva
Canada:
Catalan:
La Magrana
China:
Persimmon (complex)
Croatia:
HenaCom
Denmark:
Cicero
France:
Albin Michel
Germany:
Krueger
Greece:
Enalios
Holland:
Bert Bakker
Hungary:
Pepperman Productions
Israel:
Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir
Italy:
Mondadori
Korea:
Book Asia Publishing
Norway:
Aschehoug
Poland:
Dialog
Portugal:
Gradiva
Russia:
Rosman (expired)
74
Serbia:
Spain:
Sweden:
US:
UK:
Alfa
Grijalbo Mondaori
Bonniers
Knopf
Faber
A FINE BALANCE
Winner of the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Prize for Fiction, the Los Angeles Times Prize,
the Aloa Prize Denmark and the Royal Society of Literature’s Winnifred Holtby Prize UK,
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Irish Times International Fiction Award, the IMPAC
Award and the Prix Femina. An Oprah Book Club Selection. International Bestseller, Over
one million copies sold worldwide.
“Magnificent.” Publishers Weekly, “Worthy of the 20th century masters of tragic realism, from Hardy to
Balzac.” Time
Set in India during Mrs. Ghandi’s Emergency, this extraordinary, sweeping novel portrays
the pains of poverty, the small joys of everyday life and the struggle for survival.
Arabic World: Arab Scientific Publishers
Brazil:
Objetiva
Canada:
Catalan:
Edicions 62
China:
Persommon Cultural Enterprise Co. Ltd. (Complex)
China:
Phoenix-Power Cultural Co., Ltd. (Simplified)
Czech:
Talpress
Denmark:
Cicero
Denmark:
Den Grimme/Aelling (Audio)
Film:
Northwood Productions Inc.
France:
Albin Michel
French Club: France Loisirs
Germany:
S. Fischer Verlag
Greece:
Enalios
Hindi:
Penguin India
Holland:
Bert Bakker
Hungary:
Ulpius
India:
Penguin
Israel:
Zmora Bitan-Dvir
Italy:
Mondadori (expired)
Korea:
Lithuania:
Tyto Alba
Marathi:
Penguin India
Norway:
Aschehoug
Poland:
Drzewo Babel
Serbia:
Laguna
Slovenia:
Zalozba
Spain:
RH Mondadori
Spain:
Circulo de Lectores
Stage:
Tamasha (UK)
Sweden:
Raben Prisma
75
UK:
UK e-book:
UK:
US:
Vietnam:
Faber
Faber
Goldhawk Productions Inc. (Radio)
Knopf
Tre Publishing House
SUCH A LONG JOURNEY
Winner of the Governor General’s Award, Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 70,000 copies
sold in Canada, Film released at the Toronto International Film Festival
Compassionate, and rich in details of character and place, this unforgettable novel charts the
journey of a moral heart in a turbulent world of change.
Bengali:
BookClub
Bulgaria:
Prozoretz
Canada:
Denmark:
Gyldendal/Cicero
Film:
The Film Works
France:
Albin Michel
Germany:
S. Fischer Verlag
Hindi:
Penguin India
Hungary:
Israel:
Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir
Italy:
Mondadori (1); Fazi Editore (2) (expired)
Korea:
Malayalam:
Penguin India
Marathi:
Penguin India
Norway:
Aschehoug
Radio:
CBC
Serbia:
Magnet
Spain:
Grijalbo Mondadori
Sweden:
Gedins
Turkey:
Adam
UK:
Faber
US:
Knopf
TALES FROM FIROZSHA BAAG
“Mistry’s voice is solid and experienced, wise and humourous, and with this single book he has placed himself
in the foreground of our first rank of storytellers.” Ottawa Citizen
In these eleven stories, Rohinton Mistry opens our eyes and our hearts to the rich, complex
patterns of life inside Firozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay.
Canada:
Catalan:
La Magrana
Denmark:
Cicero
Film:
National Theatre
Germany:
Fischer
Hindi:
Penguin
Hungary:
Italy:
Fazi Editore (expired)
76
Japan:
Korea:
Malayalam:
Radio:
Spain:
UK:
UK:
US:
Bungeishunji
Penguin India
CBC
Grijalbo Mondadori
Faber
BBC Productions (Radio)
Houghton Mifflin
Riel Nason **See Riel Nason’s website www.rielnason.com
THE TOWN THAT DROWNED
Winner of Commonwealth Book Prize
Winner of Margaret and John Savage First Book Award
Finalist for CLA Young Adult Book Award
“Weird, warm, and wonderful.” Donna Morrissey, author of Kit’s Law
Living with a weird brother in a small town can be tough enough. Having a spectacular fall
through the ice at a skating party and nearly drowning are grounds for embarrassment. But
having a vision and narrating it to the assembled crowd solidifies your status as an outcast.
What Ruby Carson saw during that fateful day was her entire town — buildings and people
— floating underwater. The residents of Haventon soon discover that a massive dam is
being constructed and that most of their homes will be swallowed by the rising water.
Suspicions mount, tempers flare, and secrets are revealed.
North America: Goose Lane Editions
Oceania: Allen & Unwin
Jacqueline Park
THE SECRET BOOK OF GRAZIA DEI ROSSI
A sweeping saga of intrigue and romance set during the Italian Renaissance and told through
the eyes of Grazia dei Rossi, a young Jewish woman torn between duty and forbidden
romance, who wins our hearts with her recorded secrets of love. Grazia dei Rossi, private
secretary to the world-renowned Isabella d’Este, is the daughter of an eminent Jewish
banker, the wife of the pope’s Jewish physician, and the lover of a Christian prince. In a
“secret book,” written as a legacy for her son, she records her struggles to choose between
the seductions of the Christian world and a return to the family, traditions, and duties to her
Jewish roots. As she re-creates Renaissance Italy in captivating detail, Jacqueline Park gives
us a timeless portrait of a brave and brilliant woman trapped in an unforgiving, inflexible
society.
World:
House of Anansi Press (Denmark: Forum; France: Grasset (reverted);
Germany: Droemer; Holland: De Arbeiderspers; Italy: Longanesi; Japan:
Hara Shobo; Spain: Salamandra; Spanish in South America: Atlantida;
Sweden: Bra Bocker)
Agent: John Pearce
Nerys Parry **See Nerys Parry’s website: www.nerysparry.com
MAN AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS
77
“In Man and Other Natural Disasters, Nerys Parry demonstrates a powerful emerging talent. Parry draws
the reader into a delightfully quirky and strange story with a narrative that is in turns funny and
heartbreaking.” Gail Anderson-Dargatz, author of A Cure for Death by Lightening
Simon Peters, full of half-cocked theories on every subject from heart-broken shrimp to the
Jungian consciousness of DNA, spends his days hiding from his horrific past and senile
roommate in the basement of the Calgary City Library, where he, the self-proclaimed “last of
the library book repairers,” tends to a growing number of damaged books. Enter Minerva, a
twenty-two-year-old business major hired for a summer co-op. Her ghostly resemblance to
Simon’s dead sister compels him to reveal his shocking past: a sister who died of
spontaneous human combustion, a father crushed in a rock blast, a mother who disappeared
in a tornado – all in one hot prairie summer. But parts of Simon’s story do not add up.
Canada:
Enfield & Wizenty
Anna Porter (see also Non-Fiction)
THE BOOK FAIR MURDERS
An entertaining romantic adventure which moves from the Frankfurt Book Fair, where a
literary agent is murdered at a cocktail party, to New York and finally to secluded Grand
Manan Island. Filmed by the producers of award-winning Lilies and The Hanging Garden. A
paperback bestseller.
Australia:
Penguin
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Film:
Triptych Media Inc.
Germany:
List
Hungary:
Magyar Konyvklub (1); Szo Kiado Kft. (2)
MORTAL SINS
Canada:
Finland:
Greece:
Japan:
McArthur & Co
Book Studio
Harlenic Hellas
Futami Shobo
Sweden:
UK:
US:
Bra Bocker
W.H. Allen
NAL
HIDDEN AGENDA
Canada:
McArthur and Co
Canada French:Sogides
Film:
Multiple Media
Finland:
Viihdevlikarit
Germany:
List
Greece:
Harlenic Hellas
Italy:
Rizzoli
Japan:
Futami Shobo
Norway:
Fredhois
Spain:
Jucar
Sweden:
Bra Bocker
UK:
W.H. Allen
US:
NAL
Agent: John Pearce
78
Beth Powning (see also Non-Fiction) ** See Beth Powning’s website:
www.powning.com
THE SEA CAPTAIN’S WIFE
Shortlisted for the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, A Globe and Mail National
Bestseller, A Maclean’s National Bestseller, a Barnes & Noble “Discover Pick”, an Amazon.ca
“Best Books of the Month” selection
“Powning is an extraordinary writer…Her people are as real as personal friends, neighbors, or compelling
strangers…Fully and panoramically lived.” The Globe and Mail
“A brilliant and absorbing story of a singular woman’s courageous entry into this alien world and of her
growing sense of self-knowledge and strength as she encounters its demands. It is a tale of adventure and
adversity, and of the terrors and deep satisfactions of life on the ever-dangerous and unpredictable sea.” Derek
Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea and The Way of a Ship
A gripping novel of love and adventure on the high seas that introduces an unforgettable
young heroine.
Canada:
Knopf
US:
Plume/Penguin
World French: Editions Perce Neige
THE HATBOX LETTERS
Longlisted for the IMPAC Award; Shortlisted for the Atlantic Booksellers Choice Award
“Powning brilliantly illuminates grief in all its shape-shifting pain, and in so doing, expands her characters’
lives, and ours. … deeply moving ... A novel about death that makes you joyously glad you are alive, The
Hatbox Letters is both elegy and song of joy … [A] stunning debut.” The Globe and Mail
In a house surrounded by heirloom gardens and the gentle noise of a river, Kate Harding,
52, begins her second winter since the untimely death of her husband. In her living room is a
pile of hatboxes filled with her grandparents’ letters, recently brought by her sister from the
attic of their 18th-century Connecticut house. As she begins to read the letters, she discovers
that what to a child seemed a serene and blissful marriage was in fact founded on a tragic
event. As Kate’s eyes clear to the truth of the past, a new tragedy unfolds, and Kate’s own
house, shadowed by silver maples and filled with the shared detritus of marriage and
motherhood, becomes the refuge where Kate can connect the strands of her unraveled life.
An unforgettable story of love, past and present.
Canada:
Knopf
US:
Rachael Preston ** See Rachael Preston’s website: www.rachaelpreston.com
Winner of a City of Hamilton Arts Award
THE WIND SELLER
“Preston’s Dickensian touch with pathos and villainy is refreshingly unfashionable.” The Globe and Mail
When a damaged schooner carrying contraband liquor gets stranded on the mud flats of
Kent, Nova Scotia, the villagers are both intrigued and horrified. Then nurse Hetty Douglas
causes further scandal when she boards The Esmerelda to administer aid to a wounded
pirate…Set against Prohibition and the Halifax explosion, The Wind Seller is an adventure tale
about choice and consequences, our darker natures, and our need for heroes.
Canada:
Goose Lane Editions
79
TENT OF BLUE
“Rachael Preston seduces with a luminous mosaic of images... A novel that lingers long after the final page.”
Shauna Singh Baldwin
Alternating between the music halls of 1930s London and Vancouver in the 1950s, this
powerful first novel tells the story of Yvonne, an abused woman who dreams of becoming a
great dancer, and her son Anton, who has no knowledge of his mother’s troubled past.
Yvonne’s harsh life has turned her into a hard-edged woman, aloof and largely
incomprehensible to her son. Handicapped by a club foot, Anton lives in isolation from his
peers. Preston deftly weaves a story of the importance of dreams and the power of the past,
in this richly conceived novel about captivity and escape.
North America:
Goose Lane Editions
Elizabeth Renzetti
BASED ON A TRUE STORY
“A hell of a lot of fun.” The Globe and Mail
Augusta Price (not her real name) is famous in England for playing a slatternly barmaid on a
nighttime soap opera and for falling down drunk in public. Now she has no job, no
relationship with her long-lost son, and a sad shortage of tranquilizers – but she has had an
improbable hit with her memoir. However, when tabloid journalist Frances Bleeker tells
Augusta that a man she once loved has written a book, Augusta becomes terrified that her
life story will be revealed as the web of lies it is really is. She sets out on a transatlantic
journey from London to California to seek revenge on her former lover – a journey that will
require the reluctant help of Frances.
Film:
Lark Productions
World:
Anansi (Australia: Allen & Unwin; Poland: Proszynski Media; UK: Atlantic
Books)
John Lawrence Reynolds (see also Non-Fiction) ** See John Lawrence Reynolds’
website: www.wryter.ca
BEACH STRIP
“John Lawrence Reynolds returns to the world of crime fiction with this terrific novel. It’s witty, tense and
gripping, and features a beautifully realized lead character in mouthy, stubborn Josie Marshall. The beach
strip itself is a delight to wander, a character in itself.” Peter Robinson, author of Before the Poison and Bad
Boy
All Josie Marshall and her husband, Gabe, wanted was to live in their dream house on the
beach strip forever. Having saved one another from their respective unhappy pasts, they
found contentment in their deliberately quiet life together. When Gabe is found dead near
their home, Josie refuses to believe it’s suicide, despite the fact that she’s provided him with
a motive. Her determination carries her toward dark corners of the beach strip and the
darker sides of its residents. Fending off her fears with humour and outrage, she encounters
a drug-crazed drifter, an organized-crime boss with romance on his mind, a woman with a
murderous past, a pervert inhabiting her garden shed, and other denizens of the beach strip.
And when a chance remark leads Josie to the astonishing truth of Gabe’s death.
Canada:
HarperCollins
80
HAUNTED HEARTS – The sixth Joe McGuire mystery
“One of Canada’s hottest mystery writers.” The Toronto Sun
Joe McGuire has been hired by one of Boston’s prestigious law firms to do some private
investigating. When one of the lawyers goes missing, an attractive woman named Susan
Schaeffer begins showing up at the office, distressed at his absence. How are they related?
And what is she hiding? A page-turning mystery about loyalty, justice and love – genuine or
otherwise.
North America: McClelland & Stewart
World English: HarperCollins Canada
SOLITARY DANCER – The fifth Joe McGuire mystery
“Interesting characters, intricate plot… compellingly complex.” Quill & Quire
World English:
GYPSY SINS
Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel
World English:
Also by Reynolds:
WHISPER DEATH
World English:
World English:
World English:
AND LEAVE HER LAY DYING
THE MAN WHO MURDERED GOD Winner, Arthur Ellis Award
Erika Ritter (see also Non-Fiction) **See Erika Ritter’s website: www.erikaritter.com
THE HIDDEN LIFE OF HUMANS
“One of the Year’s Best Books” The Bayview Post, “Ritter is a master mixer of the solemn and the silly.”
New Brunswick Reader
Single and on the downhill side of forty, Dana Jaeger has an unswerving allegiance to shortterm involvements and perenially arrested adolescence. Then she agrees to dogsit a mutt
named Murphy as a favour to an out-of-town lover. Garrulously opinionated and no
stranger himself to pent-up desires, Murphy offers his own inspired insights into Dana’s
amatory adventures. Between them, mongrel and mistress present a sometimes wry,
sometimes antic, portrait of our innermost selves sprung to life, and our deepest longings
gracefully realized. A funny and audacious debut novel.
World:
Key Porter (Japan: Wave Publishing Co. Ltd; Russia: Mir Knigi)
Oakland Ross (see also Non-Fiction) **See Oakland Ross’ website:
www.oaklandross.com
THE DARK VIRGIN: Night of Songs – A Trilogy
“A real rip-roaring kind of adventure. If Errol Flynn was still alive, he’d be in it. Ross does for Cortes and
the Aztecs what James Clavell did for Samurai in Shogun.” Hot Type, CBC
81
In the tradition of Edward Rutherford and James Michener, award-winning journalist and
short-story writer Oakland Ross gives us a fictionalized history of Mexico from pre-conquest
times to the present, as seen through the eyes of ordinary Mexicans through the ages.
Compelling, fascinating, hard to put down. Volume 1 available.
World:
HarperCollins (Italy: Rizzoli; Spain: Grijalbo Mondadori)
GUERRILLA BEACH
Shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award
“It’s as though Garcia Marquez collaborated with Hemingway.” Paragraph, “When Ross writes about fear,
I can feel it in my teeth… this is Graham Greene territory.” CBC Radio
Haunting tales of Latin America in troubled times, by the award-winning author of some of
the most eloquent foreign dispatches ever published.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
B. Glen Rotchin
HALBMAN STEALS HOME
“Rotchin’s talents for character are on fine display … as impressively crafted as his debut novel The Rent
Collector.” Publishers Weekly
Mort Halbman is a crotchety, divorced, sixty-five-year-old garment manufacturer, who
laments losing the one true love of his life: the Montreal Expos. Now the dream home he
built in the late 1960s in the exclusive Montreal suburb of Hampstead, where he lived with
his family for twenty years, has burned down under mysterious circumstances, and Mort
finds himself the prime suspect in an arson investigation.
World:
Dundurn
David Rotenberg
MURDER OF CROWS
Book Two Of The Junction Chronicles
“Rotenberg tells the tale in short, action-packed chapters that go down like chilled vodka shots.” Toronto
Life
When a vicious attack wipes out the best and brightest of America’s young minds,
devastating the country’s future, Decker is forced to step out of the shadows and help track
down the killer. And as the hunt brings him in contact with other people of “his kind,”
Decker begins to realize that there may be depths to his gifts that he had never even
imagined.
Canada:
Simon & Schuster
Film:
Don Kurt
THE PLACEBO EFFECT
Book One Of The Junction Chronicles
“It's a corker – a moody speculative thriller that should power his planned three-part trilogy
into the stratosphere.” Winnipeg Free Press
Decker Roberts has a talent – a very special talent – one that he’s known about since he was
a boy. He can, beyond a shadow of a doubt, tell when someone is telling the truth. He’s been
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doing it without incident for eight years. Then one day he finishes watching an interview in
Cincinnati – lets his client know that the guy being interviewed in not telling the truth and
“by the by, neither is the interviewer” – and heads back to his home in the Junction area of
Toronto. There, he finds his house on fire. Within forty-eight hours his credit cards are
cancelled, his bank loan is called, his acting studio is condemned, and he’s being accused of
arson. Decker knows that he has been betrayed. But by whom?
Canada:
Simon & Schuster
China (Simplified): Beijing Guokr Interactive Information Technology Co.
Film:
Don Kurt
SHANGHAI
An epic saga in the tradition of Noble House and Tai-Pan, Shanghai weaves an ancient
prophecy with modern history to create a stunning tale of the evolution of what could be the
21st century’s most important city.
Film:
Darius Films Inc.
World:
Penguin Canada
THE HAMLET MURDERS
It’s summer in Shanghai. The great city’s twenty million residents continue their hurtling
progress towards modernization. Detective Zhong Fong is awakened from a deep sleep by
the ring of his phone. It is the night watchman of the Shanghai Theatre Academy – he’s
crying. At the theatre Fong can’t believe his eyes. His old rival and his deceased wife’s lover,
the Canadian theatre director Geoffrey Hyland, swings from the end of along rope centre
stage. As Fong stares at the dead body he feels the world spinning beneath his feet and
senses that finding whoever killed his old enemy will lead him to a knowledge of himself.
Australia:
Black Inc. Books
Canada:
McArthur & Company
THE HUA SHAN HOSPITAL MURDERS
Detective Zhong Fong has regained his position as head of Special Investigations in the
Shanghai district. He is back in the city that he loves with his new wife and baby girl, Xiao
Ming. All seems under control until one of Shanghai’s state run abortion clinics explodes in
a ball of fire. A note is left in English. Then a second abortion clinic is attacked and a
second note is left. This one says: “This blasphemy will stop - the light will come.” Fong’s
investigation leads him deep into the evil caverns of the human heart, a place that Fong
knows all too well. The Hua Shan Hospital Murders is the third Zhong Fong Mystery.
Australia:
Black Inc. Books
Canada:
McArthur & Company
LAKE CHING MURDERS
In this second Zhong Fong Mystery, Fong is brought back from his four year internal exile
west of the Great Wall. After four days of hard driving, he finds himself on the shores of
Lake Ching, a large fresh water lake west of Xian, the ancient capital. A luxury lake boat is
stranded on a shoal. On board the lake boat are seventeen dead foreigners – and Zhong
Fong’s only chance to get back to his beloved Shanghai.
Australia:
Black Inc. Books
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Canada:
US:
McArthur & Company
St. Martin’s Press (reverted)
THE SHANGHAI MURDERS
Zhong Fong, a homicide detective in Shanghai, has been attempting to put his life back
together following the death of his actress wife and unborn child when a grizzly new case,
along with a former lover, interrupt his mourning and become dual obsessions that soon
turn the hunter into the hunted.
Australia:
Black Inc. Books
Canada:
McArthur & Company
World:
Emma Ruby-Sachs
THE WATER MAN’S DAUGHTER
“In this assured debut, Toronto-raised Emma Ruby-Sachs takes readers into the heart of post-apartheid
South Africa, where the dreams of the Mandela leadership have taken an ugly turn…” The Toronto Star
In Johannesburg, South Africa, Peter Matthews, a North American water company
executive, goes out to unwind with a group of local politicians and colleagues. The next
morning he is found dead in a black township, his heart cut from his chest. Zembe Afrika, a
career policewoman trying to balance her commitment to the law with her deep ties to the
community, is in charge of the investigation. The crime looks gang related, but Matthews’
involvement in a controversial water privatization project suggests that his murder may have
been about more than money. Meanwhile, Matthews’ twenty-year-old daughter Claire arrives
in Johannesburg, desperate to understand what happened to her murdered father.
Canada:
Katja Rudolph **See Katja Rudolph’s website: www.katjarudolph.com
LITTLE BASTARDS IN SPRINGTIME
“[T]he author blends sharp character work with a seductive backstory.” Quill & Quire
Spring, 1992: Jevrem Andric is eleven years old and war is erupting in Sarajevo. Multi-ethnic
for centuries, Bosnia is on its way to being partitioned along ethnic lines, and Jevrem’s world
has collapsed in ruins around him. Five years later, the remains of his family immigrate to
Toronto, where spring feels like mid-winter, his grandmother is broken and ill, and sixteenyear-old Jevrem takes up with a gang of Yugoslav immigrants, joining in their terrorism of
local authorities. When Jevrem’s grandmother dies, he faces a moral impulse to start over
and wonders whether it’s possible to save his own soul. What he will discover is that he has
come much further than he knows.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Turkey:
Pena Yayinlari
US:
Steerforth Press
Agents: Jackie Kaiser and Chris Casuccio
Elizabeth Ruth ** See Elizabeth Ruth’s website: www.elizabethruth.com
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MATADORA
“With intelligence as well as passion… Ruth’s novel, testing the limits of commitment (artistic, literary,
political and erotic) in the midst of bloodshed, is as magnetic and powerfully uncompromising as its heroine.”
Emma Donoghue, author of Room
Set in Spain and Mexico during the 1930s, Matadora tells the story of Luna Caballero Garcia,
an impoverished and intrepid servant attempting to make her name in the bullring at a time
when it was illegal for a girl to do so. Matadora carries readers from bohemian artistic circles
in Mexico City and Andalusia to Norman Bethune’s mobile blood transfusions on the
Madrid front.
Canada:
Cormorant
SMOKE
Named one of the Best Books of 2005 by the Vancouver Sun., the London Free Press, and Now
“[This] tobacco tale is addictive…It’s a virtuoso performance that neither preaches nor mocks the past, but
subverts it by challenging us to rethink what is normal and what is not.” The Globe and Mail
Fourteen-year-old Buster McFiddie is an average teenager until a night of carousing has
devastating consequences. With his face disfigured by burns, Buster must struggle to
establish his place in the small 1950s tobacco-growing village. Guiding him is the
sympathetic Doc John, who regales Buster with stories and provides solace and
companionship for them both. But how would the townspeople – and his wife – react if
they knew that their gentle doctor was actually a woman? A powerful novel about home and
transformation which explores the notions of beauty and gender, and the role of the outlaw.
Canada:
Penguin
Germany:
btb/Bertelsmann
TEN GOOD SECONDS OF SILENCE
Shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First
Novel Award, and the City of Toronto Book Prize. One of the Top Ten Books of 2001 as
selected by Now magazine.
“Brilliantly crafted and filled with glorious, intriguing characters … a joy to the heart and soul.” The
Sunday Telegram
Lilith Boot’s life changes forever the night she drowns the flowers in her parents’ garden.
Frightened by their daughter’s odd behaviour and her recent claims of psychic visions, the
Boots send Lilith to a mental hospital. Years later, Lilith’s own daughter struggles to find an
identity distinct from her quirky mother, and wonders about the father she has never met.
World:
Dundurn (Germany: Random House)
Zdena Salivarova
ASHES, ASHES, ALL FALL DOWN
Winner of the Egon Hostovsky Award
“What’s described here so well – the explosion of adolescent love – takes on dimensions of tragedy.” Alice
Munro
From singer/actress/novelist Zdena Salivarova comes a touching coming of age story set in
the Czech Republic. It is the tragic story of Vera, a young girl trying to find happiness amidst
the corruption and political turmoil of her surroundings. She is inspired by her love for Janis,
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a Latvian basketball player, and is determined to find a way that they can be together.
Canada:
Exile Editions
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Rick Salutin (See also Non-Fiction)
THE WOMANIZER: A Man of His Time
“Certainly [Salutin] is one of Canada’s most effective controversialists.” The Globe and Mail
A professional man in his fifties has the child he always yearned to have but had given up
hope for. But before the boy is one year old, the man learns that he, the father, must have
open-heart surgery. He knows his chances are good but he can’t help worrying. He decides
the one thing every father must speak to his son about is sex. He decides to discharge his
duty in the form of a tale he sets down about a person he calls Max. The story is titled, “The
Womanizer: A Man of His Time.” It begins: “Let’s consider the little Casanova at age
eight...”
Canada:
Doubleday
*John Ralston Saul (see also Non-Fiction)
DARK DIVERSIONS: A TRAVELLER’S TALE
When he’s not encountering dictators in Third World hot spots, Saul’s narrator moves in
privileged circles on both sides of the Atlantic, insinuating himself into the lives of well-todo aristocrats. Through his exploits we experience a fascinating world of secret lovers, exiled
princesses, death by veganism, and religious heresies. But as he becomes further enmeshed
in these worlds, his outsider status grows more ambiguous: Is he a documentarian of
privileged foibles and fundamental inequity, or an embodiment of the very “dark diversions”
he chronicles?
Croatia:
Edicije BOZICEVIC
Serbia:
Arhipelag
Slovenia:
Dustvo Mohorjeva druzba
World English: Penguin Canada (Australia: Penguin, India: Penguin, UK: Viking / Penguin,
US: Penguin)
SOME GOOD AMERICANS
“A writer of prodigious intellect and breadth of knowledge, his humour and irony are never far below the
surface…” The New Zealand Herald
Some Good Americans is a picaresque novel in which Saul observes the life of modern rich
Americans, mainly the nouveaux riches. As a friend or simple acquaintance he wanders
through their lives in expensive hotels on the Italian Riviera, hunting clubs and esoteric bars.
And when he’s not with the rich, he finds himself in the company of one dictator or another
around the world.
France:
Rivages
THE PARADISE EATER
Winner of the Premio Letterario Internazionale (Italy)
“Saul has a strong sense of moral ambiguity – His is a vision of decay, set in a city that he sees as a
crossroads of all values and betrayals – His descriptions of seamy Bangkok are shockingly convincing.” The
Sunday Times (UK), “The Paradise Eater remains consistently fascinating.” The New York Times
Though he was born in Canada, John Field has accepted Thailand as his home. And he’s
accepted everything about its corrupted reality as well: drug dealing, sexually transmitted
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diseases, abject poverty, and even murder. But when he’s faced with assassination himself, he
suddenly finds the will to fight back. The Paradise Eater is the final volume in John Ralston
Saul’s Field trilogy.
Australia:
Random House
Japan:
Tokumna Shoten
Canada:
Random House
Spain:
Planeta/Circulo de
Czech:
Vydavatelsky
Lectores
France:
Rivages/Folio
Thailand:
Thai Kled
Germany:
Droemer
US:
McGrawItaly:
Interno Giallo/Marco Tropea
Hill/Ballantine
THE NEXT BEST THING
“A wonderful novel about passion and obsession by a writer who understands them both.” The Globe and Mail
Museum curator James Spenser has a simple plan when he lands in Bangkok: head for the
Burmese city of Pagan; nip a couple of the thousands of ancient statues there and sell them
in Europe for a million dollars each. But between his accomplices and several Asian armies,
it’s going to be more difficult than he’s planned on. The Next Best Thing is part of John
Ralston Saul’s Field trilogy.
Australia:
Random House
Romania:
Aldo Press
Canada:
Vintage
Serbia:
Knizerne Novine
Czech:
Odeon
Slovenia:
Drzavna Zolozba
France:
Editions Payot/Folio
Spain:
Ediciones B
Germany:
Droemer/Knauer
UK:
Grafton
Italy:
Interno Giallo
US:
Doubleday
Japan:
Tokuma Shoten
BARAKA: Or the Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor of Anthony Smith
“John Ralston Saul questions the fate of morality at a time when large corporations can unleash the dogs of
war. His hero and others with him are the victims of a new world where one does not die for an idea, but for
a portfolio of shares.” Le Monde
Communist Vietnam makes the first move – a clandestine offer to unload a huge arsenal of
captured American weaponry at the best possible price. The chosen Broker is WesternOriental, the New York energy conglomerate. The prospective buyer is the kingdom of
Morocco, tied down by a costly guerrilla war in the unforgiving Sahara. The payoff will be
the invaluable rights to a bounty in Vietnamese oil. The company’s man on the deal is Martin
Laing, whose long, hard exposure to the world has left him with a very personal, very secret
agenda.
Australia:
Random House
Italy:
Interno Giallo
Canada:
Vintage/Ballantine
Spain:
Ediciones B
France:
Rivages/DeNoel
UK:
Granada
Holland:
Sijthoff
US:
Doubleday/Gold Eagle
THE BIRDS OF PREY
“Saul’s masterly narration rises to the level of art – Fiction that makes paranoia a delight.” The Chicago Tribune
On a May night in 1968, the plane carrying the French Chief of Staff General Ailleret
explodes over the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, killing all aboard except for one.
Four years later, writer Charles Stone is drawn irresistibly into the mystery that still
surrounds the General’s death.
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Australia:
Brazil:
Canada:
Czech:
France:
Germany:
Holland:
Random House
Imago
Vintage
Odeon
Rivages/Livre de Poche
Droemer/Moewig
Sijhoff
Hungary:
Italy:
Japan:
Spain:
Thailand:
UK:
US:
Europa
Interno
Giallo/Sperling
Shin Sho Kay
Brugera
Kled Thai
Granada/Grafton
Dell/McGraw Hill
*Note different international agents: France: Michelle Lapautre (directly); Germany: Anoukh
Foerg; Italy: Roberto Santachiara; Spain: Carmen Balcells.
Robert Sedlack
THE HORN OF A LAMB
Meet Fred Pickle. He has a severe brain injury. For the past seven years Fred has lived under
the loving guardianship of his uncle Jack on his sheep farm. Fred’s annual creation of a
perfect neighbourhood rink is a joyous quasi-religious ritual for him. And his local National
Hockey League team means more to him than it would to the average fan; it renews hope
and happiness. So when the team’s owner announces he is moving the team, Fred’s world
begins to fall apart. Torn between the law-abiding influence of Uncle Jack and the radical
urgings of Badger, an 81-year-old anarchist, Fred must decide whether a plot of vengeance
against the owner is a path to independence or oblivion.
Film:
Accent Entertainment
World:
Doubleday Canada (Germany: Hoffman und Campe)
THE AFRICAN SAFARI PAPERS
“A politically incorrect, gutsy book filled with taboo sex, drugs and gratuitous violence…A startling debut.”
The Globe and Mail
The African Safari Papers is an intense and outrageous portrait of a family so troubled that
their family trip is, in a word, torture. Richard Clark, the narrator of this sharp and madcap
novel, is nineteen years old, a drug-addicted, foul-mouthed, sex-crazed young man who is off
to Africa on a safari with his parents. Obviously, this is a mistake of magnitude. As Richard
smoulders with resentment, his voice by turns self-loathing and self-righteous, he documents
his trip in a series of journal entries that are funny, sad, and piercingly insightful. Juxtaposed
with the hostile environment, the already tense situation becomes explosive: Mom is going
insane, Dad drinks compulsively as he ticks off wildlife sightings on his checklist, and
Richard is busy getting high on the drugs he has smuggled in his mother’s suitcase. Anything
can happen, and it does, in this The Catcher in the Rye for the twenty-first century.
Film:
Accent Entertainment
Holland:
De Geus
Germany:
Hoffman und Campe
US:
Overlook Press
Agent: John Pearce
Shyam Selvadurai (see also Children’s/Young Adult) **See Shyam Selvadurai’s
website: www.shyamselvadurai.com
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MANY ROADS THROUGH PARADISE: An Anthology of Sri Lankan
Literature
“It’s difficult to believe that an entire nation can be contained within one book. Many Roads to Paradise is
an encapsulation of the essence of Sri Lanka that includes its history, social fabric, heart-wrenching tragedies,
slow-healing wounds and rising hopes. This book absolutely teems with life.” — Financial Chronicle, New
Delhi
Shyam Selvadurai pieces together the best of Sri Lankan poetry and fiction in this anthology.
From the Sinhala and Tamil writers of the 1950s to diasporic writers of today, from stories
of love and longing to those of brutality and death, this masterfully constructed anthology
will give you a rich sense Sri Lanka’s history, its people and the stories they have to tell.
From Martin Wickramasinghe’s Gamperaliya (1944), the first modern Sinhala novel, to the
poetry of Puthuvai Ratnathurai, the official bard of the LTTE, who was among the
thousands who disappeared after the end of the civil war in 2009, this anthology on Sri
Lankan literature draws a long arc.
India:
Penguin
THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
“A sprawling yet intimate story of identity and loss, The Hungry Ghosts is full of the love
and terror of families, and of the difficulties of finding one’s place in the world – a ravishing
portrait not just of one man but an entire country’s search for a resting place.” Tash Aw,
award-winning author of The Harmony Silk Factory
Set against the dramatic background of Sri Lankan civil unrest, The Hungry Ghosts is a novel
of memory that takes place over a single night as Shivan, a gay man in his mid-thirties,
prepares to return to his dying grandmother in Sri Lanka.
Canada:
Doubleday
India:
Penguin
UK:
Telegram / Saqi
CINNAMON GARDENS
Shortlisted for the 1999 Trillium Award
“Family saga at its best.” The Independent, “Richly rewarding…a novel that deserves, and will surely gain,
a wide readership.” Sunday Times
A story of love and integrity set in the gracious, repressive world of 1920s Ceylon among the
upper classes. Annalukshmi, an independent and high-spirited young teacher, refuses to
marry. Her uncle, the son of a wealthy landowner, is faced with his own crisis when his
secret – a former lover from his university days – threatens to throw his life into chaos.
Canada:
Denmark:
Centrum
France:
Laffont/10-18
Germany:
Kiepenheuer
India:
Penguin
Israel:
Kinneret
Italy:
Il Saggiatore (expired)
Portugal:
Bizancio
Serbia:
Laguna
Spain:
Emece
Turkey:
Citlembik
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UK:
US:
Anchor/Transworld
Hyperion/Harcourt
FUNNY BOY
Winner, Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay
Men’s Fiction, Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, National Bestseller
“A lucid, serious piece of writing… a graceful and intelligent account of the random nature of growing up.”
The Observer, “A powerful and beautifully written novel …” Literary Review (UK), “Lyrical, moving, and
deeply perceptive. This isn’t the first coming-of-age story ever written, but I doubt there’s been one quite like
it.” Halifax Chronicle-Herald
In this remarkable novel, a boy’s bittersweet passage to maturity and sexual awakening is set
against escalating political tensions in Sri Lanka, during the seven years leading up to the
1983 riots. Arjie Chelvaratnam is a Tamil boy growing up in an extended family in Colombo.
It is through his eyes that the story unfolds and we meet a delightful, sometimes eccentric
cast of characters. Arjie’s journey from the luminous simplicity of childhood days into the
more intricately shaded world of adults – with its secrets, its injustices, and its capacity for
violence – is a memorable one, as time and time again the true longings of the human heart
are held against the way things are.
Canada:
Denmark:
Samleren
Film:
Robert Dawson Productions
Film:
CBC
France:
Laffont/10-18
Germany:
Bollmann
Holland:
Wereldbibliotheek
India:
Penguin
Israel:
Kinneret
Italy:
Il Saggiatore
Sri Lanka:
Sarasavi Books
Sweden:
Natur och Kultur
Thailand:
Sanskrit Book
Turkey:
Citlembik
UK:
Jonathan Cape/Random House
US:
HarperCollins
Anne Simpson **See Anne Simpson’s website: www.annesimpson.ca
FALLING
“[Falling] deserves the highest praise: Simpson has brought together character, plot, language and metaphor
with both subtlety and intensity.” National Post
Falling tells the story of an ordinary family struggling to recover from a calamity. Damian, a
young man consumed by guilt over the accidental drowning of his sister, travels with his
mother to Niagara Falls, where they intend to scatter the girl’s ashes. When Damian
disappears, those he leaves behind suspect he may have braved the Falls in an act of
desperate recklessness.
Canada:
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Avi Silberstein **See Avi Silberstein's website: www.avisilberstein.com
HUMAN SOLUTIONS
Based on the true story of Paul Schaefer, an ex-Nazi who founded the Colonia Dignidad
colony in Pinochet’s Chile, the novel follows Javier Gonzalez, who runs Human Solutions,
an underground business that engineers social situations. When Javier falls for a woman, he
takes on a case that leaves him stranded inside the heavily guarded gates of a utopian cult,
and at the mercy of its founder – a charismatic, manipulative German who was forced to
leave his homeland for mysterious reasons. Without his Human Solutions team there to help
him, Javier must devise a plan on his own, and execute it without a single misstep – there
will be no second chances.
World English:
Skyhorse
Agents: Chris Casuccio and John Peace
Jaspreet Singh **See Jaspreet Singh's website: www.jaspreetsinghauthor.com
HELIUM
“A powerful meditation on historical forgetting.” Financial Times (UK)
Fusing documentary and fictional impulses, Helium deals with one of the most shocking
moments in the history of the Indian nation: the massacre of Sikh citizens organized, incited
and enabled by the government. An affecting and important story of memory, collective
silences and personal trauma.
World:
Bloomsbury UK (Audio: Audible / Bloomsbury)
CHEF
Winner of the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and the 2009 Canadian Association of
Authors Association Literary Award for Fiction, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize for
Best Book (Canada and the Caribbean region), the Quebec Writers Federation Hugh
MacLennan Prize for Fiction, and The City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, longlisted
for the ReLit Award for Fiction and the 2011 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
“Recommended alongside other recent powerhouse titles from younger Indian-born writers, such as Manil
Suri’s The Death of Vishnu or Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss.” Library Journal
“A kaleidoscopic journey through one of the most beautiful, besieged areas in the world. Jaspreet Singh brings
out the full poetry and heartbreak of Kashmir.” Manil Suri, author of The Death of Vishnu and The age of
Shiva
Chef Kirpal Singh is travelling on the slow train to Kashmir after fourteen years away. As
India passes by his window he reflects on his destination, which is also his past: a military
camp nestled in the shadow of the mighty Siachen Glacier. In this contradictory place of
erratic violence and extremes of temperature, Kirpal was once guided towards the heady
spheres of women and slow-cooked delicacies by his fiery, caustic mentor, Chef Kishen.
Until one oppressively close day when a Pakistani “terrorist” with long, flowing hair washed
up on the banks of the river and changed everything.
Canada:
Véhicule Press
India:
Penguin
Italy:
Piemme (expired)
France:
Buchet-Chastel
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UK & US:
Bloomsbury
SEVENTEEN TOMATOES: Tales from Kashmir
Winner of the 2004 McAuslan Best First Book Prize
“With just the right mix of suspense and lyricism, and an exacting eye for the mot juste, Jaspreet Singh
weaves a tapestry out of the fabulous and the real.” Taras Grescoe
Canada:
Vehicule Press
Mexico:
PARAMO ediciones
India:
Roli Books
Punjabi:
Hemkunt Press
Josef Skvorecky (see also Non-Fiction)
Winner of the Czech Republic State Prize for Life’s Work
Winner of the Toronto Arts Award (Literature)
AN INEXPLICABLE STORY
“Thanks to Skvorecky’s imagination, confounding things are fertile fodder for this gripping literary puzzle.”
The Globe and Mail
From award-winning author Josef Skvorecky comes a fantasy; a literary joke. A manuscript
chronicling the life of the son of a roman senator is discovered in an excavation in 1989. It
bears the inscription of Narratio Questi (The Inexplicable Story). Examinations confirm that it
was written in the first half of the first century. It is badly damaged and only pieces have
survived – some just a few words, the longest not more than 1000 words. The American
publisher who wants to publish it in a popular edition entrusts the editing of the scholarly
translation to a popular crime author. After publication, letters begin to arrive from around
the world claiming to recognize parts of the manuscript or have missing pieces. As a result,
many editions are printed.
Canada:
Key Porter
Russia:
AST
Czech:
Ivo Zelezny
WHEN EVE WAS NAKED
Shortlisted for the Upper Canada Writer’s Craft Award
“A delight only Skvorecky could write.” New York Times Book Review
Skvorecky’s autobiography told in stories. Collected here in a chronological sweep that takes
the reader through the stages of a remarkable life, these stories bear witness to some of the
twentieth century’s most eventful and tragic times – from the innocence of prewar Prague
through the horrors of the Nazi occupation and the Second World War. Many are narrated
by the tenderhearted cynic Danny Smiricky (Skvorecky’s fictional alter ego), familiar to
admirers of Skvorecky’s brilliant, internationally acclaimed novels.
Canada:
Key Porter
US:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Czech:
Ivo Zelezny
TWO MURDERS IN MY DOUBLE LIFE
“Skvorecky is a splendid storyteller…a delightful detective story and also a searing indictment of
totalitarianism.” The National Post
Poignant, humorous and tragic, Two Murders in my Double Life examines the double life of a
couple, exiled long ago from their native Czechoslovakia and comfortably settled into a
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pleasant, pampered life in North America. When murder suddenly intrudes upon both of
these worlds, one becomes a cleverly mocking parody, but in the other, an evil web of lies,
works insidiously to entangle its victim. A stylish tour de force, in which the bright, sarcastic
comedy of one tale sharply contrasts with the dark, elegiac bitterness of the other.
Brazil:
Record
Canada:
Key Porter
Poland:
Fundacja Pogranicze
Czech:
Ivo Zelezny
Russia:
Inostrannaya (1st Serial)
France:
Editions du Rocher
US:
Farrar, Straus Giroux
Israel:
Kinneret
The Danny Smiricky novels:
ORDINARY LIVES
The acclaimed author of the Governor General`s Award-winningThe Engineer of Human Souls
returns with his first new novel in nearly a decade. Ordinary Lives takes as its subject two class
reunions--the first in 1963, twenty years after the class graduated, and the second, thirty years
on, in 1993. As the puzzle pieces of Danny`s history, and the history of his classmates, fall
into place, so too does a subtle history of the major ideologies of the 20th century--from
Nazism to Communism to capitalism.
