Stay the Blazes Home Nova Scotia and the Covid-19 Pandemic

NEW NON-FICTION

Len Wagg

A photo-filled collection of stories about everyday Nova Scotians, from health-care workers to journalists to families, from award-winning photographer of Then & Now

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and life, at that moment, changed drastically for every Nova Scotian. $19.95 | Community & Culture | 978-1-77108-943-2 People were ordered to practice physical distancing. Everyday 10.5 x 8 | 120 pages | paperback | 100 colour photographs tasks like grocery shopping were suddenly fraught with Rights held: World | Pub date: October challenges. Travellers scrambled to get home before the borders closed, and were then ordered to self-quarantine. Hospitals and health-care facilities prepared for a potential Marketing plans influx of critically ill patients. Through it all, Nova Scotians reacted with kindness and empathy, and came to recognize ●● ARCs available in May their everyday heroes—from grocery clerks to delivery drivers ●● National and regional media and review mailing to the doctors and nurses on the front lines. But tales of some ●● National and regional print and digital ads who flouted the rules arose. During a daily media briefing, ●● Targeted LGBTQ+ media mailing Premier Stephen McNeil made the spirit of the order perfectly ●● Regional author tour clear: “Stay the blazes home.” ●● Festival circuit ●● NetGalley Through dozens of powerful stories that illuminate the ●● ABT Holiday Gift Guide generosity and ingenuity of Nova Scotians, Stay the Blazes ●● Social media campaign Home captures the many ways Nova Scotians adapted to and embraced life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring photographs by author and award-winning photographer Len Wagg, in addition to submitted images from all over the province, Stay the Blazes Home serves as a record of the resilience and the spirit of Nova Scotians in a time of crisis.

Len Wagg’s photographs have appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Time Magazine, and Maclean’s. In 2008 Len won the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Book Illustration for Wild Nova Scotia, his photographic portrait of the province’s protected areas. He lives near Halifax, Nova Scotia. For more information, visit lenwagg.com.

Visit Len online More from Len Wagg lenwagg.com @LenWaggPhotography The Little Book of Peggys @lenwagg_photo Cove & South Shore Len Wagg @Len_Wagg_photo 978-1-77108-821-3 $18.95 | hardcover

Fall 2020 Page 1 NEW VAGRANT PRESS

Brighten the Corner Where You Are A Novel Inspired by the Life of Maud Lewis

Carol Bruneau

From the award-winning author of A Bird on Every Tree and A Circle on the Surface comes a vivid novelization, and reimagining, of the life of folk hero Maud Lewis

But I had known since forever that it’s colours that keep the world turning, that keep a person going. One glimpse of the tiny painted house that folk art legend Maud Lewis shared with her husband, Everett, in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, during the mid-twentieth century and the startling contrast between her joyful artwork and her life’s deprivations is evident. One glimpse at her photo and you realize, for all her smile’s shyness, she must’ve been one tough cookie. But, beneath her iconic resilience, who was Maud, really? How did she manage, holed up in that one-room house with no running water, married to a miserly man known for his drinking? Was she happy, or was she miserable? Did painting save or make her Everett’s meal ticket? And then there are the darker secrets that haunt her story: the loss of her parents, her child, her first love. Against all odds, Maud Lewis rose above these constraints—and | Literary Fiction | 978-1-77108-883-1 this is where you’ll find the Maud of Brighten the Corner Where $24.95 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-884-8 You Are: speaking her mind from beyond the grave, freed of the 5.5 x 8.5 | 342 pages | paperback with flaps stigmas of gender, poverty, and disability that marked her life and Rights held: World | Pub date: September shaped her art. Unfettered and feisty as can be, she tells her story her way, illuminating the darkest corners of her life. In possession of a voice all her own, Maud demonstrates the agency that Marketing plans hovers within us all.

Carol Bruneau is the acclaimed author of three short story ●● PDF/ARCs available in May collections, including A Bird on Every Tree, published by Vagrant ●● National and regional media and review mailing Press in 2017, and five other novels. Her first novel, Purple for ●● National and regional print and digital ads Sky, won the 2001 Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award ●● Regional author tour and the Dartmouth Book Award. Her 2007 novel, Glass Voices, ●● Festival circuit was a Globe and Mail Best Book and has become a book club ●● Netgalley favourite. Her most recent novel, A Circle on the Surface, won ●● Social media campaign/Digital Book Club the Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award. Her reviews, stories, and essays have appeared nationwide in newspapers, journals, and anthologies, and two of her novels have been published internationally. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her husband and their dog and badass cat.

Visit Carol online carolbruneau.com @carol.bruneau1

@carolbruneau

Fall 2020 Page 2 NEW VAGRANT PRESS

The Spoon Stealer Lesley Crewe

Lesley Crewe’s newest novel brings readers from WWI England to 1960s Nova Scotia, following a spoon-stealing memoirist who inherits the family farm—and the family.

Born into a basket of clean sheets—ruining a perfectly good load of laundry—Emmeline never quite fit in on her family’s rural Nova Scotian farm. After suffering multiple losses in the First World War, her family became so heavy with grief, toxicity, and mental illness that Emmeline felt their weight smothering her. And so, she fled across the Atlantic and built her life in England. Now she is retired and living in a small coastal town with her best friend, Vera, an excellent conversationalist. Vera is also a small white dog, and so Emmeline is making an effort to talk to more humans. When she joins a memoir-writing course at the library, her classmates don’t know what to make of her. Funny, loud, and with a riveting memoir, she charms the lot. As her past unfolds for her audience, friendships form, a bonus in a rather lonely life. She even shares with them her third-biggest secret: she has liberated hundreds of spoons over her lifetime—from the local library, Cary Grant, Winston Churchill. She is a compulsive spoon stealer. When Emmeline unexpectedly inherits the farm she grew up on, she knows she needs to leave her new friends and go see the farm and what remains of her family one last time. | Historical Fiction | 978-1-77108-881-7 She arrives like a tornado in their lives, an off-kilter Mary $24.95 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-882-4 Poppins bossing everyone around and getting quite a lot 6 x 9.25 | 360 pages | paperback with flaps wrong. But with her generosity and hard-earned wisdom, Rights held: World | Pub date: August she gets an awful lot right too. A pinball ricocheting between people, offending and inspiring in equal measure, Emmeline, in her final years, believes that a spoonful—perhaps several Marketing plans spoonfuls—of kindness can set to rights the family so broken by loss and secrecy. ●● PDF/ARCs available in May The Spoon Stealer is a classic Crewe book: full of humour, ●● National and regional media and review mailing family secrets, women’s friendship, lovable animals, and ●● National and regional print and digital ads immense heart. ●● Regional author tour ●● Festival circuit is the author of ten novels, including Beholden, Lesley Crewe ●● Netgalley Mary, Mary, Amazing Grace, Chloe Sparrow, Kin, and Relative ●● Social media campaign/Digital Book Club Happiness, which has been adapted into a feature film. Previously a freelance writer and screenwriter, her column “Are You Kidding Me?” appears weekly in the Chronicle Herald’s community newspapers. Lesley lives in Homeville, Nova Scotia. Visit her at lesleycrewe.com.

Visit Lesley online lesleycrewe.com @lesleycreweauthor

@lesley_crewe

@LesleyCrewe

Fall 2020 Page 3 NEW VAGRANT PRESS

Good Mothers Don’t Laura Best

A powerful work of literary fiction about motherhood and mental illness set in 1960s Nova Scotia

It’s 1960, and Elizabeth has a good life. A husband who takes care of her, two healthy children, a farm in the Forties Settlement. But Elizabeth is slowly coming apart, her reality splintering. She knows she will harm her children, wants to harm her children, wants to be stopped from harming her children. She doesn’t sleep, becomes incoherent. Elizabeth is taken away. We rejoin her in 1975, “well” once again, living in a group home and desperately trying to fill in the enormous gaps electric shock therapy has left in her memory. She remembers five words from her past and knows they are significant, but their meaning is slippery and she can’t grasp more. She knows that Jewel and Jacob are her children, though she can’t picture their faces, and more than anything, she longs to find them and explain that she never meant to leave for so long. Shifting through time and points of view, acclaimed author Laura Best’s first novel for adults allows us to see the ripple effects of mental illness and its treatment in the mid-twentieth century. Good Mothers Don’t is a moving exploration of illness, memory, and how we fight for who we love. $24.95 | Fiction | 978-1-77108-828-2 Laura Best has had over forty short stories published in eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-829-9 literary magazines and anthologies. Her first young adult novel, 5.5 x 8.5 | 320 pages | paperback with flaps Bitter, Sweet, was shortlisted for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Rights held: World | Pub date: June Historical Fiction for Young People. Her middle–grade novel Flying with a Broken Wing was named one of Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of 2015. Her most recent Marketing plans book, Cammie Takes Flight, was nominated for the 2018 Silver ●● National and regional media and review mailing Birch Award. She lives in East Dalhousie, Nova Scotia, with her ●● National and regional print and digital ads husband, Brian. ●● Regional author tour Visit Laura online ●● Festival circuit lauraabest.wordpress.com ●● Netgalley @laurabestauthor ●● Social media campaign/Digital Book Club ISBN 978-1-77108-828-2 @laura_a_best

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Winner of the Margaret & In the Wake John Savage First Book Nicola Davison Award 978-1-77108-664-6 $22.95 | paperback

Fall 2020 Page 4 NEW VAGRANT PRESS

The Sweetness in the Lime Stephen Kimber

A clever love story from award-winning author of What Lies Across the Water and Reparations, set in Cuba, Miami, and Halifax, exploring the complexities of love at middle-age

Eli Cooper is a resolutely single, fiftysomething newspaper copy editor. He spends his nights obsessing over reporters’ unnecessary “thats” and his days caring for a demented father he knows should be in twenty-four-hour care. Eli is too busy— and too self-absorbed—to acknowledge what’s missing in his life. But then, on a single day in February 2008, Eli loses his job and his father. Alone and adrift, he begrudgingly accepts his sister’s gift: a two-week forget-it-all vacation to Cuba. After a series of misadventures, he meets Mariela—an off-the-books, thirtysomething tour guide—and falls in love. But does Mariela fall for Eli, or is he just her ticket to a new life? Eli and Mariela each have secrets they’re not ready to share — until they have no choice.

A bittersweet story that takes readers from Havana, to Halifax, $22.95 | Fiction | 978-1-77108-913-5 to Miami, and back again, The Sweetness in the Lime is a eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-914-2 charming, clever novel that peels back the rind to discover 5.5 x 8.5 | 272 pages | paperback there really is sweetness in the lime of life. Rights held: World | Pub date: October Stephen Kimber, an award-winning writer, editor, and broadcaster, is the author of 10 books, including two novels Marketing plans and eight works of nonfiction. His most recent nonfiction book—What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the ●● PDF/ARCs available in May Cuban Five—was long-listed for the Canadian Booksellers ●● National and regional media and review mailing Association’s Libris Award as Nonfiction Book of the Year, won ●● National and regional print and digital ads the 2014 Evelyn Richardson Award for Nonfiction, and the ●● Regional author tour Cuban Institute of the Book’s 2016 Reader’s Choice Award. ●● Festival circuit A journalist for 50 years, he is a professor in the School of ●● Netgalley Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax and ●● Social media campaign co-founder of the King’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction program.

Fall 2020 Page 5 NEW VAGRANT PRESS

Throw Down Your Shadows Deborah Hemming A literary coming-of-age novel about powerful new appetites from a bold new voice in fiction, set in the Annapolis Valley’s romantic wine region

Sixteen-year-old Winnie is a creature of habit, a lover of ritual and stability. If she had her way, not much would change. But when a new family moves to town, Winnie and her three best friends—all boys—find themselves changing quickly and dramatically to impress Caleb, their strange and charismatic new companion. Under Caleb’s influence, Winnie and her friends test boundaries, flirt with danger, and in the end, illuminate darkness within each other and themselves. Following a before–and–after structure that pivots around a mysterious and devastating fire at a local winery, Throw Down Your Shadows is a compelling exploration of the contours of young friendship and the development of powerful new appetites. $22.95 | Fiction | 978-1-77108-838-1 eISBNISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-838-1 978-1-77108-864-0 Deborah Hemming lives and writes in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She holds an MA in English from McGill University, a BA in English from the University of King’s College, 5.5 x 8.5 | 272 pages | paperback with flaps North America | July and an MLIS from Dalhousie University. Throw Down Your Shadows is her first novel. Rights held: Pub date:

Visit Deborah online deborahhemming.com @deborah_hemming

Lay Figures Mark Blagrave From Commonwealth First Novel Award–shortlisted author of Silver Salts, a work of literary fiction centred on a group of artists in WW II New Brunswick

Elizabeth MacKinnon moves to Saint John New Brunswick in 1939 to find inspiration for her poetry in the bohemian life of the city’s central peninsula. Swept up in the vibrant society of the city’s poets, painters, potters, dancers, and playwrights, she finds herself joining their struggles to make sense of making art in a time of economic depression. Inhabiting the lives of the artists who find themselves in the port city taking refuge from the Depression, Lay Figures explores relationships between art and lived experience, artist and subject, artist and audience, and between margins and centre, and traces the development of a young female writer against the backdrop $22.95 | Literary Fiction | 978-1-77108-832-9 of the Depression and early war years in Saint John. In a story that couples bitter eISBNISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-838-1 978-1-77108-833-6 despair with exuberant triumphs, Elizabeth and her fellow artists make life- 5.5 x 8.5 | 272 pages | paperback changing discoveries about politics and social responsibility, desire and betrayal. Rights held: World | Pub date: September Mark Blagrave’s short fiction has appeared in several Canadian literary journals and in a collection of interlinked stories entitled Salt in the Wounds (2014). His novel Silver Salts (2008) was shortlisted for the Commonwealth First Novel Award (Canada and Caribbean) and for the John and Margaret Savage Award for First Novel. After a 35-year teaching career in universities in New Brunswick and Ontario, Mark lives and writes in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick.

Visit Mark online @MarksonaPage1

Fall 2020 Page 6 NEW NON-FICTION

“Thanks for the Business” Arthur L. Irving and the Story of Irving Oil

Donald J. Savoie

Comprehensive and business profile of the iconic Irving Oil Limited, from Donner Prize–winning and National Business Award shortlisted author

Are entrepreneurs born or are they made? “Thanks for the Business” seeks to address this age-old question through the compelling stories of Maritime business tycoons Arthur L. Irving and K. C. Irving, and the story of Irving Oil. As one keen observer wrote of the Irvings: “You can love them or hate them, but you have to respect them.” Through countless interviews and extensive research, award-winning author Donald J. Savoie (Looking for Bootstraps) details a business success born in Bouctouche and grown from Saint John, New Brunswick, and which now operates Canada’s largest refinery, along with more than nine hundred gas stations spanning Eastern Canada and New England. The company also has offices in Amsterdam and London, England, and operates Ireland’s only refinery. As K. C. Irving said, business is never given—it has to be $29.95 | Biography/Business | 978-1-77108-890-9 earned, one customer at a time. “Thanks for the Business” eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-891-6 traces the Irving family back to its roots in Scotland, covers 6 x 9 | 320 pages | hardcover | 8-page colour insert World | June the establishment and early years of the company, and Rights held: Pub date: looks at how Irving Oil is confronting current challenges. This comprehensive biography holds important lessons for aspiring Marketing plans entrepreneurs, for business schools, for public policy, and particularly for Atlantic Canada. ●● National and regional media and review mailing Donald J. Savoie holds the Canada Research Chair in Public ●● National and regional print and digital ads Administration and Governance (Tier 1) at the Université de ●● Netgalley Moncton. He has won numerous awards, including the 2016 ●● SocialISBN media 978-1-77108-890-9 campaign Donner Prize for What Is Government Good At? He has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1993), elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1992), and received eight honorary doctorates from Canadian universities.