Brazil:
Distribuidora Record
China:
Thinkingdom Media (simplified)
Croatia:
Leo-Commerce
Czech Republic:
Ivo Zelezny
Hungary:
Cartaphilus Kiado
Italy:
Fandango (expired)
Egypt:
Sphinx Agency
North America:
Key Porter
World Spanish:
Duomo Ediociones
* THE ENGINEER OF HUMAN SOULS
”It is magnificent! It marks an exceptional moment in history. . . It is a magnum opus.” Milan Kundera
The Engineer of Human Souls is a labyrinthine comic novel that investigates the journey
and plight of novelist Danny Smiricky, a Czech immigrant to Canada. As the novel begins,
he is a professor of American literature at a college in Toronto. Out of touch with his young
students, and hounded by the Czech secret police, Danny is let loose to roam between past
and present, adopting whatever identity that he chooses or has been imposed upon him by
History.
Brazil:
Record
Canada:
Key Porter
Croatia:
August Cesarec
Czech:
Sixty-Eight Publishers
Finland:
Otava
France:
Stock
Germany:
Deuticke
Holland:
Bert Bakker
Hungary:
Kalligram
Israel:
HaKibbutz Hameuchad
Italy:
Fandango (expired)
94
Latvia:
Poland:
Poland:
Portugal:
Radio:
Slovenia:
Spain:
Sweden:
UK:
US:
Mansards
Fundacja Pogranicze (expired)
Instytut Reportazu
Dom Quixote
BBC
Didakta
Circe
Brombergs
Vintage
Dalkey Archive Press
THE TENOR SAXOPHONIST’S STORY
Acclaimed novelist Skvorecky combines his love of writing and of jazz in this story of an
unnamed saxophonist whose overwhelming concern is to stay out of trouble.
Brazil:
Imago
Hungary:
Europa Konyvkiado
Canada:
Knopf
UK:
Faber
Czech:
Ivo Zelezny
US:
Ecco
* THE MIRACLE GAME
Canada:
Croatia:
Czech:
France:
Germany:
Hungary:
Italy:
Poland:
UK:
US:
Key Porter
Graficky zavod Hrvatske
Mata
Gallimard
Deuticke
Magyar Konyvklub
Fandango (expired)
Pogranicze
Faber
Knopf
THE REPUBLIC OF WHORES (aka THE TANK BATTALION)
The first funny novel about real life under communism.
Brazil:
Record
Bulgaria:
Stigmati Publishing
Czech:
Maivald
Canada:
Knopf
Croatia:
Sareni Ducan
Denmark:
Samleren
Film:
Bonton Films, Prague
France:
Gallimard
Hungary:
Europa Konyvkiado
Italy:
Garzanti
Poland:
Fundacja Pogranicze
Poland :
Stowarzyszenie Autorow ZAIKS (dramatic radio)
Slovenia:
Didakta
95
UK:
US:
Faber
Ecco
* THE SWELL SEASON
Canada:
Key Porter
Canada French: Calliope du Roseau
China:
New Sprouts (Complex)
China:
Chongqing (Simplified)
Czech:
Odeon
France:
Gallimard
Germany:
Deuticke
Korea:
Zmabz/Communication Books Inc.
Latvia:
Mansards
Norway:
Tiden Norsk
Poland:
Twoj Styl
Spain:
Circe
UK:
Vintage
US:
Ecco
Yugoslavia:
Mladost
THE COWARDS (Zbabelci)
Bulgaria:
Canada:
Czech:
Denmark:
Film:
Germany:
Holland:
Hungary:
Italy:
Poland:
Poland:
Spain:
Sweden:
UK:
US:
Yugoslavia:
Sofia University Press
Knopf
Euromedia
Hasselbach
Czech TV
Deutike
Ambo
Cartaphilus Kiado
Rizzoli
Slask (expired)
Czuly Barbarzynca
Alianza Tres
Brombergs
Penguin
Ecco
Prosveta
Historical Novels:
THE BRIDE OF TEXAS
“An extraordinary novel.” New York Times Book Review, “Audacious, romantic… stunning.” Publishers Weekly
A multi-layered novel set during the American Civil War.
Canada:
Knopf
UK:
Faber
Czech:
US:
Knopf
Serbia:
Narodna Knjiga
96
* DVORAK IN LOVE
Canada:
Croatia:
Czech:
Holland:
Poland:
Key Porter
Matica harvatska
Sixty-Eight
Ambo
Czeskie Klimaty
Sweden:
UK:
US:
Yugoslavia:
Brombergs
Chatto
Knopf/Norton
Zalozba Obzorja
Italy:
Poland:
Spain:
Sweden:
UK:
US:
Yugoslavia:
Garzanti
Wydawniczy
Circe
Norstedt
Vintage
Ecco
Zalozba Obzorja
General Novels:
MISS SILVER’S PAST (Lvice)
Canada:
Czech:
France:
Germany:
Holland:
Hungary:
Israel:
Knopf
Ivo Zelezny
Gallimard
Rowohlt
Bert Bakker
Europa Konyvkiado
Am Oved
* THE BASS SAXOPHONE and THE LEGEND OF EMOKE
The Bass Saxophone includes two of Skvorecky’s most evocative novellas based on jazz music.
The first, “The Bass Saxophone,” describes a boy who uses jazz music as his solace and
security while living under Nazi rule. “Emoke” takes readers to the shadowy world of life
during a Communist régime, where a man decides to save a woman from a cult by
seducing her with music ... among other things.
Brazil:
Record
Canada:
Key Porter
Czech:
Ivo Zelezny
Denmark:
Esette/Norstedts
France:
Gallimard
Germany:
Deuticke
Holland:
Bert Bakker
Italy:
Adelphi
Israel:
HaKibbutz Hameuchad
* Japan:
Shoraisha (anthology of various pieces)
Norway:
Cappelen
Poland :
Stowarzyszenie Autorow ZAIKS (dramatic radio)
Poland:
Fundacja Pogranicze
Serbia:
T.D. Plato Books
Spain:
Proa
Sweden:
Bromberg
UK:
Vintage
US:
Ecco
Yugoslavia:
Prosveta
* THE LEGEND OF EMOKE
97
Czech:
Czech TV:
Ivo Zelezny
Czech TV
Germany:
Hungary:
Hanser
Tatran
Crime Fiction:
* THE MOURNFUL DEMEANOUR OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA
(Stories)
Canada:
Key Porter
Czech:
Mlada fronta
Denmark:
Klim
Finland:
WSOY
France:
Editions de L’Aube
Hungary:
Europa Konyvkiado
Romania:
Pentru Literatura
Slovenia:
Didakta
Sweden:
Brombergs
UK:
Faber
US:
Norton
* SINS FOR FATHER KNOX
Canada:
Czech:
France:
Japan:
Key Porter
Editions de L’Aube
Hayakawa
UK:
Faber
US:
Norton
* THE END OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA
Canada:
Key Porter
Czech:
Denmark:
Klim
Film:
Barraclough Carey Prod.
Poland:
Radio:
Romania:
UK:
US:
Przedswit
BBC
Editura Militara
Faber
Norton
* THE RETURN OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA
Canada:
Key Porter
Czech:
Poland:
Przedswit
UK:
US:
Yugoslavia:
Faber
Norton
Mladinska
*Note different sub-agent in Spain, Latin America and Brazil: Ute Korner.
Carrie Snyder **See Carrie Snyder’s website: www.carriesnyder.com
GIRL RUNNER
Shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize
“What defines the novel is the depth and breadth of Aggie herself; she’s a rare heroine whose rich internal life
is matched only by the abundance of her external living.” – National Post
98
Girl Runner is the story of Aganetha Smart, a former Olympic athlete who was famous in the
1920s, but now, at age 104, lives in a nursing home, alone and forgotten by history. For
Aganetha, a competitive and ambitious woman, her life remains present and unfinished in
her mind. When her quiet life is disturbed by the unexpected arrival of two young strangers,
Aganetha begins to reflect on her rural childhood and her struggles to make an independent
life for herself in the city.
US:
HarperCollins
World (excl. US):
House of Anansi Press (Catalan: Edicions 62; French world:
Gallimard; Germany: btb-Verlag; Hungary: Libri; Italy: Sonzogno &
Marsilio Editori; Netherlands: Ambo Anthos; Poland: W.A.B.
(Foksal); Spain: Alfaguara; Sweden: Bonniers; Turkey: Alef Kitap: UK
& Australia: Two Roads)
THE JULIET STORIES
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award
“Carrie Snyder creates a vivid, chaotic world that challenges our notions of childhood, identity and otherness.
It’s still early in 2012, but The Juliet Stories looks to be one of the best books of the year.” CBC Books
Juliet Friesen is ten years old in 1984, when her parents move the family to Nicaragua.
Threat is pervasive, danger is real, but the extremity of the situation also makes accessible the
extremes of shared emotion – euphoria, ecstasy, and the external pressures of living in a
country at war protects Juliet’s family from its own cracks and conflicts. The adventure ends
abruptly when Juliet’s younger brother is stricken by cancer and the family is forced to leave
Nicaragua and their lives beyond Nicaragua become the war-zone. They drift from each
other and Juliet grows to adulthood, pulled between her desire to live a life like she
remembers – outside the boundaries, in a collective experience – and her desire to build for
her own children a more settled life.
World:
House of Anansi Press (UK & Australia: Two Roads)
HAIR HAT
In these mysterious and wondrous stories, eleven disparate people—some of them related,
some of them neighbours, glancing acquaintances, or even complete strangers—are
transformed by a man with hair shaped like a hat.
World (excl. US):
House of Anansi
Ben Stephenson
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH OR SOMETHING
“Ben Stephenson takes us down the rabbit hole into the refracted and hilarious world of a child on a very
serious quest. A Matter of Life and Death or Something will leave you less grown up – and all the wiser for
it. Curiouser and curiouser. A marvel of a book.” Jessica Grant, author of Come, Thou Tortoise
Even though he is only ten years old, there are a lot of things that Arthur Williams knows
for sure. For example, that his real dad is off doing something exciting – either discovering
the last surviving trilobite, flying a hot-air balloon, or paving a city with moss – unlike
Arthur’s dull guardian, Simon, who does nothing interesting at all. But when he finds a
weatherworn notebook in the woods behind his house, all Arthur has are questions. Arthur
embarks on a top-secret quest to find out who Phil is, or was. But getting straight answers
99
from grown-ups is impossible – and before long, the only thing he knows for sure is that
everything he thought he knew about the universe is probably wrong.
Canada:
Douglas & McIntyre
Romania:
Editura Rao
Spain:
Espasa / Planeta
Agent: John Pearce
Meredith Stephure
CIVIL BLOOD
An epic historical novel set in Britain in the tumultuous year 1688, when Dutch warships
sailed into English waters to “rescue the nation” from the catholic King James II. While
lesser men are switching allegiance and running like rats from a sinking ship, Thomas de
Chastelain stays true to his oath –thereby imperilling himself, his wife Libby and his children
Piers and James. Defeated in battle, he has to flee to Scotland where his fateful decision
continues to trigger a series of dramatic events. A brilliant portrait of a land in the grip of
civil war.
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Agent: John Pearce
Victor Suthren (see also Non-Fiction)
THE MAINWARING NOVELS
A series of novels about the sea set in the 18th century.
CAPTAIN MONSOON
US:
St. Martins Press
World English (excl. US): Hodder
World English: Thundercloud (ebook)
ADMIRAL OF FEAR
US:
St. Martins Press
World English (excl. US): Hodder
THE GOLDEN GALLEON
Japan:
Shiseido
US:
St. Martins Press
UK:
Hodder
ROYAL YANKEE
Japan:
Shiseido
US:
St. Martins Press
UK:
Hodder
IN PERILOUS SEAS
100
World:
A KING’S RANDOM
World:
HarperCollins Canada (UK: Heinemann)
THE BLACK COCKADE
World:
Meadow Taylor
THE BILLIONAIRE’S SECRETS & FALLING FOR RAIN
A fast-paced contemporary romance set in the starkly beautiful landscape of Newfoundland
that reimagines Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre while delivering a few twists of its own.
World English:
HarperCollins Canada (digital release)
Agent: John Pearce
David Thompson
THE MIRRORMAKER
Canada:
Germany:
HarperCollins
Econ
BROKEN ENGLISH
World:
Fitzhenry & Whiteside (US: Holt)
Thomas Trofimuk ** See Thomas Trofimuk’s website: www.thomastrofimuk.com
WAITING FOR COLUMBUS
A Richard and Judy Book Club selection and included on their 100 Books of the Decade,
winner of the City of Edmonton Book Prize, finalist for the Georges Bugnet Award for best
Alberta novel of the year, #1 Edmonton Journal Bestseller, an Amazon.ca Best Book of 2009,
longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
“Captivating…Throws you for a loop, pulls you back, twists you around and opens your eyes to the world
not just as it was, but as we find it.” The Globe and Mail
Plucked from the Strait of Gibraltar by the Spanish Coastguard, the man who believes he is
Christopher Columbus begins to unravel the “true” story of how he got his ships. Nurse
Consuela, a lonely woman who is developing inappropriate feelings for her patient, listens to
the story, trying to find out why this man has been locked up for nine months inside the
Seville Institute for the Mentally Ill.
Brazil:
Ediouro Publicacoes
Canada:
China complex: Business Weekly
101
Film:
Angel Entertainment
North America French: Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature
Poland:
Wydawnictwo Prozami
Serbia:
Mono i Manjana
UK:
Picador / Macmillan
US:
Doubleday
DOUBTING YOURSELF TO THE BONE
#1 Bestseller (Edmonton Journal), one of The Globe and Mail’s Best Books of the Year
A dark, quirky narrative about the nature of grief, what it means to be a parent in the face of
great sorrow, and the ideas of re-invented love and hope, featuring a gruff father slowly
withdrawing into Alzheimer’s, an alluring French woman named Claire, an imagined waif
named Katya, a lesbian nudist, and five Tibetan Buddhist monks, stranded by car trouble,
who love to play baseball . . .
Canada:
Cormorant Books
THE 52 POEM
ND
Winner of the Georges Bugnet Novel of the Year Award, the City of Edmonton Book Prize,
and the Manuela Dias Book Design of the Year Award
After an illicit love affair, a man decides to send a poem a week to his former lover, even as
he begins a new relationship. Using second person narrative, Thomas Trofimuk combines
lyrical descriptions, open, emotional prose, and memorable characters. The 52nd Poem is a
loving and sometimes brutal look at the pain of letting go.
World:
Great Plains Publications
Michael Turner
8x10
Shortlisted for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
“An act of literary bravery in an age of erased attention spans…”
Toronto Star
“8x10 is an unsettling and daring work, a tangible symbol of our anxious world and the stark emotional
devastation of war.” The Globe and Mail
The world is at war. People are moving about. Where this war is, and who these people are,
is uncertain. There are no proper names; no place names either. Nor is there an epochal
sense of time. What is known comes to us in strands: a tailor and his wayward son; an elderly
woman and the soldier who impregnated her; a tutor and her precocious student; a troubled
yet enterprising teen. At the beginning of each chapter: an eight-by-ten gridded box, with a
single box blacked-out. This is the geometry of the late-modern world, a world where love
and fear, madness and betrayal, greed and despair provide grout – often to horrific ends.
Canada:
Doubleday
THE PORNOGRAPHER’S POEM
Winner of The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize (B.C. Book Prize), #5 National Bestseller, A Globe
and Mail Top Fiction of 1999
“Very few novels manage to be funny, moving and true: Turner is capable of hitting some very difficult notes.”
The National Post
102
An erotically charged, slyly humorous and emotionally honest confessional diary of a young
man who gets caught up on the world of pornography. Set in the seventies in a Vancouver
suburb, it follows a boy who is disturbed by the adult relationships and middle-class
hypocrisy around him and wants to make a difference. Together with his best friend Nettie,
he explores ways of commenting on social injustices through film; but doesn’t have the
strength to maintain detachment from the commercial side of his art.
Canada:
Doubleday
Film:
Foundation Features Inc.
France:
Au Diable Vauvert
Germany:
Liebeskind
Korea:
Cheak Se Sang
Russia:
AST
UK:
Sceptre/Hodder
US:
Soft Skull Press
AMERICAN WHISKEY BAR
Best Books of 1997, Quill & Quire
“A dazzling, dizzying multi-layered blend of fact and fiction... Screamingly funny.” The Globe and Mail.
A faux-memoir about the making of a film and the darker side of Hollywood, in the form of
a series of barroom conversations about film, sex, pornography and racism.
Canada:
Arsenal Pulp Press
France:
Au Diable Vauvert
Film:
ShadowShows/CityTV
Russia:
AST
HARD CORE LOGO
Based around the reunion tour of a fictional punk band of the same name, this road novel in the
form of verse, lyrics and black-and-white photographs was made into an award- winning film.
Canada:
Arsenal Pulp Press
Russia:
AST
Film:
ShadowShows; US
distrib.Miramax/
Quentin Tarantino
*Note different sub-agent in Korea: Imprima Korea Agency.
Sylvia Tyson
JOYNER’S DREAM
“A masterful storyteller… a captivating family history. Brilliantly employing a vast range of voices, Joyner’s
Dream is a hugely satisfying, lyrical read.” Chatelaine
Joyner’s Dream is the sweeping story of a family and its dubious legacy: an abiding love of
music coupled with a persistent knack for thieving. Beginning in England in the 1780s,
continuing in Halifax at the time of the Great Explosion, and ending in Toronto in the
present, eight larcenous generations from all walks of life – craftsmen and highwaymen,
aristocrats and servants, lawyers and B-movie actors – are connected by music, a secret
family journal, and one long-lived violin. When the branches of the family are reunited and
lingering secrets are revealed, we have come full circle in a hugely satisfying and surprising
tale.
103
World:
Agent: John Pearce
Peter Unwin
LIFE WITHOUT DEATH: And Other Stories
Finalist for the 2014 Trillium Book Award
In this short story collection, ordinary men and women search for meaning in lives subject
to change, chance, coincidence, and catastrophe.
Canada:
Cormorant
NINE BELLS FOR A MAN
When his brother-in-law dies a mysterious death on the prairie, Robert Pachal agrees to
accompany the corpse east for burial. Travelling by train to the timberfields and rocky shield
of east Ontario, he crosses his country for the first time and witnesses a way of life that will
never be seen again: for this is 1912, and the country is changing. With coffin in tow, he
arrives in Barry’s Bay and unwittingly sets in motion a tragedy.
Canada:
Simon & Pierre /Dundurn
Priscila Uppal **See Priscila Uppal’s website: www.priscilauppal.ca
COVER BEFORE STRIKING
“In 13 strong and distinctive pieces, Uppal appears to regard the short story as a superbly elastic form and an
inviting opportunity to explore familiar human circumstances from fresh angles.” Publishers Weekly, Starred
Review
The characters in this short story collection are all people pushing their lives to new levels of
intensity, danger, or passion as they test their limits and those of the world.
World:
Dundurn
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
“A joy to read … full of rich narrative power and masterly plotting.” Winnipeg Free Press
Hardev Dange is suffering through a tumultuous year. He’s been informed that the bank is
going to foreclose on his house. His fickle daughter Birendra is on the verge of marriage, his
son Emile is studying curses, and his younger daughter Dorothy, who’s deaf, is working at a
tattoo parlour and collecting stories from the older men languishing at her local hangout.
And because he’s confined to a wheelchair, Hardev is dependent on his homecare worker,
the kleptomaniac Rodriguez, to help him devise a plan to keep house and home together. In
this modern re-telling of King Lear, Uppal explores the vulnerability and complexity of family
and inheritance. To Whom It May Concern is a portrait of a father, desperate to protect his
modest kingdom, and his children, some desperate to stay in the family and others who will
stop at nothing to get out.
Canada:
Doubleday
India:
Penguin
THE DIVINE ECONOMY OF SALVATION
As a teenager with an ill mother, Angela H. was sent off to a Catholic boarding school.
There she found comfort and rebellion with a group of girls who called themselves The
104
Sisterhood, and inadvertently struck out violently at another girl, Bella. Twenty-five years
later, after living in a convent for two decades, Angela confronts her guilt and the beliefs of
her own faith, questioning whether the sins of the past can be redeemed by the possibilities
of the future.
Canada:
Doubleday
Holland:
Ambo/Anthos
Greece:
Modern Times
US:
Algonquin Books
Lucinda Vardey (see also Non-Fiction)** See Lucinda Vardey’s website:
www.dallaluce.com
BLESSED
Margaret Lewis, an editor in an American publishing company, is reaching her forties.
Recovering from breast cancer, she feels lonely and devoid of hope until a sequence of
events leads her to Italy. There she encounters a medieval holy woman, whose example aids
her own healing. Blessed is a novel of conversion in which ancient spirituality resonates anew
in modern everyday life. Ranging from the streets of New York to the Umbrian hills, the
novel portrays the hand of God in transforming suffering into joyful possibility.
Canada:
The Catherine Collective
M.G. Vassanji
THE ASSASSIN’S SONG
Shortlisted for the 2007 Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, Nominated
for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Award
In a tiny village in western India, Karsan Dargawalla grows up as the next in line, after his
father, to the lordship of Pirbaag, a shrine to a thirteenth-century sufi (Muslim mystic) called
Nur Fazal. Towards the end of his teenage years, Karsan applies to go to study in the United
States. There are a series of correspondences with his overbearing father who continually
draws his attention to his obligation. A crisis occurs, and Karsan abdicates his succession to
the lordship of the shrine and ceases all correspondence with his father. After tragedy strikes
decades later, both in Canada and in Pirbaag, Karsan is drawn back across thirty years of
separation and silence to discover what, if anything, is left for him in India.
Canada:
Doubleday
India:
Penguin (English & Hindi)
Italy:
Frassinelli (expired)
Japan:
Iwanami Shoten
US:
Knopf
World (excl. Canada, India, Italy, US): Canongate (Brazil: Editra Record; China: Nanjing
University Press [Simplified]; Greece: Papyros Publishing Group; Turkey:
Dogan Egmont)
WHEN SHE WAS QUEEN
Shortlisted for the 2006 Toronto Book Award
105
“Vassanji captures a wide and authentic perspective that ranks with V.S. Naipaul and Graham Greene.”
The Times (London), “Belonging in a category with Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Vassanji’s saga is sweeping
in scope…Complex, compelling, revelatory, and unforgettable.” The Globe and Mail on The In-Between
World of Vikram Lall
From M.G. Vassanji, two-time winner of the Giller Prize, comes When She Was Queen, an
extraordinary collection of ten stories that take us from one world to another in a moment,
from the riot of colours and sounds of Kenya and Tanzania to the slushy streets of Ontario,
where boys play road hockey after mosque. In the title story a young man questions his
mother about a family secret that has circulated among his older siblings as a scandalous,
prurient rumour – that their father, Rashid, lost their mother in a poker game when the
family lived in Kisumu, in Kenya. According to this rumour, the mother, Shirin, spent a
night in the bed of a local magnate. It is in the course of denying the implications of this
rumour years later in Toronto that Shirin betrays an even darker secret – that the beloved
Rashid, hotelier, wonderful cook, and dispenser of candy, is not his father after all. Other
stories in this collection bear the same stamp of nostalgia of lives marked by change. Richly
detailed and full of vivid characters, these stories are worlds unto themselves. Vassanji
weaves haunting tales of extraordinary lives transplanted, of the traumas small and large of
migration, of the bitterness of memory and the ravages of hope.
Canada:
Doubleday
India:
Penguin
THE IN-BETWEEN WORLD OF VIKRAM LALL
Winner of The Giller Prize
“Vassanji...explores a conflict of epic proportions...writing with a deftness and evenhandedness that
distinguish him as a diligent student of political and historical complexities and a riveting storyteller.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Vic and Deepa, an Indian brother and sister, befriend two English children, Bill and Annie,
and an African boy, Njoroge. It is 1953, time of the dreaded Mau Mau, a terrorist movement
in the eyes of the British government, and a freedom movement to the Africans. When the
English children are killed by the Mau Mau and Njoroge’s grandfather dies in police custody,
a traumatized Vic and Deepa move with their family to Nairobi. Ten years later the friends
reunite and Deepa and Njoroge begin a passionate and tragic love affair. Vic is now a
wealthy broker to corrupt politicians and Deepa and Njoroge, both married, carry on a
furtive, fearful relationship. When Njoroge, deeply dissatisfied with post-independence
Kenya, sides with a dissenting politician, he is killed and Deepa feels that she has unwittingly
played a role in his death. She leaves for the US to live with her grown children and her guilt.
As narrator, Vic recounts his story from a small town on the shores of Lake Ontario where
he has gone to flee from accountability and possible assassination. He ultimately concludes
that he must return home to answer his accusers and make peace with his world. A tale of
innocence and experience set in a critical period of transition in modern Kenya.
Bulgaria:
Hermes
Canada:
Doubleday
Catalan:
RBA
France:
Rivages
Holland:
De Bezige Bij
Italy:
Frassinelli
Japan:
Shoten
Latvia:
AGB
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Portugal:
Serbia:
Spain:
UK:
US:
Quid Novi
Alfa
Salamandra
Canongate (Australia: Text; India: Penguin)
Knopf
AMRIIKA
“Vassanji ranks with V.S. Naipaul and Graham Greene.” The Times (London)
A remarkable novel of personal and political awakening that spans three highly charged
decades in the history of America, and explores the eternal quest for home. In 1968, a
student from Dar es Salaam, East Africa, arrives in an America far different from the one he
dreamed about, one caught up in anti-war demonstrations, revolutionary lifestyles, and
spiritual quests. Much later, having grown apart from his community of foreign students, his
marriage faltering and living a suburban life in a changed America, he meets a young woman
from Zanzibar, and begins to feel that a different, more authentic life is possible – until a
mysterious visitor from his past arrives in their midst.
World:
McClelland & Stewart (India: HarperCollins; Italy: Rizzoli)
THE BOOK OF SECRETS
Winner of the Giller Prize for Fiction
“A book of stunning quality, and simply beautiful storytelling… an impressive work of art.” Evening
Telegraph
A spellbinding novel of generations, which begins in 1988 in Dar es Salaam when the 1913
diary of a British colonial administrator is found in a shopkeeper’s backroom. The diary
inflames the curiosity of retired schoolteacher Pius Fernandes, and his exploration of the
stories it contains gradually connects the past with the present.
Canada:
Sweden:
Norstedts
UK:
Canongate
US:
Picador
UHURU STREET
A collection of linked stories set in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Uhuru
Street is a unique revelation of Asian life in pre-colonial and post-colonial East Africa.
Canada English & French: McClelland & Stewart
UK:
Heinemann
NO NEW LAND
Nurdin Lalani and his family, Asian immigrants from Africa, have come to a Toronto suburb
only to find that that old world and its values pursue them. A genial orderly at a downtown
hospital, he has been accused of sexually assaulting a girl. Although he is innocent,
traditional propriety prompts him to question the purity of his own thoughts. Ultimately, his
friendship with the enlightened Sushila offers him an alluring freedom from a past that
haunts him, a marriage that has become routine, and from the trials of coping with teenage
children.
Film:
Cinevedas Inc.
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World:
McClelland & Stewart (India: Penguin; US: St. Martin’s Press)
THE GUNNY SACK
Winner of the Regional Commonwealth Prize for Best First Novel
Salim Juma, a Tanzanian Asian and great grandson of an African slave, is bequeathed a
gunny sack by his mystical grandaunt. It is an ancient sack, a sack full of mementos that she
would hold out to his mesmerized eyes when he was a boy. Nicknamed “Shehru,” the gunny
unravels a gallery of characters whose unwritten stories reflect the Asian experience in East
Africa over four generations.
Canada:
Doubleday
Germany:
Kyrill & Method
India:
Penguin
Padma Viswanathan
THE EVER AFTER OF ASHWIN RAO
Finalist for the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize
“Viswanathan has written an important book – one that deserves to find international recognition.
Pondering our unexamined prejudices might be deeply uncomfortable but it is absolutely necessary.” The
Globe and Mail
In 2004, Ashwin Rao, an Indian psychologist, comes to Canada to do what he calls a “study
of comparative grief.” In this same year, two suspects – finally – are on trial for the 1985 Air
India jet bombing, among the most fatal episodes in aviation history. Ashwin is interviewing
those who lost loved ones in the attack, though he neglects to tell them that he, too, had
family members on that plane. As a witness to their crises and a holder for their secrets,
Aswhin comes to confront his own losses.
Australia/New Zealand:
University of Western Australia Publishing
Canada:
Random House
India:
Westland
US:
Counterpoint / Soft Skull
THE TOSS OF A LEMON
“Of a piece with the recent works of Vikram Seth, and reminiscent at times of Garcia Marquez – altogether
a pleasure.” Kirkus (starred)
The Toss of a Lemon, which had its seed in interviews the author conducted with her own
grandmother, spans the life of a Brahmin woman, Sivakami, who is widowed at the age of
eighteen. She goes on to care for, and hold together, generations of her extended family
despite the restrictions placed on her by her orthodox observance of traditional caste and
religious beliefs.
Brazil:
Nova Fronteira
Canada:
Random House
Catalan:
El Anden
Holland:
Mistral
Italy:
Garzanti
Spain:
Edebe (expired)
Turkey:
Pegasus
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World English (excl. Canada): Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Australia: University of Western
Australia Press; India: Westland)
Richard Wagamese (see also Non-Fiction) **See Richard Wagamese’s website:
www.richardwagamese.com
MEDICINE WALK
“Medicine Walk is a masterpiece, a work of art that explores human interconnectedness with a level of
artistry so superb that the personal becomes eternal.” National Post
Franklin Starlight is called to visit his father, Eldon. Eldon asks his son to take him into the
mountains, so he may be buried in the traditional Ojibway manner. What ensues is a journey
through the rugged and beautiful backcountry, and a journey into the past, as the two men
push forward to Eldon’s end. From a poverty-stricken childhood, to the Korean War, and
later the derelict houses of mill towns, Eldon relates both the desolate moments of his life
and a time of redemption and love and in doing so offers Frank a history he has never
known, the father he has never had, and a connection to himself he never expected.
Canada:
France:
Editions Zoe
US:
Milkweed Editions
INDIAN HORSE
“Indian Horse finds the granite solidity of Wagamese’s prose polished to a lustrous sheen; brisk, brief, sharp
chapters propel the reader forward. He seamlessly braids together his two traditions: English literary and
aboriginal oral. So audible is Saul's voice, that I heard him stop speaking whenever I closed the book…
Wagamese crafts an unforgettable work of art.” National Post
Saul Indian Horse is dying. Tucked away in a hospice in a big city, he embarks on a
marvelous journey of imagination back through the life he led as a northern Ojibway, with
all its sorrows and joys. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he’s sent
to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey
player. But in the harsh realities of the 1960s, he battles obdurate racism and the spiritdestroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement.
Canada:
Douglas & McIntyre
Film:
Siren Screen Pictures Inc.
RAGGED COMPANY
“Richard Wagamese is a national treasure.” Joseph Boyden
A severe Arctic Front descends on the city. Three homeless people die. Desperate for
shelter, a band of four chronically homeless people gather their coins and take shelter in a
movie theater and become friends. One of them later chances on a cigarette package
containing a winning lottery ticket. This luminous novel by a great story-teller then examines
how the sudden money affects the lives of all the characters.
Canada:
Doubleday Canada
DREAM WHEELS
“Richard Wagamese is a born storyteller and Dream Wheels is his finest book yet. Cover to cover, a
ripping read.” Louise Erdich
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Written with lyric intensity and spellbinding narrative power by an award-winning Ojibway
writer, Dream Wheels is a heart-warming tale of lives first smashed, then miraculously put
back together. When Joe Willie Wolfchild suffers a devastating rodeo accident, his family
uses all their native wisdom to ease him out of his bitter subsequent depression – at first
without success. When Aiden, a troubled young mulatto kid with a gift for car mechanics,
emerges from a two-year jail term for a hold-up gone wrong, his mother Claire whisks him
away to the Wolfchild ranch for a restorative vacation. Initially Joe Willie wants nothing to
do with a city-slicker like Aiden. But the two men gradually strike a pact to teach each other
what they know – rodeo and cars included – and both fight through to a transformative
achievement.
Canada:
Doubleday
Holland:
Bruna
US:
US:
Milkweed
A QUALITY OF LIGHT
Blood brothers, Joshua a native who has lost touch with his aboriginal roots, Johnny a white
boy who wants nothing more than to be an Indian warrior, grow up – together, and then
apart. Many years later, when Johnny occupies a federal building with a dozen hostages,
heavily armed and war-painted, he summons Joshua – now the Reverend Joshua Kane – to
negotiate on his behalf, and each finally fully realizes the native spirit in the other.
Canada:
Doubleday
Germany:
Schneekluth Verlag
KEEPER’N ME
“Mainstream hip and Indian wise Keeper’n Me is the real thing… funny and fumbling, healing and
powerful.” Buffy Sainte-Marie
Garnet Raven is a “downtown brown”, a native city-slicker who leaves the urban life after
being lost in the white world for 20 years and returns to the reserve where he was born.
There he comes under the tutelage of Keeper, and together they explore legend, ceremony,
ritual and philosophy, laughing, joking and praying their way towards a homecoming of the
spirit and a celebration of identity.
World:
Doubleday (Germany: Schneekluth)
Agent: John Pearce
Gregory Ward
THE INTERNET BRIDE
“Ward is one of those writers who takes his stories way out on the fringes, and even better, he is talented
enough to leave them out there.” Toronto Star
Inna Netrova. Birthplace: Novgorod. Age: 27. Height: 158 centimeters. Weight:46 kilos.
Inna’s profile on a Russian matchmaking site is incomplete. It leaves out her history of
childhood abuse in the Soviet gymnastics machine, her years as a high-price escort, as a thief
and a con artist. When Norbert Symes responds, compelled by her extraordinary
resemblance to his deceased wife, the elderly Canadian tycoon is blind to her ingenious plan
to kill him for his fortune.
Canada:
McArthur & Company
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KONDOR
Riveting thriller set in the high-stakes international world of car manufacturing where
Dorner is legendary: respected, envied and slightly feared. But Dorner is in trouble, company
secrets are loose, and governments on both sides of the Atlantic will stop at nothing to
contain them. Their quarry becomes two ordinary people: Greta, a German ex-policewoman
drawn into the case against her will, and Kristian, son of Dorner’s old comrade and close
friend, now a highly placed executive in the North American operation. Their quest for the
truth draws them into a web of death and high-level deception reaching back to the darkest
days of World War II.
Canada:
McArthur & Company
WATER DAMAGE
“Might well make [Ward] famous… this complex, genre-bending tale provides extraordinarily powerful reading
with an action-packed plot of byzantine construction. Alfred Hitchcock would have loved it.” Toronto Star
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Film:
Murray Battle Films
THE CARPET KING
“A terrific novel… characters are extremely well-crafted…one of the most memorable works of 1992.”
Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Sylvia Maultash Warsh
SEASON OF IRON
“A tremendous…mystery, which links present-day Toronto with World War II Poland to horrifying,
heartbreaking effect.” Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune on To Die in Spring
The third book in the award-winning Dr. Rebecca Temple mystery series, Season of Iron is set
alternately in 1979 Toronto and 1930s Berlin. In Toronto, Rebecca follows a trail that begins
when a schizophrenic homeless woman she is trying to help is killed. From a German
fencing instructor to an Egyptian physician in town to talk up the new drug he is developing
from snake venom, nobody in this story is who they appear to be. Alternating chapters,
poignant and heart-rending, follow a Jewish family, the Eisenbaums, during the Nazi rise to
power and the gradual stripping away of the rights of Jews in Germany. The story of the
youngest child, Fredericka, who becomes a doctor against all odds, connects with Rebecca’s
story in the startling conclusion. Also available outside North America are the two previous
novels in the series, To Die in Spring and Find Me Again.
North America:
Dundurn
Agent: John Pearce
Patrick Watson
WITTGENSTEIN AND THE GOSHAWK
This magical fable begins with the story of the Goshawk, an aristocratic bird of prey who
was raised in the Royal Court of St. Petersburg in old Russia. Cast aside after her owners
emigrated to New York, the aging huntress soon finds herself in the wilds of Northern
Ontario, where she meets up with Wittgenstein, the budgerigar. Patrick Watson’s brilliant
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imagination and vivid storytelling brings us a cast of animal and human characters who make
us laugh out loud, while at the same time wrestling with some of life’s most challenging
issues and values: loyalty, integrity, craft and self-knowl-edge. “Of my fifteen books to date,”
Watson says, “this has been by far the most fun to write . . . and the most fun to go back and
read again.”
North America:
McArthur & Company
AHMEK
Fully researched and elegantly written, Ahmek follows a young beaver through his daily
routine in the North American wilderness in 1917. As the story begins, Ahmek leads a
simple and peaceful life with his family and the other animal characters who share his pond.
We see through his eyes a Human and his easel, a man we know as Tom Thomson,
sketching the surroundings. The painter and Ahmek establish a rapport that is shattered
when the beaver dam is destroyed by poachers. When Ahmek flees, he becomes separated
from his family, and must begin a new life in a strange territory. Later when he returns to his
old environment, we learn that the Human lies, lifeless, under the water. Although unaware
of the importance of the event, Ahmek has been a part of a significant mystery that to this
day has not been solved.
Film:
Nelvana
North America: McArthur & Company
Korea:
Parkmulgwan Publishing House
Robert Paul Weston (See also Children’s/Young Adult)
BLUES FOR ZOEY
“Like a skilled magician, Weston performs a quick sleight of hand using strategic plotting and offbeat
humour to construct a puzzle that culminates in a tragic, yet oddly hopeful denouement.” Readerly
Kaz Barrett isn’t saving for college. Every penny he earns working at the sketchy Sit‘N’Spin
Laundromat is for his mother. At the start of summer, everything seems on track. Come
September, Kaz will have earned all he needs and more. However, when anarchic, pinkhaired Zoey walks past the laundromat’s window, Kaz’s ordered life begins spinning out of
control. Smart, mysterious, and full of music, Zoey is unlike anyone Kaz has met – but
there’s another side to her that he can’t quite figure out. When he goes looking for answers,
he’ll discover that you really can’t con an honest man…
Canada:
Penguin
US:
Llewellyn Worldwide
Alan R. Wilson
BEFORE THE FLOOD
Winner of the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, Shortlisted for the Stephen
Leacock Memorial Award for Humour and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Forty miles to the south of Woodstock, NB, construction is about to begin on a massive
dam that will alter the region forever. For Samuel MacFarlane, the usual tumult of growing
up is intensified by the fact that the town as he knows it will soon disappear. Often hilarious,
frequently moving, and always infused with those intangible forces that form in towns with
long histories. Samuel learns that eccentricity, madness, and insight are inextricably linked…
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In the end, this book is a love story, where Samuel discovers the irony of losing your heart to
the places you leave.
Canada:
Cormorant Books
Ronald Wright (See also Non-Fiction)
HENDERSON’S SPEAR
“An unforgettable novel, meant to be read again and again in disbelief and understanding.” – USA Today
Searching the Pacific for her father, a pilot missing since the Korean War, Olivia lands in a
Tahitian jail on a trumped-up murder charge. Piecing together her troubled past and her
family’s buried history for the daughter she gave up at birth, she unearths the diary of her
ancestor Frank Henderson, who came to these waters a century before with Queen
Victoria’s grandsons. Frank’s long-ago revelations lead Olivia to understand her father’s
disappearance and her mother’s secrecy about the past.
Canada:
Knopf
Croatia:
MISL/Hlad I Sinovi, Zagreb
France:
Actes-Sud
Germany:
Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag
Poland:
Spolka Akcyjna
UK & Australia:
Doubleday
US:
Henry Holt
A SCIENTIFIC ROMANCE
David Higham Prize (UK)
Editor’s Choice: New York Times
Book of the Year: Globe and Mail, Sunday Times, and Mail on Sunday
Notable Book of the Year: New York Times
“An elegant novel… gripping and lyrical; you struggle to slow down but find yourself rushing forward.” –
The New Yorker
It is 1999, and David Lambert, jilted lover and reluctant museum curator, is about to
discover the startling news of the return of H.G. Wells’s time machine to London. Lambert
propels himself deep into the next millennium and explores the ruins of his life, a labyrinth
of erotic obsession and remorse involving his old friend Bird and Anita, the beautiful
eccentric Egyptologist they both loved, mysteriously dead at thrity-two. Personal and
universal, witty and elegiac, David’s odyssey through conscience and civilization builds to an
unforgettable indictment of human arrogance in the tradition of George Orwell, Aldous
Huxley, and the great ‘scientific romances’ of H.G. Wells.
Canada:
Knopf
France:
Actes Sud (expired)
France:
Babel
Germany:
Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag
Portugal:
Replicacao
UK & Australia:
Anchor
US:
Picador
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Tim Wynveen
SWEETER LIFE
“Wynveen does an excellent job of showing the slow, damaging erosion of a dream.” The Globe and Mail
Ten years after their parents die in a car accident, Cyrus, Isabel and Hank Owen are still
trying to put their lives in order. Hank, the eldest, is in prison; the second-born, Isabel, is on
the verge of divorce; Cyrus, the youngest, is consumed by a crazy dream – to one day
become a rock star. The story begins when Cyrus quits school and hits the road with The
Jimmy Waters Revival, and enjoys some degree of success as a musician. However, when he
and Europa, a sorrowful tattooed lady who steals Cyrus’s heart, quit the band to work as a
duo, they end up out of money, out of luck and in need of rescue. Tragedy intervenes and
Cyrus ends up marooned at home, without Europa, and without his guitar, tangled once
again in the lives of siblings who are as lost as he is. But Cyrus has brought one life lesson
home: solos are not the ego-driven soliloquies he once imagined. When Cyrus finally begins
to pay real attention to the needs of his fractured family and old friends, he creates for the
first time in his life the elusive music of human connection.
Canada:
Random House
BALLOON
“Wynveen is masterful.” Books in Canada, “A writing style that takes a bit from both Alice Munro and
Anita Brookner… Wynveen’s novels are as intricate as well-crafted films.” Toronto Star
No matter how hard Parker Martingale has tried to ground his world in safe, stable and
responsible choices, he suddenly finds himself caught inextricably inside the whirlwinds of a
mid-life crisis. A stranger has arrived on the scene to lay claim to the things he holds most
dear. In his struggle to hold on, Parker realizes the sacrifices he must make to become
whole. A narrative filled with empathy and insight, from the winner of the Commonwealth
Writer’s Prize for Fiction.
Canada:
Key Porter
France:
Flammarion
ANGEL FALLS
Winner of the Commonwealth First Book Award, Shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in
Canada First Novel Award
The only child of a very unstable marriage, Ben Van Buskierke feels more than lucky to have
escaped his parents’ lives. Living in the eye of their hurricane, he bided his time until he
could flee, driven by a fear of a terrible truth beyond his parents’ lives together. But has he
really escaped his past? Can anyone? When tragedy summons him home to Angel Falls, he
must face the truth and unmask the secret sins of years before.
World:
Key Porter
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NON-FICTION
Mark Abley **See Mark Abley’s website: www.markabley.com
THE PRODIGAL TONGUE: Dispatches From The Future Of English
“A paean to the dynamic energies of English.” Telegraph (London)
The Prodigal Tongue is Abley’s entertaining and informative exploration of the way that
languages are likely to transform and be transformed by their speakers during the 21st
century. Everywhere he goes, from Los Angeles to Tokyo and from Singapore to Oxford, he
asks what the future is likely to hold for the ways we communicate.
Canada:
Random House
UK:
Heinemann/Random House
US:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
SPOKEN HERE: Travels Among Threatened Languages
Shortlisted for the Pearson Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the 2003 Grand Prix du Livre
de la Ville de Montreal, A Quality Paperback Book Club Selection for Winter 2004, Named
one of the Year’s Best Books by the San Francisco Chronicle, and one of the Best Science
Books of 2003 by Discover Magazine
In Spoken Here, Mark Abley journeys around the world seeking out languages in peril –
Manx, Mohawk, Boro, Yiddish, and many more. Along the way he reveals delicious linguistic
oddities and shows us what is lost when one of the world’s six thousand tongues dies – an
irreplaceable worldview and a wealth of practical knowledge. He also examines the forces,
from pop-culture to creoles to global politics, that threaten to wipe out 90 percent of
languages by this century’s end.