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Looking For Bootstraps: Economic Development in the Maritimes Donald Savoie hardcover Twenty-First-Century Shortlisted National Irvings (Revised) for National 978-1-77108-481-9 Bestseller Harvey Sawler Business $29.95 | EN Book Award 978-1-55109-944-6 978-1-77108-504-5 $16.95 | paperback $32.95 | FR

Fall 2020 Page 7 NEW NON-FICTION

Nova Scotia and the Great Influenza Pandemic, 1918–1920 A Remembrance of the Dead and an Archive for the Living

Compiled and Edited by Ruth Holmes Whitehead

The definitive academic resource on the Great Influenza by celebrated historian behind Black Loyalists, in time for the pandemic’s one hundredth anniversary

It could kill in as little as ten hours. Extremely high fever, bleeding from eyes, nose, and ears, terrible pain, especially in the head and the joints, delirium—and then its victims literally drowned in their own fluids. Fifty to 100 million people worldwide died in this global pandemic in the early twentieth century. The Great Influenza first entered Nova Scotia through ports. (Sydney, Cape Breton, received five hundred sick American troops in a single day.) For three years, the province coped with this vicious epidemic as it spread like wildfire. Local economies ceased functioning; fishing fleets, banks, and apple-canning factories reported all staff were suffering from the flu. $26.95 | History | 978-1-77108-915-9 The heart of this book, however, is its human element. Oral eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-916-6 histories, family memoirs, newspaper articles, and provincial 6.5 x 9.25 | 300 pages | paperback death records tell, county by county, stories of those who died. Rights held: World | Pub date: November Accompanied by 20 photographs, Nova Scotia and the Great Influenza Pandemic, 1918–1920 chronicles both provincial and personal efforts to cope during this most perilous time. Marketing plans

Ruth Holmes Whitehead has worked since 1972 for the ●● Regional media and review mailing Nova Scotia Museum, since 2003 as a Curator Emerita and ●● Regional print and digital ads Research Associate. She has authored or co-authored twenty ●● Social media campaign books, including Stories from the Six Worlds, The Old Man Told Us, Black Loyalists, and Ancestral Images. In 1995, she was awarded a Doctorate of Laws, honoris causa, by St. Francis Xavier University. In 2014, Dr. Whitehead was inducted into the Order of Nova Scotia. She lives in Halifax.

Fall 2020 Page 8 NEW NON-FICTION

Coastal Nova Scotia A Photographic Tour

Adam Cornick

Photographic exploration of Nova Scotia’s diverse coastlines from celebrated photographer with A for Adventure

For most people, the idea of submerging themselves voluntarily in the half-frozen Atlantic Ocean sounds more like torture than fun. But for photographer and surfer Adam Cornick, it’s all part of experiencing everything coastal life in Nova Scotia has to offer. From the moment the UK native dipped his toe into the waters off “Canada’s Ocean Playground,” Cornick has dedicated himself to capturing the beauty and diversity of Nova Scotia’s stunning $29.95 | Photography | 978-1-77108-887-9 coastlines. Cornick’s sweeping wide-angle images showcase not 10 x 8 | 124 pages | hardcover | 100 colour photographs just his love of the ocean, but his excitement about the beauty Rights held: World | Pub date: October in every pounding wave, every polished granite boulder, every expanse of sandy beach, every ragged cliff. With 100 full-colour images and insider tips on the must-see spots Marketing plans and hidden gems in each coastal region, Coastal Nova Scotia: A ●● National and regional media and review mailing Photographic Tour takes readers on a round-the-province visual ●● National and regional print and digital ads trip to places many have never seen—and gives us compelling ●● Regional author tour reasons to add a few new locations to our own bucket lists. ●● Netgalley Adam Cornick is a freelance photographer from Cornwall, UK. ●● Social media campaign/Digital Book Club In 2008, in search of a fresh start, he and his Canadian girlfriend (now wife), Rebecca, put a finger on a map and took a leap of faith that landed them in Halifax. He is now thrilled to have the raw North Atlantic surf—and endless inspiration for his photography— at his doorstep. You can find Adam at acornart.net.

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Fall 2020 Page 9 NEW NON-FICTION

All ’Bout Canada A Compendium of Canadiana

Elizabeth F. Hill

A comprehensive, illustrated abecedary of all things Canadian, from eh to zed

A is aurora borealis at night, which shivers and shimmers with eerie green light aces, Anne, astronauts, Anik A-1, Acadians, Atwood, and Anderson Did you know the Jolly Jumper is a Canadian invention? What exactly is a quinzhee, anyway? Porcupines do what when they are mating? Using a blend of poetry, prose, posters, jokes, and quizzes, and featuring twenty-six original two-colour illustrations, All | History | 978-1-77108-860-2 ’Bout Canada is a fun, informative celebration of Canada that $24.95 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-861-9 will both educate and entertain a diverse readership. 7 x 7 | 224 pages | paperback | 2-colour | 26 illustrations Featuring dictionary-style entries and witty poems for each Rights held: World | Pub date: May letter in the alphabet, this collection of Canadian facts and anecdotes from “Aurora Borealis” to “Zellers” makes an excellent gift for avid and reluctant readers as well as parents, Marketing plans teachers, and librarians. ●● National and regional media and review mailing Elizabeth F. Hill is a writer of poetry, short stories, and ●● National and regional print and digital ads fiction, and the author of the novel Love in the Age of ●● Regional events Dinosaurs (Uncial Press, 2012). She is also an academic ●● Canada’sISBN History 978-1-77108-860-2 online trivia contest researcher who holds a master of library science and a PhD ●● Netgalley in intercultural education. ●● Social media campaign/Digital Book Club

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Shortlisted for the Bestseller Hackmatack Award

100 Things You Don’t Canada Quiz: Canada: 150 Panoramas Know About Atlantic Canada 150 Edition George Fischer (For Kids) Calvin Coish $32.95 | hardcover Sarah Sawler 978-1-77108-501-4 978-1-77108-487-1 978-1-77108-567-0 $8.95 | paperback $14.95 | paperback $24.95 | paperback 978-1-77108-762-9

Fall 2020 Page 10 NEW NON-FICTION

Medicinal Herbs of Eastern Canada Art and Text by Brenda Jones Fully illustrated guide to healing herbs found in the backyards of eastern Canada

Nature’s remedies are all around, if you know what to look for. In Medicinal Herbs of Eastern Canada, award-winning author and artist Brenda Jones offers detailed advice on how to identify, collect, and prepare a variety of local wild herbs. Learn how to make an infusion of goldenrod to treat a nasty cough, or a lemon balm tincture to help you sleep. Through many workshops, extensive research, and the help of Indigenous communities, Jones compiled this beautiful illustrated catalogue of healing herbs to help readers familiarize themselves with the medicines available in their own backyards. Covering 72 different plants, each with detailed, full-colour illustrations and accessible tips, facts, and recipes, this essential guide makes it easy to $22.95 | Nature/Guidebook benefit from your neighbourhood’s wild offerings. Includes a glossary of terms and 978-1-77108-862-6 a comprehensive index. eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-863-3 6 xISBN 9 | 176 978-1-77108-862-6 pages | paperback Brenda Jones is a native of Prince Edward Island and spent the last twelve 72 colour illustrations years roaming the woods and fields gathering and studying the herbs around the Rights held: World | Pub date: July Maritimes in order to understand the properties of these amazing plants and to help with her own health issues. With her background as an artist and illustrator, she began painting each herb in meticulous detail to help in identification, and soon had her own herb garden in her backyard and a cupboard full of tinctures and teas. Nova Scotia’s Historic Harbours Joan Dawson Narrative, photo-filled guide to Nova Scotia’s diverse harbours

The cities, towns, and villages along Nova Scotia’s coastlines have witnessed battles, shipwrecks, celebrations, and tragedies. They have been home to Indigenous peoples and havens for explorers, fishers, and traders. These harbour towns have provided refuge to people escaping intolerable social or political conditions, and joy to those seeking adventure, or love, or a better life. Some communities have blossomed and others have merely survived, but all evolved out of the hard work of the people who have called these seaside places home. With twenty-five historical photos, and featuring profiles of more than fifty harbours—from the Bedford Basin to Shelburne Harbour to Cobequid Bay, $22.95 | History | 978-1-77108-858-9 Louisbourg, and Canso—Nova Scotia’s Historic Harbours explores each harbour’s eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-859-6 historical significance and transports readers back in time as trusted historian 6.5 x 9.25ISBN | 232 978-1-77108-858-9 pages | paperback | 25 b/w Joan Dawson looks at how these communities have been shaped by the sea, and images how Nova Scotia’s growth has been driven by its harbours. Rights held: World | Pub date: June

Joan Dawson is a fellow of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society and a member of the Lunenburg County Historical Society, the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Archaeology Society, and the Antiquarian Club of Halifax. She is the author of Nova Scotia’s Historic Rivers, Nova Scotia’s Lost Highways, The Mapmakers’ Legacy, A History of Nova Scotia in 50 Objects, and Nova Scotia’s Lost Communities, and many articles on maps and local history.

Fall 2020 Page 11 NEW POETRY

I place you into the fire Rebecca Thomas

The incisive and vital first poetry collection from Mi’kmaw spoken-word poet and former poet laureate of Kjipuktuk (Halifax)

We remember tomorrow and a thousand years ago. From eel weirs to the buffalo. We remember petroglyphs and Instagram photos. See, we remember our history, Without statues, money, or pictures of the Queen. In Mi’kmaw, three similarly shaped words have drastically different meanings:kesalul means “I love you”; kesa’lul means “I hurt you”; and ke’sa’lul means “I put you into the fire.” In spoken-word artist and critically acclaimed author (I’m Finding My Talk) Rebecca Thomas’s first poetry collection, readers will feel Thomas’s deep love, pain, and frustration, as she holds us all to task, along the way mourning the loss of her childhood magic, exploring the realities of growing up off reserve, and offering up a new Creation Story for Canada. Diverse and probing, I place you into the fire is at once a meditation on navigating life and love as a second-generation Residential School survivor, a lesson in unlearning, and a rallying cry for Indigenous justice, empathy, and equality. A searing collection that embodies the vitality and ferocity of $18.95 | Poetry | 978-1-77108-885-5 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-886-2 spoken-word poetry. 5.5 x 7.5 | 128 pages | paperback Rebecca Thomas is an award-winning Mi’kmaw poet. She Rights held: World | Pub date: October is Halifax’s former Poet Laureate (2016–2018) and has been published in multiple journals and magazines. She coordinated Marketing plans the Halifax Slam Poetry team from 2014 to 2017, leading them to three national competitions with the Canadian Festival ●● National and regional media and review mailing of Spoken Word. In 2019 she published her first book, I’m ●● National and regional print and digital ads Finding My Talk, illustrated by Pauline Young, which was ●● Regional author tour named a CBC and Globe & Mail Best Book. ●● Netgalley ●● Social media campaign

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I’m Finding My Talk I Lost My Talk Text by Rebecca Thomas Text by Rita Joe Art by Pauline Young Art by Pauline Young 978-1-77108-811-4 978-1-77108-810-7 $22.95 | hardcover $22.95 | hardcover

Fall 2020 Page 12 NEW CHILDREN’S

Mi’kmaw Daily Drum Mi’kmaw Culture for Every Day of the Week

Alan Syliboy

A baby board book from bestselling artist behind Mi’kmaw Animals that teaches young readers Mi’kmaw concepts and the Mi’kmaw word for each day of the week

In the style of the wildly popular Mi’kmaw Animals baby board book, shortlisted for the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration, comes Mi’kmaw Daily Drum. From celebrated artist Alan Syliboy, this vibrant, bilingual (English/ Mi’kmaw) book for the youngest readers showcases seven of Syliboy’s popular Daily Drum artworks, each paired with a different day of the week. From Spirit Woman to Caribou to Round Dance, Mi’kmaw culture and teachings are offered up $14.95 | Baby Board Book | 978-1-77108-889-3 to newborns and toddlers in a vibrant and accessible book. 7 x 7 | 12 pages | board | 10 colour illustrations | Ages 0–3 Rights held: World | Pub date: September Artist Alan Syliboy studied privately with Shirley Bear and attended the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where twenty-five years later, he was invited to sit on the Board of Governors. Alan looks to the indigenous Mi’kmaw petroglyph Marketing plans tradition for inspiration and develops his own artistic vocabulary out of those forms. This is his fourth children’s book. He lives ●● National and regional children’s review mailing in Truro, Nova Scotia. ●● National and regional print and digital ads ●● Netgalley More from Alan Syliboy ●● Social media campaign ●● OLA/ALA conferences

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Mi’kmaw Animals The Thundermaker Alan Syliboy Alan Syliboy 978-1-77108-641-7 978-1-77108-619-6 $14.95 | board $14.95 | paperback

Wolverine and Little Humpback Whale Thunder Journal Alan Syliboy Alan Syliboy 978-1-77108-727-8 978-1-77108-649-3 $22.95 | hardcover $19.95 | paperback Fall 2020 Page 13 NEW CHILDREN’S

Now in Paperback Gary the Seagull Words by Christian Johnston Art by Paul Hammond

A cheeky children’s picture book about a hungry seagull who will stop at nothing to steal one little boy’s beach lunch

It’s a hot summer day and Gary is hungry. The beach is packed with people…and packed with people’s lunches. Though he’s been known to eat everything from minnows to garbage, it’s beach lunches Gary loves most of all. With his patented seagull cunning, Gary takes increasingly ridiculous measures to trick a young boy into sharing his lunch. Will the boy hand over his ketchup chips and watermelon? This uproarious read-aloud from beloved Ontario-based songwriter and entertainer, better known by his stage name, B. A. Johnston, will have parents hugging their beach coolers a little $19.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-836-7 tighter and kids shouting “SHOO, BIRD! SHOO!” Halifax-based eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-837-4 illustrator-cartoonist Paul Hammond provides bright and bold 8 x 8 | 32 pages | paperback | 22 colour illustrations illustrations and hand-lettered embellishments for a salty good Ages 3–7 | Rights held: World | Pub date: June read.

Christian Johnston is a songwriter and former frycook who lives in a hundred-year-old house which is about to fall over with Marketing plans his wife, dinosaur-obsessed child, and two very obese cats. • National children’s review mailing He enjoys outdated technology and eating ketchup chips on a • National and regional print and digital ads beach as his child chases the seagulls towards other people. This • Canada Performs event is his first book. • NetgalleyISBN 978-1-77108-836-7 Paul Hammond is a Canadian artist, illustrator, and comics • Social media campaign creator currently living in Toronto, Ontario, by way of Halifax, Nova • OLA/ALA conferences Scotia. He was educated at NSCAD University (BFA 2005), and cut his teeth designing and screen printing gig posters. He thinks mistakes are nice, and likes to leave them in when he’s allowed.

Visit Paul online Visit Christian online paulghammond.com bajohnston.ca @paulgeorgehammond

@paulghammond

Related Interest

Winner of the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award

Uncle Farley’s False Teeth Skunks for Breakfast Gracie the Public Gardens Duck Text by Alice Walsh Text by Lesley Choyce Text by Judith Meyrick Art by Michael Martchenko Art by Brenda Jones Art by Richard Rudnicki 978-1-77108-719-3 978-1-77108-785-8 978-1-55109-645-2 $10.95 | paperback $11.95 | paperback $14.95 | paperback

Fall 2020 Page 14 NEW CHILDREN’S

Summer Feet Words by Sheree Fitch Art by Carolyn Fisher

A playful, rhyming picture book from Sheree Fitch that celebrates all things summer

Hello toes, our tootsie friends Hello, summer feet again! Canada’s Dr. Seuss, Sheree Fitch, is back with a brand- new tongue-twisting picture book that celebrates all things summer. From those first barefoot days, wobble-dy walking over rocks and pebbles, to wandering-wild while searching for sea glass and, finally, huddled-up cozy at a late-summer bonfire, these summer feet flutter kick, somersault, hide-and- seek, and dance in the rain, soaking up all the season has to $22.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-854-1 offer. eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-855-8 10 x 9 | 32 pages | hardcover | 18 colour illustrations With Fitch’s classic lip-slippery, lyrical rhymes and Carolyn Ages 3–7 | Rights held: World | Pub date: June Fisher’s bright and colourful illustrations, Summer Feet will be an instant summertime favourite.