Canada:
Random House
Catalan:
RBA Libros
Film:
Antena Cynhyrchiadau Productions
Japan:
Hakusui-sha Ltd.
Spain:
RBA Libros
UK:
US:
Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish ** See Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish’s website:
www.daughtersforlife.com
I SHALL NOT HATE: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey
“One of the most affecting [books] I have read on the subject of Israel and Palestine… [A]
gripping memoir.” – The Globe and Mail
Nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Harvard-trained
Palestinian doctor who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. He has
been crossing the line in the sand between Israelis and Palestinians for most of his life, as a
physician who treats patients on both sides, and as a humanitarian who sees the need for
improved health and education for women as the way forward in the Middle East. But it was
as a father whose three daughters and niece were killed by an Israeli rocket during the 2009
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Gaza incursion, and his remarkable response to this tragedy, that catapulted Izzeldin
Abuelaish’s life story into the stratosphere. He didn’t seek revenge or hatred. He called for
the people in the region to start talking to each other. I Shall Not Hate weaves the threads of
his life together: how he became a humanitarian, why he sees women as the way forward in
the Middle East, and how he has turned the tragic loss of his daughters and niece into a
clarion call to bridge the divide in the region. His story is a chronicle of the Middle East
through the eyes of one man who has lived the triumphs and tragedies of the most
confounding place on the planet
Canada:
Random House
Japan:
Aki Shobo
Czech:
Host
Korea:
Little Mountain
Denmark:
Sohn
Marathi:
Mehta Publishing
Film Rights: Paperny Films Inc.
Portugal:
Planeta Manuscrito
(Documentary)
Spain:
Aguilar /
Finland:
Minerva
Santillana
France:
Editions Robert Laffont
Turkey:
Pegasus Yayincilik
Germany:
Luebbe (reverted)
World English (excluding Canada)
Holland:
Meulenhoff
& Arabic:
Bloomsbury UK
Indonesia:
Mizan
Israel:
Armchair Publishing
Italy:
Piemme
Christopher Alexander
THE LONG WAY BACK
A concise, impassioned synthesis of the Afghanistan situation by the former Deputy Chief
of the UN mission in Afghanistan - a critical look at the core strategic issues that impact the
international community’s ability to affect change in Afghanistan.
North America:
John Allemang
THE IMPORTANCE OF LUNCH (and other real-life adventures in good
eating)
Allemang’s collection of witty, topical and common-sense essays brings us back to a basic
but often forgotten truth about food: it’s one of life’s most elemental and reliable pleasures.
Each essay is paired with easy, timeless (occasionally eccentric) recipes from Allemang’s
kitchen. Allemang has written about food for The Good Food Guide (UK), The Globe and Mail
and Toronto Life since 1977.
Canada:
Random House (reverted)
Agent: John Pearce
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Kamal Al-Solaylee
INTOLERABLE: A Memoir Of Extremes In The Middle East
Finalist for Canada Reads 2015
Intolerable is part memoir of an Arab family caught in the turmoil of Middle Eastern politics
over six decades, part personal coming-out narrative and part cultural analysis. This is a story
of the modern Middle East that we think we know so much about.
World:
Agent: John Pearce
Alison Armstrong & Charles Casement
THE CHILD AND THE MACHINE: Why computers may put our children’s
education at risk
Challenges the current view that learning with computers should be an integral part of
young children’s education. Drawing on research from North America, Europe and Japan,
the authors show that computers don’t help children to learn more effectively, and an
emphasis on computer use may well be harmful to the development of imagination and
creativity.
Australia:
Scribe
Portugal:
Artes Medicas
Canada:
Key Porter
US:
Gryphon House
Japan:
Shichiken Shuppan
Sally Armstrong
ASCENT OF WOMEN
#1 National bestseller
A book about the final frontier for women: having control over your own body, whether in
zones of conflict, in rural villages, on university campuses or in your own kitchen. Ascent of
Women tells the dramatic and empowering stories of change-makers and examines the
stunning courage, tenacity and wit they are using to alter the status quo.
Canada:
Random House Canada
World excluding Canada: St.. Martin’s
Press (published as Uprising) (Czech:
Triton)
Samuel Bawlf
THE SECRET VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE
In December 1577, Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth on a daring shipping raid to
South America. But was there also a secret mission within the expedition – a part of the
journey, under Queen Elizabeth’s orders, which would make Drake’s quest one of the
greatest voyages of discovery in history? Bawlf reveals the hidden, part of Drake’s celebrated
story: his voyage to the distant shores of North America and the mysterious ‘Strait of Anian,’
which would come to alter the way the world was seen but which for centuries remained
shrouded in secrecy.
117
Canada:
Estonia:
Spain:
Douglas & McIntyre
Kunst
Lumen
UK:
US:
Penguin
Walker/Penguin
Dr. Owen Beattie and John Geiger ** See John Geiger’s website:
www.johngeiger.ca
DEAD SILENCE: The Greatest Mystery in Arctic Discovery
Capt. James Knight’s 1719 search for the Northwest Passage and a fortune in gold: three
centuries after their disappearance, submerged ships are uncovered.
Canada:
Viking
Germany:
VGS
Film:
Prisma-Light
UK:
Bloomsbury
FROZEN IN TIME: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition
With an introduction by Margaret Atwood (revised edition)
The original edition was an international bestseller with over 120,000 copies sold worldwide.
Frozen in Time is back with new information about the role scurvy played in the disaster,
updated research results and an introduction by Margaret Atwood. The revised text expands
on the history of nineteenth century British Arctic exploration and specifically the Franklin
expedition, placing it in the context of other expeditions of the era, including those
commanded by George Black and James Clark Ross. The results are compelling.
New edition:
Germany:
Piper
North America: Greystone Books (US: Michael J. Fine Books)
Russia:
Paulsen
UK:
Bloomsbury
Original edition: (Brazil: Record; Estonia: Eesti Raamat; Germany: VGS/Piper)
Douglas Bell
RUN OVER
National Bestseller
The world as he knew it ended for Douglas Bell at fourteen when he was crushed under the
wheels of a truck. Instead of spending his adolescence growing up, he spent it recovering
under his mother’s anxious gaze. Bell became both older than his years (conscious every
moment of his mortality, full of a wise-cracking, cynical black humour) and younger: stuck as
a boy, arrested on the path to adulthood. A harrowing and hilarious memoir of a boy’s life
stopped dead in its tracks, and how that boy grew into a man against the odds.
Canada:
Random House
Dr William Bengston with Sylvia Fraser
CHASING THE CURE
“Great advances in science and medicine often occur at the edge of knowledge, where things don’t fit in. Often
the misfits are dismissed by conventional thinkers without a hearing. Where William Bengston’s work is
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concerned, this would be a profound mistake, because many precise scientific studies now confirm that healers
and healing are real. Somewhere along the line, physicians forgot how to heal, and ‘healing’ became an
embarrassment. Bengston is a harbinger of a marvelous trend: the return of healing to medicine.” Larry
Dossey, MD, author of The Power of Premonitions and Healing Words
Dr.William Bengston, in collaboration with Sylvia Fraser, reveals his extraordinary ability to
cure or remit various illnesses, including some forms of cancer, in both animals and humans.
Chasing the Cure debunks some of the myths behind holistic medicine and challenges
conventional medicine’s reticence to address the power of therapeutic touch.
Canada:
Key Porter Books
Germany:
VAK Verlag
Romania:
Litera International
Spain:
Editorial Sirio
US:
Sounds True
Doug Bennet and Tim Tiner
THE NORTH WOODS GUIDE: From Fireflies to the Milky Way
A unique guidebook to the great swathe of mixed broadleaf and evergreen forest that forms
the majority of the untouched wilderness in the northeast US. Written in the same uniquely
engaging and anecdotal style that made Up North: A Guide to Ontario’s Wilderness a huge
bestseller in Canada, The North Woods Guide will connect reader and wilderness, make nature
and history come alive on the page. Illustrations, Index, Cross-References.
World:
HarperCollins US
David Bercuson and Holger Herwig
ONE CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON
“A lively account with deft character sketches and vivid detail.” Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post,
“A real page-turner.” The New Leader
By December 1941, the war could hardly have been worse for Britain and its allies, and so
Churchill braved the North Atlantic in HMS Duke of York for meetings with President
Roosevelt to forge the Grand Alliance. These meetings took place over Christmas and the
New Year. In what proves an enthralling microcosm of WWII, Bercuson and Herwig have
pieced together the hitherto untold story of how two very different nations began to work
together, and how Churchill and Roosevelt, two super-egos, were joined by a common
purpose – the re-ordering of a world gone awry.
Brazil:
Ediouro
Poland:
Dom Wydawniczy
Canada:
McArthur & Company
US & UK:
Overlook (UK: Orion)
Czech:
BB/art
Film:
SEVEN24 Films Inc.
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THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BISMARCK
“Readers…will find the dynamics of the chase and the intensity and devotion of the principal players to be
fresh and vigorous.” The Globe and Mail
The sinking of the Bismarck is one of the great stories of WWII. And with the recent release
of previously sealed secret files on both the Allied and German side, there is much new
material to draw on – private correspondence between Churchill and Roosevelt, diaries of
admirals Donitz and Raeder, the German survivor interrogation files, for example. The team
of Bercuson and Herwig deliver a gripping chase story, powerfully written.
Canada:
Stoddart
UK:
Pimlico
US:
Overlook
DEADLY SEAS
Deadly Seas tells the dramatic story of the birth, life and death of two wartime vessels, one
Allied, the other Axis, and, through them, the larger story of the epic Battle of the Atlantic
itself. The Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Croix and the German submarine U305 entered the
Battle of the Atlantic at about the same time, and both fought tenaciously for their
respective nations. In the evening twilight of September 20, 1943, they confronted each
other in the cold waters of the eastern Atlantic. Only one vessel survived the encounter;
neither survived the war.
Film:
Screenlife
World:
Random House Canada (Czech: nakladatelstvi IZ; Poland: L&L)
Tzeporah Berman with Mark Leiren-Young
THIS CRAZY TIME: Living The Environmental Challenge
“The New Face of Environmentalism.” – Reader’s Digest
Passionate, profound, inspiring and funny, Berman is teaching the world’s next generation of
activists how to fight the good fight – and win. This unique book – part manifesto from a
leader, part humorous activist memoir from a soccer mom – offers a wryly honest, behind
the scenes, ultimately uplifting look at the state of the planet.
Canada (English): Knopf
Canada (French): Editions Boreal
Beverly Biderman
WIRED FOR SOUND: A Journey Into Hearing
“Wired for Sound is a unique personal account, an adventure (sometimes delightful, sometimes terrifying,
often funny and poignant) into a new world of sound…” The Globe and Mail Notable Book.
After 30 years of deafness, Beverly Biderman was ‘turned on’ to the world of sound, thanks
to a cochlear implant. This is a moving story of personal transformation, told with
intelligence and a charmingly light touch, that should resonate with anyone who has
undergone radical change.
North America: Trifolium Books
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Conrad Black
A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE
In 1993, Conrad Black was the proprietor of London’s Daily Telegraph and the head of one of
the world’s largest newspaper groups. He completed a memoir in 1992, A Life in Progress, and
“great prospects beckoned.” In 2003, he was forced to resign from Hollinger Inc. when he
and his associates were accused of fraud. Here for the first time Black gives his account of
those years, of his subsequent trial in a Chicago courthouse in 2007, and of life in a lowsecurity federal prison. In this revealing and superbly written memoir, Black writes without
reserve about the prosecutors who mounted a campaign to destroy him and the journalists
who presumed he was guilty. Woven throughout the book are Black’s views on big themes:
politics, corporate governance, and the US justice system. He is candid about highly personal
subjects, including his friendships and his marriage to Barbara Amiel. He also writes about
his complex relations with Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.
Canada English & French: McClelland & Stewart
Audio: Audible
THE INVINCIBLE QUEST: The Life of Richard Milhouse Nixon
The Invincible Quest is an authoritative biography of one of the most accomplished and
controversial leaders of the 20th century. Conrad Black traces Nixon’s career, assessing both
his achievements and the evolution of popular and historical thinking about him since his
death. Opinionated, balanced, and perceptive, The Invincible Quest makes a significant
contribution to re-evaluating the idiosyncratic president’s entire, eventful career.
Canada:
US:
Public Affairs
UK & Comm: Quercus
Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell
JUST MARRIED
Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell made international news headlines and human rights history
in January 2001 when they became the first gay couple anywhere in the world to be issued a
government marriage certificate. Despite the legal and political wrangling, the attacks of
some churches against others, and the glare of media rights, this remains a story of two
people who chose to make a life together and sought the support of both church and state
for their marriage.
World:
Doubleday (Canada French: Editions Stanke; US: University of Wisconsin
Press)
Mark Bowden
TAME THE PRIMITIVE BRAIN: 28 Ways In 28 Days To Manage The Most
Impulsive Behaviours At Work
Noted body language expert Mark Bowden offers a totally practical, easy-to-read guide to
understanding the behaviour of others, along with the best tools to manage them.
World:
J.J. Wiley & Sons US (Saudi Arabia: Jarir Bookstore)
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Ian Brown
THE BOY IN THE MOON: A Father’s Search For The Value Of His
Handicapped Son’s Life
Winner British Columbia’s National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, winner of the 2010
Charles Taylor Award for Literary Non-Fiction and winner of the Trillium Book Award
“In The Boy In The Moon, Ian Brown achieves mastery by writing in a vein that is as
disarmingly personal as St. Augustine’s Confessions one of the world’s truly great (by
which I mean life-changing) books.” The Huffington Post
The Boy in the Moon is the story of Walker Brown, an eleven-year-old boy who suffers from
cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome. Unprecedented in its candour, this is the story of a
family’s harrowing, but often hilarious, struggle to raise a child who can’t speak, isn’t toilet
trained, can’t eat by mouth or read, and who at eleven has the mind of an infant. It is the
story of their painful decision to give their child over to an assisted-living home. It is the
story of a father’s efforts to find the mind of his boy and discover how the world looks at his
afflicted son.
Arabic World: AFEC
Australia:
Scribe
Canada:
Random House
China (Complex): Shy Mau Publishing Co. (expired)
China (Simplified): Shanghai 99 Culture Consulting Co.
France:
Albin Michel
Germany:
btb (Bertelsmann)
Indonesia:
Tiga Serangkai Publishing Group
Korea:
Bookie Publishing House
Theatre:
Emil Sher
US:
Jeb Brugmann** See Jeb Brugmann’s website: www.jebbrugmann.com
WELCOME TO THE URBAN REVOLUTION: How Cities Are Changing
the World
“Totally fascinating.” Booklist
In Welcome to the Urban Revolution, Jeb Brugmann draws on more than twenty years of
experience at the cutting edge of global urban issues to show how global challenges like
climate change, widening poverty and international terrorism are rooted in urban growth; to
explain what’s at stake if our cities descend into crisis; and to demonstrate that the most
effective way to prevent all-out crisis in the 21st century is to concentrate efforts at the level
of the city, arguing that cities can and must be a solution to international problems, rather
than the cause of them.
Australia:
University of Queensland Press
Canada:
Penguin
China (Simplified): China Renmin University Press/ Cheers Books
Holland:
Business Contact
India:
HarperCollins
Poland:
Wydawictwo Czarne
US:
Bloomsbury Press
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Kathy Buckworth**See Kathy Buckworth’s website: www.kathybuckworth.com
I AM SO THE BOSS OF YOU: AN 8-STEP GUIDE TO GIVING YOUR
FAMILY THE “BUSINESS”
“It’s the rare book that manages to be hilarious and practical, and I Am So the Boss of You is both. A
terrific guide for all parents.” Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project
Parenting author and humourist Kathy Buckworth says it’s time to apply the rules of the
workplace to the family, and before you can say “bedtime consultant” you’ll have peace and
harmony. I Am So the Boss of You proposes a hilarious, yet practical, promising new trend in
parenting, ripped right out of the corporate handbook, guaranteed to appeal to any mom
looking to get the respect and results that make businesses successful.
North America:
TV: Warner Brothers
Audio:
Audible
Sharon Butala (see also Fiction) **See Sharon Butala’s website:
www.sharonbutala.com
THE GIRL IN SASKATOON: A Meditation on Friendship, Memory and
Murder
The savage rape and murder of a beautiful young woman, at once fascinating and horrifying,
shakes a small city to its core and casts a web of suspicion over its inhabitants. In the case of
the 1962 murder of beauty queen and popular young nurse Alexandra Wiwcharuk, it also
made an indelible mark on the mind and heart of award-winning writer Sharon Butala, who
was Alex’s high school friend. The Girl in Saskatoon is a lyrical and tragic coming-of-age story.
Canada:
HarperCollins
LILAC MOON: Dreaming of the Real West
Winner of the Saskatchewan Book Award, One of The Globe and Mail’s Top 100 Books of 2005
What does it mean to be a Westerner? From the pioneer past to Western stereotypes, from
rural legends to urban realities, Lilac Moon interweaves history, family, politics and culture to
explore the myths and nature of the prairie provinces.
Canada:
HarperCollins
WILD STONE HEART: Hauntings at the Heart of Nature
“A rich compendium of prehistory, ecology, farmer’s lament… intuitive and risky, perhaps bravest of all.”
The Ottawa Citizen, # 1 bestseller
Butala writes of a seemingly ordinary field, whose terrain she explored for over 20 years,
decoding its mysteries. Each chapter presents a new layer of history – dinosaurs, Ice Age,
native peoples, settlers, farms and ranches. Filled with touches of wry humour (as when a
major dinosaur found in the area pours tourists into the tiny town by the busload), it is an
honest, insightful and highly personal look at land, and its lessons. In the tradition of Prairy
Earth and Songlines, Butala searches for and finds the meaning of her land, and in doing so
indirectly compares the Euroamerican understanding of land to the Aboriginal.
Canada:
HarperCollins
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UK:
Virago/Little Brown
THE COYOTE’S MORNING CRY: Meditations and Dreams for a Life in
Nature
National Bestseller. A collection of short pieces designed to inspire and offer solace.
Canada:
HarperCollins
THE PERFECTION OF THE MORNING
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, #1 Bestseller
“One of the most perceptive and moving meditations ever written.” Maclean’s
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
HarperCollins
Stevie Cameron
ON THE FARM
National Bestseller and Award-winner
Covering the case of one of North America’s most prolific serial killer gave Stevie Cameron
access not only to the story as it unfolded over many years in two British Columbia
courthouses, but also to information unknown to the police – and not in the transcripts of
their interviews with Pickton – such as from Pickton’s long-time best friend, Lisa Yelds, and
from several women who survived terrifying encounters with him.
Film:
Barna-Alper Productions Inc.
World:
Knopf/Random House Canada
ON THE TAKE
National Bestseller
Cameron, one of the country’s leading investigative reporters, was one of the few reporters
to consistently question and probe the corruption of the Mulroney years. She has a
wonderful ear for storytelling, which helps make On the Take a page-turner.
Canada:
Seal Books
Stevie Cameron and Harvey Cashore
THE LAST AMIGO: Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal
“Cameron’s storytelling is excellent, with characters and events introduced early on and a climax that pays off
later…this true-life tale is thrilling and tragic.” The Montreal Gazette
The Last Amigo is the anatomy of a sophisticated and brilliantly disguised web of power and
money. It is the story of how big business beats the competition and lands government
contracts. It is a tale of intricate money shuffling and coded accounts; of media spinners and
public relations wizards; of shameless political influence and undeniable personal gain. But
mostly it is a portrait of a consummate middleman who knew precisely how to exploit the
ambitions and vulnerabilities of others.
Canada:
Macfarlane, Walter & Ross
Germany:
List
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James Chatto
THE GREEK FOR LOVE
Shortlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize
“The Greek for Love is a voluptuous, sensual dive into Corfu – food, drink, the appeal of exile, and the
story of a ripening love affair . . . writing that rings so resoundingly true . . . A lovely book, and the finest
sort of travel writing.” Kevin Patterson
James Chatto and Wendy Martin were in their mid-twenties, just married and soon to be
parents, when they moved to a ruined house on a remote mountain-side in Corfu. Broke,
speaking no Greek and totally ill-equipped for life in an insular rural community, they
survived the first winter, making friends (and one or two enemies). Over the next four years,
they learned the hard way how to raise olives and children, how to work with stone and with
their neighbours and how to live together, until tragedy threatened the life they had built. A
rich, funny and authentic evocation of life on a Greek island, this memoir is also a love story,
a book about growing up quickly and about personal achievement and loss.
Canada:
Random House
UK:
John Murray
Greece:
Dioptra
THE MAN WHO ATE TORONTO
This is a book about how the restaurant business became show business, and about the
tycoons, artists, dilettantes, journeymen cooks, gifted gastronomical junkies, and ambitious
entrepreneurs who made it happen. It is about fortunes made and lost, reputations built and
squandered, written by a man who observed these events from the best seat in the house.
Canada:
Madison Press Books
James Chatto and W.L. Martin
A KITCHEN IN CORFU
A Kitchen in Corfu takes as its subject the gathering of food and cooking in Loutses, a small
village in the mountains of Corfu where old traditions of living and eating still flourish. The
authors lived there for five years, learning how food is gathered, hunted, grown and
celebrated in ways that are a fascinating reflection of this fecund island’s long history. In
recording the gastronomic life of their friends in the village, they have produced a recipe
book that is also a work of culinary sociology.
World English excl. Canada and US: Clearview Books
Denise Chong
EGG ON MAO
Longlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
“Exquisite…This is a gem of a book, strong in its treatment of substance, superb in its expression.”
Winnipeg Free Press
Egg on Mao is the story of a young bus mechanic named Lu Decheng, who travels to Beijing
to join the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. To the shock of the regime and
when the eyes of the whole world are upon China, he and two friends spatter Mao Zedong’s
portrait with paint-filled eggs. An intimate telling of a boyhood in the Communist
stronghold of Mao’s home province turns into an account of a growing disillusionment with
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a repressive regime, culminating in a cry for decency and dignity, even from behind the walls
of a prison.
World:
Random House Canada
THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, National Bestseller, The Globe and Mail
Notable Book of 1999
“Remarkable…a page-turner full of incredible plot twists, villains and real-life saints.” The Globe and
Mail, “A well-rendered and affecting life story…Chong unblinkingly presents graphic descriptions of the
horrors of the [Vietnam] war visited on civilians. She finds, however, amidst these tragedies, a redemptive
story in Phuc’s life.” Publishers Weekly
The compassionately written story of Kim Phuc, whose life was changed by the famous
Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a napalm attack during the Vietnam War.
Canada:
Penguin
World (excl. Canada): Penguin US (China: Li Jiang; Denmark: Borgens; France: Belfond;
Germany: Hoffman und Campe; Holland: Bakker/Prometheus; Italy:
Codice; Japan: Bungeishunju; Poland: Philip Wilson Warsaw; South
Africa: HarperCollins; UK: Simon & Schuster)
THE CONCUBINE’S CHILDREN
Winner of the City of Vancouver Book Prize, the Vancity Award, the Edna Staebler Award,
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, National #1 Bestseller
“Beautiful, haunting and wise” The New York Times Book Review, “Remarkably…gripping and
wonderfully engrossing, Chong’s family saga should take a well-earned place alongside…Life and Death in
Shanghai, China Men, Wild Swans and The Joy Luck Club.” The London Free Press
The internationally beloved family memoir tracing the story of three generations and two
widely diverse nations, China and Canada.
Canada:
Penguin
Film:
JA Media, Hong Kong
World (excl. Canada): Penguin USA (Denmark: Borgens; Germany: Europa/Heyne;
Holland: Bakker/Prometheus; Israel: Sifrait Ma’ariv; Japan:
Bungeishunju; Poland: Philip Wilson Warsaw; Sweden: Hjemmets)
Doug Clark
DARK PATHS, COLD TRAILS
Shortlisted for Best Non-Fiction at the Arthur Ellis awards
No neighbourhood is safe from the violent act of a criminal. But through an improbable
revolution in policing, led by an unlikely revolutionary, Inspector Ron MacKay of the RCMP
a champion has emerged to help take down those who prey on women and children. His
ViCLAS – Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System – the brainchild of MacKay and a handful
of his colleagues from policing and civilian worlds. With ViCLAS, law enforcement agencies
now have a tool to link serial killers and rapists to their crimes.
North America: HarperCollins
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Eliza Clark (see also Fiction)
WRITER’S GYM: Exercises and Training Tips for Writers
What writing students crave is a book devoted exclusively to the kinds of writing exercises
that help writers practice and improve by getting their creative juices flowing. With
interviews, tips, and fiction exercises from some of the best writers working today –
Margaret Atwood, Colm Toibin, Val McDermid, Dave Eggers, Francis Itani among them –
this is an essential book both for the novice and the seasoned pro.
World English: Penguin
Adrienne Clarkson
ROOM FOR ALL OF US: Surprising Stories Of Loss And Transformation
In this unusually revealing personal inquiry, former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson
explores the immigrant experience through the people who have helped transform Canada.
As these uprooted men and women describe their often harrowing experiences leaving their
countries, readers will be surprised and heartened by the stories of how they struggled,
survived, and ultimately thrived.
World (excl. French): Penguin Canada
EXTRAORDINARY CANADIANS: Norman Bethune
“A book of immense depth, intellect, and refinement – like its author. It’s a great memoir
by a great Canadian.” Winnipeg Free Press
Adrienne Clarkson, Canada’s twenty-sixth Governor General and Chinese Canadian, has
always been fascinated by the dynamic man who married his social conscience to his medical
mission. Honoured as a hero in China, Ontario-born Norman Bethune was a surgeon,
medical innovator, and charismatic political activist who deployed his skills on the
battlefields of Spain and China in the 1930s. In this illuminating biography, Clarkson
explains that the Chinese understood his impatience, limitless eagerness, stubbornness, and
his unshakable commitment, and in return he found within himself a deeply humane and
sustained response to Chinese suffering and courage.
World English & French: Penguin
China:
People’s Medical Publishing House (simplified)
David Clayton-Thomas** See David Clayton-Thomas’ website:
www.davidclaytonthomas.com
BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS: The David Clayton-Thomas Story
As the longtime frontman for the internationally renowned jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat &
Tears, David Clayton-Thomas is one of the most recognizable singer-songwriters in the
world, yet Clayton-Thomas’s journey has been far from easy. Physically abused by his father,
he left home at the age of 14 to live on the streets and had done three stints behind bars by
the time he turned 20. In fact, it was while he was in a solitary confinement cell that he first
learned he could sing. He was released from prison at age 21 in 1962 with a dream and a
battered old guitar, and he never looked back. Speaking frankly for the first time, David
Clayton-Thomas has given us a brawling, no holds barred account of a lifetime in Rock &
Roll.
127
Canada:
Penguin
Karen Connelly (see also Fiction) ** See Karen Connelly’s website:
www.karenconnelly.ca
BURMESE LESSONS: A Love Story
Shortlisted for the 2010 Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction, Shortlisted for the BC
National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
“A polished, literary memoir that includes, along the way, an account of Burma’s turbulent
history… Ms. Connelly is a hugely engaging writer.” The Wall Street Journal
Karen Connelly first visited Burma in 1996, seeking adventure. When she witnesses first
hand the brutality of the military response to student protests in Rangoon, she becomes
politically engaged with the dissidents, writers, and everyday citizens she meets, each of
whom has a unique way of fighting against Burma’s military dictatorship. After she is
blacklisted and unable to renew her visa, she travels to the Thai-Burmese border, home to
hundreds of thousands of Burmese refugees and migrant workers. While there, she falls in
love with Maung, the leader of a guerilla army, and comes to a painful understanding of what
it means to be fully dedicated to a political cause.
Canada:
Random House
World (excluding Canada): Doubleday
ONE ROOM IN A CASTLE: Letters from Spain, France and Greece
#1 Bestseller. A beautifully written travel book blending autobiography and fiction.
“An original genre-defying work of considerable power…both poetic and confessional.” The Calgary Herald
Australia:
HarperCollins
UK:
Black Swan
Canada:
Turnstone
TOUCH THE DRAGON: A Thai Journal [Published in the US as DREAM OF A
THOUSAND LIVES]
Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction, #1 Bestseller, A New York Times
Notable Book of the Year 2001
“Magical…Connelly evokes, by way of beautiful, lyrical narrative, the true essence of South-East Asia.”
The Observer (London)
Australia:
HarperCollins
Thailand:
Silkworm
Canada:
Turnstone
UK:
Black Swan
China:
Perfect Wisdom
US:
Seal
Germany:
Lubbe/Bastei
Pauline Couture ** See Pauline Couture’s website: www.paulinecouture.com
ICE: Beauty, Danger, History
“[A] superb book that combines science with anecdote and character sketches with technology. It’s also an
accessible work, comparable to books like Simon Winchester’s Krakatoa. Winchester taught readers about
volcanoes. Couture, with similar style and wit, takes us through the ice and beyond.” Edmonton Journal
Ice traces Pauline Couture’s fascination with this complex mineral in all its forms and
meanings: science, literature, art, philosophy and worldwide popular culture all offer
different perspectives on ice. Threaded through the narrative is a personal journey, as
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Pauline chases icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland, and – in the name of research –
spends a chilly night in a remote ice hotel. This timely, wide-ranging adventure of the mind
explores the subject from the heavy to the light, from the curious to the significant, from the
ridiculous to the sublime.
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Film:
Take 3 Productions Inc.
US:
Penguin
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Susan Coyne
KINGFISHER DAYS
“Certain to find a home right next to others counted among the best such as Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s
Christmas in Wales and Laurie Lee’s Cider with Rosie…What a transcendent treat.” The Globe and Mail
Kingfisher Days is the charming, evocative (and true) story of a little girl’s encounter with the
world of Faerie, through the imaginative kindness of Mr. Moir, an elderly neighbour, during
the golden days of a summer at the lake. This is a book for everyone who remembers
magical moments as a child, when anything seemed possible. It is a poignant childhood
memoir that reminds us all of the interconnectedness of life, and the importance of believing
in fairy tales.
Audio (unabridged): Goose Lane
Korea:
Bada Publishing
Canada:
Random House
US:
Germany:
Hanser
Andrea Curtis **See Andrea Curtis’ website: www.andreacurtis.ca
INTO THE BLUE: Family Secrets and the Search for a Great Lakes Shipwreck
“A creation of Curtis’s insatiable curiosity about her family and her desire to avoid the kind of ‘conflicting
demands, the muddled self-interest, the pride and censure’ associated with airing family secrets.” Quill & Quire
In 1906, the late-November swells of Georgian Bay erupt into a blinding storm, sinking the
Jones, claiming the lives of all onboard, and leaving Captain Jim Crawford’s one-year-old
daughter, Eleanor, in the wake of the disaster. Almost a century later, Andrea knows her
grandmother Eleanor only as a sophisticated, respected Montreal matriarch. Until, while
researching Jim Crawford’s role in the Jones tragedy, she discovers that every family has its
secrets – and Eleanor a hidden past.
Canada:
Random House
Dr. Abdallah Daar & Dr. Peter A. Singer
THE GRANDEST CHALLENGE: Bringing Life-Saving Science From Lab
To Village
Edited by Sarah Scott
“… This is both their story and the story of the emergence of the field of global health, rich with a range of
remarkable characters who have fuelled this revolution in health research. It is a fascinating story, richer both
because of Daar and Singer’s direct involvement and also, crucially, because there is so much at stake.” Sir
John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK
Drs. Daar and Singer explore the controversial topics at the nexus of life sciences, global
health and economic development, and argue globalization is making the world a better
place. The authors draw on their worldwide network of scientists and entrepreneurs to reveal
the great importance and undeniable potential of genetic engineering, biotechnology and
genomics globally, but with specific emphasis on emerging markets and developing
countries.
World:
Doubleday Canada
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Romeo Dallaire
THEY FIGHT LIKE SOLDIERS, THEY DIE LIKE CHILDREN: The
Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers
“The ultimate focus of the rest of my life is to eradicate the use of child soldiers and to eliminate even the
thought of the use of children as instruments of war.” Romeo Dallaire
In conflicts around the world, there is an increasingly popular weapon system that requires
negligible technology, is simple to sustain, has unlimited versatility, and incredible capacity
for both loyalty and barbarism. In fact, there is no more complete end-to-end weapon
system in the inventory of war-machines. What are these cheap, renewable, plentiful,
sophisticated, and expendable weapons? Children. Believing that not one of us should
tolerate a child being used in this fashion, Dallaire has made it his mission to end the use of
child soldiers. In this book, he provides an intellectually daring and enlightening introduction
to the child soldier phenomenon, as well as inspiring and concrete solutions to eradicate it.
World:
Random House Canada (UK: Hutchinson / Random House; World French:
Libre Expression)
Film:
White Pine Pictures
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction
In 1994, Romeo Dallaire went to Rwanda as Commander of the UN Observer Mission. On
that mission, he witnessed an atrocity of unbelieveable proportions: the genocide of 800,000
Rwandese. He made Herculean efforts to halt the massacre, to no avail. Forever altered, he
believes that the tragedy of Rwanda was preventable. Dallaire is convinced that the
international community, through an inept UN mandate and what can only be described as
indifference, self-interest and racism, aided and abetted these crimes against humanity – we
are all responsible for the events that led to the murder and displacement of millions and
destabilized the whole central African region. With his testimony at the UN War Crimes
Tribunal in Tanzania behind him, he returned to Rwanda to take part in formal ceremonies
to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the genocide in April 2004. For his missions in
Rwanda Lieut.Gen.(ret.) Dallaire was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross and the first
ever Aegis Award by Britain’s Shalom Holocaust Centre. He is the recipient of “The Vimy
Award” and the Legion of Merit Medal (United States). He retired from the Canadian Forces
in 2000 and has been subsequently inducted into the Order of Canada, and has been
appointed a Canadian Senator.
Brazil:
Grua Livros
Bulgaria:
Hermes
Canada:
Random House
Czech Republic:Malvern
Documentary: CBC/Radio Canada
Film:
Halifax Films
Film:
White Pine Pictures
Germany:
Zweitausendeins
Japan:
Fukosha
Portugal:
Verbo
UK:
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US:
Carrol & Graf
World French: Éditions Libre/ Expression Ltée
Britta Das
BUTTERTEA AT SUNRISE
“Through the eyes of Britta Das, we gain valuable insight into the mysterious realm of Bhutan… compelling
reading.” Michael Buckley, author of Heartlands: Travels in the Tibetan World
Set against the dramatic scenery of the Himalay, this beautiful memoir reveals hardships and
happiness in a land almost untouched by the West.
Germany:
Frederking & Thaler
Holland:
Muntinga
Korea:
God’s Win (expired)
World English:
Summersdale
ECHOES FROM BHUTAN
Britta Das was an earnest young volunteer when she arrived in remote eastern Bhutan to
work as a physiotherapist. Her good intentions were immediately challenged, as she learned
to suffer the discomfort of the monsoon, the stares of the locals and the appalling hospital
conditions. In this moving memoir, Das provides a rare revelation into the hardships and joy
of this ancient kingdom, as the stories of her patients and friends provide insight into local
customs and Buddhist beliefs.
Germany:
Frederking & Thaler
Holland:
Sirene
World English: Summerdale (Canada: Dundurn)
Sonia Day
THE UNTAMED GARDEN: A Revealing Look At Our Love Affair With
Plants
“What makes this book unique: Day takes a refreshing, unabashedly lusty approach to the subject. She digs
up fascinating nuggets of history, that are accompanied by beautifully suggestive illustrations and juicy love
stories. We suspect this is the only book of flowers that could make a grown man blush.” Canadian
Gardening
Master gardener Sonia Day brings together delicious tidbits from myth, history, botany, and
plant lore to reveal how plants have seduced our hearts, minds, and bodies throughout the
ages. Scattered throughout are recipes for love potions, examples from the Victorian
“language of flowers,” and charming anecdotes, all told in Day’s delightfully irreverent and
conversational voice. Gorgeously designed and featuring full-colour photos and illustrations
throughout, The Untamed Garden is a sumptuous tribute to our enduring fascination with
plants.
North America: McClelland & Stewart
INCREDIBLE EDIBLES
Sonia Day focuses on edible plants that can be easily grown in a city setting, many of which
are seldom featured in gardening books. Her clear, concise advice is perfect for those who
don't have the time to wade through a gardening encyclopedia or to learn by trial and error.
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World:
Firefly Canada
MIDDLE AGED SPREAD: Moving to the Country at 50
In this humourous memoir and true story, Sonia buys, on impulse, a ramshackle homestead
in the country–and discovers a brand new life plus a host of quirky characters.
Canada:
Key Porter
Ronald J. Deibert **See Ronald J. Deibert’s website: www.deibert.citizenlab.org
BLACK CODE: Inside The Battle For Cyberspace
Longlisted for the BC National Book Award
“Black Code rings like a fire-bell in the night… A timely and most important book.” Carl Gershman,
President of the National Endowment for Democracy
We depend on cyberspace for everything we do. We have re-engineered our business,
governance, and social relations around a planetary network unlike any before it. But there
are dangers looming, and malign forces are threatening to transform this extraordinary
domain. Ronald Deibert, a leading expert on digital technology, security, and human rights,
lifts the lid on cyberspace and shows what’s at stake for internet users and citizens.
World:
Signal / McClelland & Stewart
Film:
Mercury Films
Solange De Santis
LIFE ON THE LINE: One Woman’s Tale of Work, Sweat, and Survival
“Compelling … De Santis offers much insight into the various goings-on inside an industrial plant, from the
differences between management and labor that foster mistrust and animosity to the intricacies of union politics.”
New York Post, “Previously, the definitive book on assembly lines has been Ben Hamper’s Rivethead. But
Life on the Line is better. Ms. De Santis displays earnestness, intellectual honesty, and an attempt to
understand the people on the line that is both endearing and enlightening.” The Globe and Mail
Solange de Santis left her job as Reuters chief financial correspondent to work on the
assembly line at a failing General Motors plant – a world at times surprising, even humorous,
and at other times grim. Her co-workers were hard workers, raging alcoholics, mindless
bureaucrats, closet philosophers and good friends. In the process, she challenged her
physical breaking points and her own assumptions about blue-collar life and the people who
live it.
Canada:
Doubleday
Italy:
Edizioni Associate (expired)
US:
Anchor
Christopher Dewdney
Awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize
SOUL OF THE WORLD: Unlocking the Secrets of Time
Weaving history with mythology, cosmology, and biology, Soul of the World is a well-crafted
mosaic of fascinating facts and observations about Time. In a journey through the seasons
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of a single year, the author explores his backyard, his neighbourhood and the world, and
offers fascinating anecdotes about, and insights into, the nature of Time and how it
influences us.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Korea:
Ye-won Media
ACQUAINTED WITH THE NIGHT: Excursions Through the World After Dark
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award and The Charles Taylor Prize
“As you read these pages, your life will change…The night we’re all familiar with will emerge as a fresh
thing, deeper, fuller, older, younger, more evocative, more intimate, larger, more spectacular and, yes, more
magical, and much more thrilling.” Margaret Atwood, The Globe and Mail
Night is the repository of our dreams, our apprehensions and our hopes. Twelve chapters
correspond to the twelve hours of an “ideal” night, starting at 6:00 pm and ending at 6:00
am, as a point of departure for some of the great, central themes of night: eroticism, natural
history, astronomy and world mythologies. In the OED, night is defined as “The period of
darkness which intervenes between day and day…”, but night, as Acquainted With The Night
reveals, is much more than the absence of sunlight. Night is a collective planetary spectacle,
it is a mysterious, magical realm, and it is a frontier that humans are still colonizing.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Greece:
Makri
China:
Locus (Complex)
Korea:
Ye-won Media
Film:
Markham Street
UK & US:
Bloomsbury
France:
Editions Autrement
(UK: Bloomsbury)
LAST FLESH
Last Flesh is about human transformation. It proposes that we are on the brink of the
transhuman age, an era that will usher in the next stage in human evolution, the posthuman
era. Last Flesh is a personal, Renaissance look at this transitional period, its culture, media
and technology. An eclectic, free-ranging, and yet completely accessible interpretation of
where we are and where we are going as a species, Last Flesh is both energizing and
foreboding, a brilliant melange of culture and technology that will dazzle and disturb.
Canada:
HarperCollins
THE SECULAR GRAIL: Paradigms of Perception
Christopher Dewdney regards the modern world with fresh eyes. A collection of prose and
thoughts on western culture, The Secular Grail investigates the nature of contemporary reality.
Writing on everything from sexual variations to rock videos, memory and dreams to Eternal
Return, this is a guidebook to the incredible changes the human race is undergoing.
Canada:
HB Fenn
THE IMMACULATE PERCEPTION
“This is the work of an utterly mature writer in full command of his language and his subject matter.” Books
in Canada
The Immaculate Perception is an eclectic, challenging collection of essays, prose snapshots
and aphorisms about the nature of consciousness.
Canada:
Anansi
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Marcello Di Cintio **See Marcello Di Cintio's website: www.marcellodicintio.com
WALLS: Travels Along The Barricades
Winner of the 2013 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
Winner of the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction
Winner of the James H Gray Award for Short Fiction
Winner of the W.O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize
Longlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize
Globe 100 Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the 2013 Alberta Readers' Choice Award
“Yet another wonderful read from one of the best travel writers of his generation. In Walls, Marcello Di
Cintio tells compelling and engrossing stories with his customary mix of vivid detail, a strong sense of history,
a lovely sense of humour and, above all, a fascination with the human race in all its contradictions.”
Margaret MacMillan
In this ambitious blend of travel and reportage, Marcello Di Cintio travels to the world’s
most disputed edges to meet the people who live alongside the razor wire and answer the
question: What does it mean to live against the walls? Di Cintio seeks to understand what
these structures say about those who build them and how they influence the cultures that
they surround.
Bulgaria:
Vakon
UK:
Union Books / Aurum
Canada:
Goose Lane
US:
Counterpoint
Linda Diebel
BETRAYED: The Assassination of Digna Ochoa
“Diebel’s account of Ochoa’s life and death assumes the appealing momentum of a whodunit…” Publishers
Weekly (starred), “…Now, some people said to me that my reaction was courageous. But I’ve always felt
anger at the suffering of others. For me, anger is energy. It’s a force.” Digna Ochoa
They got Digna Ochoa. Just like they said they would, gunning her down in her office in
Mexico City on October 19th, 2001. It is an open secret that she was killed by Mexican
military intelligence. Ochoa, 37, was recognized for her work as a human rights lawyer in
Hollywood, Washington and New York – everywhere but Mexico. Ochoa was an incredibly
brave woman who didn’t back down, even after she was kidnapped twice, the last time left
for dead, tied to a bed with an open gas canister beside her. This story traces Ochoa’s life
and the profound way that her friendship propelled Diebel. Into this tale Diebel weaves the
important events that have shaped modern Mexico, as seen through Ochoa’s involvement.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
Irish Girl Productions
US:
Carroll & Graf
Mark Dillon
FIFTY SIDES OF THE BEACH BOYS: The Songs That Tell Their Story
“I’ve been all around this great big world and I’ve seen and heard it all when it came to ‘America’s band.’
Or so I thought! Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys shines new light on the hidden and forgotten lore through fifty
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fresh perspectives and Mark Dillon’s deep research and lively prose. Cool pictures too. I loved every page!”