Sheree Fitch is an award-winning poet, storyteller, and Marketing plans educator. Her picture books, novels, and plays have delighted both children and adults since 1987. Sheree lives with her • National children’s review mailing husband, Gilles, in River John, Nova Scotia, on their hobby • National and regional print and digital ads farm, Happy Doodle Do, with a donkey, two dogs, a cat, and • Festival Circuit a few other critters. They run a seasonal bookstore, Mabel • NetgalleyISBN 978-1-77108-854-1 Murple’s Book Shoppe and Dreamery, which highlights • Social media campaign storytelling, literacy, Atlantic Canadian books and writers. • OLA/ALA conferences

Award-winning artist/author Carolyn Fisher has illustrated seven children’s books, two of which she also wrote. Her most recent titles are Cells: A User’s Handbook and Weeds Find a Way. Her art has been exhibited in the US and Canada. In addition to teaching at art college for seven years, Carolyn has talked to thousands of kids in schools and libraries about making books.

Visit Sheree online Visit Carolyn online shereefitch.com carolynfisher.com @shereegodmother @carolyn_fisher_illustration

@sherfitch

Look Inside

We race faster than fast

through pastures of grass

over freshly mown fields

to a strawberry patch

past barnyards

to backyards

then a sprinkler- spray dash!

in our twinkle-toed

inky-green- stinky

so very red- berry

bare-naked Summer Summer Feet Feet

Summer feet layout.indd 6-7 2019-11-18 1:23 PM Summer feet layout.indd 10-11 2019-11-18 1:23 PM

Fall 2020 Page 15 NEW CHILDREN’S

So Imagine Me Nature Riddles in Poetry

Words by Lynn Davies Art by Chrissie Park-MacNeil

Award-winning poet Lynn Davies’s first book for children, featuring poetic nature riddles and colourful hide-and-seek illustrations

From award-winning poet Lynn Davies comes her first collection for children. And there’s a twist: each of the poems in So Imagine Me has a secret. The lyrical and playful text describes something from nature— flora or fauna or another phenomenon—that’s also hiding in the illustrations. Readers will puzzle over the words and pore $15.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-867-1 over the detailed illustrations looking for clues. Some of the eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-868-8 riddles might be easy, and some are definitely tricky. All of 9 x 8 | 32 pages | paperback | 15 colour illustrations them will delight, entertain, and challenge, leaving readers of Ages 4–9 | Rights held: World | Pub date: July all ages with new facts to share and an urge to get out into nature to discover more mysteries. Marketing plans Lynn Davies is the author of three books of poetry. Her poems have been broadcast on CBC, translated into French • National and regional children’s review mailing and Spanish, and nominated for a Governor General’s • National and regional print and digital ads Award. Her stories and poems for children have appeared • School and Library visits in many anthologies. She is the proud mother of two grown • NetgalleyISBN 978-1-77108-867-1 children, Josie-May and Patrick, and lives in Fredericton, New • Social media campaign Brunswick, with her partner, Dave Macfarlane. So Imagine Me • OLA/ALA conferences is her first book for children.

Chrissie Park-MacNeil is a self-taught artist who grew up in Gillams in rural Newfoundland. She and her family have been living in Fredericton, New Brunswick, for over twenty years. Her realistic, often whimsical paintings reach into the playful and childlike, with the intention of adding a bit of light and Look Inside beauty to people’s lives. This is Chrissie’s third children’s book.

Be glad you’re in bed on the cold clear nights when I show up. I seek valleys and low-lying areas Visit Lynn online first, but you’d never catch me. I have no body so imagine lynndavies.ca me as a humungous white night-bird flying close to the ground. My shadow silvers grass and bushes and rocks. Kills gardens. Freezes Visit Chrissie online puddles. I’m snow’s forerunner. endofapaintbrush.weebly.com What am I?

Related Interest So Imagine Me INTERIOR.indd 2-3 2019-11-18 1:54 PM

One part of me you’ll never see, what light I have, I borrow. Sometimes a cow jumps over me and footprints lie in my Sea of Tranquility. I may glow red, orange or yellow, silver, some say Be a Weather Detective: blue. I can hide in a traveller’s shadow, Solving the Mysteries of I’m a tide shifter too. Cycles, Seasons, and Elements What am I? Peggy Kochanoff 978-1-77108-796-4 $14.95 | paperback So Imagine Me INTERIOR.indd 30-31 2019-11-18 1:55 PM

Fall 2020 Page 16 NEW CHILDREN’S

A Great Big Night Text by Kate Inglis Art by Josée Bisaillon

Rollicking, rhyming picture book about music-making and community from author of If I Were A Zombie and Dread Crew series and illustrator of The Snow Knows The music train was a happy sight Clickity-clackity three on bikes Rolling in for a great big night. When three travelling frog musicians roll through the forest on their painted bicycles, the other animals know they’re in for a great big party. Only one of them is not having fun: grumpy old $22.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-908-1 grouse. Just as he’s telling everyone to stop with their foolish eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-909-8 racket, their ruckus, their riff-raff, a great big storm rolls through 10 x 9 | 32 pages | hardcover | colour illustrations | Ages 4–9 the woods and puts an end to all the fun. When they emerge Rights held: World | Pub date: October in the sleepy, dewy dawn, the animals see that grouse’s home is ruined, and quickly band together to help him. Together, the frog musicians and their friends show grouse that music Marketing plans is for more than just a party: a fiddle, a golden guitar, and a drum, when played just right, can do just as much good as the ●● National children’s review mailing knock-knock-bang of fixing and making brand-new. ●● National and regional print and digital ads ●● Netgalley Kate Inglis’s playful and inventive language and Josée ●● Social media campaign Bisaillon’s rich and textured illustrations bring to life this happy ●● OLA/ALA conferences group of friends filling the great green forest with their music. A wonderful testament to community-building, music-making, and friendship.

Kate Inglis is an award-winning author who writes books about pirates and giants and mermaids and magic and all the stars and all the ways we love each other. And frogs in a teeny- tiny folk band. Sometimes for kids and sometimes for grown- Look Inside ups, Kate’s novels and poetry are a mish-mash, and always infused with the salt, woodsmoke, and fresh air of the North Atlantic coast. Everyone knows mish-mashes keep you sharp.

As a young girl, Josée Bisaillon loved drawing cats and houses. She enjoyed school and always returned home full of stories to tell. She pursued her education all the way to university, where she fell in love with illustration. Since then, scissors and brushes in hand, Josée has illustrated more than 40 picture books.

More in the Compass series

My House is a Lighthouse: Stories of Lighthouses and Birchtown and the Their Keepers Black Loyalists Christine Welldon Wanda Taylor 978-1-77108-756-8 978-1-77108-166-5 $17.95 | paperback $15.95 | paperback

Fall 2020 Page 20 NEW CHILDREN’S

Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians Inspiring Stories of Courage and Achievement

Text by Lindsay Ruck Art by James Bentley

The second installment in a new illustrated series about Amazing Atlantic Canadians, featuring incredible Black citizens from across the region

This fascinating, full-colour illustrated book features over 50 amazing Black people from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, sharing their incredible stories and accomplishments, past and present. Among these amazing Black Atlantic Canadians are people who saved lives, set sports records (Delmore William “Buddy” Daye), achieved international superstardom (Measha Brueggergosman), made change in their own neighbourhoods (Quentrel Provo), overcame injustice (Viola Desmond), and enacted many other inspiring deeds of courage and perseverance. With dozens of $19.95 | Children’s Non-Fiction | 978-1-77108-917-3 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-918-0 profiles on both historical and contemporary Black people from 7 x 9 | 160 pages | paperback Atlantic Canada, Lindsay Ruck celebrates the accomplishments 20 colour illustrations | Age 8–12 and recognizes the hardships of some of our region’s least- Rights held: World | Pub date: November known amazing heroes. Featuring informative sidebars, an index, and 20 colour illustrations from artist James Bentley. Marketing plans

Lindsay Ruck, born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is a graduate ●● National children’s review mailing of Carleton University’s School of Journalism in Ottawa. ●● National and regional print and digital ads Since graduating in 2008, she has worked in the marketing, ●● Netgalley communications and publishing fields. Similar to her grandfather, ●● Social media campaign the late Calvin W. Ruck, she has a deep and abiding respect and ●● OLA conference affection for her home province of Nova Scotia.

James Bentley lives and works on the small island of Île-Perrot, just off Montreal, Québec. He studied and began his career as a freelance illustrator; a practice which gave him a great love for drawing. Anchored in figuration, he now works mainly with acrylic on canvas and acrylic and pastel on paper. Bentley’s current body of work is focused on the ocean, portraits, and figure studies. He is always on the search to paint in an inventive, open manner.

Look Inside More in the Amazing Atlantic Canadians series

Amazing Atlantic Canadian Kids Text by John Boileau Art by James Bentley 978-1-77108-797-1 $19.95 | paperback

Fall 2020 Page 21 Amelia and Me Book 1 in the Ginny Ross series

Heather Stemp Red Cedar Award–shortlisted YA novel set in 1930s Newfoundland about a young girl who dreams of becoming a pilot

After reading about Amelia Earhart in her friend’s scrapbook, twelve-year-old Ginny Ross decides to become a pilot. But how will Ginny’s dream take flight when her mother—and society in general—so fiercely believes a woman’s place is in the home? When Amelia Earhart herself shows up in Harbour Grace for her first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Ginny notices the townspeoples’ looks of shock and disgust are slowly turning to looks of admiration and respect. Maybe they will $14.95 | YA Fiction | 978-1-77108-824-4 soon understand Ginny’s dream, and maybe Amelia Earhart is the woman to help eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-825-1 convince them. 5.25 ISBNx 7.75 978-1-77108-824-4 | 280 pages | paperback 10 b/w archival images | Ages 9–14 Based on the real girlhood of author Heather Stemp’s Aunt Ginny, Amelia and Rights held: World | Pub date: September Me is a big-hearted story of determination, grit, and adventure. Readers will love the archival photos of Amelia Earhart and her plane, along with the interesting historical details skillfully weaved throughout the book.

Heather Stemp, born Heather Ross, was a teacher for thirty years. Upon retirement, she took up writing and published her first book, Amelia and Me, so her grandchildren would know their roots. She lives in North Bay, Ontario. Under Amelia’s Wing Book 2 in the Ginny Ross series

Heather Stemp The YA follow-up to Red Cedar–nominated Amelia and Me finds aspiring pilot Ginny Ross studying mechanical engineering in pre-WWII Indiana

It’s 1936, and against all odds—but not without a few stumbles—Ginny Ross has made it to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Otherwise known as the academic home of her friend and mentor, Amelia Earhart.) For Ginny, this is the next step toward her dream of becoming a pilot, but it’s harder than she expected: as the only girl in her mechanical engineering program, she constantly has to prove she deserves to be there. Ginny is determined not to let the jeers of her classmates and the opinions of some backwards-thinking professors hold her back, but she is a world away from her home in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. $14.95 | YA Fiction | 978-1-77108-850-3 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-851-0 When Amelia takes off in 1937 to fly around the globe, Ginny can’t shake a feeling 5.25 xISBN 7.75 978-1-77108-850-3| 232 pages | paperback of foreboding. Aviation is still relatively new and communication between air and 6 b/w archival images | Ages 11–15 ground is patchy at best. Then Amelia disappears without a trace, and Ginny must Rights held: World | Pub date: September figure out if she has what it takes to forge ahead without her mentor. With the threat of the Second World War looming large, Ginny will need every bit of salty east coast grit she can muster. Featuring historical photos of Amelia’s time at Purdue University (1935–37), this STEM-friendly novel will appeal to anyone who has suffered from imposter syndrome and has had to prove their worth—to others and themselves. NEW CHILDREN’S

Screech! Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland

Text by Charis Cotter Art by Genevieve Simms

A spooky, illustrated collection of Newfound- land ghost stories for young readers by award-winning MG author of The Sparrow, The Painting, and The Ghost Road

There is no dark like the Newfoundland dark. These ominous words beckon young readers onward in this spooky collection of ghost stories by celebrated ghost story–teller and award-winning middle-grade author Charis Cotter. Adapted from family stories told across Newfoundland and passed down over generations, these 10 spine-tingling tales traverse centuries and introduce readers to nooks and the Island’s nooks and crannies. From a ghostly blueberry-picker on the barrens to visit from the notorious Old Hag, from a mysterious ballet troupe in a St. John’s mansion to a haunted house in an outport community on the cusp of resettlement, these stories bring the island of Newfoundland to vibrant new life (and death) as the thread of these years’ old yarns $16.95 | Middle–Grade, Ghost Stories | 978-1-77108-906-7 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-907-4 is unravelled for a whole new generation. 5.75 x 8.25 | 160 pages | paperback | Featuring ghostly black-and-white illustrations from 10 b/w images | Age 8–12 Newfoundland artist Genevieve Simms, as well as an overview Rights held: World | Pub date: August of the Newfoundland storytelling tradition, and a Story Behind the Story for each tale, including context on the story’s history, its original teller, its featured ghost, and setting, along with tips Marketing plans for spooky storytelling and a Glossary of Newfoundland terms, Screech! is equal parts eerie and educational, making it a riveting ●● National and regional children’s review mailing read as well as a great resource for budding historians and ●● National and regional print and digital ads storytellers. ●● Festival circuit ●● Netgalley grew up beside a cemetery and has been living Charis Cotter ●● Social media campaign with ghosts ever since. She studied English in university and went ●● OLA/ALA conferences to drama school in London, England. Her spooky, suspenseful novels—The Swallow, The Painting, and The Ghost Road— have won numerous awards and captivated readers of all ages. Charis has worked extensively in schools and her performances of Newfoundland ghost stories have thrilled audiences coast to coast. She lives in one of the most haunted parts of Newfoundland.

Genevieve Simms studied illustration at the Alberta College Look Inside of Art and Design and recently completed her Masters in Architecture at the University of Toronto. She has produced illustrations for a variety of clients throughout North America since 2006. Genevieve is from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and currently lives in Toronto with her husband, Josh Holinaty, who is also an illustrator. They share a home with a mostly-beagle named Jack.

Fall 2020 Page 23 Annaka Andre Fenton

YA fiction from rising-star author and spoken- word artist, featuring a young biracial girl uncovering the secrets of her past

Annaka has always hated her first name. That’s why, when her mother packed her up at age seven and moved from Yarmouth to Halifax, she decided she would go by Anna. Now Anna is back in Yarmouth after the death of her beloved Grampy, and sorting through memories from her younger self. She discovers a journal Grampy gifted her years ago; it is filled with snapshots of a happy childhood: sketches of Nan braiding Anna’s hair on the porch, stories about road trips Anna and Grampy took in his antique truck, and memories of her best-kept secret, who also happened to be her best friend. When she finds out her childhood imaginary friend, Clay, is not only real but waiting for her to return to Yarmouth, Anna also discovers that Clay can transport her into those journal entries. Maybe physically reliving memories can help with her nan’s Alzheimer’s. Maybe Anna will finally piece together who her absent father is. Maybe she will discover the identity of the mysterious “other Annaka” scribbled in her Grampy’s handwriting. With more questions than answers, Anna learns the danger of dwelling in the past—especially when it forces her to confront some uncomfortable truths. If there’s one thing this bittersweet homecoming has forced her to do, it’s reconcile who she was $16.95 | YA Fiction | 978-1-77108-892-3 with who she is becoming. It turns out that’s hard to do when eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-893-0 you have changed a lot, but the place that raised you remains 5.25 x 8 | 288 pages | paperback unchanged. Ages 14–17 | Rights held: World | Pub date: June From the celebrated spoken-word poet and author of Worthy of Love comes a YA novel about family, identity, and reclaiming the Marketing plans past. • National and regional children’s review mailing Andre Fenton is an award-winning author, spoken-word artist, and filmmaker who has represented Halifax at seven national • National and regional print and digital ads poetry slams across Canada. He is currently on the board of • NetgalleyISBN 978-1-77108-892-3 directors of the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia and a member • Social media campaign at large on the board of Spoken Word Canada. He has two • OLA/ALA conferences previous books: a collection of poetry, Ode to Teen Angst, and a YA novel, Worthy of Love. He is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Visit Andre online Related Interest @AndreFentonPoetry