Dennis Diken, The Smithereens and Bell Sound
Looks at fifty career-spanning songs, each through the perspective of somebody closely
associated with it, including surviving group members, close collaborators, fellow rock
legends, modern musicians, and other notable artists moved by the music. Through key
original interviews and insightful analysis of the group’s timeless work, the book provides an
entertaining, up-close look at The Beach Boys’ story and illustrates their profound influence
in popular culture.
World:
ECW Press
Lydia Dotto
STORM WARNING: Gambling with the Climate of Our Planet
“Excellently argued.” The Toronto Star, “Cannot be ignored.” David Suzuki
Amid growing concerns about more frequent and intense weather-related disasters
researchers are asking if extreme swings in weather patterns are enhanced by human activity,
and what we should we do about it. Do we need to adapt now to be able to cope with the
weather of the future?
Canada French: Editions Berger
Film:
Stonehaven CCS Canada Corp.
France:
Editions Berger
North America: Doubleday Canada
Alan Doyle
WHERE I BELONG
National Bestseller
“Excellent adventure. I feel like I’ve lived another’s life” - Russell Crowe, Academy Award-winning actor
Singer-songwriter and front man of the great Canadian band Great Big Sea, Alan Doyle, is a
storyteller and creative force. In Where I Belong, he paints a raucous and heartwarming
portrait of a curious lad born into the small fishing village of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland;
a lad destined to carry into the world the musical tradition of generations before him with his
own signature sound. Captivating and refreshingly candid, this is a story of small-town life,
curiosity and creativity, and finally, about leaving everything you know behind only to learn
that no matter where you go, home will always be with you.
World:
Doubleday Canada
Spencer Dunmore (see also Fiction)
UNDAUNTED: Long-Distance Flyers in the Golden Age of Aviation
“Spencer Dunmore is a gifted storyteller.” Toronto Star
The fascinating account of an extraordinary period in aviation when long-distance fliers
were the heroes of the day, the crown princes and princesses of the technological age. When
World (excl. UK): McClelland & Stewart
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LOST SUBS
From the Hunley to the Kursk, the greatest submarines ever lost – and found.
World:
Madison Press (US: Da Capo Press)
IN GREAT WATERS: The Epic Story of the Battle of the Atlantic
Captures the valour and horror of one of the determining naval conflicts in the Second
World War with vivid precision and a distinct storytelling force. From political backrooms to
the high-seas warfare, the battle is explored from all angles, including first-person accounts
from Allied and German personnel.
World (excl. UK): McClelland & Stewart (Czech Republic: Beta)
UK:
Pimlico/Random House
ABOVE AND BEYOND: The Canadians’ War in the Air, 1939–45
From the very beginning of the battle of Britain, Canadian air forces were heavily involved in
the conflict and the role they played was integral. Spencer Dunmore captures the everyday
lives of Canadian airmen, from the excitement and terror of the battles to the oftencolourful personalities of the leaders, with fascinating first-person reports and anecdotes
from the middle of the heart-stopping action.
World:
WINGS FOR VICTORY: The Remarkable Story of the British
Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada
In the 1930s young men – farmers, clerks, students and salesmen – came from all corners of
the British Commonwealth to Canada. The reason? They wanted to learn how to fly, and the
huge Commonwealth Air Training Program was the place to do it. Spencer Dunmore
follows these young recruits through the lengthy selection process, training and then finally
as they head off to help win the war in the European skies.
World:
McClelland & Stewart (reverted)
Spencer Dunmore and William Carter
REAP THE WHIRLWIND
In the Second World War, the use of Allied bombers escalated with Germany’s persistent
raids on European and English cities. Enter the Canadians – their squadron would become
one of the best, despite a shaky start in the hostile German skies that cost many an
inexperienced airman his life. Spencer Dunmore and William Carter relate the story of 6
Group, the RCAF fliers who would go down in Canadian history.
Canada:
McClelland & Stewart (reverted)
UK:
Crecy
Spencer Dunmore and Fred E.C. Culick
ON GREAT WHITE WINGS: The Wright Brothers and the Race for Flight
With a single 12-second flight on December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers changed the
world forever. Who were these bachelors? Why did they succeed where so many others had
failed? And how did they find the solutions to the technical challenges of flight that had
eluded mankind for so long?
World:
Madison Press (US: Hyperion)
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Caterina Edwards
FINDING ROSA: A Daughter’s Search for her Mother’s Past
This affecting memoir begins with the multiple stresses upon the author of caring for her
mother, who developed Alzheimer’s in the 1990s. Much to her surprise, she develops a
fascination with her mother’s life story – just when she is losing access to her mother’s
memory. This leads to an impassioned obsessive search for her maternal family’s history in
the troubled region of Europe known as Istria, a quest that becomes both a detective story
and a search for the meaning of home.
North America: Greystone Books/Douglas & McIntyre
Agent: John Pearce
Timothy Findley (see also Fiction)
JOURNEYMAN: Travels with A Writer
With an Introduction by William Whitehead Despite his fear of flying and his distaste for
speed, Timothy Findley was a traveler – regularly embarking on trips to write, to read, to
speak and to enjoy. Journeyman is a final collection of Timothy Findley’s journeys that
informed and shaped what – and how – he wrote. Lovingly compiled by William Whitehead,
Journeyman has been in the works for over a decade, a skillful combination of journal entries,
speeches, letters, excerpts from plays, poems and anecdotes.
Canada:
HarperCollins
FROM STONE ORCHARD
From Stone Orchard is a harvest of Findley’s writings, some culled from his much-loved
Harrowsmith columns, some newly written. Comic incidents and endearing tales from the
farm’s past affirm the richness of Findley’s private world and the joys of country living.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Canada French: Pointe de Fuite
France:
INSIDE MEMORY: Pages from a Writer’s Workbook
“With its strong emphasis on love and laughter, Inside Memory upholds Findley’s belief that ‘memory is a form
of hope.’ In Findley’s gifted hands, remembrance becomes a profound expression of reverence for life.” Maclean’s
A collection of reflections and recollections on the extraordinary people and events that
award-winning author Timothy Findley has encountered during his lifetime. Inside Memory:
Pages from a Writer’s Workbook is a first-hand look at the creative process. As winner of the
Canadian Authors Association Literary Award For Non-Fiction, this book is a must for all
Findley fans.
World:
Joe Fiorito (see also Fiction)
THE CLOSER WE ARE TO DYING
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“A small, quiet masterpiece.” The Times (UK), “The world needs more books by Joe Fiorito.” The
Spectator (UK)
In the 1950s when Joe Fiorito was growing up, it was wrong to be poor and Italian, and risky
to be bookish – and he was all of these. He was also marked as a member of a lively and
infamous clan. Strangers could size him up at a glance and tell he was a Fiorito; Dusty’s boy.
Everyone knew Dusty. He was handsome and hard and hot-tempered. He was a man his son
loved and loathed with equal fervour. It is Dusty who occupies the heart of this book.
World:
McClelland & Stewart (Germany: Alexander Fest; Holland: De Geus; Italy:
Garzanti; UK: Bloomsbury; US: Picador)
COMFORT ME WITH APPLES
A rich buffet of diverse short essays that have food as the common ingredient. Readers will
be hard-pressed to know where to keep this treasure – on the bedside table for a shot of
gustatory delight before sleeping of on the kitchen shelf for easy access to the recipes.
World:
Robert R. Fowler
A SEASON IN HELL: My 130 Days In The Sahara With Al Qaeda
A harrowing story of survival and perseverance in the depths of the Sahara, from the
highest-ranked UN and Western official ever held captive. For decades, Robert R. Fowler
was a dominant force in international politics and foreign affairs. In one heart-stopping
minute, all of that changed. On December 14, 2008, Fowler, acting as the UN Secretary
General’s Special Envoy to Niger, was kidnapped by Al Qaeda, becoming the highest ranked
UN official ever held captive. Fowler’s capture, release, and subsequent appearances have
helped shed new light on foreign policy and security issues as we enter the second decade of
the War on Terror.
Audio:
Audible
Canada:
HarperCollins
North America French: Quebec Amerique
Sylvia Fraser (see also Fiction and Children’s/Young Adult) ** See Sylvia Fraser’s
website: www.sylviafraser.net
THE GREEN LABYRINTH: Exploring the Mysteries of the Amazon
While visiting the majestic rainforests of Peru, Sylvia Fraser explores the spiritual beliefs and
healing practices of shamans credited with discovering the basic formulas of about twenty
percent of modern pharmaceutical prescriptions. When asked how they knew which of the
jungle’s thousands of plants to combine to create their sophisticated medicines, they replied:
“Ayahuasca tells us,” referring to the psychedelic plant brew that has been the core of sacred
Amazonian rituals for thousands of years. Fraser drank this legendary brew in eight
ceremonies, undergoing meaningful experiences that altered her concepts of every-day
reality, matter and consciousness.
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
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A ROPE IN THE WATER [Formerly titled CATCHING THE KARMA EXPRESS]
A woman’s pilgrimage to India in search of spiritual renewal, this travelogue is inspired by a
truth she discovers in its deserts and mountains, jungles and tea plantations, ashrams and
sacred sites: “change yourself and everything changes.” Humorous and intelligent, uplifting
yet earthbound, this odyssey is for serious questers, the simply curious and all who enjoy a
good tale.
Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son
India:
Roli Books
MY FATHER’S HOUSE: A Memoir of Incest and of Healing
From a pretty blonde child, she grew into a popular teenager – an honour student, a member
of students’ council and a high-school cheerleader. She married a handsome lawyer and
launched a successful career as a journalist and a novelist. But, from the age of seven to
seventeen, Sylvia Fraser shared her body with a “twin” who lived a life separate from hers,
with different memories and experiences. This secret Other Self was created by Sylvia to do
the things she was too frightened, too ashamed, too repelled to do – the things her father
made her do. My Father’s House becomes at once a horror story, a mystery and a coming-ofage story, as Sylvia Fraser describes how she broke through her amnesia to discover and
embrace the tortured self she left behind.
Canada:
Doubleday/HarperCollins
Italy:
Armenia Editore
Canada French: Edition de l’homme
Sweden:
Forum
Germany:
Fischer Verlag
UK:
Virago
Holland:
EK Publishers
US:
Houghton Mifflin
Israel:
Am Oved
THE QUEST FOR THE FOURTH MONKEY [Published in Canada as THE
BOOK OF STRANGE]
Sylvia Fraser is one of those people to whom mysterious events often happen –
coincidences, telepathy, glimpses into the future. In this book, Fraser not only shares these
incidents but she tries to understand them. Her research results in a richly anecdotal,
intelligent yet always accessible exploration of the mysteries that confound and intrigue us.
Canada:
Doubleday
US:
Key Porter
Rick Gallop ** See Rick Gallop’s website: www.gidiet.com
THE G.I. DIET MENOPAUSE CLINIC
Rick Gallop’s tested and proven Week-by-Week Guide to reversing diabetes.
Gallop, author of the phenomenally successful The G.I. Diet series, and most recently The
G.I. Diet Menopause Clinic, addresses the causes and symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes and
Prediabetes and how they can be reversed. He recruited men and women volunteers who
had been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes or Prediabetes for a 13-week intensive e-Clinic.
During this interactive e-Clinic, participants learned how to both reduce their weight, the
principal reason for their diabetes, as well as which foods would help stabilize their blood
sugars. In return, participants shared through weekly diaries their stories, failures, successes
and challenges. All participants lost weight; blood sugar levels fell on average 15% over the
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13-week period; and of those on medication, 75% were able to reduce their medication
levels.
Canada:
Random House
THE G.I. DIET CLINIC
Rick Gallop, author of the phenomenally successful G.I. Diet series, makes losing weight
even easier with this detailed, step-by-step guide to the first 13 weeks on the G.I. Diet. On a
mission to turn losing weight into a positive experience, Rick Gallop recruited male and
female volunteers with a body mass index of 33 or over – in other words, the hard cases – to
participate in an e-clinic he would run from his website. For 13 weeks he introduced
participants to the basics of the G.I. Diet, answered their questions, taught them how to
shop, cook and eat out, coached them through the hurdles and helped them develop
strategies for dealing with cravings and the emotional reasons why we eat. In return,
participants shared their stories, their feelings, their stumbling blocks and their triumphs.
Over 80% of the participants stayed with the program – which is easy to follow and never
leaves you hungry – and every single one of them lost significant amounts of weight. In fact
the group lost a remarkable average of 25 lbs and an amazing 10 inches from their waist and
hips over the 3-month period.
World:
Random House Canada (UK: Virgin Books; US: Workman)
THE FAMILY G.I. DIET: The Healthy, Green-Light Way To Manage Weight
For Your Entire Family
“Forget the Atkins diet – the latest slimming plan . . . is the G.I. Diet.” Bella (UK)
This latest addition to the bestselling G.I. Diet series offers individualized weight-loss
strategies for every member of the family. Even if other family members don’t have a weight
problem, the G.I. diet provides maximum nutritional benefit for everyone’s good health,
young or old. With sound advice, practical tips, and fifty new green-light recipes, you’ll be
well on your way to improving the health of your entire family.
World:
Random House Canada (UK: Virgin Books)
LIVING THE G.I. DIET
Tens of thousands of people have lost weight with Rick Gallop’s easy and innovative The
G.I. Diet. Now, in Living the G.I. Diet, Gallop gives readers what they need to do and know to
maintain their new weight forever and at the same time avoid boredom and monotony in
their diet. He’s teamed up with Canadian Living Cooks co-host Emily Richards to provide
100 fabulous recipes based on the G.I. Diet Food Guide.
World:
Random House Canada (Holland: Tirion; Lithuania: Jotema; Russia: Eksmo
Publishers; UK: Virgin; US: Workman; World French: Editions Publistar)
THE G.I. DIET: The Easy, Healthy Way to Permanent Weight Loss
Named Diet Book of the Year by the Canadian Diabetes Association, #1 National Bestseller
“Science has helped us to understand the complex tango that is the interaction between our body and our diet.
In The G.I. Diet, Rick Gallop translates current concepts into a remarkably understandable and practical
guide to living and eating and shows us that our food choices can deliver both instantaneous gratification and
a health benefit in the long run.” Dr Rob Hegele, MD, FRCPC, FACP; Professor, Medicine &
Biochemistry, U. of Western Ontario
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For years we’ve been told that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is the way to lose weight and
stay trim. But anyone who has diligently followed that regimen knows that it doesn’t work.
Rick Gallop, former president of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, tried it, along
with countless other diets, and ended up back where he started: twenty pounds overweight.
Frustrated, he set out to find a diet that was healthy and that would actually work. When he
came across the Glycemic Index, or G.I., he realized he’d found the magic bullet.
World:
Random House Canada (Brazil: Sextante; Bulgaria: Bard; Finland: Karisto;
Greece: S. Patakis; Holland: Tirion; Italy: Red Edizioni; Lithuania: Jotema;
Poland: BIS; Spain: Sirio; UK: Virgin; US: Workman)
Irene Gammel
LOOKING FOR ANNE: The Life and Times of Anne of Green Gables
Blending biography with cultural history, Irene Gammel’s dual biography of Anne Shirley
and the woman who created her will delight the millions who have loved the young orphan.
Canada:
Key Porter
UK & US:
Jonathan Garfinkel
AMBIVALENCE
“Marvelleous. [He] deftly mines what it means to simultaneously belong, disavow, love and loathe an identity,
a culture and a history.” David Rakoff
This provocative memoir chronicles poet and playwright Garfinkel’s travels in Palestine and
Israel and his journey away from a Zionist education in Toronto. A touching story about a
house in Israel that is shared between an Arab and a Jew impels him to travel to Israel and
the West Bank in search of the house. Of course, when he arrives, nothing (including the
house) is as simple as it seemed. The result is a memoir about the complexities of real life as
opposed to ideal or doctrinaire versions. Vivid and dramatic in style, it’s rife with riotous,
unexpected, sometimes surreal, comedy.
Canada:
Penguin
Germany:
Luchterhand (expired)
UK:
Saqi Books
US:
W.W. Norton
Agent: John Pearce
Sir Martin Gilbert
IN ISHMAEL’S HOUSE: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands
“… both a reliable source and a pleasure to read.” Herman Wouk
Sir Martin Gilbert shines new light on a controversial dilemma in the modern world: the
troubled relationship between Jews and Muslims. Beginning at the dawn of Islam and
sweeping from the Atlantic Ocean to the mountains of Afghanistan, Gilbert presents the
first authoritative history of Jewish peoples in Muslim lands – in Ishmael’s house. He
confronts with wisdom and compassion the stormy events in their dramatic story, including
anti-Zionist movements and the forced exodus to Israel. He also gives special attention to
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the 20th century and to the current political debate about refugee status and restitution. The
result is a stirring narrative of perseverance, struggle, and renewal marked by surprising
moments of tolerance and partnership
World:
McClelland & Stewart (UK & US: Yale University Press)
Manda Aufochs Gillespie
GREEN MAMA
From choosing environmentally friendly diapers to identifying the hidden toxins in
children’s food, cribs, car seats, and toys, Green Mama discusses topics that are vitally
important to new parents.
World:
Dundurn (India: Fingerprint Press; Turkey: Siyah Beyaz Yayinlan)
Alex Gillis **See Alex Gillis’ website: www.akillingart.com
A KILLING ART: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do
After living through four wars and surviving a life of torture, exile and assassination
attempts, a Korean man named Hong-Hi Choi founds Tae Kwon Do and brings it to the US
in 1960. Choi’s childhood is full of Japanese oppression, family beatings, truancy, gambling
and geisha girls. In time, though, the so-called runt becomes a general and recruits a group
of super-athletes who train American soldiers to fight in Vietnam. Then in 1961, Choi
discovers that a group of men have begun destroying everything he loves. They kidnap
instructors from his martial arts gyms, threaten his family and torture his friends. Desperate,
he and his men flee from Korea to North America, where they plot a secret mission to stop
their enemies. The first objective look at the inner workings of the most popular martial art
in the United States.
World exc. Germany & Argentina:
ECW Press
Don Gillmor (see also: Fiction) **See Don Gillmor’s website: www.dongillmor.com
THE DESIRE OF EVERY LIVING THING
“Beautifully written, concise and funny.” The Montreal Gazette
When she was eighty years old, Don Gillmor’s grandmother let slip the defining secret of her
life: her twin sister was not her twin, but her aunt. To escape the stigma of that illegitimacy,
the entire family had emigrated from the Highlands of Scotland, a country by turns violent
and Presbyterian, to a North American city populated by dreamers and boosters doomed to
disappointment. That revelation set journalist Don Gillmor off on what seemed a very
personal quest, and became, in the end, the story of the New World. An evocative family
memoir and a brilliant feat of historical imagination, the book’s most moving theme is how
the discarded past haunts us and shapes our lives without us even noticing.
Canada:
Random House
Terry Glavin
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WAITING FOR THE MACAWS: And Other Stories from the Age of Extinctions
“Five major epochs of mass extinction have marked the past 440 million years, but in this striking and
original work, Glavin argues that the most devastating is today’s “sixth” extinction – in which the world is
losing many of its cultures, languages and local traditions along with its wildlife…a fresh and eloquent
synthesis of diverse phenomena…insightful and poignant.” Publishers Weekly (starred)
Terry Glavin shares with readers an anecdotal history of extinction, drawing on sources as
diverse as zoology, biology, ecology, mythology, and anthropology, as well as his own travels
around the world, and discovers hope in the most unlikely places – a small village in Ireland,
a temple in Calcutta, a remote Nanai village in the gangster-infested Russian Far East, a relic
community of Norse whalers in the North Atlantic, a throne room in the Eastern Himalayas.
Canada:
Penguin
UK:
Saqi Books
Germany:
Zweitausendeins
US:
St. Martin’s Press/
Thomas Dunne Books
THE LAST GREAT SEA
In this compelling journey around the North Pacific, Glavin presents a stunning portrait of
an ancient and important sea, rich in marine life, mythology, mystery and meaning. We visit
the world’s earliest fishing villages, see the salmon return from their Ice Age refugia and
accompany Russian voyagers searching for a lost colony of their countrymen in Alaska.
Thoroughly researched, magnificently written, and powerfully argued, The Last Great Sea
provides a new understanding of the North Pacific and offers hope for its future.
World:
Greystone/Douglas & McIntyre
Mary Gooderham
A BUILDING GOES UP: The Making of a Skyscraper
From coffee trucks to climbing cranes: the creation of a building. Award-winning journalist
embarks on a two-year odyssey to chronicle the creation of a 30-story skyscraper, from the
delivery of the first load of concrete to the arrival of the first tenant.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Hirsh Goodman
THE ANATOMY OF ISRAEL’S SURVIVAL
“[A] chronicle of the existential insecurity that has tipped Israel’s fall from grace, and a strong plea to quit
its role as occupying power to the Palestinians… Tapping into his access to the defense structure, Goodman
does a solid job depicting Israel’s ‘ball of thorns.’ ” Kirkus Reviews
"Can Israel survive?" has been the essential question for Israelis -- and Jews worldwide -since the Holocaust. Now a renowned Israeli journalist and security expert conducts a
"strategic state of the nation" tour to evenhandedly assess the issues facing the country
today, and ultimately suggesting that the "essential question" has become a misleading, even
wrong question. Israel will survive. But what kind of country will it be?
Canada:
World English excl. Canada: Public
Affairs / Perseus (Audio: Brilliance /
144
Audible)
CAN MODERN ISRAEL SURVIVE INTO THE NEXT CENTURY?
This book offers a seminal portrait of Israel, its people and their hopes – or fears – as the
country turns 60. It includes a series of in-depth interviews with politicians, writers, thinkers,
academics, security experts, businesspeople, and also deals deeply with the core issue of the
Israel-American relationship, trying to understand what really binds the two countries and
where that relationship is going, given the new strategic realities in a Middle East that could
soon be nuclear and one with Iraq in flames.
Canada:
UK:
Perseus
US:
Public Affairs
LET ME CREATE A PARADISE, GOD SAID TO HIMSELF: A Journey of
Conscience from Johannesburg to Jerusalem
Let Me Create a Paradise is a rivetingly personal polemic, a respected Israeli journalist’s
exploration of the Jewish state’s apocalyptic choice: democracy or territory? It is also very
much Goodman’s own story: from his South African childhood, where he was schooled in
the Zionist rhetoric of equality, social justice and democracy, while watching black prisoners
dig his older sister’s swimming pool, to his idealistic flight to Israel where he became an elite
paratrooper, serving in the Six-Day War. Increasingly disturbed by the aggressive growth of
tiny Jewish settlements and a brutalized Palestinian people, Goodman became an influential
journalist, with a front row seat onto Israel’s troubles.
Canada:
HarperCollins
UK:
Public Affairs
US:
Public Affairs/Perseus
Dr. Karyn Gordon **See Karyn Gordon’s website: www.drkaryn.com
DR. KARYN’S GUIDE TO THE TEEN YEARS: How to Understand and
Parent Your Teenager
From the parenting expert that teens both like and trust comes the guide that teens helped
shape – and that every parent should read. Karyn Gordon has been coaching adolescents
and parents for over a decade. Here she helps parents crack the mysterious code that defines
teen behaviour, learn what teens wished their parents knew, and unlock the secret to a
happier, healthier parent-teen relationship.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Laurie Gottlieb and Deanna Rosenswig ** See Laurie Gottlieb & Deanna
Rosenwig’s website: www.dreamshavenoexpirydate.com
DREAMS HAVE NO EXPIRY DATE: Women in Charge of Their Futures
“Great for women – or anyone – making transitions in life and work.” Nancy Barry, President,
Women’s World Banking
145
This book will inspire, guide and help women in the 40+ age range. Dreams Have No Expiry
Date will allow women to write the best middle chapters of their lives, as they recognize that
they have the experience, skills, wisdom and street-smarts that are much sought-after
currencies in today’s rapidly changing world.
Holland:
Archipel
Korea:
Appletreetales
Portugal:
Verso da Kapa (reverted)
Spain:
Random House
World English: Random House Canada
Charlotte Gray **See Charlotte Gray’s website: www.charlottegray.ca
Winner of the Pierre Berton Award and The University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography
THE MASSEY MURDER: A Maid, her Master and the Trial that
Shocked a Country
#1 National Bestseller
Shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize
Winner of the Toronto Book Award
A Globe & Mail and Amazon top 100 book of the year
Winner of the CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History
Kitchener-Waterloo One Book
One Community 2014 selection
Shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction
A scandalous crime, a sensational trial, a surprise verdict – the true story of Carrie Davies,
the maid who shot a Massey.
Canada English:
HarperCollins
GOLD DIGGERS: Striking It Rich in the Klondike
Longlisted for the B.C. Non-fiction Award
Shortlisted for the City of Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction
Mounties, miners, ministers, and dance hall girls—-they all came to Dawson City in the
Yukon as the world went mad for gold. Gold Diggers tells the story of the Klondike gold rush
through the lives of six remarkable individuals.
Audio:
Audible
Canada:
HarperCollins
Canada French:
Presses de l'Université Laval
TV:
Scott Free
US:
Counterpoint
RELUCTANT GENIUS: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention
Winner of the Ontario Historial Society’s 2007 Donald Grant Creighton Award and the
2007 Ottawa Book Award, Shortlisted for the 2007 Nereus Writers’ Trust Prize, the 2007
National Business Book Award and the 2007 Trillium Award
Reluctant Genius sweeps from the soot-filled streets of Edinburgh to the refinements of
Washington society to the wilds of Nova Scotia, following the life and loves of Alexander
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Graham Bell. His marriage for love to a much younger woman deafened by a childhood
illness is the second thread of this remarkable life.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
White Pine Pictures
US:
Arcade
THE MUSEUM CALLED CANADA: 25 Rooms of Wonder
Winner of the CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History
Each of The Museum Called Canada’s 25 rooms houses carefully chosen exhibits that
illuminate a significant historical theme. This majestic collection brings together high art and
popular culture, science and nature, rare objects and whimsical ephemera. Here you will see
the empty eye sockets of Tyrannosaurus Rex and be able to examine intricate and ethereal
wood-carved angels built for Quebec’s Rideau Chapel. Exhibits span the breadth of Canada,
from the Yuquot Whaler’s Shrine of Vancouver Island’s Nootka to an anti-Confederation
poster from the controversially soon-to-be-province Newfoundland.
World:
Random House Canada
CANADA: A Portrait in Letters, 1800 – 2000
Charlotte Gray weaves together hundreds of letters from Canadians over the course of two
centuries. Uncensored, spontaneous, and written from the heart, these letters capture the
uniqueness of their time. Complemented by maps, sketches, and photographs, as well as
Gray’s illuminating notes and commentary, these priceless witnesses of Canada’s past reveal
history in the making.
Canada:
Doubleday
FLINT AND FEATHER: The Life and Times of Pauline Johnson,
Tekahionwake
Winner of the Drummer General Award; Winner of the UBC Medal for Canadian
Biography; Shortlisted for The Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize
Pauline Johnson was a mesmerizing figure in the late 19th century, crisscrossing the
continent 17 times and the Atlantic 3 times to perform before enraptured audiences.
Audiences wept as the enchantingly beautiful Pauline, “the Mohawk Princess,” recited her
love poetry and Indian ballads in a voice rich with passion and authority. Her exotic lineage
was accentuated by the dramatic costumes she wore for her performances – buckskin for the
first half of the concert, a velvet ball gown after the interval. Offstage, Pauline’s life was
filled with contradictions. The story of her life opens a window onto a North America that
has vanished.
Canada:
HarperCollins
SISTERS IN THE WILDERNESS: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and
Catherine Parr Traill
50+ Weeks on the National Bestseller List, Shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Prize, Winner
of the Canadian Authors Association Award for Best Non-Fiction, Selection in The Globe and
Mail’s 100 for 1999, Quill & Quire Best Books of 1999 and Ottawa Citizen Hot Type “Can’t
Miss Guide”
147
“Elegant and well-researched…. This is a delicious read.” The Globe and Mail, “Sisters in the
Wilderness is an essential and outstanding addition to the annals of Canadian history and will surely be
recognized as the definitive biography of two of our most important writers.” The National Post
In 1832, two sisters from genteel Victorian Britain emigrated with their husbands to the
untracked wilds of colonial Upper Canada. Nothing had prepared these two women for the
savage winters, the isolation, failing harvests and ‘those interminable forests’, where they
were forced to mingle with Indians, Yankees and all classes of British immigrants. Despite
these trials, the sisters survived and thrived; their story, based in large part on their
unpublished private journals and correspondence, as well as published books, gives a
fascinating insight into the lives of pioneer women in North America.
Canada:
Penguin
UK:
Duckworth
MRS. KING: The Life and Times of Isabel Mackenzie King
Winner of the Edna Staebler Award for Non-Fiction and the CAA Birks Family Foundation
Award for Biography, Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award and the
Viacom/Writers Trust Non-Fiction Award
“Richly evocative and dense with detail, social history at its remarkable best … a biography with the
narrative power of a fine novel.” The London Free Press
A thoughtful and evocative biography of a woman caught in between – daughter of fiery
rebel William Lyon Mackenzie and mother of Canada’s wartime Prime Minister William
Lyon Mackenzie King.
World:
Penguin Canada
Bret “The Hitman” Hart
HITMAN: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling
“This is the master magician explaining to everyone just how that woman was sawed in half to a degree
unprecedented in the long history of professional wrestling. Hart names names and lays it all bare.” The
Globe and Mail
Bret Hart, former champion of the WWF (now World Wrestling Entertainment), has written
an authentic memoir. Hitman is an old-fashioned family epic. It is a story of death, sex,
betrayal and revenge; it is a story of sweat, steroids and duplicity. In quick succession, Hart
suffered a series of tragedies: a concussion and a stroke, the collapse of his marriage, and the
death in the ring of his brother Owen. Ultimately this is a story of recovery, and of the
triumph of the human spirit.
Canada:
Random House
US:
Grand Central/Hachette
UK:
Ebury/Random House
Robert Herjavec
THE WILL TO WIN: Leading, Competing, Succeeding
Whether you are seeking to build the next big company in communications technology, to
become the most respected teacher in your educational system, or to make a lasting impact
as an artist in your field, the most important decision you can make, according to Herjavec,
is to reject mediocrity. In the long run, “good enough” is never good enough, whether in our
personal lives or in our careers.
148
North America:
Turkey:
Dogan Kitapcilik
DRIVEN: How to Succeed in Business and Life
A warm and engaging personality, with a brilliant mind and a sixth sense for business,
Robert Herjavec, star of television’s Dragon’s Den (Canada) and Shark Tank (USA), shares
with readers what he’s learned about achievement, success, and attainable goals. The
Herjavecs left the dirt floor of their Croatian home to escape an oppressive regime and
arrived in North America virtually penniless. The journey from that humble beginning to
selling his first company for over $100 million – with many difficult lessons learned along
the way – is an incredibly inspiring success story.
North America:
Trevor Herriot **See Trevor Herriot’s website: www.trevorharriot.blogspot.ca
THE ROAD IS HOW: A Prairie Pilgrimage through Nature, Desire and Soul
A naturalist spends three days walking across the prairie in search of heart, spirit, and peace of mind.
In The Road is How, Herriot takes us on a three day walk down a prairie road through a
geography mapped by memory, story, argument and natural history. An invitation to find
out for ourselves how the road might be walked, The Road is How traces one naturalist’s
quest, in the second half of life, to renew the bonds of nature, family, community and place.
Canada English: Patrick Crean Editions / HarperCollins
GRASS, SKY, SONG: Promise And Peril In The World Of Grassland Birds
“A rant, an elegy, a classic … Every once in a long while, a book comes out that is so entirely persuasive, so
beautifully written, so well-informed, so brimming with humanity, so obviously inspired, that it changes my
way of viewing the world.” The Globe and Mail
Retracing the journeys of a 19th century explorer and botanist, Herriot takes us to the heart
of the traditional prairie where the natural world overshadows the manmade one. A lyrical
blending of personal experience, history, philosophy and scientific research.
World:
Phyllis Bruce/HarperCollins Canada
JACOB’S WOUND: A Search for the Spirit of Wilderness
“Like Annie Dillard or Barry Lopez or Sharon Butala – or like Thoreau, come to that – Trevor Herriot
writes, and writes beautifully, out of a passionate, almost proprietary concern for the landscape, and out of a
sense of its sacredness….” Bill Richardson, The National Post
The Genesis story of Jacob, the patriarch of the Judeo-Christian tradition, wrestling with a
spirit has been interpreted in a multitude of ways, but never more persuasively than by
Trevor Herriot in Jacob’s Wound. He sees it as a struggle between Jacob and his wilder twin
brother, Esau, whose birthright Jacob has swindled. The central idea of Herriot’s brilliantly
written, observant, and groundbreaking book is the wound that Jacob, the farmer, the
civilized man, suffered in vanquishing Esau, the hunter, the primitive man. And the central
question posed is whether we, as Jacob did with Esau, can eventually reconcile with the
wildness we conquered and have been estranged from for so long. Jacob’s Wound takes
readers on an untrodden path through history, memoir, science, and theology.
149
World:
McClelland & Stewart (US: Fulcrum Publishing)
RIVER IN A DRY LAND
National Bestseller, Winner of the Writers’ Trust Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, the
Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award, the Regina Book Award, and the CBA Libris Award
for First-Time Author of the Year, Shortlisted for the 2001 Edna Staebler Award for
Creative Non-Fiction, the Governor General’s Award, and the CBA Libris Award for NonFiction Book of the Year
“Nothing short of a poetic masterpiece. Every reviewer of the book thus far has been hard-pressed to find
anything wanting in it and collectively we are running out of superlatives to praise it.” Books in Canada
Compared by enraptured reviewers to Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Bruce Chatwin and even
Thoreau himself, Trevor Herriot blends voices and events from history with legend and
memoir in this award-winning narrative about a special river valley in the North American
Great Plains. This is an astonishing achievement from an important new voice.
World:
Dan Hill ** See Dan Hill’s website: www.danhill.com
I AM MY FATHER’S SON: A Memoir of Love and Forgiveness
“Absorbing . . . I Am My Father’s Son describes a complicated family, in a complicated
situation in a complicated time, and does it with honesty and verve.” Maclean’s
By age 23, Dan Hill he had already won several Junos and had been nominated for a
Grammy, having released three multi-platinum albums in Canada and another platinum
album in the United States. But as Hill continued to top the US charts in the 80s and find
equal success as a songwriter and producer for the music industry’s biggest stars in the 90s,
there was still one critic he could never satisfy: his father, a man who has been called
Canada’s father of human rights. I Am My Father’s Son traces this poignant, difficult
relationship through vivid family stories, letters, memories and his own award-winning lyrics,
often revealing the motivation behind the songs. He tells the story of two parallel lives,
alternating between his father’s experience of racism in mid-20th-century America and his
own search for identity as a young black man in suburban Canada. I Am My Father’s Son is an
intensely personal journey of revelation, examination and, ultimately, forgiveness.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Documentary Film Rights:
90th Parallel
Ernest Hillen
SMALL MERCIES: A Boy After the War.
Winner of the Viacom/Writers Trust Award for Non-Fiction
“An altogether remarkable book… Hillen returns to his boyhood, to the anxiety and excitement that peace
brought to World War II’s refugees, and to the years of his ‘growing up’ – travelling to London, and then
settling in Canada, after his family’s release from a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Java… Magic…
Unerringly beautiful writing.” Jury Citation, “A magnificent achievement.” The Globe and Mail
Canada:
Penguin
Holland:
Atlas
THE WAY OF A BOY: A Memoir of Java
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#1 Bestseller, Editor’s Choice Selection.
“Moves one by the gentleness, the considered truth, the simplicity. There is not a word too many, not a grief
too small.” Sir Dirk Bogarde
The author’s life as a child in Indonesia and in Japanese prison camps on Java during WWII.
Audio:
Isia
France:
Hachette
Australia:
Penguin
Holland:
Atlas
Canada:
Penguin
Japan:
Kodansha
Condens.:
Reader’s Digest
UK:
Viking/Penguin
Film:
Tapestry Films Ltd.
US:
Viking/Penguin
Paul Hoffert
THE NEW CLIENT: Customers Shape Business Rules in the Digital Age
Consumers and businesses are being empowered as the new economy collides with the old.
The New Client traces the transformation over the last ten years as citizens have become
“clients” who are more informed and wield control in their dealings with companies and
governments. Hoffert is an author, research scientist, educator, and media guru whose book
will appeal to almost all readers. The New Client delivers a visionary look at the world today.
Canada & UK: Viking/Penguin
ALL TOGETHER NOW: Connected Communities
We are all becoming more wired to each other; not only globally, but in our communities.
This will profoundly change the patterns of traffic, work, play and family life over the next
years. While many businesses have been investigating how they can cash in on e-commerce
opportunities, few are looking at how we will govern, educate, and organize our lives.
Canada:
Stoddart
THE BAGEL EFFECT: A Compass to Navigate our Wired World
The Bagel Effect is a term coined by Paul Hoffert to describe a major trend taking place all
around us; the movement of power and control from the center of systems (big
governments, big business, central regulators, bureaucracies) to their edges (into the hands of
citizens, customers and ordinary people).
Canada:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson
Thomas Homer-Dixon ** See Thomas Homer-Dixon’s website:
www.homerdixon.com
CARBON SHIFT
The twin crises of climate change and peaking oil production are converging on us. If they
are not to cook the planet and topple our civilization, we will need informed and decisive
policies, clear-sighted innovation, and a lucid understanding of what is at stake. We will need
to know where we stand, and which direction we should start out in. These are the
questions Carbon Shift addresses.
World:
Random House Canada
151
THE UPSIDE OF DOWN: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization
Winner of the National Business Book Award
“For over a decade, Thomas Homer-Dixon has provided that rare thing: a bridge between leading-edge
research and the lay reader. Now, addressing the great problems of our time, he points us towards a path
forward.” Robert Kaplan, “Anyone who doubts the seriousness of the human predicament should read
Thomas Homer-Dixon’s brilliant The Upside of Down. Anyone who understands the seriousness should
also read it for [his] insightful ideas about how to make society more resilient . . .” Paul Ehrlich
With the pressures we are putting on planet Earth, it is likely that we will soon face a
breakdown in the economic, political and ecological systems that sustain us, a breakdown
that could profoundly shake civilization. Homer-Dixon examines the growing risk of such a
crisis, and explains what we can do to limit its severity – and how we could even benefit
from it. Homer-Dixon reveals the systemic pressures that underlie today’s global problems –
from growing energy shortages to yawning economic inequalities – and shows why we need
to act now to remedy them. Along the way he sets out an innovative new theory of the
growth, collapse, and renewal of societies in general.
Australia:
Text
UK:
Souvenir Press
Canada:
Knopf
US:
Island Press
Holland:
Uitgeverij Van Arkel
THE INGENUITY GAP
Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction
“To scare us into action, [he] provides hair-raising examples of the effects of collapsing systems in Third
World countries… from such disparate fields as economics, ecology and biology, [he argues] for increased
efforts to nurture social as well as technical ingenuity.” Publishers Weekly
Like pilots called upon to rescue a jet that’s falling from the sky when there’s nothing in the
manual, today’s thinkers and so-called experts must manage complex challenges they’ve
never met before to keep the world’s problems from spinning out of control. How will our
societies supply the technical and social ingenuity required? Homer-Dixon is a professor of
Peace and Conflict Studies and has been an advisor to Al Gore.
Germany:
Paul List Verlag
Spain:
Espasa Calpe
World English:
Knopf Canada (UK: Jonathan Cape; US: Knopf)
World French:
Boreal
Michael Ignatieff
TRUE PATRIOT LOVE: Four Generations in Search of Canada
“An extraordinarily versatile writer…” British Arts Council
In 1872, Michael Ignatieff’s great-grandfather George Monro Grant set out with Sandford
Fleming to map out the railway line that would link Canada ocean to ocean. True Patriot Love
recreates his journey, seeing the country through Grant’s optimistic vision and tracing how
that vision filtered through his illustrious family tree. Recalling the novelistic flair of The
Russian Album, Ignatieff blends history, love of country, and tradition into an unforgettable
family memoir.
Canada:
Penguin
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Jay Ingram **See Jay Ingram’s website: www.jayingram.ca
FATAL FLAWS: How A Misfolded Protein Baffled Scientists And Changed
The Way We Look At The Brain
Jay Ingram unties a complicated interweaving of fundamental biology, medicine, human
tragedy, surprise, and disbelief in the world of prions to bring us some of history’s most
stunning revelations about disease, the brain, and infection.
Canada:
HarperCollins
World Ex. Canada: YUP
DAILY PLANET: THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF EVERYDAY SCIENCE
Daily Planet: The Ultimate Book of Everyday Science captures everything that has made the
enormously popular TV show Daily Planet great for the past 15 years: unusual, innovative
people; technologies and inventions that you couldn't have imagined before you saw them;
the extravagance of nature; the incomprehensibility of the universe; and even glimpses of the
future.
Canada: Penguin
THE DAILY PLANET BOOK OF COOL IDEAS
From icecaps to hot springs, Discovery Channel's Daily Planet traveled to remote corners of
the Earth to find out what we can do to reverse global warming and what people are doing
to create a sustainable future.
Canada: Penguin
THEATRE OF THE MIND: RAISING THE CURTAIN ON
CONSCIOUSNESS
Mixing science, philosophy, history and pop culture, Ingram transforms grey matter into a
brilliantly hued, completely understandable exploration of what’s really going on in our
conscious and unconscious minds.
World: HarperCollins
THE SCIENCE OF EVERYDAY LIFE
In this updated and expanded edition of The Science of Everyday Life, bestselling author Jay
Ingram explains weird and fascinating mysteries.
World:
Penguin Canada (Czech Republic: Albatros; Dutch: ECI; France: Editions
Multimondes; Germany: Droemer; Greece: Editions Katoptro; Japan:
Kodansha; Korea: Whistler; Portugal: Editora Globo)
THE VELOCITY OF HONEY: AND MORE SCIENCE OF EVERYDAY
LIFE
In The Velocity of Honey, bestselling author Jay Ingram muses upon daily mysteries that
puzzle and perplex.
Canada: Penguin
Czech Republic: Oldag
Dutch: Spectrum
French Canada: Editions Multimondes
153
Germany: Campus
Italy: Dedalo
Portugal: Editora Globo
UK: Aurum
US: Thunder's Mouth
THE BARMAID'S BRAIN AND OTHER STRANGE TALES FROM
SCIENCE
In The Barmaid's Brain, Jay Ingram explores some of the little known quirks of human
behaviour, including why we laugh and how we see mirages.
Canada: Penguin
Japan: Kinokuniya
Korea: Whistler
UK: Aurum
US: W.H. Freeman
A KID'S GUIDE TO THE BRAIN
A Kid's Guide to the Brain is filled to overflowing with amazing facts, experiments, brainbending puzzles and all the latest information about what happens inside your head.
Canada: Owl Books
THE BURNING HOUSE
Jay Ingram explores such cranial conundrums as: the stroke victim who constantly denies the
existence of the world's left side, the epileptic patient who emerges from brain surgery with
no capacity to store new memories, and the amputee encountering the eerie phenomenon of
the "phantom limb".
Canada: Penguin
China: Yuan Liou
Czech Republic: Interlit
Japan: Kinokuniya
Korea: Whistler
Poland: Proszynski I Ska
IT'S ALL IN YOUR BRAIN
Funston and Ingram give a brief description of how the brain and senses work, and then
encourage readers to explore their own faculties.
US: Grosset & Dunlap
TALK TALK TALK: DECODING THE MYSTERIES OF SPEECH
With his trademark mixture of erudition and wit, Jay Ingram explores almost everything
about that most fundamental of human activities – talking.