@andrefentonauthor

@AndreFenton95

Crocuses Hatch from Snow Jaime Burnet 978-1-77108-790-2 $22.95 | paperback PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

Don’t Panic How to Manage your Finances—and Financial Anxieties—During and After Coronavirus

Christine Ibbotson, Licensed Financial Advisor A timely and necessary response to Canadians’ most urgent financial concerns in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic Ibbotson has worked quickly and diligently in the face of this global financial crisis to provide readers in Canada, the US, and UK with a collection of thoughtful responses to, and practical advice for, their most pressing concerns. Topics include what help banks and governments can offer during the pandemic, what we can learn from past financial crises, how to financially secure your future— including pent-up demand that will turn the markets, and best investment and lending strategies—and how to create a financial plan and move your finances | Personal Finance in a different direction, ultimately leading to a safe and secure—and maybe even $12.95 978-1-77108-905-0 early—retirement. eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-831-2 Christine Ibbotson has been providing financial advice to clients for over 5 x 7 | 64 pages | paperback twenty-five years and is a Licensed Financial Advisor, Residential and Commercial Rights held: World | Pub date: May Mortgage Broker, and Insurance Broker. She also attained her Chartered Investment Manager designation with further studies taken in Advanced Estate Planning, Trusts, and Taxation Strategies.

How to Retire Debt-Free and Wealthy A Finance Coach Reveals the Secrets, Tips, and Techniques of How Clients Become Millionaires

Christine Ibbotson, Licensed Financial Advisor A narrative how-to guide from a Licensed Financial Advisor focused on helping readers achieve their retirement dreams Christine Ibbotson has been providing financial advice for decades. She’s fully aware of the reality: In today’s busy life, most people are worried about their jobs, their kids, and what to make for dinner. Planning for the future is usually last on the list. Most believe it is too difficult to understand all the ins and outs of the financial markets, how to save and plan for the future, and how to pay off their mortgage. They would rather leave it up to someone else to make the decisions on their retirement portfolios. As Ibbotson suggests, most people simply wait too long to | Personal Finance plan—and then panic. $24.95 978-1-77108-802-2 In How to Retire Debt-Free and Wealthy, Licensed Financial Advisor Christine 5.75 x 8 | 300 pages | paperback Ibbotson offers accessible and realistic guidelines in a series of achievable steps, Rights held: World | Available Now from debt elimination to wealth management, teaching readers how to create their own customizable financial plans. Illustrated with stories of real clients who have achieved their retirement dreams, Ibbotson’s book is sure to leave readers with all the tools and techniques to save and eliminate debt.

Fall 2020 Page 25 PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

A Beginner’s The Hermit Guide to Goodbye Jan L. Coates Melanie Mosher Eleven year old Danny was hoping to have a simple, fun Ten-year-old Laney is summer, but his plans are struggling with grief, and derailed when developers distracts herself by writing threaten to build condos letters to her little sister, on his community’s beloved who has recently died. As soccer field and when he the summer progresses, cultivates an unexpected so do Laney’s coping friendship with a hermit mechanisms. An important living in the nearby woods. Further uncovered secrets might book about acknowledging just help Danny save the soccer field once and for all. and processing grief in order to overcome it.

The Mermaid The Book of Handbook Selkie A Guide to the Mer- A Paper Doll Book maid Way of Life, Including Recipes, Briana Corr Scott Folklore, and More

Briana Corr Scott Explore the legendary “seal folk” in a book of short, whimsical poems. Find out From history and folklore to what Selkie likes to eat, recipes and tips for ocean where she lives, how she preservation, as well as spends her time on land and profiles and original illustrations of mer-maidens from around in the sea, and learn a Selkie lullaby. Lilting and lyrical, with the world, The Mermaid’s Handbook features everything you acrylic paintings that recall the ocean’s depths, this magical need to know to follow the mermaid way of life. Includes book is ideal for both bedtime and playtime. Features a paper an introduction by Dr. Alan Critchley with everything you’ve doll, clothes, and seal. ever wanted to know about seaweeds, and original 2-colour illustrations by artist Briana Corr Scott. $24.95 | Children’s Picture (and Paper Doll) Book 978-1-77108-820-6 $19.95 | Children’s Cookbook | 978-1-77108-865-7 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-870-1 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-866-4 8.5 x 11 | 24 pages + thick-stock paper doll & clothes 6 x 7.5 | 88 pages | 2–colour | paperback hardcover | 18 colour illustrations | Ages 3–7 20 original illustrations Rights held: World | Pub date: June Ages 8+ | Rights held: World | Pub date: June

Fall 2020 Page 26 PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

One Good Reason Silver Hair and Golden Voice Séan McCann with Andrea Aragon Austin Willis, from Halifax to Hollywood

In this deeply personal Ernest J. Dick memoir, co-written with Foreword by Costas wife Andrea Aragon, singer- Halavrezos Afterword by Ron Foley songwriter and renowned MacDonald mental health, addiction, and recovery advocate Séan McCann leaves no Over his extensive career, stone unturned. McCann Halifax-born film, television, and Aragon offer readers and radio performer Austin a love story, a memoir of Willis worked with luminaries from Orson Welles and Peter addiction and recovery, of young love and a strained marriage, Sellers to a young William Shatner. He bested Goldfinger at of reaching international fame and rock bottom. But most of cards—with help from Sean Connery’s James Bond—and all, an honest, raw, and inspiring tribute to embracing that we with his prematurely white hair, he became the debonair, wry are all worth saving. host of the 1970s CBC-TV quiz show, This Is The Law. This is the memoir Willis wanted to write—but didn’t, because he never stopped performing. $29.95 | Memoir | 978-1-77108-822-0 eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-823-7 6 x 9 | 240 pages | hardcover $19.95 | Biography | 978-1-77108-852-7 8-page colour insert + 14 line drawings eISBN (ePub): 978-1-77108-853-4 Rights held: World 5.5 x 8.25 | 192 pages | paperback | 40 b/w images Available Now Rights held: World | Pub date: November

Saltwater Kings of Friday Chronicles Night Notes on Everything The Lincolns Under the Nova Scotia Sun A. J. B. Johnston

Lesley Choyce Over a span of ten years, The Lincolns played rock This book celebrates the ’n’ roll, R & B, and soul, ordinary: the everyday not just in their hometown disasters and discoveries of Truro but at dances and that shape a life. In this, his on campuses across Nova one hundredth book, Lesley Scotia and New Brunswick. Choyce takes readers along They changed the lives of small-town kids clamouring for a as he writes about nearly everything under the sun from his beat that would move their feet, their hips, and their hearts. home by the sea on the North Atlantic coast of Canada—all of Through interviews, stories, and photos, The Lincolns will stir it most ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. fond memories for the band’s countless fans.