Canada: Penguin
France: Editions Multimondes
Korea: Whistler
US: Doubleday
154
REAL LIVE SCIENCE: TOP SCIENTISTS PRESENT AMAZING
ACTIVITIES ANY KID CAN DO
Jay Ingram presents a unique and entertaining report of recent experiments being conducted
by 21 scientists working in various universities and research labs across Canada. Each
scientist offers the young readers an experiment, related to their own work, that can be
carried out safely in the home environment. Topics range from animal to insect, from
human to environmental.
Canada: Owl Books
AMAZING INVESTIGATIONS: TWINS
A fascinating investigation into the world of twins. Jay discusses topics such as famous
twins, identical and fraternal twins, multiple births in animals, and the varied beliefs about
multiple births around the world.
US: Simon & Schuster
Ray Jayawardhana
NEUTRINO HUNTERS: The Thrilling Chase For A Ghostly Particle To
Unlock The Secrets Of The Universe
“Neutrino Hunters is a fascinating, comprehensive look at the monumental efforts to detect the least
understood particle known to physics. While the Higgs boson might be more famous, Ray Jayawardhana
reveals that neutrinos are far more mysterious, and may hold the key to the next breakthroughs in the field.”
Chad Orzel, author of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog
A thrilling journey into the shadowy world of neutrinos and the colorful lives of those who
seek them. Demystifying particle science along the way, he tells a detective story with cosmic
implications. As Jayawardhana recounts this captivating saga, he reveals why the next decade
of neutrino hunting will redefine how we think about physics, cosmology, and our lives on
Earth.
Canada:
HarperCollins
World (ex Canada): Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Italy: Codice Edizioni; UK: Oneworld)
STRANGE NEW WORLDS: The Search For Alien Planets And Life Beyond
Our Solar System
“Ray Jayawardhana brings the latest cutting-edge science to all those astounding science-fictional visions of
alien worlds, showing us that the universe is every bit as exciting as the masters of science fiction have always
claimed… In this terrific book, clearly and expertly written, he boldly goes out into the galaxy, showing us
strange – and wondrous – new worlds.” Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author
At the crux of this exciting book is one basic question: is our solar system – with at least one
warm, wet, rocky world teeming with life – the exception or the norm? Astronomers expect
to find alien Earths by the dozens within the next few years, and to look for telltale signs of
alien life before this decade is out. If they find that ours isn’t the only inhabited world, the
ramifications are nothing short of astounding. Written by one of the finest communicators
in the field, a frontline astronomer with a formidable gift for lucid exposition, this book is
current and compelling. Rich with history, ideas, and personalities, it conveys the excitement
of an epic quest.
Canada:
HarperCollins
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Italy:
World English (excluding Canada):
Codice Edizioni
Princeton University Press
Agent: John Pearce
Ann Dowsett Johnston **See Ann's website: www.anndowsettjohnston.com
DRINK: The Intimate Relationship Between Women And Alcohol
National bestseller
Winner of the Research Society on Alcoholism’s 15th Annual RSA Media Award
“Ann Dowsett Johnston brilliantly captures how addiction stealthily invades lives. She courageously delves
into the lure of alcohol – whether it comes from the culture around us, the false promises, or the pain we seek
to numb. Drink is an important and timely call to attention for the rise of binge-drinking and alcohol
addiction in women of all ages.” David A. Kessler, M.D., author of the The End of Overeating
Drink shares a multitude of harrowing and compelling stories, framed by Dowsett
Johnston’s own drinking diaries. The anecdotes are placed in a broad sociological context,
exploring female “drunkorexia,” fetal alcohol syndrome, the role of trauma and mood
disorders, and the growth of female-focused treatment.
World:
HarperCollins US (Australia: HarperCollins; Canada: HarperCollins;
Czech Republic: Volvox Globator; Poland: Foksal; Romania: Editura
Globo; UK: HarperCollins [published as The Drinking Diaries])
Tom Jokinen
CURTAINS: Adventures Of An Undertaker In Training
Shortlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
“In this report on the modern funeral industry, Jokinen updates The American Way of Death, Jessica
Mitford’s classic 1963 treatise on the subject…An astute, measured look at the modern death-care
industry.” Kirkus Reviews
Tom Jokinen quit a good government job to work for eight months at Neil Bardal’s
Winnipeg funeral home and crematorium as a trainee undertaker. This drastic vocational
change gave him an amazing opportunity to explore, first-hand, our culture’s relationship
with the dead, dying, and left behind.
Australia:
Canada:
Random House
US:
Da Capo Press / Perseus
Agent: John Pearce
George Jonas
THE JONAS VARIATIONS: A Literary Seance
A one-of-a-kind collection: free translations, imitations, variations, reverberations, and
refutations of poems in other languages that inspired its author—poet, writer and journalist
George Jonas—to words in English. The poets span centuries; the languages include Latin,
Arabic, French, German, Hungarian, Russian, and Spanish. A thumbnail portrait of each
poet in the context of his times precedes Jonas’s versions and re-visionings: poets as well
known as Catullus, Dante, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Heine, and Rilke rub shoulders with names
much less familiar to most readers. Jonas conjures up the spirits of his poets, dialogues with
them, and in doing so gives them new life. This romp through multilingual literary history is
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at once a very personal project and an inspiring example of oneman’s lifetime engagement
with poetry.
Canada: Cormorant
BEETHOVEN’S MASK: Notes on My Life and Times
“Jonas is a good writer, a clever and witty European whose mastery of English is not only flawless but elegant
and daring.” The Globe and Mail
Beethoven’s Mask is an extraordinary, riveting read that will engage any reader interested in the
twentieth century, its foibles, evils, comic and comedic aspects, and the self-destructive urge
of humanity that drove Europe and, ultimately, the rest of world into the horrendous
bloodshed of the Second World War and its aftermath. The book is, at once, a memoir of
George Jonas’s times and a portrait of the times themselves. It takes the form of a journey
log, describing some key episodes in his life and in the lives of others famous, infamous, and
anonymous he encountered in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. The narrative
covers the period between 1935 and 2001, from just before the outbreak of the Second
World War to just before the outbreak of the Second Islamic War.
Canada:
Key Porter
Hungary:
Partvonal Kiado
Eve Joseph
IN THE SLENDER MARGIN
“[An] unflinching, simultaneous embrace of death’s reality and persistent mystery.” The Globe and Mail
Part memoir, part meditation, In The Slender Margin is an exploration of death from an
“insider’s” point of view. Joseph draws on history, religion, philosophy, literature, personal
anecdote, poetry and pop culture to discern the unknowable and illuminate her travels
through the land of death and dying. She attempts to understand what she has seen – the
mysterious and the horrific – with the light of art and the imagination. Her tales and
reported conversations from the rooms of death are sometimes comic, sometimes grim,
sometimes serene. They are all memorable.
Canada:
Patrick Crean Editions/HarperCollins
US:
Arcade (Skyhorse Publishing)
Agent: John Pearce
Malalai Joya ** See Malalai Joya’s website: www.malalaijoya.com
A WOMAN AMONG WARLORDS: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan
Woman Who Dared to Raise Her Voice
Named to the 2010 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people
in the world, winner of the 2009 International Anti-Discrimination Award
“The most famous woman in Afghanistan.” The BBC
Malalai Joya made headlines in 2007 when she was expelled from the Afghan parliament
under the charge of “insulting the institution.” At 29, Joya was the youngest MP, an
internationally renowned advocate for women’s rights and democracy, and an outspoken
critic of warlords in the Constitutional Assembly. After four assassination attempts, Joya
now lives and travels clandestinely, under armed guard. Joya has experienced the myriad
sufferings of Afghans in recent decades, but has sought to restore democracy, women’s
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rights, and social justice. Joya’s personal story is compelling, inspirational, and critical to
understanding one of the long-running conflict zones of our time.
Australia:
Macmillan
North America: Scribner / Simon &
Schuster
Denmark:
Verve Books
Norway:
Spartacus
France:
Presses de la Cité
Portugal:
Quidnovi
Germany:
Piper
Italy:
Piemme
Holland:
De Geus
Romania:
Editura Alfa SRL
Marathi:
Ameya Prakashan
Spain:
Kailas
Malayalam:
Akam Books
UK:
Rider /
Indonesia:
Hikmah Publishing House
Random House
Israel:
Modan Publishing House
Susan Juby (see also Fiction) ** See Susan Juby’s website: www.susanjuby.com
THE TRUTH COMMISSION
Amazon Best Book of the Month
“Hilarious, deliciously provocative and slyly thought-provoking” Kirkus starred review; “A sharp-edged
portrait of a dysfunctional family with some thought-provoking ideas about what is real.” Publishers Weekly
starred review; “A surprising, witty and compulsive read,” School Library Journal starred review, Hornbook
starred review
When Normandy Pale’s best friends – Neil, a lounge lizard whom Normandy secretly loves,
and Dusk, a depressed beauty – ask Aimee Danes about her tiny new nose and increased bra
size, Aimee seems more than happy to talk. Exhilarated by the experience, they form the
Truth Commission, to seek truth in an ever more dishonest world, especially when the truth
seems obvious but goes unacknowledged. The Truth Commission is about the philosophical
and moral questions – and consequences – that arise from telling the truth about yourself
and demanding the truth from others. In this era of rapidly eroding privacy and oversharing,
what is the status of truth?
Canada:
Razorbill / Penguin
World excl. Canada: Viking Children’s Books / Penguin US (North America Audio:
Brilliance; Germany: cbj / Random House) (2 books)
NICE RECOVERY
A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book
“It is smart, funny, lyrical, desperately candid, and astonishingly generous.” Chris Crutcher
“Quite simply, an inspiration.” The Globe and Mail
Susan Juby started out as a bright, creative student with an innate ability to write incredibly
stories. But at the age of thirteen her life began to unravel, and like many teens she turned to
alcohol to get her through the awkward stages of searching for a unique identity while trying
to fit in at school. In this revealing memoir she details her painful and sometimes funny
experiences on the road to sobriety at a time when most young adults are just starting their
drinking careers.
Canada:
Penguin
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Jonathan Kay
AMONG THE TRUTHERS: 9/11 Conspiracy Theories And The People Who
Believe Them
The first book-length narrative that offers readers a window into the human side of the Truth
movement – into its origins, mythologies, cult-like social dynamics, feuds, radical politics,
propaganda techniques, and recruitment methods. Other parts of the book show readers
how the Truth movement fits into the larger history of conspiracy theories – from Crusadesera secret societies, to the French Revolution, to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and
the assassination of JFK. Throughout history, conspiracy theories have blossomed at times
when people were confused, scared and powerless. This is one of those times. Kay shows
that while Truthers’ fantasies may seem ridiculous, their popularity speaks volumes about the
frightening world we all now inhabit.
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
HarperCollins
Film Rights: Documentary: 90th Parallel Productions
Deirdre Kelly **See Deirdre Kelly’s website: www.deirdrekelly.com
BALLERINA: Sex, Scandal, and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection
A Globe and Mail Top 100 book
“. . spellbinding yet harrowing…” Publishers Weekly
A controversial look at the brutal backstage existence of some of the world's most celebrated ballerinas.
North America:
Greystone
PARIS TIMES EIGHT: Finding Myself in the City of Dreams
“Witty and candid, this book reveals how cities are as much creations of the imagination as they are
constructs of steel, stone, and glass.” Richard Florida, Atlantic Monthly correspondent
At 19, Kelly arrived in Paris to work as an au pair, desperate to escape a difficult relationship
with her mother and ready to test herself. Later she visited Paris as a budding writer; as a
dance critic who not only interviews the legendary Nureyev but also receives a private tour
of the Paris Opera from him; and as a fashion reporter forced to crash one of the most
exclusive shows. Kelly also takes her mother to Paris, with not altogether happy results. She
takes her future husband and on her last trip, she arrives as a mother herself. During all these
visits, Paris is the constant, but Kelly’s continually shifting emotional world creates varying
perspectives on both the city and her evolving self.
North America: Greystone Books
Thomas King (see also Fiction)
THE INCONVENIENT INDIAN: A Curious Account of Native People in
North America
Finalist for Canada Reads 2015
Nominated for the Canadian Booksellers Association Non-Fiction Book of the Year
FINALIST 2013 – Trillium Award
FINALIST 2013 – Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction
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The Inconvenient Indian distills the insights gleaned from Thomas King's critical and personal
meditation on what it means to be "Indian" in North America, weaving the curiously circular
tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first
encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events
and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex
experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the
cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.
Canada:
Doubleday
Canada French: Boreal
Film:
90th Parallel Productions (Documentary)
US:
THE TRUTH ABOUT STORIES: A Native Narrative
Winner of the Trillium Book Prize
Stories assert tremendous control our lives, informing who we are and how we treat one
another as friends, family, and citizens. Beginning with a traditional Native oral story, King
weaves his way through literature and history, religion and politics, popular culture and social
protest, gracefully elucidating North America’s relationship with its Native peoples.
World:
Anansi (US: University of Minnesota Press)
Anne Kingston
THE MEANING OF WIFE
“Shrewd and entertaining...[Kingston’s] writing combines the satirical zest of Tom Wolfe with the erudition
of Margaret Visser.” The Globe and Mail
The Meaning of Wife takes the reader on a fascinating journey – into the wedding industrial
complex, which elevates the bride to a potent consumer icon, through the recent
romanticization of domesticity, and into the conflicted territory of wifely sexuality.
Constantly engaging and often surprising, the book trains a new lens on contemporary
female icons, real and fictional, and a cast of characters that includes both the famous and
the unknown – from militant ex-wives changing legislation, to wives attending how-to sex
seminars, to economists rethinking the value of “wifework” in what portends to be the next
major social revolution.
Brazil:
Record
Spain:
Ediciones B
Canada:
HarperCollins
UK:
Piatkus
China:
China Women (Simplified)
US:
Farrar, Straus &
Giroux
Bruce Kirkby **See Bruce Kirkby’s website: www.brucekirkby.com
THE DOLPHIN’S TOOTH
Shortlisted for Best Book – Adventure Travel at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival
“Kirkby balances beautiful, haunting and evocative passages about the natural world with action sequences
that build suspense to an almost overwhelming level.” Vancouver Sun.
Drawing on fourteen high-action adventures all over the globe, Canada’s premier adventure
traveller chronicles his inner and outer journey to his present life of extreme adventure – the
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journey Bruce Kirkby took as his love of the wilderness and craving of physical challenge led
him to extricate himself from a humdrum existence in engineering and commit himself to
round-the-year, high-risk adventuring. The expeditions in this book span a whole decade and
range from Everest to Arabia; from the jungles of Belize to the high plateau of Tibet; from
cycling in Pakistan to sea-kayaking in Myanmar; from white-water rafting in the high Arctic
to gun fights and crocodile attacks in the depths of the Blue Nile Gorge – all complemented
by some superb photography. A vivid and passionate storyteller, Kirkby sweeps us along
with him on his unforgettable journeys. He is brutally honest about the highs and the lows,
the raw emotions and friction that develop on strenuous expeditions. And throughout we
sense not just the development of his own adventurous spirit but the amazing potential of
the human spirit.
World (excl. UK): McClelland & Stewart
SAND DANCE: By Camel Across Arabia’s Great Southern Desert
Best Book-Adventure Travel, Banff Mountain Festival
“Wonderfully rich and rewarding on many levels, Kirkby’s book is unaffectedly honest. It is an immense achievement,
as book and journey, one that made me laugh and weep for both sorrow and joy.” The Globe and Mail
For forty days and forty nights during the winter of 1999, three Canadians, including Bruce
Kirkby, travelled 1,200 kilometres by camel across Arabia’s great southern desert – the
legendary Empty Quarter. It was the first such crossing since Sir Wilfrid Thesiger’s
expedition in 1947. Bruce Kirkby’s thoughtful and deeply felt account of this challenging
expedition has gone into the annals of classic travel adventure.
World:
McClelland & Stewart (Germany: Malik Press; Middle East: Motivate Press;
Portugual: Publicacoes Europa America)
Agent: John Pearce
Jerry Kobalenko **See Jerry Kobalenko’s website: www.kobalenko.com
THE HORIZONTAL EVEREST: Extreme Journeys on Ellesmere Island
Winner of the Banff Mountain Book Festival Adventure Travel Award, Shortlisted for The
Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize and the Torgi Award
“Think of Banff-based adventurer Jerry Kobalenko as Canada’s Jon Krakauer – except that Kobalenko’s
playground is Ellesmere Island, and he’s a better writer.” The Globe and Mail
Both the heaven and the hell of the high Arctic, Ellesmere Island lies a mere 450 miles from
the North pole and has the highest misery-per-visitor ratio in the world. Kobalenko follows
in the footsteps of the great explorers and reflects on the meaning of extreme adventure and
his own complicated relationship with the island.
Canada:
Penguin
Italy:
Bompiani
Film:
Canadian Geographic
UK & US:
Soho
Bruce Krahn **See Bruce Krahn’s website: www.brucekrahn.com
TROUBLE SPOT FAT LOSS: Lose Weight, Build Muscle, and Say Goodbye
to Problem Areas for Good
We are obsessed with fat. But how much do we really know about it? In Trouble Spot Fat Loss,
Bruce Krahn tackles fat-loss myths, explains what fat is, how it works, and how to drop it
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from trouble areas in a healthy and sustainable way. This book tells you where to start and
how to stay motivated to achieve the healthy body you’ve always wanted.
World:
Appetite / Random House Canada
Lesley Krueger (see also Fiction) **See Lesley Krueger’s website:
www.lesleykrueger.com
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCES: A Traveler’s Tales
An Ottawa Citizen Best of the Season Book, A Maclean’s Exceptional Canadian Title
“Full of rightly detailed descriptions of her travels… part memoir, part observance of foreign cultures…deft
and sensitive.” Quill & Quire
From the moment she was old enough to strike out on her own, Lesley Krueger began to
travel. Her two grandmothers, on the other hand, were reluctant immigrants to Canada,
expatriates who never felt they belonged in their new land, and remained forever foreigners
looking back home. In this story of one woman’s quest to understand what it means to
belong, Krueger weaves her own story of travel and living abroad around a patchwork of her
grandmothers’ stories.
Canada:
Key Porter
Gordon Laird ** See Gordon Laird’s website: www.gordonlaird.com
THE PRICE OF A BARGAIN: The Quest for Cheap and the Death of
Globalization
Shortlisted for the Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction, a Globe and Mail Best Book
“Masterful…Laird lays bare the cost of bargains in compelling detail.” The Globe and Mail
With documentary storytelling and investigative detail, Gordon Laird traces the bargain from
its humble origins. Along the way, he discovers that much of today’s consumer economy is
dangerously dependent upon unsustainable labour, transport, resources, trade imbalances,
and consumer debt. Amid global economic crises, our whole system of cheap is leveraged in
ways we are only just beginning to understand – and broken in ways that may not be easily
fixed. From Asia’s factory borderlands to rural Mexico, from Las Vegas to the Arctic Circle,
The Price of a Bargain explores the hidden revolution of discounting and attempts to reckon
the promise and consequence of everyday low prices.
China (Complex): Goodness Publishing House (expired)
Korea:
Minumsa
North America: McClelland & Stewart (US: Palgrave Macmillan)
Daniel Lak
INDIA EXPRESS: The Future of a New Superpower
“[Daniel Lak] understands the nuanced realities of the region and never fails to find the human side of a
complex and troubling situation.” Kathy Gannon, author of I is for Infidel
In this panoramic view of the new India, Daniel Lak uses vivid narrative to show that the
world’s largest democracy is well on its way to becoming not only one of the world’s
dominant economies but the next liberal superpower. Lak – a Canadian journalist who
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covered the Indian sub-continent for the BBC for nearly twelve years – takes his readers on
a heady tour of India, exploring its bloated cities and its loud, often profane, democracy
through the eyes of a wondrous array of characters. The result is a lively and riveting portrait
of growing wealth and influence.
Canada:
Penguin
World English (excl. Canada & India):
India:
Penguin
Palgrave Macmillan
Japan:
Kobunsha
Agent: John Pearce
Andy Lamey
FRONTIER JUSTICE: The Global Refugee Crisis And What To Do About It
“… Journalist and ethics scholar Lamey has produced a superb and immensely readable work that provides
a very accessible and truly global tour of the legal status of refugees by examining the political and legal
situation in a dozen countries.” The Literary Review of Canada
An eye-opening exploration of the worldwide refugee crisis. Combining reporting, history,
and political philosophy, Andy Lamey sets out to explain the story behind the radical
increase in the global number of asylum-seekers, and the effects of North America and
Europe’s increasing unwillingness to admit them.
Australia:
Canada:
Doubleday
Silken Laumann
UNSINKABLE
National Bestseller
“Unsinkable is a moving and fearless memoir by a great Canadian athlete, advocate and role model.”
Toronto Star
In May 1992, just ten weeks before the Olympic Games, Silken Laumann was injured in a
brutal rowing accident that left her right leg shattered and useless. When the starter’s pistol
rang out on August 2nd, 1992, Silken made the greatest comeback in Canadian sports history,
winning the bronze medal for Canada and capturing the hearts of a nation. Unsinkable is her
no-holds-barred memoir, revealing not only new insights into Silken’s Olympic success and
extraordinary triumph over physical adversity, but also a much darker hidden story about the
intense personal challenges of her past.
Canada:
HarperCollins
James Laxer **See James Laxer’s website: www.jameslaxer.com
THE PERILS OF EMPIRE: Lessons for the 21st Century from the American
Empire and its Predecessors
The Perils of Empire assesses the new form of empire invented by America – one that exerts
economic, political, military and cultural dominance over large parts of the world where its
flag does not fly – and compares it with empires from history. Is the US, with its democratic
heritage, suited to sustaining an empire? Beyond the present crises in the Middle East and
Central Asia, is America headed for a showdown with China? Deeply researched and full of
historical insights, The Perils of Empire sounds a warning about critical challenges facing
America that have repercussions around the globe.
WCA Backlist Catalogue www.wcaltd.com September 2014
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Canada:
Penguin
Ezra Levant
THE ENEMY WITHIN: Terror, Lies, And The Whitewashing Of Omar
Khadr
Omar Khadr is the last Western prisoner at Guantanamo Bay. He has been detained at the
American naval base since October 2002, for killing a US sergeant in Afghanistan. Khadr’s
defense lawyers argued that, according to international law, their client, then fifteen, was a
child soldier and should be treated as a ‘victim.’ The Enemy Within includes shocking
information about the Khadr family, Khadr’s psychological assessment, and his trial that has
been willfully ignored in the mainstream media. Challenging the conventional wisdom about
the Khadr case, Ezra Levant takes a provocative look at the definition of ‘child soldier,’ life
at Guantanamo Bay, the tainted plea bargain, and the agreement in principle to return Omar
Khadr to Canada.
Allan Levine (see also Fiction) ** See Allan Levine’s website:
www.allanlevinebooks.com
TORONTO: Biography of a City
Shortlisted for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award
Shortlisted for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-fiction
“Bloody amazing, brings Toronto alive as never before. Hogtown is dead. A shining metropolis lives." -Peter C. Newman
Delves into the character of a city that strives to balance urban development with the
preservation of its distinct neighbourhoods, to maintain its status without losing its
individuality.
North America:
Douglas & McIntyre
THE DEVIL IN BABYLON: Fear of Progress and the Birth of Modern Life
Nominated for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Alexander Kennedy
Isbister Award for Non-Fiction
What would the modern world look like? Who would be its leaders? What values would it
embrace? What was meant by the term ‘progress’? Written in Levine’s trademark accessible
style, The Devil in Babylon introduces personalities, traditionalists as well as progressives, the
powerful and the powerless, who shaped and gave birth to modern North American society.
Their personal experiences are set against moral conflicts about society’s future – the impact
of immigration, the role of women, the conflict between science and religion, the place of
radicalism in a democracy, the effect of the radio and automobile, and the influence of
Hollywood.
World:
SCATTERED AMONG THE PEOPLES: The Jewish Diaspora in Ten Portraits
From Seville in 1492 to Kiev in 1967, this fascinating book brings to life key moments in
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history in a series of intimate moment-in-time portraits of individual people, their families
and communities, and the cities they inhabited. Their successes or failures – as teachers,
rabbis, merchants, writers, soldiers and physicians – adds a colourful and very human
dimension to the sprawling saga of the Diaspora.
World:
McClelland & Stewart (UK: Duckworth; US: Overlook)
FUGITIVES OF THE FOREST: The Heroic Story of Jewish Resistance and
Survival during the Second World War
Winner the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Prize, Shortlisted for the Manitoba Book Award
Between 1940-1945, thousands of Jewish men, women and children eluded Nazi search
parties and Polish and Soviet soldiers by hiding in the forests of Eastern Europe. Their
stories of struggle and courage have never reached a general audience before.
World:
Stoddart
Dr. Marc Lewis
MEMOIRS OF AN ADDICTED BRAIN: A NEUROSCIENTIST
EXAMINES HIS FORMER LIFE ON DRUGS
“Foremost, his story illustrates the paradox of addiction: that even though the brain is changed by drugs, the
brain-owner is not helpless. He can, if motivated, devise strategies to deafen himself to the siren call of altered
states.” The Wall Street Journal
Why are we so driven, often at great cost to ourselves? No one is better qualified to answer
these questions than Dr. Marc Lewis. Dr. Lewis is a distinguished neuroscientist and for
many years, he was a drug addict himself, dependent on a long series of dangerous
substances. His narrative moves back and forth between the long, dark, ultimately
triumphant story of his relationship with drugs, and a revelatory analysis of what was going
on in his brain.
Australia:
Scribe
Holland:
Maven
Canada:
Doubleday
World English (excl. Australia &
Film: 90th Parallel Productions
Canada): Public Affairs / Perseus US
Agent: Michael A Levine
Jake MacDonald (see also Children’s/Young Adult) ** See Jake MacDonald’s
website: www.jakemacdonald.ca
GRIZZLYVILLE: Adventures in Bear Country
Shorlisted for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction and the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book
Award
“Jake MacDonald has written a vivid book, rich in detail, about one of the earth’s greatest creatures.”
Thomas McGuane, author of The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing
Bears live at the edge of our consciousness as they live at the edge of our wilderness, and
they’re closing in as we destroy their habitat. But everything we believe about them is wrong.
Travelling extensively across North America, acclaimed nature writer Jake MacDonald
immerses himself in the world of bears and the people connected to them: the trappers,
hunters, scientists and enthusiasts. Combining reportage with research and memoir,
MacDonald addresses our fear and fascination with bears by exploring natural history from
prehistoric days, the bear invasion in pop culture, and the prognosis for their future.
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North America: HarperCollins (US: Lyons Press)
WITH THE BOYS: Field Notes on Being A Guy
Nominated for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction
“While MacDonald’s reverence is profound and genuine, it’s not over-stated . . . [he] keeps his imagery
vibrant without overdoing it.” Publishers Weekly
According to Jake MacDonald, men conduct a number of lives which operate in parallel.
They often tell their families and spouses that they are going to spend the evening “with the
boys” but never really explain what goes on when the company becomes entirely male. They
fish, they hunt, they take off on foreign jaunts. Typical guy stuff, maybe, but MacDonald
writes about these adventures with the sensitivity of a man who was taught ethics by his
father, who cherishes nature, and who loves the company of women.
World English: Greystone
HOUSEBOAT CHRONICLES: Notes from a Life in Shield Country
Winner of the Pearson Writers’ Trust Award for Non-Fiction, the McNally-Robinson Book
of the Year Award and the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction, A Globe and
Mail Top 100 Books of 2002, Nominated for a Torgi Award
“MacDonald is a wry, witty, and self-effacing writer, with as keen an eye for human character as he has for
the natural world. Houseboat Chronicles is a joy to read…” Quill & Quire
This beguiling book, written partly as a memoir and party as reportage, brilliantly evokes
both the wilderness and the people who make a living there. MacDonald writes about the
precarious existence of the guides, bush pilots, cops, camp owners, and others who, more or
less explicitly, share his love of the beautiful, untameable land they inhabit.
Canada:
US:
Lyons Press
David Macfarlane (see also Fiction)
THE DANGER TREE: Memory, War and the Search for a Family’s Past
[Published in the UK as COME FROM AWAY]
Winner of the Canadian Authors Association Award, One of Atlantic Monthly’s Top Ten
Books of 2001
“Splendid!” The New York Times, “It is so good. About the best prose ever to come out of this country, for
my money.” Alice Munro, “Easily one of the most readable and beautifully written books to emerge from
Canada in recent years.” Mordecai Richler, “Uncommonly wise and moving.” Jonathan Yardley, The
Washington Post
A compelling true saga set in Newfoundland, which considers the meaning of family, the
nature of love, the pathos of war, and the consequences of forgotten history.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Canada French: Les Herbes Rouges
Documentary: CBC
UK:
Macdonald/Little Brown
US:
Walker & Company
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Roy MacGregor (see also Fiction and Children’s/Young Adult)
THE WEEKENDER: A Cottage Journal
“It’s hard to imagine anyone today who is writing more lyrically about Canada than Roy MacGregor.”
Toronto Star
The Weekender takes the reader through a typical year – the pleasures, great and small, and
the occasional pains – of cottage living.
Canada:
Penguin
HOME GAME: Hockey and Life in Canada (with Ken Dryden)
Ken Dryden and Roy MacGregor team up to write an extraordinary book, one that takes us
all the way from street hockey to the showdowns between Canada and the Soviets.
Canada:
ESCAPE
In this richly rewarding and moving book, one of Canada’s best-loved writers turns his
attention to a topic rooted deep in the national psyche: the lure of nature – from the
neighbourhood park to the wilderness – the promise it offers of escape, and its enduring
influence in so many Canadian lives. Containing lively history, personal memoir, and nature
writing charged with wonder and curiosity, Escape is a marvel of effortless humour,
understanding and grace.
Canada:
A LIFE IN THE BUSH: Lessons From My Father
In 1929, at the age of twenty-two, Duncan MacGregor, the son of a lumberman, greatgrandson of a voyageur, and an avid reader and baseball fan, headed off into the largest tract
of preserved bush in the world: Ontario’s Algonquin Park. When he got there, he was home
for the rest of his life. In this beautifully crafted memoir of his father, Roy MacGregor paints
an intimate portrait of a remarkable man and spins a spellbinding tale of a son’s complex
relationship with his father.
Canada:
Penguin
Mark MacKinnon
THE NEW COLD WAR: Revolutions, Rigged Elections and Pipeline Politics
in the Former Soviet Union
“If you’ve never read a book about the politics in the former Soviet Union, make an exception for this one... It’s
a real-life political drama, a non-fiction page-turner that will keep you up at night.” The Montreal Gazette
The New Cold War shows the democratic revolutions in Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine as links
in the same chain of American-orchestrated events. Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin and the West
have been engaged in a battle over the White House’s and Hungarian billionaire financier
George Soros’ plans to spread democracy to the former Soviet Union. At stake is the future
course of more than a dozen countries, inhabited by some 200 million people. Vividly
written by The Globe and Mail’s Moscow bureau chief from 2002 to 2005, and combining
colour from the streets of Belgrade, Tbilisi and Kiev, The New Cold War also looks ahead to
the battles not yet decided – and to the future of Russia itself.
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Canada:
Estonia:
Random House
Pegasus
Turkey:
US:
Destek Yaylinari
Basic Books
Agent: John Pearce
Natalie MacLean ** See Natalie MacLean’s website: www.nataliemaclean.com
UNQUENCHABLE: A Tipsy Quest For The World’s Best Bargain Wines
“A new force in the wine writing world – a feisty North American answer to Hugh Johnson and Jancis
Robinson.” The Financial Times
Standing firmly against wine snobbery by insisting that good wine doesn’t have to be
expensive, Adventures of a (Choosy) Wine Cheapskate follows award-winning wine writer Natalie
MacLean as she travels the globe on an uncompromising quest to find fabulous wine
bargains.
Canada:
Doubleday
World (excluding Canada): Putnam /
Penguin
RED, WHITE, AND DRUNK ALL OVER: A Wine-Soaked Journey From
Grape to Gullet
“At last, a wine writer who admits flat out that she likes the alcohol part about as much as the ‘nose’ and all
the other esoteric nuances . . . Refreshingly accessible and good-humored entrée into the world of wine.” Kirkus
In the tradition of MFK Fisher and Anthony Bourdain, a four-time James Beard and IACPaward-winning wine writer takes readers on an anecdotal journey through the world of wine.
Wine is often relegated to consumer guides and encyclopedias; Natalie MacLean – an
accredited sommelier whose award-winning e-newsletter reaches readers all around the
world – gives it a narrative. Firmly rooted in the great tradition of wine and food writing, she
brings you the stories behind the evocative places and charismatic, obsessive and innovative
characters who make up the international wine world.
Canada:
Doubleday
World English (excl. Canada): Bloomsbury US (Germany: Bloomsbury; Holland: Sirene;
Slovakia: Slovart; UK: Bloomsbury)
Victor Malarek
THE JOHNS: Sex For Sale And The Men Who Buy It
“The Johns by Victor Malarek is a first, crucial, long-overdue look at a global secret: the identities of
customers who make sex trafficking profitable. Read it, weep, and begin to humanize the idea that
‘masculinity’ requires dominance and humiliation.” – Gloria Steinem
In the past two decades, there has been a global explosion in the numbers of men venturing
out for paid sex. Each year, an estimated 800,000 victims are lured into prostitution, and join
an estimated 10 million women and children already ensnared in the $20-billion, worldwide
sex trade. The Johns investigates why armies of men around the world venture out onto the
side-streets of their home towns or sign on to sex junkets to places like Thailand, Cambodia,
Brazil, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Cuba, Russia and Germany. This is a hard-hitting, critical
look at the unbelievable damage, devastation and suffering these prostitute-users cause, and
unmasks the kinds of men these Johns are.
Canada:
Key Porter Books
US:
Arcade Publishing
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French World: M Editeur
THE NATASHAS: The New Global Sex Trade
“The Natashas isn’t just a book. It’s a call to action.” The Montreal Gazette, “A powerful expose of a
modern day slave trade.” The National Post
Coming from the impoverished nations of the former East Bloc, over a million young
women have been forced into a life of brutal slavery as prostitutes throughout Western
Europe, the Middle East and North America. Countless numbers are murdered or commit
suicide. Many escape or are rescued from dungeon-like brothels run by ruthless gangsters
only to return home marked as disease-ridden whores. These women are trapped in a vicious
underground industry that nets organized crime more than $15-billion a year. The Natashas
opens up the savagery of this dark and violent world, revealing police and government
corruption, the scandalous involvement of UN peacekeepers and international police
officers, and the indifference of so-called democratic nations that simply turn a blind eye.
Canada:
Penguin
Spain:
Kailas
Estonia:
Sinisukk
Turkey:
Bilgi
Finland:
Otava
Ukraine:
CURE*
Indonesia:
Serambi Ilmu Semesta
UK:
Vision Books
Romania:
Humanitas
US:
Arcade
Russia:
CoLibri
*non exclusive rights for non-profit purposes.
GUT INSTINCT: The Making of an Investigative Reporter
Gut Instinct takes readers on a riveting ride behind the scenes of many of Victor Malarek’s
investigations during his twenty-year career in newspapers.
Canada:
Macmillan
MERCHANTS OF MISERY
This book takes sharp aim at Canada’s illegal drug scene.
Canada:
Macmillan/McClelland & Stewart
HAVEN’S GATE: Canada’s Immigration Fiasco
Haven’s Gate furthers Malarek’s probe of Canada’s immigration and refugee system that he
began for The Globe and Mail.
Canada:
Macmillan
HEY...MALAREK!
Malarek documents his troubled and tumultuous childhood and teenage years while in the
so-called care of the Quebec child welfare system. In 1988, it was made into a feature movie,
and in 1991/92 was the basis of 16 one-hour dramatic episodes on CBC TV called: Urban
Angel.
Canada:
Macmillan/GoodRead
Canada French: Edition Trecarre
Irshad Manji
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THE TROUBLE WITH ISLAM: A Wake-Up Call for Honesty and Change
In this open letter to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, Manji asks pointed questions about
mainstream Islam. “Why are we all being held hostage by what’s happening between the
Palestinians and the Israelis? Who is the real colonizer of Muslims – America or Arabia?
Why are we squandering the talents of women, fully half of God’s creation?” Manji offers a
practical vision of how Islam can undergo a reformation that empowers women, promotes
respect for religious minorities, and fosters a competition of ideas. Her vision revives Islam’s
lost tradition of independent thought.
Film:
90th Parallel
World:
Random House Canada (Australia: Random House; France: Editions Grasset
& Fasquelle; Germany: Eichborn; Greece: Agrya Publishing; Holland: Bruna;
Israel: Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir; UK: Mainstream Publishing; US: St. Martin’s)
Jeannie Marshall **See Jeannie Marshall’s website: www.jeanniemarshall.com
OUTSIDE THE BOX: Why Our Children Need Real Food, Not Food
Products
“In this beautifully written book about what needs to be done to preserve food culture in Italy and elsewhere,
Marshall makes the political personal as she explains how she is teaching her son Nico to enjoy the pleasures
of eating food prepared, cooked, and lovingly shared by friends and family.” Marion Nestle, author of What
to Eat
Through discussions with food crusaders such as Alice Waters, with chefs in Italy,
nutritionists, fresh food vendors and parents from all over, and with big food companies
such as PepsiCo and Nestlé, Marshall gets behind the issues of our children’s failing
nutrition and serves up a simple recipe for a return to real food.
Canada:
Random House
World English (excl. Canada): Beacon Press
Agents: Jackie Kaiser & Chris Casuccio
William Marshall
FILM FESTIVAL CONFIDENTIAL
“An intriguing inside look at one of the greatest Film Festivals in the world by one of the guys who started
the whole thing.” Norman Jewison
William Marshall, founder of the Toronto Film Festival, takes us behind the scenes of TIFF
and other major festivals 30 years ago and through the heady days since, offering readers a
mix of gossip, glamour, and tips about the Top Ten Festivals in the world. With 3500
festivals a year around the world devoted to cinema, the author takes a close look at the
history of film festivals as well as what makes some work but most fail. Revealing secrets of
creating the world’s best and biggest public Film Festival, Marshall offers an insider’s tour of
the global festival circuit as well as investigates the future of these festivals from Cannes to
Berlin to Bangkok.
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Yann Martel (See also Fiction)
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WHAT IS STEPHEN HARPER READING: Yann Martel’s Reccommended
Reading for a Prime Minister and Book Lovers of All Stripes
Brazil:
Ediouro
Canada:
Knopf
Canada French: XYZ
China (simplified): Yinlin
Korea:
Jakkajungsin
Dr James Maskalyk ** See Dr James Maskalyk’s website: www.msf.ca
SIX MONTHS IN SUDAN: A Young Doctor in a War-Torn Village
Shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (UK) and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for
Political Writing
“This is an extraordinary book, a piercingly authentic account of the fear, confusion and hope of a young
doctor newly deployed to a humanitarian crisis wrapped around by a war. James Maskalyk’s commitment to
survival – his own as well as his patients’ – illuminates this account of doctoring in the sort of desperate place
where it couldn’t matter more.” Dr. Jonathan Kaplan, author of The Dressing Station
Dr. James Maskalyk recently returned from Sudan where he was the first official blogger for
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders. He wrote about his life on assignment
in Abyei, a town near the Darfur region of Sudan, where he spent almost six months tending
patients at great personal risk. His daily journal entries became a window into what it’s like
to try to keep disease, violence, terror and despair at bay while administering front-line care
in one of the most dangerous and desperate places on earth. Through the blog, thousands of
people around the world followed the trajectory of a difficult humanitarian mission in a
politically complex country, and as a result were able to identify with this crisis and the
subsequent suffering in a uniquely personal way.
Indonesia:
HIKMAH Publishing
House
Italy:
Einaudi / Mondadori (expired)
World English: Doubleday (Australia: Random House; UK: Canongate; US: Spiegel & Grau
Random House)
Agents: Bruce Westwood and Carolyn Forde
Adam Mayers
FASTNET FURY: The Story of the Sailors Who Survived the Greatest
Tragedy in Ocean Racing History
On Saturday, August 11, 1979, under sunny skies and a whiff of a breeze, 303 boats set sail
for the finale of a prestigious two-week series of races off the south coast of England.
Expecting a challenging and exhilarating ride, the racers did not expect a fight for their lives
in an event that remains the most calamitous ocean-racing challenge ever run. The Fastnet
Race resulted in 15 deaths, 25 abandoned boats, and 136 people rescued in the largest British
air-sea operation since World War II. Among the eager and amateur racers were 28 Canadian
men. They were on a trip to indulge their sailing passion, represent their country, and test
themselves against the best sailors in the world. In an extraordinary feat of seamanship, all
three Canadian boats made it to port without injury or damage during the raging storm. One
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team is even credited with saving the lives aboard an English boat and sounding a wider
alarm to alert officials of the unfolding disaster.
World:
Monia Mazigh **See Monia Mazigh’s website: www.maherarar.ca
HOPE AND DESPAIR: My Fight to Free My Husband, Maher Arar
On September 26, 2002, Maher Arar boarded an American Airlines plane bound for New
York. He was a Canadian citizen, a telecommunications engineer and entrepreneur who had
never been in trouble with the law, however e was pulled aside by Immigration officials at
JFK airport, questioned, held without access to a lawyer, and ultimately deported to Syria on
the suspicion that he had terrorist links. He would remain there, tortured and imprisoned for
over one year. Meanwhile his wife, Monia, began a tireless campaign to bring public
attention and government action to her husband’s plight, eventually turning the tide of
public opinion in Arar’s favour, and gaining his release and return to Canada. This is a
remarkable story of personal courage, and of an extraordinary woman who lets us into her
life so that other Canadians can understand the denial of rights and the discarding of human
rights her family suffered.
Canada:
McCelland & Stewart
World French: Editions Boreal
Agent: Michael A.. Levine
Judy McFarlane
WRITING WITH GRACE
“McFarlane’s storytelling is transporting…” Quill & Quire
Writing with Grace is the moving story of the journey Grace Chen and Judy McFarlane have
taken together. It’s a universal story of moving from a deep fear of the unknown, to learning
to understand it. Grace writes and publishes her book and is able to give a copy to her very
traditional grandfather. She has a book launch and receives media attention, and is called
upon to present her book at the World Down Syndrome Congress. Above all, it’s the story
of two people learning to open their hearts, and two people teaching each other about
bravery, overcoming obstacles, and digging below surface perceptions.
North America:
Douglas & McIntyre
James McWilliams
THE MODERN SAVAGE
“Among today’s writers on the topic of sustainable food, James McWilliams stands out” – The Atlantic
In The Modern Savage, renowned writer, historian, and animal advocate James McWilliams
reveals the scope of the cruelty that takes place even on the smallest and – supposedly –
most humane animal farms. In a world increasingly aware of animals’ intelligence and the
range of their emotions, McWilliams advocates for the only truly moral, sustainable choice –
a diet without meat, dairy, or other animals products. The Modern Savage is a riveting, poignant
expose of an industry that has typically hidden behind a veil of morality, and a compelling
account of how to live a more economical, environmental, and ethical life.
North America:
Agents: John Pearce/Chris Casuccio
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Stephanie Nolen ** See Stephanie Nolen’s website: www.stephanienolen.com
28: Stories of Aids in Africa
A Book Sense Notable Book; Shortlisted for the 2007 Governor General’s Award
“Brilliant and enraging… This is a call to arms, to a battle that we should all have been fighting for a very
long time.” The Observer, “Searing… With a seasoned journalist’s finesse, Nolen effortlessly weaves
technical information…into these deeply intimate glimpses of people often overlooked in the flood of
contemporary media. Nolen’s book packs a real emotional wallop.” Publishers Weekly, “Devestatingly
moving.” Vanity Fair, “Evocative and empathetic… [Nolen’s] journalism doesn’t succumb to the affliction
of so much other writing about Africa, the tendency to reduce people to categories that fit the reader’s, and the
author’s, preconceptions.” The Nation
Through 28 riveting personal stories – one for each of the million people living with HIVAIDS in Africa – award-winning journalist Stephanie Nolen puts a human face on a
staggering global pandemic. Endorsed by John le Carré, Bono, Stephen Lewis, William Boyd,
Adam Hochschild, Dr. James Orbinski and Emma Thompson.
Australia:
Text (reverted 2011)
Norway:
Oivind Arneberg
Canada:
Knopf
Spain:
Kailas
France:
Lemeac/Actes Sud
UK:
Portobello Books
Germany:
Piper
US:
Walker & Company
Holland:
Ambo Anthos
SHAKESPEARE’S FACE
“Nolen has spun a gem of a yarn ... Shakespeare’s Face is both history and mystery; it’s just about the
best book for the general public on Shakespeare in several decades.” The Washington Times
On May 11, 2001, Globe and Mail reporter Stephanie Nolen announced a stunning discovery
to the world: an attractive portrait held by an Ontario family for twelve generations, which
may well be the only known portrait of Shakespeare painted during his lifetime. Shakespeare’s
Face is the biography of a portrait – a literary mystery story – and the furious debate that has
ensued since its discovery. The book includes contributions by a group of the world’s
leading Shakespeare scholars and art and cultural historians, who engage in spirit debate on
one of the most fascinating literary mysteries of our times: “Is this the face of genius?”
Australia:
Text
UK:
Piatkus Books
Brazil:
Record
US:
Simon & Schuster
Canada:
Knopf
PROMISED THE MOON: The Untold Story of the First Women in the
Space Race
“Compelling reading ... this is impossible to put down and deserves widespread attention.” Publishers Weekly
Everyone knows the names of astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard, but few are familiar
with Gerri Cobb or Bernice Steadman, just two of the so-called Mercury 13 – a group of
extraordinary women secretly recruited for space training in the early 1960s. Passing
gruelling physical and psychological tests, these women, all pilots, consistently outperformed
the men in many key areas, but not one of them lead their country into space. For Promised
the Moon, journalist Stephanie Nolen tracked down the 11 surviving members of the Mercury
13 to learn more about the program and the political and cultural climate that led to its
mysterious cancellation.
Canada:
Penguin
US:
Four Walls Eight Windows
Film:
Lonely Cove Productions
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Peter Nowak
SEX, BOMBS & BURGERS: How War, Porn And Fast Food Shaped
Technology As We Know It
Winner of the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance’s Award for Excellence in Science &
Technology Reporting
War, porn and fast food – humankind’s most base instincts. Yet, the pursuit of all three has
resulted in the greatest technological advancements known to humankind. Sex, Bombs &
Burgers is a history of technology. Based on thorough research into the histories of all three
industries – and the relations between them – and featuring extensive interviews with
inventors, experts, academics, executives and commentators, Nowak explores how a large
part of the story of human advancement has been driven by how to satisfy the need to fight,
titillate and eat in faster and easier ways.
Australia & UK: Allen & Unwin
Korea:
Munhakdongne
Canada:
Penguin
Publishing Co., Ltd
US:
Lyons Press/Globe Pequot
Agent: John Pearce
Dr. James Orbinski
AN IMPERFECT OFFERING: Humanitarian Action for the Twenty-First
Century
“An essential text for our dire times. Orbinski plunges into the heartbreak, the maelstrom, the moral
dilemmas of the genocide territories of the world . . . and finds there enough courage and redemption for us to
feel there is hope for our sad humanity.” Ariel Dorfman
An Imperfect Offering is a deeply personal and political book. Orbinski, who as President of
MSF/Doctor’s Without Borders accepted the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on the organizations
behalf, explores the nature of humanitarian action in the 21st century, and asserts the
fundamental imperative of seeing as human those whom political systems have most brutally
failed. He insists that in responding to the suffering of others, we must never lose sight of
the dignity of those being helped or deny them the right to act as agents in their own lives.
He takes readers on a journey to some of the darkest places of our history, but finds there
unimaginable acts of courage and empathy.
Australia:
Text Publishing
Korea: Window of Times Publishing
Canada:
Doubleday
Spain: Destino
Documentary: White Pine Pictures
UK: Rider/Random House
French World: Talent
US:
Walker & Company
Germany:
S. Fischer Verlag
Italy:
Nuovi Mondi
Cathy Ostlere
LOST: A Memoir
“A profound and startling honest story about living (and losing) an authentic life. A fearless exploration of
fulfilment, family, and desire….Beautiful stuff.” Karen Connelly, author of The Lizard Cage
In 1995, Cathy Ostlere’s younger brother David, a sailor and adventurer, went missing at sea.
He and his fiancée had left Ireland heading 1,200 miles away to the Azores and Madeira.
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Nothing further was ever heard of them. No distress signal, no trace of wreckage, no bodies
found. Lost chronicles the heart-wrenching year that followed as Cathy and her family first
await word, then start to grieve, and as Cathy retraces their steps in an attempt to discover –
or imagine – what might have happened to her brother. Lost is a beautifully written elegy of
grief and gradual recovery.
North America: Key Porter
Agent: John Pearce
Erna Paris **See Erna Paris’ website: www.ernaparis.com
THE SUN CLIMBES SLOW: Justice in the Age of Imperial America
“Simply the best accessible introduction to the big themes in international criminal justice.” William A.
Schabas, Director, Irish Center for Human Rights
A powerful investigation of the story behind America’s refusal to acknowledge international
law, and an enquiry into the urgent role of international criminal justice. Erna Paris explores
the history of global justice, the politics behind America’s opposition to the creation of a
permanent international criminal court, and the implications for the world at large.
World:
Knopf
LONG SHADOWS: Truth, Lies and History
Winner of the Pearson Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction, The Inaugural Shaughnessy
Cohen Prize for Political Writing, The Dorothy Shoichet Prize for History
“Long Shadows is a tenacious and intelligent investigation of the ways nations lie to themselves and how
these lies scar national identities. It’s also a study of the ways courageous individuals fight to recover the truth
that these lies conceal.” Michael Ignatieff
How is historical memory shaped after war and other national catastrophes? What are the
long-term effects when countries cover up the past with myths, or try to remember in the
hope of moving on? America is still struggling with the aftermath of slavery. Japan, France
and Germany are unable to disgorge the memory of World War II, while South Africa
endures a painful transition from apartheid to democracy. Combining the skills of an
investigative journalist with the thoughtfulness of a historian, Paris narrates her travels.
Canada:
Knopf
Japan:
Shakai Hyoronsha
Croatia:
Prometej
UK:
Bloomsbury
Film:
White Pine Pictures
US:
Bloomsbury
Germany:
List
THE END OF DAYS
“History in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman and Simon Schama – full of vivid human detail with a
driving narrative power.” Phyllis Grosskurth
How did one of the most tolerant societies in Europe create the tyranny of the Spanish
Inquisition?
Bulgaria:
Prosoretz
Spain:
Emece Argentina
Canada:
Lester
US:
Prometheus
THE GARDEN AND THE GUN: A Journey Inside Israel
Canada:
Lester & Orpen Dennys
US:
Semaphore
UNHEALED WOUNDS: France And The Klaus Barbie Affair
Canada:
Metheuen
US:
Grove
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France:
Editions Ramsay
STEPFAMILIES: Making Them Work
Canada:
France:
Avon
Les Editions de l’Homme
US:
Avon
JEWS: An Account of Their Experience in Canada
Canada:
Macmillan
Cea Sunrise Person
**See Cea Person’s website: www.ceaperson.com
NORTH OF NORMAL
“North of Normal contains so many jaw-dropping scenes it makes Jeannette Walls’ childhood (The Glass
Castle) look almost conventional.” The Toronto Star
Brought into the Canadian wilderness as a baby and raised in a canvas tipi by her potsmoking, free-loving, clothing-optional family, Cea Sunrise Parson tells a coming of age story
like no other. From nature child to virtually parentless teen, Cea’s astonishing story is one of
extreme family dysfunction in an extremely unusual setting. It is also the story of one
unusual girl’s deep-seated desire for normality – a desire that enabled her to risk everything,
overcome overwhelming odds, and achieve her dreams.
Australia/New Zealand:
Black Inc. Books
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
HarperCollins
Kerry Pither **See Kerry Pither’s website: www.kerrypither.com
DARK DAYS: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror
“Sober, well written and horrific. Grit your teeth and read. These are your rights too.” John le Carre
Dark Days is the story of national security investigations gone wrong, told through the eyes
of their targets. Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki, Maher Arar and Muayyed Nureddin are
four Muslim Canadian men who were accused of links to terror, imprisoned abroad, in Syria
and Egypt, tortured and eventually freed without being charged. Arar has been publicly
exonerated. The other three still await the consequences of a government inquiry. Written
like a thriller, it is an unforgettably powerful portrayal of what it means to be imprisoned and
tortured in a place beyond the reach of the rule of law.
Canada:
Penguin
Agent: John Pearce
Anna Porter (see also Fiction)
KASZTNER’S TRAIN: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero
of the Holocaust
Shortlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize and winner of the Nereus Writers’ Trust NonFiction Prize
“Every once in a while a book comes along that makes history so real that it trumps fiction… it is Anna
Porter’s consummate art as a story teller that makes this true tale so compelling.” Peter C. Newman
In 1944 a train packed with 1,634 Hungarian Jews left Budapest en route for Switzerland
with the full blessing of the Nazi occupiers. The dramatic rescue was the work of an
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enterprising lawyer, Rezso Kasztner, and his colleagues. This is the heroic but controversial
tale of how they traded and negotiated with the Nazis. Kasztner can be credited with later
saving up to 30,000 more lives in the concentration camps, but in 1957 he was murdered in
Israel by people who accused him of failing to save other Jews. A riveting epic by a
Hungarian-born writer who has become one of Canada’s most respected publishers.
Hungary:
M-Ertek
Film:
Laura Birek
North America & World French: Douglas & McIntyre (US: Walker Books)
Poland:
Wydawnictwo Cyclady
UK:
Constable & Robinson (Australia: Scribe)
THE STORYTELLER: Memory, Secrets, Magic and Lies
“Enchanting! With a fabulous blend of memory, myth, and mystery, of melancholy, comedy, and irony, Anna
Porter conjures up moments of magic. The past comes alive…” Modris Eksteins, author of Rites of Spring
Anna Porter’s Hungarian grandfather was a strongman, a bourgeois aristocrat and an
Olympic champion; wealthy and influential, but at other times poor and in prison; a
newspaperman, a factory worker, a patriot, a magician, a womanizer, a family man. Some of
his stories were as old as the Carpathian basin, some as young as the 20th century, and they
encompass all the tumultuous periods in Hungary’s history. This is also the story of one
family, a Hungarian saga burdened by prejudice and pride, grief and frivolity, violence and
glitter, loves and passions.
North America:
Douglas & McIntyre
THE GHOSTS OF EUROPE: A Journey Through Central Europe’s Troubled
Past and Uncertain Future
Winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
“A succinct, highly readable contemporary history, interspersed with interviews with
influential national figures regarding past, present and future.” National Post
In 1989, the Berlin Wall was dismantled. Communism gave way to democracy. The political
landscape of Central Europe was dramatically changed. Twenty-one years later, ten of
Europe’s former Communist countries are members of the European Union. Most of them
have joined NATO. But democracy is new and messy, and the economic experiments have
led to a widening gap between rich and poor. The worldwide economic crisis has severely
tested Central Europe’s determination to live peaceably, and there are many disquieting signs
of old hatreds and racial tensions returning. Porter has travelled through the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia to interview leading intellectuals, politicians, former
dissidents and the champions of aggrieved memories. She interviews the great figures of the
revolution (Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa) and its new custodians such as Radek Sikorski, while
also examining the generation of twenty-somethings with little or no experience of
Communism and no interest in its aftermath.
Canada:
Douglas & McIntyre
US: Thomas Dunne Books /
Agent: John Pearce
Beth Powning (see also Fiction) ** See Beth Powning’s website: www.powning.com
EDGE SEASONS: A Memoir
In the middle years of her life, Beth Powning stands on a threshold; an “edge season,” those
moments in the year’s cycle when weather is unpredictable, caught in a hiatus between one
177
storm and the next. Late one August, when Beth and her partner, Peter, observe the
deserted sauna bath on their farm near Sussex, New Brunswick, she remembers the faith and
energy that went into building it. As they begin to repair the sauna, the project becomes a
metaphor for how dreams, relationships and commitments need to be continuously
renewed. As their only child, Jake, prepares to leave for university, Beth and Peter
contemplate changes of their own. When fall and winter gradually shut down the vibrant life
of the gardens, fields, and forests near her home, Beth witnesses the beauty and regenerative
force of the natural world, weaving acutely observed descriptions of the countryside with the
story of her own intimate transformation.
Canada:
Knopf
Sarah Chana Radcliffe ** See Sarah Chana Radcliffe’s website:
www.sarahchanaradcliffe.com
RAISE YOUR KIDS WITHOUT RAISING YOUR VOICE
A less-stress approach for the entire 20-year period of child-rearing, with simple instructions
and examples. Unique, effective strategies include the 80/20 rule, the CLeaR method of
positive discipline, the reward chart, the 2X rule, anger-free discipline, and the innovative use
of tickets and jail-time. Radcliffe helps parents build a healthy foundation for life.
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
BPS Books
Serbia:
Leo Commerce
James Raffan
CIRCLING THE MIDNIGHT SUN: Culture and Change in the Invisible
Arctic
Shortlisted for the B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-fiction
A Globe and Mail Top 100 book
“Travel writing at its best… A fantastic writer… He has that rare and great ability to see the big picture
while refusing to judge. A must read for anyone concerned about the future of our planet” – Joseph Boyden,
author of The Orenda
For James Raffan, 35 years of expeditions in the North led to the journey of a lifetime:
circumnavigating the globe at 66.6N, the Arctic Circle. Travelling by canoe, kayak, reindeer
sled, dog team, snowmobile, icebreaker, and on foot, over the course of three years, Raffan
moved toward the rising sun. What he discovered was shocking, frustrating, and enlightening
– that the loss of culture, driven by the same appetites that are causing climate change, is far
more threatening than the short term consequences of global warming.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Ross Rebagliati** See Ross Rebagliati’s website: www.rossrebagliati.com
OFF THE CHAIN: A Renegade History of Snowboarding
Off the Chain takes readers on a madcap ride through the rise of snowboarding, from its
hippie beginnings in the backwoods of Vermont and California to its present incarnation as
a $150- billion global industry. Author Ross Rebagliati, the most famous and infamous name
in the sport, is acerbic, opinionated, and witty, and the text is heavily illustrated with
evocative photos from the past and present.
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World:
Greystone Books / Douglas & McIntyre
Judy Rebick **See Judy Rebick’s website: www.transformingpower.ca
TRANSFORMING POWER: From the Personal to the Political
“There is something very special about the tenacity and consistency of this Canadian
socialist’s perspective...” Toronto Star on Imagine Democracy
“...an essential, provocative piece...” The Globe and Mail on Ten Thousand Roses
Veteran activist Judy Rebick champions new ways of achieving political goals by
emphasizing co-operation and consensus over confrontation and partisanship. Rebick argues
that today’s combination of environmental crisis, globalization, and rapid technological
innovation is producing profound new ideas about social and political life, and that this
groundswell is truly the vanguard of a global movement to change the way we live our lives,
from the ground up. With detailed but accessible discussions of democracy, feminism,
diversity, and leadership, Transforming Power is an essential read for the modern world citizen.
Canada:
Penguin
John Lawrence Reynolds (see also Fiction) ** See John Lawrence Reynolds’
website: www.wryter.ca
SHADOW PEOPLE: Inside History’s Most Notorious Secret Societies
Shadow People offers a comprehensive look at the origins and history, rituals and initiations,
artifacts and secret signs, and languages and famous members of the most notorious secret
societies of all time, including the Cosa Nostra, the Freemasons, Druids, Triads, Wicca,
Kabbalah, Skull & Bones and the Mafia. A chapter focusing on secret societies in modern
film, television and books will appeal to fans of popular culture.
World:
Key Porter (Estonia: Olion Ou; Finland: Werner Soderstrom; Japan:
Shufunotomo Co.; Korea: Pamir; Lithuania: Media Incognito/Obuolys;
Poland: Bertelsmann; Portugal: Quid Novi; Russia: Mir Knigi Ltd.; Spain:
Temas de Hoy; UK: Summersdale; US: Arcade; World French: Fides)
FREE RIDER: How a Bay Street Whiz Kid Stole and Spent $20 Million
Winner of the National Business Book Award, Shortlisted for Best True Crime in the Arthur
Ellis Awards
Paced like a mystery novel and filled with fascinating characters, in exploring the outrageous
activities of Michael Holoday, Reynolds shakes every reader’s faith in the trust, integrity and
principles of the investment industry.
North America: McArthur & Company
MAD NOTIONS
“On a Sunday evening in March, the day before the son of my oldest friend went on trial for first degree
murder, I sat on a bench in front of the Sevier County Court House and smoked a cheap cigar while Dolly
Parton sang over my shoulder and local sign-painter, newspaper publisher and eccentric Del Smith informed
me that ‘The devil chose this place cause it’s where he can do the most harm’.” So begins award-winning
mystery writer Reynolds’ true story of a murder, a place and its people. Mad Notions is a tale
that is stranger and more compelling than fiction, set in the heartland of America, a tiny
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triangle best known as Dolly Parton country, with one of the highest proportions of active
Southern Baptists – and (at least until recently) a thriving centre for illegal drug distribution.
Canada:
Key Porter Books
Mark Richardson
ZEN AND NOW: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and The Art Of Motorcycle
Maintenance
“Zen and Now is a story worth telling, about a journey worth sharing – an entertaining, inspiring, and
rewarding read.” Neil Peart, drummer for RUSH and author of The Masked Rider, Ghost Rider,
Traveling Music and Roadshow
The vivid chronicle of a journalist’s heartfelt and determined journey to reconnect with a
beloved American classic. In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his son, Chris, made the cross-country
motorcycle trip that was the basis for Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a book that has
inspired generations with its searching personal and philosophical narrative. After rereading
the book at the onset of middle age, reporter Mark Richardson tuned up his old Suzuki dirt
bike and became a “Pirsig Pilgrim,” one of the legions of fans who regularly retrace the
author’s route from Minneapolis to San Francisco. Zen and Now is an intellectual adventure, a
meditation on the values of a classic book, and an enquiry into its relevance to the complex
and bewildering world we inhabit today.
World:
Knopf (Audio: Brilliance Audio; Australia: UWA; Turkey: Ayrinti Yayinlari;
US: Knopf)
CANADA’S ROAD: A Journey on the Trans-Canada Highway from St. John's
to Victoria
The Trans-Canada, the world’s longest national highway, comes to life in words and
pictures. In the summer of 2012, on the highway’s 50th birthday, Mark Richardson drove its
entire length to find out how the road came to be and what it’s now become.
World:
Dundurn
Erika Ritter ** See Ericka Ritter’s website: www.erikaritter.com
THE DOG BY THE CRADLE, THE SERPENT BENEATH: Some
Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships
“With this wonderful book … Erika Ritter confirms her reputation as a talented wordsmith and gifted
cultural sage.” Winnipeg Free Press
Americans spend more than $49 billion annually for pet products and services, and up to
70% identify pets as “members of the family,” yet millions of unwanted animals are
euthanized every year, while untold others die by mishap, starvation and neglect. Clearly, our
relationship with the animals we claim to love is increasingly fraught with paradox. As Erika
Ritter explores in this fresh, fascinating and eye-opening book, the uneasy involvement
between our kind and theirs is as old as the story of the dog guarding the baby’s cradle while
the serpent lurks beneath.
North America: Key Porter Books
THE GREAT BIG BOOK OF GUYS: Alphabetical Encounters with Men
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“Ritter is a master mixer of the solemn and the silly, often slipping in biting one-liners to lighten the mood.”
The New Brunswick Reader
A celebration of the ways in which men and women are inextricably connected, mutually
influential and ultimately complementary to each other, in a tone that is creative and
challenging, at times satirical, and at times reflective.
Canada:
Cecily Ross
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLESTEROL: Bypass and Beyond (A Memoir
with Recipes)
A Library Journal Best Consumer Health Book 2005, A Borders “Original Voices” Selection,
Best Food Literature Book, English category, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2006
“A wonderfully written, heartfelt story ... Social support systems and books for spouses and caregivers of heart
disease patients are generally lacking; this book offers those audiences an inside look at what to expect after
such a diagnosis. Highly recommended.” Library Journal (starred)
In deft prose that blends insight, tenderness and a generous dollop of humour, Love in the
Time of Cholesterol tells how two enthusiastic home cooks adjust their definition of comfort
food in the after-math of one’s open heart surgery.
Canada:
Penguin
World (excl. Canada, UK & Holland):
Film:
Certain Film
McGraw-Hill
Michael Ross (with Jonathan Kay)
THE VOLUNTEER
This memoir relates the experiences of a Canadian citizen, born into a Christian family who,
during a romantic trip to Israel, fell in love with the country and its people. He experienced
religious conversion and ultimately served as a senior officer in the Israeli Secret Intelligence
Service (the Mossad) from 1988 to 2001. The author relates an eyewitness account of
capturing three senior Al-Qaeda figures following the 1998 African embassy bombings; the
uncovering of a senior Hezbollah terrorist in the United States; a mission to evacuate
Zimbabwean Jews targeted by Robert Mugabe’s regime; meetings between the Israeli secret
services and their American counterparts during the mid-1990s; and the agency’s policy of
assassination, with a focus on Israel’s ongoing campaign against Islamist terrorism and the
myths that have grown up around it.
Documentary: Handle Productions
World:
Oakland Ross (see also Fiction)
A FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINS: Exploring the Human Spirit from Mexico
to Madagascar
“Engrossing and upbeat…compelling informative.” The Globe and Mail
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Based on ten years of travel through Latin America and Africa, the author explores the lives
behind the headlines in times of trouble and war: by turns gritty, shocking, hilarious,
appalling and triumphant.
Canada:
Knopf
Ellie Rubin ** See Ellie Rubin’s website: www.ellierubin.com
AMBITION: 7 Rules for Getting There
“Rubin is an artful storyteller, who draws colourfully on her own experiences... and on anecdotes from cool
characters... as fresh and intimate as you can get.” Report on Business Magazine
Ellie Rubin believes that ambition should be a positive catalyst for change, for career
shaping, team building, and personal growth. She introduces seven principles: discovery,
focus, belonging, momentum, balance, maturity and belief, which will help readers find
fulfillment that fits with the shifting values of the post 9/11 world.
Canada:
Penguin (reverted)
World French: Sogides
BULLDOG: The Spirit of the New Entrepreneur
A National Bestseller
In the past 10 years, high-tech has grown at a pace unmatched by any other industry, and it
is entrepreneurs who are leading the pack with innovative and lucrative ventures. In the U.S.,
businesses owned by women number 7.7 million. Rubin built one of North America’s top
multimedia companies by recognising opportunities and acting on them, and she now gives
speeches around the world. It is her experiences, inspiration and energy, which drive this
book. An insightful guide to being an entrepreneur personally and professionally.
China:
Locus Publishing
North America: HarperCollins
Mark Sakamoto
FORGIVENESS
National Bestseller
Forgiveness intertwines the compelling stories of Ralph MacLean and the Sakamotos as the
war rips their lives and their humanity out of their grasp. But somehow, despite facing such
enormous transgressions against them, the two families learned to forgive. Without the
depth of their forgiveness, this book’s author, Mark Sakamoto, would never have existed.
World:
Rick Salutin
WHAT WAS I THINKING?: The Autobiography of an Idea and Other
Essays
Rick Salutin reveals his curiosity about both the world of the mind and the world of the here
and now. His life has been graced with contact with extraordinary people from Hannah
Arendt to Holocaust theologian Emil Fackeneim to goalkeeper-politician Ken Dryden, and
we discover the profound influence their thought has had on his.
World:
ECW Press
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Ted Sargent
THE DANCE OF THE MOLECULES: The Remarkable World of
Nanotechnology
Ted Sargent made headlines in 2004 with an astounding scientific break-through. His team
discovered a more efficient method of harnessing the sun’s energy through nanotechnology
– a discovery that will allow everything from cell phones to cars to be recharged without
batteries! Medical researchers claim that it could catch cancer before it spreads, seeking and
destroying cells at the first sign of mutation. Energy experts claim that it emancipates oilenslaved nations, trans-forming today’s globalpolitik. The US military spent over a billion
dollars on it in 2003. But what is nanotechnology? The Dance of the Molecules takes the reader
straight to the heart of the true world of nanotechnology – a world that is fascinating,
beautiful, surprising, and powerful. Nanotechnology harmonizes within Nature’s own set of
rules to coax matter to assemble into new forms. The resulting materials exhibit striking
beauty when viewed in an electron or optical microscope, often even with the naked eye.
Their purpose is to produce breakthroughs in medicine, computing, and energy.
Arabic:
Arab Organization for Translation
Korea:
Her One Media
Canada:
Penguin
Spanish:
Espasa Calpe
France:
Dunod
US:
Thunder’s Mouth
Italy:
Franco Muzzio Editore
*John Ralston Saul (see also Fiction)
THE COMEBACK: How Aboriginals Are Reclaiming Power and Influence
Aboriginal peoples of Canada have been making a remarkable comeback from a terrifyingly
low point of population, legal respect, and stability. This is a comeback to a position of
power, influence, and creativity in Canadian civilization. What is happening today in
Aboriginal-white relations is not about guilt, sympathy, or failure, or romanticizing a view of
the past. It is about citizens’ rights. It is about rebuilding relationships that were central to
the creation of Canada and, equally important, central to its continued existence. Canadians
are faced with the potential for those relationships to open up a more creative and accurate
way of imagining ourselves, a different narrative for Canada in which we all share obligations
as a society.
World English:
Penguin Canada
THE COLLAPSE OF GLOBALISM
“Saul is an Enlightenment-style provocateur, a cosmopolitan antiideologue. . . blasting away at the
conventional wisdom of Left and Right alike.” Newsweek
In the 1970s and 80s, ideologues argued that civilization could be measured through the
prism of economics. That deregulated markets and privatization would usher in a new era of
international wealth. That the nation-state was dead and Globalization would be its saviour.
Now there is every sign that something else is happening. Growing numbers of economic
collapses are happening around the world. Entire regions are withdrawing politically and
economically from the Globalization experiment. Citizens are witnessing or taking part in a
return of nationalism, the return of national wars. International alliances are suddenly fragile.
Arabic:
Al Dar Al Masriah
France:
Payot
Bulgaria:
Kralitza Mab
Indonesia:
Pustaka Pelajar
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China (Simple):Qingdao Publishing
Spanish:
RBA
World English: Penguin Canada (Australia: Penguin; India: Penguin; New Zealand:
Penguin; UK: Atlantic; US: Overlook)
ON EQUILIBRIUM
“One of the books that we should read and re-read for the rest of our lives and among the most important,
absorbing and fulfilling books of our time.” The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
On Equilibrium is an intelligent, persuasive and controversial exploration of the essential
qualities of humanity and how they can be used to achieve equilibrium for the self and to
foster and ethical society. It is at once an attack on our weaknesses for ideologies and a
manual for humanist action.
Australia:
Penguin
India:
Penguin
Canada:
Penguin
US:
Four Walls
France:
Editions Payot
REFLECTIONS OF A SIAMESE TWIN: Canada at the End of the
Twentieth Century
Winner of The Gordon Montador Award for the best Canadian Non-Fiction Book on
Contemporary Issues
Philosopher, political scientist and perceptive commentator on society’s vain little ways,
John Ralston Saul takes a sharp look at Canada in Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the
End of the Twentieth Century. He explores the Canadian mythos, those aspects both real and
imagined that still circumscribe and pervade the country’s culture, politics, history and how
Canadians view themselves and the legitimacy of their country.
Australia:
Penguin
Canada:
Penguin
Canada French: Editions Boreal
THE UNCONSCIOUS CIVILIZATION: CBC Massey Lectures Series
Winner of The Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction, Winner of The Gordon
Montador Award for the best Canadian Non-Fiction Book on Contemporary Issues
Our society, John Ralston Saul argues, is only superficially based on the individual and
democracy. Increasingly it is conformist and corporatist, a society in which legitimacy lies
with specialist or interest groups and decisions are made through constant negotiations
between these groups. The paradox is that knowledge has not made us conscious. Instead,
we have sough refuge in a world of illusion where language is cut off from reality.
Reconnecting language to reality, clarifying what we mean by individualism and democracy,
making these realities central to the citizen’s life, identifying ideologies in order to control them,
these are among the first elements of equilibrium which Saul proposes in these lectures.
Audio:
Elan
Italy:
Il Saggiatore
Australia:
Penguin
Serbia:
Karpos
Canada:
Penguin
Spain:
Editorial Anagrama
Ethiopia (Amharic): Hohe
France:
Editions Payot
Sweden:
Daidalos
Germany:
Campus/Gutenberg
UK:
Penguin
Greece:
Printa Books
US:
The Free Press
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THE DOUBTER’S COMPANION: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense
“A remarkably thoroughgoing critique of folly.” Newsweek
Whether contemplating Competition, pondering the Super Bowl or ruminating on
Mussolini, Saul strips away the rhetoric and received wisdom of our language, leaving in his
wake a new way of thinking that is frequently funny, often ironic and always provocative.
Brazil:
Juan Grancia
Italy:
Bompiani
Canada:
Penguin
Korea:
Woong Jin
France:
Editions Payot
Spain:
Juan Grancia
Germany:
Campus
US:
The Free Press
VOLTAIRE’S BASTARDS: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West
“Voltaire’s Bastards is a hand grenade disguised as a book. The pages explode with insight, style and
intellectual rigor…” The Washington Post
What flaw in Western democracies leaves so many of their citizen feel frustrated and
disempowered? This is one of the unnerving questions Saul poses in this book, a
phosphorescently intelligent search-and-destroy mission against the foundations of
contemporary civilization. Saul shows how the West’s love affair with the ideology of pure
reason has made us crippling dependent on process-minded experts “Voltaire’s bastards” –
whose rational systems are bereft of both meaning and morality. The result is a learned and
devastating critique of our political, economic and cultural establishments.
Canada:
Penguin
Russia:
AST
France:
Editions Payot
Spain:
Jurdica
Italy:
Bompiani
Japan:
Fukutake Shoten
UK:
Sinclair-Stevenson
Latin America: Andres Bellos
US:
The Free Press
LE CITOYEN DANS UN CUL-DE-SAC?: Anatomie d’une société en crise
Canada French: Editions Fides
*Note different international agents:
France: Michelle Lapautre (directly); Germany: Anoukh Foerg; Italy: Roberto Santachiara;
Spain: Carmen Balcells.
Nick Saul and Andrea Curtis **See Andrea Curtis’ website:
www.andreacurtis.ca
THE STOP: HOW THE FIGHT FOR GOOD FOOD TRANSFORMED A
COMMUNITY AND INSPIRED A MOVEMENT
“An inspiring true story about how a low-income neighbourhood used good food to take charge of its
community – it’s a great lesson for all of us.” Jamie Oliver
This is the inspiring story of how one young man took the reins of a dilapidated inner-city
food bank and opened up the good-food revolution. In telling the remarkable story of The
Stop’s transformation, Saul argues that we need a new politics of food, in which everyone
has a dignified, healthy place at the table. By turns funny and sad and full of the drama of life
on the margins, The Stop is a fresh and timely story about overcoming obstacles, challenging
sacred cows and creating lasting change.
Canada:
Random House
US:
Melville House
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Doug Saunders
THE MYTH OF THE MUSLIM TIDE: Do Immigrants Threaten The West?
“Balanced, thorough... convincing.” The National Post
This concise book provides a much-needed debunking of the explosive rumors and urban
myths that fuel popular ideas about a “Muslim tide” sweeping the Western world.
Denmark:
Boedal
Germany:
Blessing
North America: Knopf
Sweden:
Karneval
ARRIVAL CITY: The Final Migration and Our Next World
“A broadly researched, passionate and portentous call for a new way to look at the experience of migrants. It
is essential reading… for all who look at the future of cities with a mix of hope and fear.” Winnipeg Free
Press
The twenty-first century is going to be remembered for the great, and final, shift of human
populations out of rural, agricultural life into cities. The movement engages an
unprecedented number of people, perhaps a third of the world's population, and will affect
almost everyone in tangible ways. The last human movement of this size and scope, and the
changes it will bring to family life, from large agrarian families to small urban ones, will put
an end to the major theme of human history: continuous population growth.
ANZ:
Allen & Unwin
French Canada: Boreal
Brazil:
DVS Editora
Germany:
Karl Blessing Verlag
Canada:
Knopf
Netherlands: De Bezige Bij
China:
Rye Field Publishing (Complex)
Spanish World: Mondadori
China:
Hangzhou Matrix (Simplified)
UK:
William Heinemann
Film:
Arrival City Films Ltd.
US:
Pantheon/Knopf
Finland:
Otava Publishing
French World (excl. Canada): Seuil
Lawrence Scanlan (see also Children’s/Young Adult) **See Lawrence Scanlan’s
website: www.lawrencescanlan.com
THE HORSE GOD BUILT: SECRETARIAT: His Groom, Their Legacy
“Once again, Larry Scanlan has written an informative and thoroughly interesting book. A must for readers
who are fans of the horse, but if you just want a good read, you’re going to love this animal/human interest
story.” Monty Roberts
This is the story of the best thoroughbred racehorse in history-the perfect horse, someone
said, the horse God built. This is also the story of Secretariat’s groom, Eddie Sweat, a wildly
generous man who could read a horse with his eyes – the story of the special bond between
the fastest horse in history and the unsung hero who cared for him.
Canada:
HarperCollins
World (excl. Canada): St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books
HARVEST OF A QUIET EYE: The Cabin as Sanctuary
When Larry Scanlan set out to create a quiet retreat, he got a lot more than he bargained for.
Having plucked a square-timbered log cabin from its original 1827 site on a farm north of
Kingston and moved it to his secluded acreage in Prince Edward County, he discovered that
giving new life to old wood is a painful process. Yet despite the drain on his bank account,
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and the demands in time and toil, Larry says he would do it again. For, in the end, this
rescued cabin rescues him.
Canada:
Penguin (reverted)
GRACE UNDER FIRE: The State of Our Sweet and Savage Game
A heartfelt look at the physics and the metaphysics of a game that is famous for engendering
violent passions within its ranks. How did it come to pass that while every other sport in the
world banished those who fight, hockey embraced combatants as an integral part of the
game? A deeply intelligent look at the fusion of hot adrenalin and coolheadedness that
together create the magic of hockey.
Canada:
Penguin (reverted)
LOOKING FOR THE LITTLE HORSE OF IRON: A Quest for the
Canadian Horse
The original “little horses of iron” were the Sun King’s gift to New France in the early 17th
century. Thousands of their ancestors perished in the American Civil War and continue to
turn heads on Kentucky racetracks. Celebrated American breeds were built, as it were, on
the backs of this exceptional little black horse, remarkable for its versatility, hardiness and
sweet temper. Scanlan’s search for his own little horse of iron takes him to foothills ranches
and maritime farms, onto the battlefields of the Civil War and on long treks in Wyoming and
Vermont.
Canada:
Random House
WILD ABOUT HORSES: Our Timeless Passion for the Horse
“You will love this book!” Monty Roberts, author of the 2-million copy bestseller, The Man
Who Listens to Horses
A personal look at the horse-human connection through the ages, in art, literature, myth and
history, by the acclaimed collaborator with Monty Roberts on the international best-seller,
The Man Who Listens to Horses.
Canada:
Random House
Latin America: Grijalbo Mexico
Germany:
Bertelsmann
US:
HarperCollins
HEADING HOME: On Starting a New Life in a Country Place
Written as a personal diary, a chapter for each month, this is a lyrical and wryly humorous
testimonial to living outside the frantic urban scene. Rural etiquette, frozen waterpipes,
telecommuting, woodstoves, cannibalistic chickens, country schools, medical emergencies,
deer at the front door – they’re all here.
Canada:
Doubleday
William Schiller
A HAND IN THE WATER: The Many Lies of Albert Walker
“Pure entertainment… A portrait of a twisted personality, as entertaining as any fictional mystery: crisply
written, gently ironic … Make time to read this one.” The Globe and Mail
Accountant Albert Walker stole other people’s identities as easily as he stole their money.
When he disappears without a trace with his 15-year old daughter, he is named Interpol’s
Fourth Most Wanted. Years later, a Devon fisherman dredges from the sea the body of a
187
drowned man, whose identity might have died with him – except for his Rolex watch – and
the police discover that they are once again on the trail of Albert Walker.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Carol Shaben **See Carol Shaben's website: www.carolshaben.com
INTO THE ABYSS: HOW A DEADLY PLANE CRASH CHANGED THE
LIVES OF A PILOT, A POLITICIAN, A CRIMINAL AND A COP
Winner of the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction
“With Into the Abyss Carol Shaben gives us an astonishing true story of catastrophe and redemption.
Shaben writes from the inside out, as in the best non-fiction, creating a nuanced and tightly braided portrait of
four men and their shared trauma that is by turns terrifying and deeply humane.” John Vaillant, author of
The Tiger
On an icy night in October 1984, a Piper Navajo commuter plane carrying 9 passengers
crashed in the remote wilderness of northern Alberta, killing 6 people. Four survived: the
rookie pilot, a prominent politician, a cop, and the criminal he was escorting to face charges.
The survivors forged unlikely friendships and through them found strength and courage to
rebuild their lives.
Brazil: Record
Canada: Random House (publication November 2012)
Radio: BBC Radio 4 (Book of the Week)
Spain: Roca
UK: Picador / Macmillan
US: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group
Michelle Shephard
DECADE OF FEAR: REPORTING FROM TERRORISM’S GREY
ZONES
“If you care about the world you live in and can only read one book this year, this should be it.” Marina
Nemat
One of Canada's leading journalists takes readers on a rollicking ten-year journey around the
globe to uncover the tragic mistakes made in a post-9/11 world.
North America English & French:
Douglas & McIntyre
Agent: John Pearce
Julian Sher ** See Julian Sher’s website: www.juliansher.com
ONE CHILD AT A TIME: Inside the Police Hunt to Rescue Children from
Online Predators [Published in the US as CAUGHT IN THE WEB]
“Does a superb job…gives readers hope, a renewed sense of direction and purpose.” The Globe and Mail
From a renowned and award-winning investigative reporter, the harrowing story behind a
horrifying epidemic of Internet abuse – and the inspiring work of the heroes who are out to
stop it. Tens of thousands of crimes of sexual abuse against children have now been
electronically recorded and distributed on the Internet. The men perpetrating these crimes
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have included priests, doctors, politicians and fathers of the children. One Child at a Time
shows how law officers are fighting back against this worldwide tide of abuse with
undercover stings and daring rescues, and examines the cutting-edge technology they have developed
to rescue the victims. The book also includes a full list of resources for concerned parents.
Canada:
Random House
US:
Da Capo
UK:
Vision
World French: Les Editions de l’Homme
Agent: John Pearce
*
Josef Skvorecky (see also Fiction)
HEADED FOR THE BLUES
With the mordant humour and sardonic irony that mark his celebrated fiction, Skvorecky
looks back on his childhood and a life of writing amidst political repression. Jazz, politics,
sex, fear and humour provide the backdrop.
Canada:
Knopf
UK:
Faber
France:
Les Editions du Rocher
US:
Ecco
THE LIFE OF CZECH SOCIETY
Czech:
Yugoslavia:
Dicie novine
Czech:
Odeon
Holland:
Ambo Anthos
THE BITTER WORLD
Basque:
Alberdania
THE MENORAH
Czech:
Ivo Zelezny
I WAS BORN IN NACHOD
Poland:
Czuly Barbarzynca
THE END OF THE NYLON AGE (Konec nylonoveho veku)
Czech:
Odeon
German:
Volk & Welt
TALKIN’ MOSCOW BLUES
This remarkable and very personal collection of essays covers everything from literature and
politics to movies and jazz.
Canada:
Key Porter
UK:
Faber
France:
Anatolia
US:
Ecco
*Note different sub-agent in Spain, Latin America and Brazil: Ute Korner.
Graeme Smith **See authors' website: www.OurWarInAfghanistan.com
THE DOGS ARE EATING THEM NOW: Our War In Afghanistan
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Winner of the 2013 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, shortlisted for the
RBC Taylor Prize, shortlisted for the BC National Award for Non-Fiction, shortlisted for
the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
"An evocative, on-the-spot, compassionate, and ultimately devastating report from the front-line…. A grim,
maddening, and entirely compelling account of an international debacle, told with dry humour, stoic prose and
a gallery of memorable, resilient characters." RBC Taylor Prize Jury Citation
A raw, uncensored account of war from a brilliant young reporter who, for several years,
was the only Western journalist to live full-time in the dangerous southern region of
Afghanistan. A gripping, no-holds-barred account of modern warfare.
Canada, UK and Commonwealth:
Knopf
US:
Counterpoint
World French
University of Laval Press
John Stackhouse
TIMBIT NATION: A Hitchhiker’s View of Canada
Sticking out his thumb by the side of the road in Saint John, New Brunswick, John
Stackhouse sets off to hitchhike across his homeland after nine years traveling the globe as a
foreign correspondent. Every car door that opens invites him into a new life. The incredible
personalities he meets, with their often surprising political and social opinions, quickly dispel
the myth that Canadians are a boring and blameless lot. Heading east to Newfoundland,
north into Labrador and straight west to Vancouver Island, Stackhouse takes a distinctive
reading of Canada in this age of superhighways and global culture. Timbit Nation has
everything you expect from good travel literature: a cast of colourful characters, wry and
informative writing, and a landscape of hidden depths and surpassing beauty.
Canada:
Random House
OUT OF POVERTY and into something more comfortable
Shortlisted for the Pearson Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize and Pearson Canada’s Readers’
Choice Award
“...Stackhouse roamed the developing world for more than seven years in the ‘90s, telling its story more
effectively than any journalist in the English-speaking world.” The Gazette
This is the story of an eight-year journey through poverty in an intriguing blend of travel
writing and analysis, moving portraits and comic tales. In his travels across South East Asia,
Stackhouse explores the daily lives of the poor to shatter the clichés of poverty and find
hope and solutions. To understand how the Third World works, he lives on an Indian train
with beggar-children and takes up residence with a village of subsistence rice farmers. He
sees how vastly complex are their problems, and yet how fabulously rich their lives are in
diversity and joy, realising that development is not about aid, but allowing people to
determine their own destiny. Most importantly, Stackhouse tells us these personal stories of
some of the world’s poorest people and shows how they are going to end global poverty in
the next century. John Stackhouse has won three National Newspaper Awards, a National
Magazine Award and an Amnesty International prize for foreign reporting.
Canada:
Random House
India:
Penguin
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Andrew Steinmetz
THIS GREAT ESCAPE: The Case Of Michael Paryla
Shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction
“Andrew Steinmetz is a devoted detective, whose beat in This Great Escape is a great and treacherous one:
human memory. Following clues literary, cinematic, medical, and theatrical, he wanders the continents,
turning one man’s bit part in a great Hollywood movie into an absorbing meditation on the intersection of
life, art, and history.” Taras Grescoe, author of Straphanger
Splicing together documentary materials with correspondence, diary entries, and Steinmetz’s
own journal, This Great Escape is a moving testament to the complexity of human experience,
a portrait of a family for whom acting was a matter of survival, and proof that our most
anonymous, uncredited, and undocumented moments can brush against the zeitgeist of
world history. Steinmetz's cousin Michael Paryla had an uncredited part in the iconic 1963
film The Great Escape shortly before his untimely death.
North America:
Biblioasis
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
A GREAT GAME
“An illustration of hockey’s special place in the Canadian heart and mind.” The New York
Times
In the tumultuous beginnings of hockey, the fights were as much off the ice as on it. This
engaging new book is about the hockey heroes and hard-boiled businessmen who built the
game, and the rise and fall of legendary teams pursuing the Stanley Cup. In the first book
penned by a sitting Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Harper blends a historian’s perspective and
a fan’s passion, presenting a riveting and often-surprising portrait of the game.
World English:
Simon & Schuster Canada
World French:
Sogides
Lyranda Martin-Evans and Fiona Stevenson **See authors' website:
www.reasonsmommydrinks.com
REASONS MOMMY DRINKS : (Includes 100 Cocktail Recipes To Enjoy In
Your Zero Free Time)
One of ABC News’ Best Food Books of 2013
“Fiona Stevenson and Lyranda Martin-Evans devised an inventive and irreverent recipe book to meet the
cocktail needs and frayed nerves of the average mother… they have a tonic for every tumult.” The Today
Show
A compulsively readable collection of short, humorous pieces about the challenging life of a
new parent – from Board Books and Mommy and Me Yoga to Single People and The End
of Maternity Leave – with a well-deserved drink recipe to go with each one. Perfectly
capturing the modern mommy’s combination of love for her child, total exhaustion, and
overwhelming fear that she’s going to screw it all up. Written in the voice of a mom talking
to her baby, the humour is clever but not cynical.
World:
Three Rivers Press / Random House US (France: Editions Belford;
Germany: Heyne/RH)
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Birgit Stutz and Lawrence Scanlan
THE RESCUE OF BELLE AND SUNDANCE: A Miracle on Mount
Renshaw
In December 2008, two abandoned horses are spotted by in the remote mountains of
northeastern British Columbia. Deep winter snow has trapped the horses, and they are
starving and exhausted. Alerted to their location, another group of snowmobilers comes the
next day bearing a handgun and hay. Astonishingly, there is a glimmer of life in the horses’
eyes, and the horses get the bales of hay. Over the next eight days, despite temperatures as
low as minus 40 degrees Celsius, the volunteer corps grows, and accomplishes an
improbable feat: they dig, by hand, a trench in the snow three feet wide, six feet deep and
one kilometre long. They then hand-walk the two horses another 28 kilometres to the
staging ground where, at last, on December 23rd, the horses are trailered to a foster farm
where they recover from their ordeal.
ANZ:
RH Australia
Film:
Big Coat Productions
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
Perseus
Rosemary Sullivan **See Rosemary Sullivan’s website: www.rosemarysullivan.com
VILLA AIR-BEL: World War II, Escape and a House in Marseille
“This is a magnificent, complex narrative of courage, folly, and complacency...a beautifully narrated book.”
Telegraph, “A complex tale showing how hope and courage flourish, even in the toxic soil of totalitarianism.”
Kirkus, “Her scene-by-scene evocation of life at the house reads like an updated Chekhov comedy laced with
horror.” Financial Times
France, 1940. The once glittering boulevards of Paris teem with spies, collaborators, and the
Gestapo now that France has fallen to Hitler’s Wermacht. For André Breton, Max Ernst,
Victor Serge, Marc Chagall, Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, Remedios Varo, Benjamin Péret,
and scores of other cultural elite denounced as enemies of the Third Reich, fear and
uncertainty define daily life. Their only salvation is the Villa Air-Bel, a château outside
Marseille where a group of young people will go to extraordinary lengths to keep them alive.
Villa Air-Bel is a powerfully told, meticulously researched, riveting work of narrative
nonfiction.
Canada:
HarperCollins
World (excl. Canada): HarperCollins US (Czech Republic: Mlada Fronta; Italy: Edizioni
dell’Altana; Spain: Debate; UK: John Murray)
LABYRINTH OF DESIRE: Women, Passion and Romantic Obsession
“Original and disarming…Sullivan’s cultural references – Frida Kahlo, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf…are
right on target for any woman who’s ready to (re)question the role of love in her life. This Canadian bestseller
is an obsessive read …bound to interest a wide range of book-buying women..” Publishers Weekly
Everyone longs to be in a love story. But what are they longing for? Governor General’s
award-winner Rosemary Sullivan uses a fictional encounter to seduce readers into
remembering their own love story; to remind them of its intensity and frenzy. From Simone
de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, from Casablanca to The
English Patient, from Wuthering Heights to Rebecca, Sullivan draws on literature, film, art, history
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and mythology to explore why otherwise sensible women so often fall hopelessly,
obsessively, excruciatingly in love with the wrong men.
Film:
Tapestry Films
North America: HarperCollins Canada
(US: Counterpoint)
UK:
Perseus Group
THE RED SHOES: Margaret Atwood Starting Out
Sullivan has won a dazzling array of awards for her literary biographies including the
Governor General’s Award and the City of Toronto Book Award. In this book she explores
the unfolding of Margaret Atwood’s career.
World:
HarperCollins Canada (Sweden: Prisma)
SHADOW MAKER: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen
Rosemary Sullivan paints a portrait that moves Gwendolyn MacEwen – both as a woman
and as an artist – into her rightful place as one of our most significant cultural icons.
Film:
Triptych
World:
BY HEART: Elizabeth Smart, A Life
Brave, outrageous, inspirational – and the author of the brilliant work of poetic prose, By
Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept – Elizabeth Smart lived her life to the hilt. The first
biography of this extraordinary writer, and it charts her often difficult, always remarkable life
with sensitivity and compassion.
Film: Inkling Entertainment
World English: Penguin Canada (UK: Limetree)
World French: Lemeac
Rosemary Sullivan and Malcolm David Batty
With an Introduction by Margaret Atwood
CUBA: Grace Under Pressure
“The authors went to Cuba in search of the individual images and voices that would reflect the Cuba they
shared a passion for, and they found what they were looking for, and more. What a generous gift for the rest
of us and what a privilege to travel with them.” The Globe and Mail
Cuba, they say, is shaped like a crocodile, a water creature that, in repose, looks lethargic, but
once roused, is fierce and territorial. Only 250 kilometers wide and 1,250 kilometers long,
this sleek island looms disproportionately large in the imagination of the twentieth century.
Because Cuba has developed outside the prevailing hegemony of North America, it has
become impossible to think of it apart from fierce political and ideological debates. But what
if one were to suspend one’s disbelief and turn to Cuba with fresh eyes, to enter Cuba
through its art, its culture, its people? Would it be possible to record the current scene, freed
from political clichés? Cuba accomplishes just that with its recording of local life. Few know
the rich social texture of Cuba with its Jewish community, its gay scene, its health spas for
Cubans only and its Saturday afternoon ballroom dancing. Cuba captures the joy and fierce
independence of a people who clearly love their country.
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Canada:
McArthur & Company
Victor Suthren (see also Fiction)
THE SEA HAS NO END: The Life of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
Shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award for Non-Fiction
Soldier, sailor, adventurer and philosopher Louis-Antoine de Bougainville was a talented
French officer whose remarkable career took him from the boudoirs of Paris to the 18th
Century flintlock battlefields of North America and on to the lush islands of the South
Pacific. In this lively biography, author and sailor Victor Suthren follows Bougainville’s
career in North America during the Seven Year’s War and the American Revolution, and his
adventures in the South Seas, after which his revelations of the lush paradise of Tahiti
stunned and fascinated Europe
World:
Dundurn
TO GO UPON DISCOVERY: James Cook and Canada, from 1758 to 1779
Captain James Cook is best known for his explorations of the South Pacific and his search
for the Northwest Passage. But it was on the East Coast of what would later become Canada
that Cook transformed himself from a competent but undistinguished warrant officer into a
masterly surveyor and cartographer. An engaging book that explores those pivotal years.
World:
Dundurn
THE WAR OF 1812
The definitive account of the bloodiest, most dramatic, and longest-running war to take
place on Canadian soil. Heavily illustrated; a tie-in to an acclaimed television documentary.
World:
CANADIAN STORIES OF THE SEA
World:
Oxford University Press
THE OXFORD BOOK OF CANADIAN MILITIARY ANECDOTES
World:
Oxford University Press
Vera Tarman with Philip Werdell
FOOD JUNKIES: The Truth About Food Addition
Vera and Phil are not only experts in their field; they’re also recovering food addicts. Food
Junkies is the first book about food addiction written from both a clinical and personal
perspective. Sharing stories of success and failures from their own lives and the lives of their
patients, the authors empower readers with a way to end healthy eating habits, lose weight,
and finally be free of an obsession with food.
World:
Dundurn
194
Don Thompson
THE SUPERMODEL AND THE BRILLO BOX
“[L]ively, enthusiastic, opinionated and fun to read.” Financial Times
A revelatory look at the contemporary art market and the economics and psychology that
first produced a market crash and then two years later resulted in astronomical prices. The
Supermodel and the Brillo Box looks at the increasing dominance of Christie’s, Sotheby’s,
and a few über-dealers; the dominance and the hundreds of millions of dollars coming from
new museums in Dubai, Qatar and Beijing; the growing importance of the digital art world;
and the shrinking role of the mainstream gallery.
Czech Republic:
Kniha Zlin
Russia:
Centrepolygraph
Spain:
Ariel/Planeta
World English:
Palgrave Macmillan
THE $12 MILLION STUFFED SHARK: The Curious Economics of
Contemporary Art and Auction Houses
“If you read no other book about art in your life, read the one that’s gripped me like a thriller for the past
two days… The $12 Million Stuffed Shark.” The Times (UK)
In highly readable, addictive prose, incorporating dramatic accounts of classic auctions, The
$12 Million Stuffed Shark delves into the economics and psychology of the contemporary art
world – artists, dealers, auction houses, and wealthy collectors. It explores money, lust, and
the self-aggrandizement of possession to determine what makes a particular work of art
valuable while others are ignored. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, it pulls back the
curtain on a highly secretive industry.
Brazil:
Bei Editora
Korea: Leader’s Book Publishing
Canada:
Doubleday
Russia:
Centrepolygraph
China:
UNI-Books (Complex) (expired)
Spain:
Ariel/Planeta
China:
Thinkingdom Media (Simplified)
Turkey:
Ilestisim Publishing
Czech:
Kniha Zlin
UK:
Aurum Press
Farsi:
Ketab-e-Rahnama
French:
Les mots et le reste
Holland:
Uitgeverij Walewein
US:
Palgrave Macmillan
Italy:
Mondadori
Japan:
Bijutsu Shuppan Sha
Agent: John Pearce
Justin Trudeau
COMMON GROUND
Justin Trudeau’s candid memoir will reveal to its readers the experiences that have shaped
him over the course of his life and show how his passion for Canada and its people took
root. Covering the years from his childhood at 24 Sussex to his McGill days during the
tumultuous time of the Charlottetown Accord to his first campaign in Papineau to his role as
Liberal leader today, the book captures the foundational moments that have formed the man
we have come to know and informed his vision for the future of Canada.
World:
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Priscila Uppal **See Priscila Uppal’s website: www.priscilauppal.ca
PROJECTION: Encounters With My Runaway Mother
Shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, shortlisted for the
Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction
“Passionate, poetical, poignant and beautifully written with wit and lucidity, Priscila Uppal has produced a
compelling, unique and unforgettable story of love, family, childhood and discovery.” Simon Sebag Montefiore,
author of Jerusalem: The Biography
The story of how an estranged mother and daughter spent eight days together trying to build
a relationship, connected only by blood and a love of the movies. Brazil is the vibrant
backdrop as they take in all the country has to offer, taking refuge in the darkness and the
anonymity of the cinema, and the drama of lives not their own. With the unconventional
mother-daughter relationship framed by a tribute to popular movies, Projection is a haunting,
brutally honest memoir that explodes our myths of parenthood.
Canada:
Dundurn
Ann Vanderhoof **See Ann Vanderhoof’s website: www.spicenecklace.com
THE SPICE NECKLACE: A Food-Lover’s Caribbean Adventure
“Until you decide to explore the islands for yourself, you couldn’t ask for a better armchair (and kitchen)
guide than The Spice Necklace.” The Wall Street Journal
Ann Vanderhoof embarks on a voyage of culinary discovery as she follows her nose (and her
tastebuds) from one end of the island chain to the other – into tiny kitchens and fragrant
markets, through rainforest gardens and to family cookups on the beach, connecting the
dots linking each food to its traditions, folklore and history.
Canada:
Doubleday
US:
AN EMBARRASSMENT OF MANGOES: A Caribbean Interlude
An Amazon Top Ten Book of the Year for Travel
“What travel writing is all about.” Kirkus
Who hasn’t fantasized about chucking the job, saying goodbye to the rat race, and escaping
to some exotic destination in search of sun, sand, and a different way of life? In the mid
1990s, Ann Vanderhoof and her husband did just that. They quit their jobs, rented their
house, bought a sailboat, and set sail down the east coast of the US for the Caribbean. An
Embarrassment of Mangoes is Vanderhoof ’s intimate account of this two-year midlife interlude
during which they travel more than 7,000 nautical miles, drop anchor in 16 countries, and
adapt to a new life on “island time.” Along the way, they encounter tropical storms, learn how
to catch their dinner, and create delectable dishes from local ingredients in their tiny galley.
Canada:
Doubleday
World English (excl. Canada):
Holland:
Sirene
Broadway (UK: Transworld)
Poland:
Literackie
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Lucinda Vardey (see also Fiction) ** See Lucinda Vardey’s website:
www.dallaluce.com
TRAVELING WITH THE SAINTS IN ITALY: A Book of Pilgrimages
Italy has hundreds of sacred sites, overwhelming the modern traveller with choices: what to
see, where to go, how much time to spend in each place. This book is both a guide and a
map for the modern-day pilgrim. Its focus is the lives and travels of Italy’s saints, those who
are well-known, such as St. Francis, and those lesser known. Italy’s saints have left an
indelible stamp on the country. Almost every town or hill village has evidence of a local
saint, sometimes from as far back as 1,800 years ago. In ten suggested journeys through
north, central and south Italy, the reader will learn of their teachings, their homes, churches
built in their honour, out-of-the-way places which have a link to them. By getting to know
the saints of Italy, whether it be by walking, driving or climbing, the reader also comes to
know Italy and its scenery, tradition, cuisine and the glory of its genius – human creativity
produced for the love of God. Biographies of the saints, itineraries, maps, detailed directions
for travellers on prime places to visit (many documented for the first time), pilgrim prayers,
and sidebars on religious art and artists make this an exceptional guidebook.
Canada:
Augsburg
US:
Hidden Spring
THE FLOWERING OF THE SOUL: A Book of Prayers by Women
A compilation of prayers for women and by women, ranging across continents, centuries
and faiths, offering solace to women in uncertain times. Vardey’s previous work includes the
highly successful, God in All Worlds: An Anthology of Contemporary Spiritual Writing and the #1
bestseller A Simple Path which she co-wrote with Mother Teresa.
Australia:
Random House
US:
Ballantine
Canada:
Knopf
Moyez Vassanji (see also: Fiction)
A PLACE WITHIN: Rediscovering India
From award-winning and bestselling author M.G. Vassanji, a major work of non-fiction and
his most personal book to date. The inimitable M.G. Vassanji turns his eye to India, the
homeland of his ancestors, in this powerfully moving tale of family and country. Part
travelogue, part history, A Place Within is Vassanji’s intelligent and beautifully written journey
to explore where he belongs.
Canada:
Doubleday
India:
Penguin
*Margaret Visser
THE GIFT OF THANKS: The Roots, Persistence and Paradoxical Meanings
of a Social Ritual
In The Gift of Thanks, Margaret Visser turns her keen eye and far-ranging scholarship to the
act of gratitude, embodied in the deceptively simple phrase “thank you.” Those two words
become a springboard for a fascinating inquiry into all aspects of gratitude, from how and
why children are taught to give thanks, to the difference between speaking the words and
feeling them. She examines the ways in which being grateful is understood in different
197
cultures and how acts of reciprocation or rejection are treated in folklore, mythology and
fiction. Visser’s extraordinary insights into gratefulness will leave you both thankful and
newly aware of the power of those two important words.
Canada:
HarperCollins
US:
* Note that US rights are represented by the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency.
Eleanor Wachtel
ORIGINAL MINDS
Foreword by Carol Shields
Insightful interviews with sixteen extraordinary people from the fields of science, art,
economics, anthropology and social policy. Includes Jane Goodall, Bernardo Bertolucci,
George Steiner, Desmond Tutu, Susan Sontag, Umberto Eco, Noam Chomsky, Amartya
Sen, Oliver Sacks, and Arthur C. Clarke.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Korea:
X-Plex
MORE WRITERS AND COMPANY
Includes interviews with Kazuo Ishiguro, Alice Walker, Harold Bloom, Annie Dillard,
Tobias Wolff, Isabel Allende, Jamaica Kincaid, Carol Shields, Oliver Sacks, Carlos Fuentes,
Martin Amis, Louise Erdrich, and Susan Sontag.
Korea:
X-Plex
World English: Knopf Canada
WRITERS AND COMPANY: In Conversation with CBC Radio’s Eleanor
Wachtel
“The exchange on Ondaatje’s The English Patient ought to be required reading for anyone coming in
contact with that novel.” Quill and Quire
Writers on Art, Life, Politics, Parents, Children, Faith, Writers and Writing; from Amy Tan
and Nadine Gordimer to Russell Banks and Doris Lessing.
World English: Knopf Canada (US: Harcourt Brace)
Richard Wagamese (see also Fiction)
FOR JOSHUA: An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son
Celebrated Ojibway author Richard Wagamese shares the traditional stories and teachings of
his people, entwining them with an account of his own life-long struggle for self-knowledge
and self-respect. Wagamese stares the modern world in the eye and takes careful note of its
snares and perils. He sees people coveting without knowing why, people looking for roots
without understanding what might constitute rootedness, people looking for acceptance
without offering reciprocal respect, and people longing for love without knowing how to
offer it. And underneath all lurks the seductive oblivion of substance abuse. These are the
pitfalls of his own life, dangers he hopes his estranged son, Joshua, will be able to navigate
with the guidance afforded by this heartfelt memoir.
Canada:
Doubleday
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Agent: John Pearce
Emma Waverman and Eshun Mott ** See Emma Waverman & Eshun
Mott’s website: www.whininganddining.ca
WHINING AND DINING: Mealtime Survival for Picky Eaters and the
Families Who Love Them
If your mealtimes are full of chaos and whining; if you constantly worry that your children
are not getting even the minimum nutritional requirements; if your patience is worn out and
bribery’s your best tool – then this is the book for you. The secret lies in the attitude and
parenting skills you bring to the table, and of course, what you serve. Whining and Dining is
a creative and realistic approach – by parents and for parents – packed with delicious recipes,
helpful advice, and humorous anecdotes.
Canada:
Random House
Marlene Webber
AS IF KIDS MATTERED
Guidebook through the moral minefield of adoption – where money, yuppies and newborns
matter, and non-traditional families and older kids often don’t – and an expose of a morally
defunct and functionally bereft child-protection/placement system. Webber opens the way
through a litter of volatile issues.
North America: Key Porter
Darren Wershler
THE IRON WHIM: A Fragmented History of Typewriting
“Darren Wershler-Henry shows us a much stranger, and sometimes darker, history of the typewriter. He has
unearthed some great stories here.” Toronto Star
What happens when a typewriter hits the freeway at 90 miles per hour? What does
“Amaranath sasesusos Oronoco” mean? Can cockroaches type in upper-case? Why did
Nietzsche write in aphorisms? Darren Wershler-Henry answers these questions and more in
this entertaining and informative social history, exploring our connection with a
simultaneously enabling and oppressing machine. Moving beyond our nostalgia, WershlerHenry explores the complex relationships between authors and their typewriters, discusses
unusual and important typewritten texts, and questions the mechanics of inspiration.
Complete with provocative images of unusual typewriters, The Iron Whim is a unique book
from an innovative thinker.
Canada:
US:
Cornell University Press
Eileen Whitfield
PICKFORD: The Woman Who Made Hollywood
Shortlisted for the Viacom/Writers Trust, Los Angeles Times 100 Best Books for 1997 and
a Salon Favorite Biography of 1999
199
“An excellent job… a major stroke of perception.” The New Yorker; “A Knockout of a Biography”
Newsweek
Eight years in the making, this definitive biography brings Pickford to life as a complex knot
of contradictions and establishes her as a groundbreaking genius, casting light on one of the
most influential – and least understood – artists in the history of popular culture.
Film:
Capri Films/Jaffe Braunstein (Miniseries MOW)
World:
McClelland & Stewart (Czech: Ikar; Russia: Rusich; US: University Press of
Kentucky/Faber)
Kenneth Whyte
THE UNCROWNED KING: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst
From the editor-in-chief and publisher of Maclean’s magazine comes a chronicle of the
titanic clash between the young upstart Hearst and venerable newspaper giant Joseph
Pulitzer during the golden age of newspapers in the late 19th century in New York City.
World:
Random House
Charles Wilkins **See Charles Wilkins’ website: www.charleswilkins.ca
LITTLE SHIP OF FOOLS: Sixteen Rowers, One Improbable Boat, Seven
Tumultuous Weeks On The Atlantic
“Infused with wit, charm, and a sense of wonder, the playful but epic tale stands as a testament to the human
spirit stripped bare by the power of nature.” Booklist (Chicago)
It was an expedition like no other – a 5,000 kilometre run across the Atlantic from Morocco
to Barbados aboard an experimental rowboat. The boat’s crew of 16– the largest assembled
on the Atlantic since the days of the Norse longboats – included veterans of US college
rowing, triathletes, a woman who had rowed both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and a
scrawny, bespectacled, sexagenarian writer. Harrowing, cringe inducing and funny as hell.
World:
Greystone
IN THE LAND OF LONG FINGERNAILS: A Memoir
Shortlisted for the Trillium Book Prize, the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal For Humour, and the
2009 Toronto Book Awards
“If Raymond Chandler had written a memoir, I could imagine it reading like this…I don’t know how Charles
Wilkins escaped my notice until now, but I intend to read as many of his books as I can ...” Mary Roach, The Globe
and Mail
This dark and comic memoir is a recollection of the summer of 1969 when, as a 20-year-old
student, Charles Wilkins took a job as a gravedigger in a big city cemetery. From a midsummer gravediggers’ strike to reckless disinterments to the illegal shifting of bones from
untended graves, In the Land of Long Fingernails offers up a succession of lurid events that
most fiction writers would be hard-pressed to invent. Yet in its Barnumesque parade of
mavericks and misfits, the book is a testament not just to unexpected friendship but also to
late Sixties culture and to the art and power of storytelling. This is a macabre and hilarious
memoir of mortality, materialism and conformity – and of a young man’s coming of age
among extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
Canada/US: D&M Publishers/Greystone Books
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WALK TO NEW YORK
One of The Globe & Mail’s Top 100 picks for 2005
“He is a thoughtful and graceful writer… Charles takes the measure of the landscape in an original
memorable way. As he becomes a stronger and better walker, the narrative also becomes stronger, the
observations sharper…” The Globe and Mail
In the spring of 2002, in a middle-aged rut, writer Charles Wilkins walked east from his
home in Canada’s northern wilderness – and did not stop until he had reached New York
City, 2,100 kilometers away. This is the seditious, funny, emotionally charged story of his
adventure as he traces the footsteps of Indian fur traders, European explorers, and the
writer’s own ancestors as they made their ignominious way north in the wake of the Salem
witch hunts.
Canada:
Penguin
A WILDERNESS CALLED HOME: Dispatches from the Wild Heart of Canada
A dramatic and deeply personal exploration of the links between Canadians and the
wilderness that surrounds them.
World English: Penguin
THE CIRCUS AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH
Shortlisted for the Viacom Non-Fiction Prize
“A marvellous tour of the lore, history, and artifice of the circus.” Quill & Quire (starred review),
“Funny, informative and poignant.” Publishers Weekly
Wilkins realized a life-long ambition when he travelled with the Wallenda circus at the
northernmost point of their American tour. He reveals an exotic sub-culture including
generations of highwire daredevils haunted by a fatal shadow of disaster, and an outspoken
370-pound elephant trainer who’s lived with his elephant for 35 years. He reveals the code of
conduct and the devotion at the heart of a life that is all but dying out.
Penelope Williams
BREAST CANCER: Landscape of an Illness
Shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award for Non-Fiction
In a simple linear fashion, Williams addresses the causes of breast cancer, the impact of
diagnosis, and the treatments. Then she takes the reader into more complicated territory:
patient and doctor relationships, psychosocial issues, family attitudes, survivorship, and
financial and sexuality issues. Going beyond the physical aspects of the disease, she looks at
controversies over early detection and treatment as well as the role of media and big
business.
North America:
BPS Books
TOXIC TREATMENT: Surviving the Cancer Wars
A passionate but clear-eyed look at the world of alternative cancer therapy and its ostracism
by the conventional medical establishment. A book about people, not about disease.
North America:
Key Porter (US: Firefly)
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David A. Wilson
THE HISTORY OF THE FUTURE
“Wilson ingeniously uses the prophecies and predictions of the past to let us evaluate the fears and hopes of
our forbears.” The National Post
No society has ever been without its fortune tellers, and scholars have always known that the
seers’ predictions – economic, political or religious – said as much about contemporary
anxieties as real probabilities. The History of the Future is a wry look at the in which people in
the past imagined their own future and 2,000 years of almost entirely wrong predictions.
Brazil:
Ediouro
China:
Bookery (Complex)
Canada:
McArthur & Company
Russia:
AST
UNITED IRISHMEN, UNITED STATES: Immigrant Radicals in the Early Republic
World:
IRELAND, A BICYCLE AND A TIN WHISTLE
“This very funny book remains curiously modest about itself. And yet it has the firm but somehow free
structure of the ideal travel book.” New York Times Book Review
A journey through crowded pubs and wild open spaces, Ireland, a Bicycle, and a Tin Whistle is
David A. Wilson’s account of his search for traditional music in a country steeped in folklore
and myth. From the coastline of Gaelic Cape Clear to Dublin to Belfast, the harps, fiddles
and flutes of Irish music tell the story of the tragedy and comedy within the Protestant and
Catholic communities. Introspective and mischievous, Ireland, a Bicycle, and a Tin Whistle
travels beneath surface politics to establish music as a metaphor for the common ground
that binds Ireland together.
World:
McGill-Queen’s University Press
PETER PORCUPINE IN AMERICA: Pamphlets on Republicanism and Revolution
“Everyone who admires Cobbett will welcome this volume. It consists of a well-edited selection and abridgment
of his journalism between 1794 and 1800, when he was a pamphleteer and bookseller in America.” Times
Literary Supplement
World:
PAINE AND COBBETT: The Transatlantic Connection
“David Wilson has an excellent idea and has brought it to excellent fruition... In the howling wilderness of
Thatcher-Reagan kitsch of the so-called ‘special relationship,’ it is a service to scholarship to have the still,
small voice of David Wilson. I look forward eagerly to his next volume.” Journal of American History
World:
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Ken Wiwa
THE SHADOW OF A SAINT: A Portrait of a Martyr’s Son
“This is a memoir both personal and political, beautifully written and heartbreakingly important.” The
Globe and Mail
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Ken Wiwa was the public face of a campaign to save his father’s life, when writer Ken SaroWiwa was imprisoned for working to protect the Ogoni people. Tragically, Saro-Wiwa was
executed in 1995, to international outrage. Ken decided, two years later, to write of a struggle
within a struggle: a difficult relationship with a courageous, overbearing and aloof father, a
saint and a martyr, a man in whose shadow he was forced to live. Ken Wiwa relates his
innermost feelings and in doing so translates his family’s tragedy into a universal story of the
death of a parent.
Canada:
Knopf
Holland:
De Geus
Film:
Nomad Productions
UK:
Transworld
Germany:
List
US:
Steerforth
Jan Wong
BEIJING CONFIDENTIAL [Published in the UK as CHINESE WHISPERS and in
the US as A COMRADE LOST AND FOUND]
“Wong is an unstoppable reporter [and] this is a new kind of writing, a work of courage and humility. . . .
The book is a classic.” Heather Mallick, cbc.ca
For years Jan Wong was convinced she had ruined the life of a fellow Maoist student, Yin
Luoyi, by reporting to her teacher Yin’s desire to leave for America. Now she returns to
Beijing in a quest to make amends As Wong searches for Yin she meets an immense range
of people and reflects on just how radically both she and Beijing have changed, now that
comrades have become cosmopolitans. Beijing Confidential scintillatingly weaves together
Wong’s journey from remorse to relief, Yin’s journey from disgrace to dignity, and Beijing’s
journey from communism to capitalism.
Australia:
HarperCollins
Italy:
Newton & Compton
Canada:
Doubleday
Marathi:
Mehta Publishing
France:
Editions du Seuil
Poland:
Weltbild
Holland:
Luitingh/Veen Bosch
Romania:
Editura Allfa SRL
UK:
Atlantic Books
US:
Harcourt
JAN WONG’S CHINA: Reports From A Not-So-Foreign Correspondent
“A rich selection of China’s people, places and anecdotes… the narrative is laced with wry wit.” The Globe
and Mail
When Jan Wong returned to China’s as The Globe and Mail’s foreign correspondent, she was
in a unique position to observe the dramatic events of the late 80s and early 90s. Her return
visit in 1999 enabled her to check on the progress made since her days living there, and the
end result is a rich tapestry of China, written with her trademark wit and insight.
World:
Doubleday
RED CHINA BLUES: My Long March From Mao to Now
One of Time Magazine’s Ten Best Books of 1996
“A splendid memoir: funny, self-mocking, biting and perceptive.” Washington Post
Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at
the height of the Cultural Revolution. A true believer – and one of only two Westerners
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permitted to enrol at Beijing University – she renounced rock and roll, hauled pig manure in
the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the US.
Much later she returned to China as the Beijing correspondent for The Globe and Mail.
Startling, ironic, and deeply personal, Red China Blues follows Wong’s rocky romance with
Maoism from the Number One Machine Tool Factory to the massacre in Tiananmen Square.
World:
Doubleday (Australia: Doubleday; Finland: Otava; Germany:
Heyne; Holland: Spectrum; Japan: Tshushin; Poland: Philip Wilson; Sweden:
Natur och Kultur; UK: Transworld; US: Doubleday)
Agent: John Pearce
Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson
DANCING IN THE FLAMES: The Black Goddess and the New Mythology
By renowned Jungian psychologist and author.
Australia:
Allen & Unwin
Italy:
Red
US:
Shambhala
Ronald Wright (See also Fiction)
WHAT IS AMERICA? A Short History of the New World Order
BC Book Prize Finalist
Globe and Mail Best Book of 2008
#1 National Bestseller
“Brilliant” The Walrus
“Eloquently Persuasive… An angry book with an excellent case.” – Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
From the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of A Short History of Progress comes another
surprising, frightening and essential book. The United States is now the world’s lone
superpower, whose deeds could make or break this century. For better and worse, America
has Americanized the world. What Is America? shows how this came to pass; how the United
States, which regards itself as the most modern country on earth, is also deeply archaic, a
stronghold not only of religious fundamentalism but of “modern” beliefs in limitless
progress and a universal mission that have fallen under suspicion elsewhere in the west, a
rethinking driven by two World Wars and the reckless looting of our planet. What Is
America? peels away historical myths to show how a legacy of conquest -from the old Indian
wars to the wars of today -has shaped the modern world.
Australia:
Text
Canada:
Knopf
Canada French:Hurtubise
China:
China Critic
Korea:
Theory & Praxis
US:
Da Capo
A SHORT HISTORY OF PROGRESS
Libris Nonfiction Book of the Year 20015
Book of the Year: The Indepdendent, Globe and Mail
Finalist: British Columbia Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
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“Ronald Wright, one of this country’s intellectual treasures… takes his readers on a sweeping educational
tour of history and every continent’s previous civilization… This excellent book should be required reading at
the White House” – Bronwyn Drainie, Quill & Quire
In A Short History of Progress – based on his acclaimed 2004 Massey Lectures – Ronald Wright
argues that our modern predicament is as old as civilization, a 10,000-year experiment we
have unleashed but seldom controlled. Only by understanding the patterns of triumph and
disaster that humanity has repeated around the world since the Stone Age can we recognize
the experiment’s inherent dangers, and, with luck and wisdom, shape its outcome.
Australia:
Text
Brazil:
Record
Canada:
House of Anansi
Canada French:
Hurtubise (expired)
Canada French:
Bibliotheque Qebecoise
China:
Hainan (simplified)
China:
Ye-Ren (complex)
France:
Naïve
Germany:
Rowohlt
Italy:
Mondadori
Japan:
NHK
Korea:
Theory & Praxis
Netherlands:
Cossee
Poland:
Wydawnictwo Pointa
Portugal:
Dom Quixote
Russia:
Amphora
Serbia:
Geopoetika
Turkey:
Versus
UK:
Canongate
US:
Carroll & Graf
World Spanish:
Urano
HOME AND AWAY
“Ronald Wright is undoubtedly one of the best travel writers now working in English.” – George Woodcock,
Quill & Quire
“I’ll gladly travel with Ronald Wright wherever he goes.” – Washington Post
The first major collection of travel pieces from the bestselling author of Stolen
Continents reveals the world to us—from Belize to Egypt—in all its comedy, strangeness and
humanity. Home and Away is a marvellous mix of adventure and observation, antique
civilizations, contemporary politics and irresistible storytelling.
Canada:
Knopf
STOLEN CONTINENTS: Conquest and Resistance in the Americas
Book of the Year: The Independent, The Sunday Times
Winner: Gordon Montador Award
Finalist: Trillium Book Award
CBA Nomination Author of the Year 1992
“A counter-history that challenges all of our comfortable assumptions.” – Los Angeles Times
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An international bestseller, Stolen Continents chronicles the conquest and survival of five great
American cultures—the Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee, and Iroquois—including, in a new
afterward, incidents that bring us into the twenty-first century. Covering the more than five
hundred years since Europeans first set foot in the New World, Wright weaves
contemporary accounts with his own incisive historical narrative to create an indispensable
record, one that is powerful, vivid, and accurate.
Canada:
Penguin
Croatia:
Hlad I Sinovi
Germany:
Westermann
Italy:
Corbaccio
Japan:
NTT
Korea:
Theory and Praxis
Serbia:
Geopoetiku
Spain:
Anaya & Mario Muchnik
Turkey:
Versus
UK:
John Murray
US:
Houghton Mifflin
TIME AMONG THE MAYA: Travels in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico
“Wright’s unpretentious narrative blends anthropology, archaeology, history, and politics with his own
entertaining excursions and encounters.” – The New Yorker
In Time Among the Maya, Ronald Wright’s journey takes him not only to the land of the Maya,
but also among the five million people who speak Maya languages and preserve a Mayan
identity today. His travels begin in tiny Belize, exploring the jungles and mountains of
Guatemala, bloodstained by civil war, and end in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Embracing
history, politics, anthropology, and literature, this book is both a fascinating travel memoir
and the study of a civilization.
Canada:
Penguin
Japan:
Shinkosha
ON FIJI ISLANDS
“Part travel memoir, part history and anthropology, this is a compelling story.” – Publishers Weekly
As Ronald Wright observes, societies that do not eat people are fascinated by those that
do—or did. Known for years as the “Cannibal Islands”, the Fiji Islands are now an
archipelago of cultures that flourish despite the invasion of colonizers and the modern
world. A gifted writer—acutely observant, witty, and eclectic—Wright explores the exotic
islands and the reasons for Fiji’s success.
World:
Penguin US
CUT STONES AND CROSSROADS: A Journey in Peru
A New York Times Notable Book
Editor’s Choice: Christian Science Monitor
“Wright expertly outlines the politics and culture of a nations struggling to come to terms with the abrupt
collapse of one world and the fitful emergence of the next.” – Globe and Mail
Travelling through Peru, tracing the history of the Incas from their royal cities of Cusco and
Machu Picchu to their mythical origin in Lake Titicaca, Ronald Wright explores a country of
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contrasts—between Spanish and Indian, past and present, coastal desert and mountainous
interior.
World:
Penguin US
Bryce Wylde **see Bryce Wylde's website: www.homeopathicdoctor.ca
WYLDE ON HEALTH: Your Best Choices In The World Of Natural Health
“Bryce makes all of us wildly passionate about our health and shares accessible insights and achievable
action steps to bring youthful vigour into all of our lives.” Dr. Mehmet Oz
Wylde on Health is alternative health expert Bryce Wylde’s response to the questions about
natural medicine and requests for advice that he hears most often in clinical practice, in the
course of his weekly television program, and in his regular appearances on The Dr. Oz
Show.
Canada:
Random House
THE ANTIOXIDANT PRESCRIPTION: How to Use the Power of
Antioxidants to Prevent Disease and Stay Healthy
“Bryce Wylde’s years of clinical experience allow him to translate primary scientific findings about free
radicals and disease into a program accessible to every person concerned about optimal health.” Dr. Andrew
Weil
Antioxidants are on everyone’s mind – rightly so. Bryce Wylde, B.Sc, RNC, DHMHS, HD,
one of Canada’s leading alternative health experts, gives us individualized step-by-step
treatment plans to fight disease and stay healthy.
Canada:
Random House
Romania:
Curtea Veche
Publishing
Agents: John Pearce and
Chris Casuccio
Joel Yanofsky
BAD ANIMALS: A FATHER’S ACCIDENTAL EDUCATION IN AUTISM
After his son Jonah was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at age 5,
Yanofsky struggled to cope with his own derailed expectations of fatherhood and with the
disappointment of knowing that Jonah would never be able to lead a completely normal life.
Bad Animals takes us on the emotional roller-coaster ride experienced by many first-time
parents – including feelings of anxiety, wonderment and extreme joy – but complicates the
tale by introducing Yanofksy’s darker responses to his son’s diagnosis: anger, guilt and selfpity. A moving and unflinchingly honest story of a father and son’s attempt to find common
ground, Bad Animals wrestles with the question of how – and where – we find solace when
trouble comes. It is a journey and a meditation, both poignant and funnier than you might
expect, on trying to be a good father, a good husband, and a good person in the toughest of
times.
Canada:
Penguin
USA:
Skyhorse
Agent: John Pearce
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Barbara Arrowsmith-Young**See Barbara Arrowsmith-Young's website:
www.thewomanwhochangedherbrain.com
THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED HER BRAIN: AND OTHER
INSPIRING STORIES OF PIONEERING BRAIN TRANSFORMATION
“Barbara’s story… is truly heroic, on par with the achievements of Helen Keller… [she] has been able to
describe, in a poignant and often unforgettable way, what it feels like to have a devastating learning disorder –
but also what it’s like to leave it behind.” Norman Doidge, M.D., author of The Brain That Changes Itself
This is the incredible story of a remarkable woman. Though she was born with crippling
mental deficits, as a young woman, Barbara Arrowsmith-Young was able to draw on her
excellent memory and iron will to create ingenious exercises to strengthen the weak parts of
her own brain. She then went on to create a program that has helped countless others.
Australia:
HarperCollins
China (Complex):
Business Weekly Publications
Korea:
Korea Price Information Corp.
North America:
Free Press / Simon & Schuster (Audio: Post Hypnotic Press
[Unabridged])
Poland:
Wroclawskie Wydawnictwo Naukowe
UK:
Square Peg / Random House
CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT
Caroline Adderson
A SIMPLE CASE OF ANGELS
"Versatile author Caroline Adderson astutely captures the range of emotions and perspectives of young
adolescents as they awaken to a grown-up world." – Quill & Quire
Nicola’s adorable little dog, June Bug, keeps getting into trouble. She steals the neighbor’s
turkey, yanks down the Christmas tree and destroys Mum’s almost-finished giant crossword.
Everyone is mad, and it looks as though June Bug’s days are numbered. Will doing a good
deed make up for June Bug’s bad behavior?
World:
Groundwood Books (Japan: Kodansha)
VERY SERIOUS CHILDREN
A Vancouver Sun Critics Choice, Winner of the 2009 Diamond Willow Award/Saskatchewan
Young Readers’ Choice Award, Shortlisted for the Rocky Mountain Book Award/Alberta
Young Readers’ Choice Award
A zany novel for middle readers about two Very Serious Children and their anything-butserious parents. Growing up in a travelling circus has certain advantages, but as Nicky and
Saggy can attest, having a couple of clowns for parents can get a little tedious at times. As
Mr. and Mrs. Toots and the Fantastic Flyers travel from one circus performance to the next,
the two young brothers begin to dream of living in a normal house and of eating meals that
involve vegetables. When their plan to sneak into the local school and pass themselves off as
regular kids goes awry, they embark on an adventure that leads them to discover the
pleasures of a hot bath – and learn an important lesson about what’s most important in life.
World:
Scholastic
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MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
Winner of the 2013 Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize
“[B]uoyant and wise…” Quill & Quire
After mom takes off (again), Curtis and Artie are left to fend for themselves. At first, it isn’t
so bad—but then the bills come, and the landlord, and finally Mrs. Burt, who offers to take
the boys away from their home and to her secluded cabin in the woods. It’s a grand summer
of swimming, camping, and Mrs. Burt’s delicious cooking. As the autumn creeps in, though,
Curtis begins to wonder if their summer holiday might be a clever kidnapping in disguise…
World English:
Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press
Japan:
Kodansha Ltd.
NORMAN, SPEAK!
“Pet lovers will appreciate this family’s lighthearted journey toward making this relationship succeed.” Kirkus
Reviews
Norman the dog has finally been adopted by a loving family, but faces trouble when he just
can’t seem to listen. As the family loses patience with Norman’s inability to master simple
commands—his own name, even—they discover the problem: Norman doesn’t speak
English, but Chinese. And so, the family take off to learn a new language so that they can
communicate with their odd but loveable new pet.
World English:
Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press
Korea:
BookInMyLife Publishing Co.
Linda Bailey
PICTURE BOOKS
IF KIDS RULED THE WORLD
“Every page features a child’s dream come true. It guarantees an abundance of ooohs, aaahs, and even cheers
and will rev up imaginations about all kinds of fun things kids might do if they were in charge. . . this is a
surefire winner. Some books are built purely for fun, and this is one of them.” School Library Journal
How would the world be different if kids were in charge? This picture-book utopia offers up
some of the most cherished dreams of childhood — a world in which everyone would live in
a castle, every back yard would have a lake, and every lake would have a treasure island. Kids
could go to Recess School, and bedtime wouldn't even exist. Best of all, no one would ever
forget how to play!
World: Kids Can Press
IF YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE A DINOSAUR
Nominated for the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award
“There aren’t many books that have the courage to be this silly… Simply wonderful.” The Globe and Mail
What if you had a dinosaur, just lying around your living room, eating you out of house and
home — and doing absolutely nothing? How could you harness that dino's energy to help
out around the house and yard? As kids read the possibilities and laugh at their absurdity,
they will inevitably create their own scenarios as well. Here's an exciting way for young
dinosaur-lovers to think outside-the-box!
World: Tundra Books
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TOADS ON TOAST
Winner of the B.C. Chocolate Lily Award, shortlisted for the Saskatchewan Shining Willow
Award
Fox is bored with his same-old diet of big fat toads for dinner. He decides to look for small
toads, young and tender, instead. He catches a lovely sack of fresh young toadlets and is just
checking his recipe books — toad stir-fry, toad muffins, toad legs — when Mamma Toad
shows up. Can she find a way to keep her babies off Fox’s menu?
World: Kids Can Press (South Africa)
GOODNIGHT SWEET PIG
Ontario Library Association, Best 10 Picture Books 2007, Toronto Public Library, First &
Best Books for 2007
“The allusions to Hamlet may go right over the heads of the book's intended audience, but won't escape the
notice of the adult reader. There's something here for everyone.” Globe & Mail
Pig number one is trying to sleep, plumping her pillows and counting sheep. But what
chance does she have with nine other pigs crowding into her room? Here's a chance to
count to ten and back again with a crowd of rowdy pigs who eventually bring sweet dreams.
World: Kids Can Press (South Africa)
THE FARM TEAM
OLA Best Bets, Top 10 Canadian Children's Books 2006, Shortlist, Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz
Children's Book Award, Honour Book, Ontario Blue Spruce Award
The animals on Farmer Stolski's farm love hockey. They dream of winning the Stolski Cup!
But for fifty years, they've been losing to the nastiest, mangiest, smelliest bunch of varmints
in the North — the Bush League Bandits. Is this the year their luck will change?
World: Kids Can Press (China, New Zealand, South Africa)
THE BEST FIGURE SKATER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
Winner, Great Books Award, Canadian Toy Testing Council, Shortlist, Tiny Torgi Award
All Lizzy wants is to be the best figure skater in the whole wide world. But when the teacher
assigns roles in the class performance of Snow White, she is cast as a lowly tree. It's the
worst feeling Lizzy has ever, ever had.
World: Kids Can Press (China, New Zealand)
WHEN ADDIE WAS SCARED
Addie, a young girl growing up on a prairie farm in the 1930s, is scared of almost everything
- thunderstorms, rats, turkey gobblers and wolves. But when a hawk swoops down,
threatening her grandmother's precious chickens, Addie finds a fierce, strong place of
courage deep inside.
World: Kids Can Press (New Zealand)
GORDON LOGGINS AND THE THREE BEARS
All the kids at library storytime are waiting (and waiting!) for the librarian to begin reading
Goldilocks and the Three Bears. But Gordon Loggins is the only one who sees a small door
opening behind a book shelf. Slipping through, he finds himself in a forest - outside the
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three bears' house! But Goldilocks hasn't shown up. Can Gordon take her place?
World: Kids Can Press (Australia)
Stanley books:
STANLEY’S PARTY
Winner of the Time to Read Award, Oregon SMART Award, Saskatchewan Shining Willow
Award, Georgia Storybook Award, B.C. Chocolate Lily Award, Christie Harris Award, Blue
Spruce Award, Ontario Library Association, Zena Sutherland Award for Children's
Literature, Tiny Torgi Award, Child Magazine Best Children's Book Award, Book Sense 76
Title, Shortlist, California Young Reader Medal
“This is first-class entertainment all the way, with a last line — 'If you don't believe me, ask your dog' —
that's cheekiness itself.” Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, New Zealand, South Africa, UK)
STANLEY’S WILD RIDE
Winner of the California Young Reader Medal, Chocolate Lily Award, Book of the Year
(Picture Book Gold), Foreword Magazine, Honour Book, Blue Spruce Award, Honour Book ,
TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, OLA Best Bets, Top 10 Canadian Children's
Books 2006
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, New Zealand, South Africa, UK)
STANLEY AT SEA
Honour Book, Blue Spruce Award, OLA Best Bets, Top 10 Canadian Picture Books, 2008
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, New Zealand, South Africa)
STANLEY’S BEAUTY CONTEST
Honour Book, Blue Spruce Award, Book of the Year, Forward Magazine, Chocolate Lily
Award, shortlist, Shining Willow Award, Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice, shortlist
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, South Africa)
STANLEY’S LITTLE SISTER
Winner, B.C. Chocolate Lily Award, Shortlist, Rainforest of Trees Award, Ontario Blue
Spruce Award, OLA Best Bets, Top 10 Canadian Picture Books
World: Kids Can Press (China, South Africa)
Good Times Travel Agency books:
MIDDLE GRADE
The Binkertons are three ordinary kids who happen to live near an extraordinary travel
agency. The Good Times Travel Agency specializes in time travel, and when the Binkertons
step through its doors, anything can happen.
ADVENTURES IN ANCIENT EGYPT
Parents' Choice Awards, Recommended Winner, Canadian Children's Book Centre Our
Choice List, Starred Selection
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World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, Korea, UAE, UK)
ADVENTURES IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Winner, Silver Birch Award, Ontario Library Association, B.C. Red Cedar Award, Parents'
Choice Awards
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand, UAE, UK)
ADVENTURES WITH THE VIKINGS
Winner, Atlantic Provinces Hackmatack Award, Shortlist, Silver Birch Award, B.C. Red
Cedar Award Adventures with the Vikings
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, Germany, Korea, New Zealand, UAE, UK)
ADVENTURES IN ANCIENT GREECE
Shortlist, Canadian Roundtable Information Award, Atlantic Provinces Hackmatack Award
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China, New Zealand, Thailand, UAE, UK)
ADVENTURES IN ANCIENT CHINA
Shortlist, Christie Harris Award, Ontario Silver Birch Award
World: Kids Can Press (China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE )
ADVENTURES IN THE ICE AGE
Winner, Atlantic Provinces Hackmatack Award
World: Kids Can Press (China, Germany, New Zealand, UAE)
Stevie Diamond books:
MIDDLE GRADE
Stevie Diamond is a 12-year-old girl detective, living in Vancouver — smart, fearless, funny,
and not exactly Nancy Drew.
HOW COME THE BEST CLUES ARE ALWAYS IN THE GARBAGE?
Winner, Surrey Book of the Year, Shortlist, Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award,
Massachusetts Children's Book Award
World: Kids Can Press (Australia, China)
HOW CAN I BE A DETECTIVE IF I HAVE TO BABY-SIT?
Canadian Library Association Notable Book, Shortlist, Arthur Ellis (Crime Writers of
Canada) Award, Ruth Schwartz Children's Literature Award, Ontario Silver Birch Award
WHO'S GOT GERTIE AND HOW CAN WE GET HER BACK?
Shortlist, Canadian Library Association Book of the Year, Arthur Ellis (Crime Writers of
Canada) Award, Manitoba Young Readers' Choice, Moose Jaw & District Young Readers'
Choice
212
HOW CAN A FROZEN DETECTIVE STAY HOT ON THE TRAIL?
Winner, Arthur Ellis Award (Crime Writers of Canada)
WHAT'S A DARING DETECTIVE LIKE ME DOING IN THE
DOGHOUSE?
Shortlist, B.C. Red Cedar Award, Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award, Massachusetts
Children's Book Award, 1999, Arthur Ellis Award (Crime Writers of Canada)
World: Kids Can Press (China)
HOW CAN A BRILLIANT DETECTIVE SHINE IN THE DARK?
Winner, Arthur Ellis Award (Crime Writers of Canada), Shortlist, Silver Birch Award,
TORGI Award (CNIB Talking Book of the Year), B.C. Red Cedar Award
WHAT'S A SERIOUS DETECTIVE LIKE ME DOING IN SUCH A SILLY
MOVIE?
Shortlist, Atlantic Provinces Hackmatack Award
Dan Bar-el
AUDREY (COW)
Shortlisted for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award, named one of Kirkus’
Best Children’s Books of 2014, Next Chapter’s Children's Book Panel selection - Winter
2014, and New York Public Library’s list of 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing for 2014
“Part Great Escape, part Hatchet, part Charlotte’s Web, all wonderful.” Kirkus (Starred Review)
Audrey is a cow with poetry in her blood, who yearns for the greener pastures beyond
Bittersweet Farms. But when Roy the horse tells this bovine dreamer that she is headed for
Abbot's War, the slaughter house, Audrey knows that she must leave her home and friends
sooner than she ever imagined. With the help of a whole crew of animals and humans alike,
Audrey attempts to escape the farm she lives on.
World:
Tundra Books
NINE WORDS MAX
Maximilian is a prince who loves to talk: No topic is too small, no story too boring. Max's
brothers are the opposite--the less said the better. When the king and queen go on a trip and
leave the brothers alone, the 3 princes put a spell on Max that limits him to speaking only 9
words at a time. The brothers are delighted: peace and quiet at last! But when a fearsome
dignitary arrives, they realize the true value of their brother's insatiable need for information.
World:
Tundra Books
A FISH NAMED GLUB
World:
Kids Can Press
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NOT YOUR TYPICAL DRAGON
World:
Viking Books
DREAM BOATS
World:
Simply Read Books
THAT ONE SPOOKY NIGHT
World:
Kids Can Press
PUSSY CAT, PUSSY CAT, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
World:
Simply Read Books
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME, JACK
World:
Gumboot Books
SUCH A PRINCE
World:
Clarion Books
THINGS ARE LOOKING GRIMM, JILL
World:
Orca Books
ALPHABETTER
World:
Orca Books
THINGS ARE LOOKING UP, JACK
World:
Orca Books
Owen Beattie and John Geiger
BURIED IN ICE: The Mystery of a Lost Arctic Expedition
Clues to the mysterious disappearance of Sir John Franklin and his men have been slowly
pieced together over the years. Anthropologist Owen Beattie thought he knew what went
wrong on that doomed expedition, but needed evidence. Beneath the permafrost of Beechey
Island lie the bodies of three of Franklin’s sailors. Can they help him solve the mystery of
why two ships and 129 men vanished into the icy blackness at the top of the world? An
illustrated, children’s edition of the bestselling Frozen in Time.
World:
Madison Press (Australia: Scholastic; Canada: Random House/Scholastic;
Denmark: Haase; Germany: Tessloff; Italy; Leonardo Editore; Spain: Plaza y
Janes; UK: Hodder; US: Scholastic)
Nancy Belgue ** See Nancy Belgue’s website: www.nancybelgue.com
MIDDLE GRADE
COLETTE AND THE SILVER SAMOVAR
Colette Faizal isn't superstitious, so she doesn't worry when a fortune-teller advises Colette's
mother to “watch for the unexpected.” But when her father announces he is going back to
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Iran, her mother is hurt in a car accident and Colette is sent to live with the grandparents
she's never even met, everything the mysterious woman predicted seems to be coming true.
World:
Orca
SOAMES ON THE RANGE
One of ALA's 2012 Annotated Rainbow Project List Books
San Francisco “Cisco” Soames is confused. His father has just announced that he’s moving
in with another man, he’s been suspended from school for fighting – even though all he did
was provide his face as the punching bag for the school bully – and now he’s being accused
of putting an old man in a coma. To let things “cool down” a little, his parents have
banished him to a Rocky Mountain dude ranch to live with his draft-dodging renegade uncle,
known as “Uncle Party.” Things couldn’t get any worse. Could they?
World:
HarperCollins
CASEY LITTLE, YO YO QUEEN
Silver Birch Nominee 2007
Casey’s desperate to buy Lightning, a beloved horse. Across the street from Casey’s house a
mystery unfolds as a seldom-seen woman who seems to be able to read minds prepares to
host a carnival and a yo-yo contest that boasts a $1500 prize. Casey’s yo-yo is buried in her
closet. She has a great talent and a greater case of stage fright.
World:
Orca Book Publishers
SUMMER ON THE RUN
Best of 2005, Resource Links, CLA 2006 Notable Book, CLA Canadian Children’s Book of
the Year Nominee 2006
The year is 1931. With one parent riding the rails and the other out of work, Douglas is
convinced that rum-running is worth the risk. In an attempt to keep one step ahead of the
law, the family leaves home to camp out on Point Pelee for the summer. They settle into a
comfortable rhythm until Douglas and his sister Doris hear some news they cannot ignore.
World:
THE SCREAM OF THE HAWK
Silver Birch Nominee 2005, Diamond Willow Nominee 2005
Moving to Ontario has been hard on Lissa, especially now that she has to baby-sit a strange
boy who keeps a hawk captive. Lissa knows that keeping Otis’s secret may turn out to be a
mistake, but she has no idea how serious the consequences will be.
World:
Sangeeta Bhadra
SAM’S PET TEMPER
Sam is so frustrated waiting his turn at the playground that a Temper shows up. Within
seconds, the beastly, wild thing clears the place, and Sam happily plays alone with his new
pet. But his Temper follows him everywhere, causing more and more trouble, until Sam
realizes he needs to put a stop to it.
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World:
Kids Can Press (China Simplified: Beijing Zhengqing Culture & Art Co., Ltd;
French: Scholastic; Italy: Terre di Mezzo Editore; Korea: Kidary Publishing
Co.)
Sean Dixon (see also Fiction)
MIDDLE GRADE
THE WINTER DREY: The Trilogy of the Tree, Part II
Rolf the Ranger isn’t a typical nine-year-old boy. For one thing, he’s a giant – ten feet tall
and still growing. And he’s so shy that he speaks only in single words. But it is his turn to
discover the courage to be who he really is, at the urging of the little squirrel Rat-A-Task,
who speaks to him from the rafters of his bedroom.
World:
Key Porter
THE FEATHERED CLOAK
Shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award
When eleven-year-old Freya meets Morton – a peregrine falcon who has been stripped of his
feathers – she has no idea what to make of him. But before long, Freya and Morton have
embarked on an adventure that will take her far, far away from her goatherd-father’s house.
As the often bad-tempered girl and the once-majestic bird form an unlikely bond, they find
themselves at the centre of a battlefield – one that pits old against new, god against mortal,
peace against war, pagan against Christian, and brother against brother. Will this be the end
of the race of Norse gods and goddesses, and the Vikings who fight in their shadows? In this
lyrical, haunting tale, Sean Dixon weaves myth and history into an epic tale of friendship,
compassion and justice.
World:
Key Porter Books
Sandy Frances Duncan
CARIBOO RUNAWAY
Disguised as a boy, 13 year-old Elva Parkhurst leaves Victoria in 1864 to find her father
somewhere in the Cariboo, where he has been prospecting for six years, because the family
needs him. Determined to help with the search, Elva’s brother Tim follows her on board the
S.S. Beaver. Together the two journey 500 miles up the Cariboo Wagon Road – moving
from adventure to adventure. When they finally arrive, they discover that their father is in
jail! Only his children can free him.
Canada:
Pacific Edge
Film:
Infinity Films/NDF
Sylvia Fraser (see also Fiction and Non-Fiction)
TOM AND FRANCINE
He’s a little bit country and she’s a lot city. That doesn’t matter though because they’re in
love. The only problem is Tom can’t find a job for a country cat in the city. Can anyone help
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him before he has to leave his new love? Tom and Francine is a feline love story that will make
you purr all over.
World:
Key Porter Books
Gail Gallant ** See Gail Gallant's website: www.gailgallant.com
ABSOLUTION
YOUNG ADULT
In this suspenseful, romantic sequel to Apparition, Amelia Mackenzie, reluctant teenage
clairvoyant, is caught up in a series of paranormal mysteries that threaten to unravel
everything she believes in. Even after the barn in which Matthew had died is burnt to the
ground, Matthew’s spirit continues to stalk the ruins and Amelia must try to take care of his
increasingly reckless ghostly acts. Unable to reconcile her longing for Kip -- the flesh-andblood son of her ghost tracking mentor, Morris -- with her commitment to Matthew’s ghost,
Amelia’s heart is in more conflict than ever. As the ghost Matthew gets ever more
comfortable in his phantom skin, Kip’s headed for trouble and only Amelia can protect him.
Canada:
Doubleday
APPARITION
YOUNG ADULT
The last time sixteen-year-old Amelia Mackenzie saw her best friend Matthew alive, he broke
her heart. When he is found the next day in an abandoned barn at the edge of town, dead of
an apparent suicide, Amelia’s whole world comes crashing down. And then she sees him
again. Because Amelia has a secret that even Matthew didn’t know: sometimes, she sees
ghosts.
Canada
Doubleday
Susan Juby ** See Susan Juby’s website: www.susanjuby.com
BRIGHT’S LIGHT
Nominated for a Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic
Like all the girls at the House of Gear, Bright has a higher purpose: to be, like, awesome.
That means Bright’s engineered body must always look perfect. The minders are watching,
after all. The minders see everything. One of them, Grassly, is on a mission that will lead
Bright toward a new future while exposing her to incredible danger. If the other minders
catch a whiff of curiosity, rebelliousness or free will, they may decide it’s time to reboot the
entire population—just as Bright is discovering a whole new purpose within herself.
Canada:
HarperCollins
GETTING THE GIRL: A Guide To Private Investigation, Surveillance, And Cookery
Selected for the Best YA of 2008 by Kirkus; nominated for an Edgar Award in the Best
Young Adult Category; selected by the International Youth Library for White Ravens 2009;
nominated for the Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers
Meet Sherman Mack. Short. Nerdy. Amateur P.I. and prepared to do anything for Dini
Trioli. Nobody knows who began it, but every girl at Harewood Tech fears being D-listed, a
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ritual that wipes her off the social map forever. When Sherman believes Dini is in danger of
being D-listed, he snatches up his surveillance gear and goes undercover.
World:
HarperCollins US (Canada: HarperCollins)
ANOTHER KIND OF COWBOY
Nominated for the White Pine Award (Ontario Library Association); named Best Young
Adult Book of the Year by Kirkus
For Alex Ford, dressage is an oasis. In the stable, he can slip into his riding pants, shed the
macho cowboy image, and feel like himself for a change. For Cleo O’Shea dressage is a fresh
start. She’s got a new boarding school, absentee parents, and best of all: no one to remember
her past... They’re an unlikely pair, but sometimes the last person you’d ever think of as a
friend ends up being the one you need the most. Susan Juby’s trademark humour brings life
and laughter to this remarkable story of relationships, mixed signals, and the soul-searching
that sometimes takes two.
World:
HarperCollins US (Canada: HarperCollins)
ALICE MACLEOD, REALIST AT LAST
Shortlisted for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
In this third volume in the bestselling Alice series, now adapted to a half-hour TV comedy,
Alice MacLeod has graduated from the ranks of the weirdly marginal into the realm of the
practically normal. Except for the fact that she’s been abandoned by her boyfriend, Goose,
and her tree hugger mom has been busted at an environmental protest and sent up to the
Big House, everything’s going great. Thankfully, these misfortunes are giving Alice plenty of
material for the screenplay she’s writing, which is going to make her rich, famous and
fabulous.
Film & TV: Slanted Wheel
World:
HarperCollins US (Canada: HarperCollins; UK: HarperCollins)
MISS SMITHERS
New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age List, 2004
“Utterly, absolutely sidesplitting.” Kirkus (starred review)
Alice MacLeod is back, complete with satirical wit and unique thrift-shop style. Now sixteen,
Alice suspects that this is the year she’s going to bloom, and that’s immediately confirmed
when, lured by the $400 clothing allowance, she becomes the official Rod & Gun Club
candidate in the town’s Miss Smithers pageant. But she can’t decide whether to push her
sort-of boyfriend, Goose, into having sex with her, or to take a vow of chastity with the
WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) movement. A uniquely funny take on surviving the tough
teen years.
Film & TV: Slanted Wheel Entertainment
World:
HarperCollins US (Australia: HarperCollins; Canada: HarperCollins; UK:
HarperCollins)
ALICE, I THINK
A Summer 2003 Children’s Book Sense 76 Pick; Reached #4 on Quill & Quire’s New
Releases Bestseller List, A Kirkus Editors’ Choice for 2003, An ALA Best Book for 2004
“[Juby’s] dark wit virtually glitters on every page.” Publishers Weekly (starred review), “Comedy rules in
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Juby’s satirical, laugh-out-loud debut … the biggest complaint readers will likely have is the pain in their
stomachs from laughing. Hilarious.” Kirkus (starred review)
After her first therapist has a meltdown, Alice MacLeod and her new therapist decide that
Alice’s horizons should be expanded. Enter Alice’s Life Goals List. Alice is on the hunt for a
look, a social life, a job, a boyfriend, and, most important, a half-decent haircut. But getting
those things in Smithers, British Columbia, isn’t easy. Particularly if Irma of Irma’s Salon is
in charge of the new look.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film & TV:
Slanted Wheel Entertainment
World (excl. Canada): HarperCollins US (Australia: HarperCollins; Finland: Karisto;
Indonesia: Teraju; UK: HarperCollins)
Dennis Lee
“Dennis Lee is the poet laureate of the Canadian kids’ world.” The Montreal Gazette
THE CAT AND THE WIZARD
Winner of the Mr. Christie’s Book Award for best Canadian children’s book
The Cat and the Wizard tells the story of a disgruntled wizard and his unwanted bag of tricks.
One day, in a laundromat, he befriends a jet-black cat with a spiffy hat, a heart full of
hospitality, and no one to share it with. Together they retire to Casa Loma, where they
embark on an evening of candlelight, wine, and tuna fish; they juggle with sparklers, turnips,
flautists, and butterflies’ wings. The party lasts until the crack of dawn.
World:
HarperCollins
BUBBLEGUM DELICIOUS
Using the rhythm of bouncing balls and schoolyard songs, Lee has created a collection with all
the wonder and wistfulness of early years – from sublime goofiness to winsome poignancy.
World:
HarperCollins
THE ICE CREAM STORE
Winner of the Mr. Christie’s Award for best Canadian children’s book
Would you box with a fox named Knox? What is a pig in pink pyjamas doing in the
Bahamas? Where is the secret place? … Travel to the ice cream store and beyond, in this
exuberant, tender, wildly inventive collection.
World:
HarperCollins
LIZZY’S LION
Dennis Lee has created a magical world in verse – this time recounting the enchanting and
delightful story of a little girl – Lizzy – and the very real and grownup pet lion she keeps in
her bedroom by her closet-cupboard door!
World:
JELLY BELLY
In Jelly Belly, Dennis Lee has created a new sort of Mother Goose, a collection of modern poems
that are just as playful, gentle and hilarious as the original nursery rhymes we all remember.
World:
HarperCollins
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GARBAGE DELIGHT: Another Helping
A popular favourite since 1977, it has been freshly prepared for another generation of
readers to gobble up. This edition features spectacular illustrations, which create a whimsical,
magical world of their own.
World:
HarperCollins
ALLIGATOR PIE
Dennis Lee’s wonderfully playful rhymes, along with Frank Newfield’s memorable
illustrations, have enchanted two generations of young readers. A Canadian children’s classic.
World:
HarperCollins
William Lishman
THE ILLUSTRATED FATHER GOOSE
Based on the inspiring and true story of Bill Lishman (Father Goose) and his 11-year-old
daughter Carmen, who together trained a flock of Canada geese to imprint on Bill and his
self-made Ultralite, which they followed south to Virginia one autumn, returning north to
Purple Hill of their own accord the following spring. A heartwarming story of trust and the
unique communication between animals and people.
Canada & UK: Little Brown Canada
Kyo Maclear (See also Fiction) **see Kyo Maclear’s website: www.kyomaclear.ca
JULIA, CHILD
One of Amazon.ca’s Best Books of the Month for Children and Teens (July 2014)
Shortlisted for The Small Type Award for Children’s Books We Really Like (2014)
One of Quill & Quire’s Kidlit Books of 2014
"Julia, Child is not only a book about the joy of cooking, but the wonder of childhood, and, like the best
cooking, is meant to be savored.... I guarantee it'll leave you hungry." - The National Post
Julia and Simca are two young friends who agree that you can never use too much butter -and that it is best to be a child forever. A playful, scrumptious celebration of the joy of
eating, the importance of never completely growing up and mastering the art of having a
good time, Julia, Child is a fictional tale loosely inspired by the life and spirit of the very real
Julia Child.
World:
Tundra Books / Penguin Random House (Italy: Il Gioco di Leggere)
MR. FLUX
Nominated for the Rainforest of Reading Award (2014)
Winner of Prix Jeunesse des Libraires du Quebec (2014)
Children’s Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit, Bank Street Children’s Book Committee
(2014)
Favourite New Picture Book, Today’s Parent (April 2013)
One of the 20 Most Beautiful Children’s Books in the World, Apartment Therapy
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“[A] friendly introduction to a lighthearted aesthetic and an antidote to the belief that standards (in art or
anything else) are fixed or immutable.” Kirkus Reviews
Martin and his neighbors eschew change until eccentric Mr. Flux moves in and shows them
that change can be big or little or even fit inside a box, and needn’t be at all scary. A tonguein-cheek tale loosely inspired by the 1960s art movement known as Fluxus.
World:
Kids Can Press (World French: La Pasteque)
VIRGINIA WOLF
“Knowledge of Virginia Woolf and her painter-sister Vanessa Bell is unnecessary…handled with tenderly
forceful aplomb.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Vanessa's sister, Virginia, is in a “wolfish” mood -- growling, howling and acting very
strange. It's a funk so fierce, the whole household feels topsy-turvy. When Virginia tells
Vanessa about an imaginary, perfect place called Bloomsberry, Vanessa begins to paint it on
the bedroom walls, transforming them into a beautiful garden. Before long, Virginia, too, has
picked up a brush and undergoes a surprising transformation of her own.
World:
Kids Can Press (Argentina/Latin America: La Bestia Equilatera; Brazil:
Edicoes SM Ltda; Italy: Rizzoli Editore; Korea: Sanha Publishing; Spain:
Ediciones Jaguar; World French: La Pasteque)
Jake MacDonald (See also Non-Fiction)
JULIANA AND THE MEDICINE FISH
“A beautiful book that every member of the family will enjoy.” Paul Quarrington
Award-winning author Jake MacDonald’s first young adult novel is a dramatic coming of age
story. Juliana attempts to deal with her parents’ divorce while spending the summer at her
father’s fishing lodge. Over the course of the season, with the help of an Ojibway friend, she
uncovers an ancient secret that helps her reconcile with her father and, at the same time,
acquire a new appreciation for the dangerous beauty of nature.
Canada:
Great Plains
Roy MacGregor (see also Fiction and Non-Fiction)
FOREVER
Bump has been longing to play in the annual Christmas Classic – the Finnigans’ traditional
Hockey game – for what feels like forever. When Bump finally meets the height
requirement, Grampa announces, “Tomorrow, the Christmas Classic welcomes a new
player” and Bump knows that his time has finally come.
Canada:
Red Deer Press
THE SCREECH OWLS SERIES
Who’d have guessed that a pee wee ice hockey team with a knack for solving mysteries could
capture the elusive attention of eight to 14-year-olds? But as the millionth copy is about to
roll off the press, there’s no question that the madcap adventures of the Screech Owls are
popular – even Wayne Gretzky buys them for his kids! Sports journalist Roy MacGregor
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attributes the success of the series to the combination of page-turning mystery, realistic and
adventurous settings and the excitement of ice hockey, the world’s fastest game.
Film:
Shaftesbury Films
World:
McClelland & Stewart (Finland: Kustannus Kolibri; Sweden: B. Wahlstrom;
World Chinese: Aurora Publishing House; World French: Editions du
Boreal)
Kevin Major ** See Kevin Major’s website: www.newcomm.net/major
ANN AND SEAMUS
Nominated for the Governor General’s Award
“This is adventure, coming-of-age, and love story, all set within vividly evoked Newfoundland history and
presented through stunningly immediate poetry….Major captures the drama of the shipwreck and subsequent
rescue in spare poetry that at times has the elemental power of a heroic epic.” The Horn Book
In 1828, off Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland, seventeen-year-old Ann Harvey, her fisherman
father and younger brother came upon the wreck of the Despatch, an Irish immigrant ship
originally destined for Quebec City. In thick fog and fierce wind it had run aground and
broken apart. Ann’s courage and strength at the oars of the rescue boat were largely
responsible for the saving of more than 160 passengers stranded amid the raging storm, left
“like seabirds clinging to the rocks.” Ann and Seamus brings the remarkable story of Ann
Harvey to today’s readers.
World:
Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre
EATING BETWEEN THE LINES
Canadian Library Association Book of the Year, Ann Connor Brimer Award, Shortlisted for
the Ruth Schwartz Award
“One of the best young adult book authors in North America.” Maclean’s
With parents on the brink of break-up, a love interest going sour, and an empty fridge,
Jackson finds it hard to solve his problems, until he realizes he has the bizarre ability to
become the characters in the books he has to read.
Canada:
Doubleday
BLOOD RED OCHRE
Shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award and the Geoffrey
Bilson Award for Historical Fiction
David is glad to work with his attractive native classmate Nancy on a history assignment on
the vanished Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland – even when it takes him on a canoe trip to
their burial place on Red Ochre Island.
Canada:
Doubleday
US:
Dell
Denmark:
Munksgaard
DEAR BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
“Major understands well the inner workings of teenagers and expresses, in an authentic voice, the turmoil and
sorting out process that go along with growing up.” Publishers Weekly
Terry knows Springsteen is on tour, and doesn’t expect an answer to his letter to the famous
rock star. What counts is writing it, and wondering what Bruce would do if he had a weird
life like Terry’s.
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Canada:
Doubleday
Canada French: Pierre Tisseyre
Germany:
Cornelson
Israel:
Keter
Portugal:
Spain:
UK:
US:
Terramar
Ediciones B
Penguin
Dell
Stacey Matson **See Stacey Matson’s website: www.staceymatson.com
MIDDLE GRADE
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A TOTAL AND COMPLETE GENIUS
Arthur Bean, soon-to-be a rich and famous author, has set two goals for himself: to win the
school writing contest and to win the heart of his secret crush, Kennedy. But his life has had
some major twists and turns lately, and the recent loss of his mother definitely complicates
things.
World:
Scholastic Canada (Brazil: Geracao Editorial; UK : Anderson Press; US:
Sourcebooks)
Lindsay Mattick
FINDING WINNIE
Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie. In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a
veterinarian on his way to World War I, rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his
hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war. Harry Colebourn’s greatgranddaughter, Lindsay Mattick, tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even
more remarkable journey--from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an
army base in England...And finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new
friend: a boy named Christopher Robin. Here is the remarkable true story of the bear who
inspired Winnie-the-Pooh, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Film:
RatPac Entertainment
World (excluding Canada):
Little Brown US (China (simplified): Hachette-Phoenix; Italy:
Mondadori; Japan: Hyoronsha Publishing; UK: Orchard
Books)
Linda Maybarduk
THE DANCER WHO FLEW: A Memoir of Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev, the brilliant Tatar dancer, changed ballet forever. His was a life of great
adventure and drama, but above all, it was a dancer’s life.
World:
Tundra
Susin Nielsen ** See Susin Nielsen's website: www.susinnielsen.com
WE ARE ALL MADE OF MOLECULES
“A blended-family comedy expertly balances laughs and wisdom.” Kirkus starred review
Thirteen-year-old Stewart is academically brilliant but socially clueless. Fourteen-year-old
Ashley is the undisputed ‘It’ girl in her class, but her grades stink. Their worlds are about to
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collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. ‘The Brady Bunch’ it
isn’t. Stewart is trying to be 89.9 percent happy about it, but Ashley is 110 percent horrified.
She already has to hide the real reason her dad moved out; ‘Spewart’ could further threaten
her positions at the top of the social ladder. In this hilarious and deeply moving story, awardwinning author Susin Nielsen has created two narrators who will steal your heart and make
you laugh out loud.
World excl. US:
Tundra (Canada Audio: Listening Library; France: Helium; French
Canada: Les editions de la courte echelle; Germany: ctb / Random
House; Italy: Il Castoro; Norway: Aschehoug; Sweden: Raben &
Sjogren; UK: Andersen Press [2 books])
US:
Wendy Lamb Books / Random House Children’s Books (2 books)
US Audio:
Listening Library
THE RELUCTANT JOURNAL OF HENRY K. LARSEN
Winner of the 2012 Governor General's Award - Children's Literature
Winner of the 2013 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, Best YA Book
Winner of the 2013 Canadian Library Association's Children's Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Best Book
“The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen is an engaging grief story. Thought-provoking
and relevant, it addresses the effects of bullying in a realistic, compelling and compassionate way, exemplifying
the adage ‘There are two sides to every story.’ Henry’s journey is moving and weirdly, wildly funny.” Jury’s
Citation, Governor General’s Literary Award in Children’s Text
Thirteen-year-old Henry’s happy, ordinary life comes to an abrupt end when his older
brother commits a horrible crime. Forced to resume his life in a new city, Henry eventually
befriends a number of oddball characters. A riveting read about a family in turmoil.
World:
Tundra (Canada French: Les Editions De La Courte Echelle; France:
Editions Actes Sud; Germany: ctb/Random House Germany; Korea: Lime
Co.; Oceania: Adiba at RH Australia; UK Commonwealth excl. Canada &
Europe: Andersen Press)
DEAR GEORGE CLOONEY, PLEASE MARRY MY MOM
2011 International White Raven Selection
Canadian Library Association 2011 Honour Book
Winner, VOYA’s Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers
Gold Medal Winner, ForeWord Book of the Year Award
Winner, 2011 Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award (Snow Willow)
Winner, 2012 Rocky Mountain Book Award
Winner, 2012 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award
“Nielsen has created a narrator as sassy and candid as this memorable novel’s title…. Nielsen skillfully
balances her story’s keen humor…with poignancy..” Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
Violet's TV-director dad has traded a job in Vancouver for one in Los Angeles, their rundown house for a sleek ranch-style home, and, worst of all, Violet's mother for a trophy
wife. When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and
her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet's mom can't pick a decent
man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.
World:
Tundra (Brazil: Panda Books; France: Editions Actes Sud; Germany: Carlsen
Verlag; Italy: Editrice Il Castoro)
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WORD NERD
Winner of the 2010 Red Maple Award
Winner of the 2010 Rocky Mountain Book Award
Winner of the 2010 Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award Winner of the 2010
Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award (Snow Willow)
Winner of ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year - Silver 2008 Juvenile Fiction
“…a beautifully drawn character…. [a] funny, wry tale, a tale that involves a lot of Scrabble (at the
championship level), the reformation of an ex-con/druggie and the coming-into-himself of a boy. And there’s a
bit of love, too, actually.” The Globe and Mail
After some bullies at Ambrose’s school almost kill him by slipping a peanut into his
sandwich, his overprotective mother Irene decides he should be home-schooled. But then he
meets Cosmo, newly-released from jail; the twenty-five-year-old son of the Greek landlords
upstairs. Who’d have thought they’d share a love of Scrabble? A brilliantly observed, comic
first novel about a boy who’s searching for acceptance and a place to call home.
World:
Tundra (Canada French: Les Editions De La Courte Echelle; Brazil: Panda
Books; France: Editions Actes Sud; Germany: ctb/Random House
Germany)
Cathy Ostlere***see Cathy Ostlere’s website: www.cathy-ostlere.com
KARMA
“A fascinating, epic page-turner.” Booklist (starred review)
“Pace, tension… richness of language… A spectacular, sophisticated tale that will stick with the reader long
after they’re done considering its last lines.” School Library Journal (starred review)
On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi is gunned down by her two Sikh bodyguards. The
murder sparks riots in Delhi, and for three days, Sikh men are targeted and killed in
retribution. It is into this chaos that 16-year-old Maya and her Sikh father, Amar, arrive from
their home in Canada with the ashes of Maya’s mother. The father and daughter become
separated during the riots, neither knowing if the other is alive. Maya’s flight to safety takes
her into the Thar Desert where she meets 17-year-old Sandeep and the slightly older Akbar
who both vie for her attentions while trying to figure out who she is. Tormented by the
disappearance of her father and a murder she has witnessed, Maya almost gives up on her
own life. But in a bold escape across the desert, she and Sandeep race to Delhi to look for
Amar and find a way to get Maya home.
India:
Penguin
North America: Puffin / Penguin (US: Razorbill / Penguin)
Russia:
Pink Giraffe Publishers
Agent: John Pearce
Nancy Rose
THE SECRET LIFE OF SQUIRRELS
You may think you know what squirrels do all day…but Mr. Peanuts is no ordinary squirrel.
Instead of climbing tress, he plays the piano. (“Moonlight Sonutta” is his favorite.) Instead
of scurrying through the woods, he reads books (such as A Tail of Two Cities). But everything
225
is more fun with company, so Mr. Peanuts writes a letter to Cousin Squirrel and invites him
for a visit! Featuring candid photographs of wild squirrels in handcrafted, homemade
miniature settings, this irresistible book is sure to surprise and delight readers and animal
lovers of every age!
Canada:
Penguin Books
World (excl. Canada): Little Brown (Japan: Media Factory Brand Company; Korea:
Neungyule Education)
Larry Scanlan (see also Non-Fiction)
THE HORSE’S SHADOW
When thirteen-year-old Claire Vigere is near a horse, she becomes “the horse’s shadow.”
Claire instinctively knows when to be still on a horse’s back, when to prod, and just how
much to ask of a horse on any given day. Her grandfather Ambrose, a habitant in Lower
Canada in the 1860s, has always known about this gift. A wise horseman himself, he has
taught Claire everything he knows about caring for these magnificent creatures. But she will
soon learn the hardest lesson of all. The Vigeres, who have seen many of their neighbours
lose their homes because of overwhelming debt, must do what they can to survive. That
means selling their best and most beloved black Canadian horses: Beau Albert and his son
Tibeau. But plucky Claire is determined to be with them. Disguising herself as a boy who is
deaf and mute lest her accented English reveal her origins, she stows away in a wagon
heading south-and straight into the chaos of the American Civil War.
Canada:
Penguin
HORSES FOREVER
It’s no secret that kids love horses – and vice versa – and here Scanlan gathers together
fascinating horse stories, some contemporary, some from myth and history, that will delight
and fascinate young readers.
BIG BEN: The Greatest Horse in the World
A book for young and old alike. Big Ben is an equine legend, arguably the best show-jumper
the world has ever seen, twice world champion, well over $1 million in earnings, and still
taking Grand Prix competitions at the astonishing age of 17, shortly before his retirement.
World:
Scholastic Canada
Richard Scrimger
ZOMBOY
National Bestseller, nominated for the Silver Birch Award
“Scrimger’s lighthearted take on zombie fiction is a fast and frenzied ride through the world of political
correctness, with an unobtrusive lesson on empathy and acceptance thrown into the bargain.” – National
Reading Campaign
In spite of a few special challenges, creepy young zombie Imre Lazar is integrated into a
regular classroom at Dresden Public School in southern Ontario. No one is less sure about
the school board’s decision than narrator Bob, but his fearless best friend, Evil-O (Olive
spelled backwards), is Imre’s greatest defender. Clashes and heroics ensue as the
226
community’s tolerance for difference and Bob’s tolerance for an undead rival are pushed to
the limit in this riotous, exciting, and surprisingly touching novel.
Canada:
HarperCollins
Shyam Selvadurai (see also Fiction)
SWIMMING IN THE MONSOON SEA
Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Children’s Literature Award, the Lambda Literary
Awards, The Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award and the Ruth and
Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award
“Faultlessly elegant . . . Selvadurai is expert in capturing the nuances of this particularly precious time and
place.” The New York Times Book Review on Cinnamon Gardens, “A powerful and beautifully written
novel.” Literary Review (UK) on Funny Boy
The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is
caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his
vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life “before,”
when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants
to appear in his school’s production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s
tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada
and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian
boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in
which Amrith finds himself immersed. Shyam Selvadurai’s brilliant novels, Funny Boy and
Cinnamon Gardens, have garnered him international acclaim. In this, his first young adult
novel, he explores first love with clarity, humor, and compassion.
World:
Tundra Books (Denmark: Arvids)
Kevin Sylvester **See Kevin Sylvester's website: www.neilflambe.com
THE NEIL FLAMBÉ CAPERS
“Good fun.” Gordon Ramsay
Neil Flambé is a 14-year-old wunder-chef. Patrons pay top dollar and wait months for
reservations at his tiny, boutique restaurant. What many of Neil’s patrons don’t know,
however, is that he’s also a budding detective.
World:
Simon & Schuster
Agents: Michael A. Levine
Robert Paul Weston (See also Fiction) **See Robert Paul Weston’s website:
www.robertpaulweston.com
GHOBBLED BY GHORKS: A Creature Department Novel
When Jean-Remy receives a singing telegram from his long-lost sister, Eloise Yvette, the
Creature Department is once again thrown into an invention frenzy. Rumour has it that the
Ghorks have taken Heppleworth’s Food Factory hostage. And worse, they are threatening to
make tasty treats of the creatures inside!
World:
Razorbill / Penguin US (Brazil: Editora Globo; China: Shanghai Gaotan
Culture)
227
THE CREATURE DEPARTMENT
“Stunning… A bit like if you took Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Monsters Inc. and shoved them
in a TARDIS.” Buzzfeed
Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh,
exceptinside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000 electronics factory. Beneath the
glass towers and glittering skywalks, there’s a rambling old mansion from which all the
company’s amazing inventions spring forth. And no one except Uncle Archie knows what’s
behind the second-to-last door at the end of the hall. Until Elliot and Leslie are invited to
take a glimpse inside. It is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. But when Chuck Brickweather
threatens to shut down the DENKi-3000 factory if a new product isn’t presented soon, the
creatures know they are in danger. And when Uncle Archie vanishes, it’s up to Elliot, Leslie,
and every one of the unusual, er, “employees” to create an invention so astonishing it will
save the creature department.
World:
Razorbill / Penguin US (publication November 2013) (Brazil:
Editora Globo S.A. [Books 1-2]; China: Shanghai Gaotan Culture
[Books 1-2]; Film: Fox Animation; Germany: Jacoby & Stuart
Verlagshaus; Hungary: Libri Gyerekkönyvkiadó; Spain: Santilla
Ediciones Generales; Turkey: Pegasus Yayincilik)
PRINCE PUGGLY OF SPUD AND THE KINGDOM OF SPIFF
Puggly, the newly crowned prince of the muddy (and very unfashionable) Kingdom of Spud,
is surprised when he receives an invitation to a lavish ball in the oh-so-chic Kingdom of
Spiff. The Spiffians are known for the poshest clothes and the fluffiest wigs, so of course
Prince Puggly’s effort at a grand entrance only ends in humiliation. However, Puggly
discovers an unlikely ally in Francesca, the bookish Princess of Spiff. Not only do her
Spiffian countrymen have no appreciation for her interest in Proust and Dickens, but they
also can’t tell a decent pair of pajamas when they see them! But don’t worry: Francesca and
Puggly have one very good trick up their unfashionable sleeves, as they set out to teach the
Spiffs an absurd lesson in style.
Canada:
Puffin / Penguin
US:
Razorbill / Penguin
DUST CITY
Named 2011 CLA Honour Book, shortlisted for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young
Adult Fiction and the 2012 Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award
“The premise is fractured fairy tale, but the play is pure noir: Chinatown via the Brothers Grimm.” Booklist
Henry Whelp is the Big Bad Wolf. Or will be, someday. His dad is doing time for the double
murder of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, and Henry is worried that he may
be following in his father’s violent footsteps. He tries to keep a low profile at the St Remus
Home for Wayward Youth, a detention centre just on the outskirts of Dust City, a gritty
metropolis known for its production of fairydust. When a murder at the Home forces Henry
to seek the truth about his family’s sinister past, Henry begins to suspect his dad may have
been framed. Dust City is a beautifully written novel for young adults that will appeal to fans
of Neil Gaiman, Edward Gorey, Tim Burton, and Jasper Fforde.
Canada:
Puffin / Penguin
Thailand:
Tathata
US:
Razorbill / Penguin
228
ZORGAMAZOO
A 2010 OLA Silver Birch Award Winner, a 2010-11 California Young Reader Medal winner,
a Booklist top ten debut of 2008, a 2009 Children’s Choice Award Winner (International
Reading Association & The Children’s Book Council), a 2009 Children’s Literature
Assembly Notable Book, a 2011 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice nominee, and an
E.B. White Read-Aloud Honor Book
“This book is a natural descendant of the works of Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl… Ready your most
nefarious whisper and spectacular boom, and read these bouncing, fanciful rhymes aloud.” Booklist (starred)
A whimsical fantasy novel about young runaway Katrina Katrell who uncovers an
astonishing plot to abduct the world’s most magical creatures. Along with Morty the Zorgle,
Katrina ventures from the Earth to the Moon on an astonishing rhyming adventure that is
eerie, daring and full of suspense!
Germany:
Jacoby & Stuart
North America: Razorbill/Penguin
229

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