Fall 2020 Page 27 NEW FORMAT

Whispers of A Giant Man Mermaids and from a Tiny Town Wonderful Things A Story of Angus Atlantic Canadian MacAskill Poetry and Verse for Children Story by Tom Ryan Art by Christopher Hoyt

Edited by Sheree Fitch Known far and wide as the and Anne Hunt Cape Breton Giant, Angus From celebrated children’s was loved by his neighbours poet and author Sheree as much for his beautiful Fitch and early childhood singing voice as for his renowned strength. But as much as educator Anne Hunt comes a new paperback edition of the Angus loved his little town of Englishtown, Cape Breton, he celebrated illustrated compendium of Atlantic Canadian poetry decided to leave and seek fortune and adventure. and verse for young readers. Spanning centuries, from Milton With heartfelt text from critically acclaimed author Tom Ryan Acorn, Bliss Carman, and Rita Joe to Budge Wilson, Shauntay and meticulously researched and joyful illustrations from Grant, and Kathleen Winter, and a broad thematic scope— Christopher Hoyt (A is for Adventure), A Giant Man from a Tiny from soft lullabies and silly songs to poignant meditations on Town tells the story of a remarkable man who travelled the nature, loss, and love—over 100 poems from the region’s best world performing for crowds, but never stopped longing to are sure to delight educators, parents, and young readers. return to the place he loved the best: his Cape Breton home. | Children’s Poetry | 978-1-77108-896-1 | 6.5 x 8.75 $22.95 $13.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-897-8 | 8 x 10 160 pages | paperback with flaps & gold stamping 32 pages | paperback | 21 colour illustrations | Ages 3–7 Ages 5–12 | World | June Rights held: Pub date: Rights held: World | Pub date: June

Santa Never The Snow Knows

Brings Me a Text by Jennifer McGrath Banjo Art by Josée Bisaillon

Text by David Myles Art by Murray Bain In this deceptively simple children’s picture book, a The celebrated holiday song pair of award-winning sto- from multi-talented and mul- rytellers share the joys of tiple-award-winning Halifax- winter. A lyrical prose poem, based roots musician David Myles is now available as a bright The Snow Knows introduc- and fun children’s picture book. Young David writes frantic let- es readers of all ages to ani- ters to Santa every year, requesting a banjo, but to no avail: mals both domestic (a tabby “How does he miss / the one thing on my list / in the letter cat by the wood stove) and that I sent to him?” Follow the ups and downs of the holiday wild (a slinking lynx; a choir season with David, his furry friends, and his family, as he pines of coyotes), celebrating wil- for his most-wished-for holiday gift. derness and outdoor play. Featuring illustrations from the animation studio that created Now available in paperback, the 2017 Marillyn Baillie Award– the song’s well-loved music video, a special holiday message winning book for best Canadian children’s picture book is des- from David Myles, and original sheet music for those who wish tined to become a perennial winter favourite for a whole new to play along, Santa Never Brings Me A Banjo is sure to inspire audience. many a holiday singalong. $12.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-888-6 10 x 9 | 32 pages | paperback | 15 colour illustrations $12.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-77108-910-4 8 x 10 | 32 pages | paperback | 22 colour illustrations Ages 3–7 Ages 4–7 Rights held: World | Pub date: October Rights held: World | Pub date: September

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Mr. Beagle Goes The Wall and the to Rabbittown Wind

Lori Doody Veselina Tomova

When Mr. Beagle moves to In the middle of the twentieth Rabbittown, his new neigh- century, in the middle of bours aren’t sure what to Eastern Europe, a young make of him. Everyone else girl dreams of adventures far is a rabbit, after all. But then mittens start to go missing, and near. One day, a huge and no one knows where wall appears that separates East from West, and dreamer from they might be. Who better dreams. No ladder is high enough, no tunnel deep enough to than Mr. Beagle to sniff out the culprit! get past that wall. But then a crack appears in the wall, and With quirky, charming illustrations and sweet, simple text, Mr. the girl (now a woman) knows she has the chance to follow Beagle Goes to Rabbittown celebrates how one finds a space her dreams again. in a new place, and the warm embrace of community. A picture book full of fun, with a bit of mystery, too. $12.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-92791-732-8 8.5 x 8.5 | 38 pages | paperback | Ages 6–8 $11.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-92791-731-2 Publisher: Running the Goat | Pub date: October 7 x 9 | 44 pages | paperback | Ages 3–5 Publisher: Running the Goat | Pub date: August

Finding Avalon (M)other

Kate Merlin Text by Sanita Fejzić Art by Alisa Arsenault

Young Nate is enjoying his newfound freedom from From the delivery room to the classroom, a woman school when he gets a job whose motherhood is ques- working on the steamship tioned explains: her son New York. But the work doesn’t have a father, but is hard, and the ship gets he’s got two moms. She is the other mother. A (m)other, but caught in the Saxby Gale there was only room for one on the birth certificate. In the of 1869. Will they ever minds of some adults and kids, however, a father figure must make it to safety? Based be found. Adapted from a 2018 CBC Poetry Prize shortlisted poem, this book tells, with tenderness and accuracy, the dif- on a real incident, this ficulties that homoparental families face in being accepted for adventure story should appeal to ages 9-12 even though it who they are: loving families. is written at a grade 2-3 reading level. $13.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-2-89750-185-3 7.5 x 7.5 | 24 pages | hardcover $10.95 | Children’s Fiction | 978-0-99593-848-9 4.25 x 7 | 72 pages | paperback | Ages 13+ Publisher: Bouton d’or Acadie | Available Now Publisher: Chocolate River Publishing Pub date: November

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Ce n’était Zee

pas nous les Su J. Sokol sauvages Le choc entre les civilisations Ever since she was born, européennes et Zee’s had a talent, or a par- ticular kind of intelligence. autochtones She perceives things no one else does. Zee can hear Daniel N. Paul what people think, feel what people feel. Sometimes, in As a person of First Nation their eyes, Zee is the daugh- ancestry I cannot help but ter of her four grown-ups. wonder if the failure of Cau- Sometimes Zee is poor casian Americans and Ca- black boy from Brooklyn, nadians to reveal and teach New York. about the horrors their ancestors carried out against North American First Nation Peoples is a deliberate cover-up, or an Her four grown-ups are worried, make her take some tests, indication they hold within their minds a notion the life of a but Zee anticipates their angst and thwarts their plans. Over First Nation person is valueless–not worthy of human consid- time, Zee learns to grow up and fit into the moulds of society erations. The latter is probably the more plausible, because it and people’s expectations... but she just might lose sight of is an unchallengeable fact that the crimes against humanity who she is. committed against our peoples over the centuries by people of European descent are not viewed with the same abhorrence by Caucasians that such crimes against other races of people $14.95 | Young Adult Fiction | 978-2-89750-200-3 | 6 x 8.75 are viewed. If such were the case there would be unconditional 72 pages | paperback | Ages 15+ condemnation of it, and the knowledge would be readily avail- Publisher: Bouton d’or Acadie able and taught in schools. Pub date: September

Text by Renée Guimond- ma cuisine Plourde, Danielle Guimond and Mélanie Plourde Text by Marie-France Comeau Art by Isabelle Léger Beloved dog Jacoby, who’s helped numerous children Grandma Rosi said it: if you deal with their anxiety and want a beautiful and deli- has helped them with their cious monster, you need reading skills, is very sick. Seeing him in such pain, his owner some elbow grease! You have to mold the monster, knead it, Madame Ève decides to take him to the vet to put him own. att ack it, hit it! And when it moves, when bubbles come out As she learns to live without her dear companion, Madame of its belly? Quick, flatt en it down, you need to master your Ève is comforted by the soothing memories of him. monster! And then? Heat, and a nice nap. Discover the best monster recipe in this new picturebook by storyteller Marie- The children Jacoby helped miss him and decide to throw him France Comeau. a goodbye party. Slowly but surely, without ignoring the pain, or the sorrow, life goes on. $13.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-2-89750-209-6 8.5 x 8.5 | 32 pages | hardcover | Ages 3–6 Publisher: Bouton d’or Acadie | Pub date: June $11.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-2-89750-240-9 8.5 x 8.5 | 32 pages | paperback | Ages 4–8 Publisher: Bouton d’or Acadie Pub date: September

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Ouaf? Ouaf? La promesse du Cot! Cot! bout du monde

Text by Carolyn Rowe-Turner Text by Danielle S. Marcotte Art by Sarah Delignies Art by Stéphanie Bourgeois

Caro’s girls aren’t happy. Summer 1786. Two fif- «The girls» are Caro’ hens, teen year-old orphan boys and Henriette is especially have embarked on a ship unimpressed when Crème in Southhampton, Britain, Brulée, the family labrador, decides to come in to the chicken that’s heading for the North- coop uninvited. As Henriette flees for her life Crème Brulée East of the Pacific Ocean. runs after her. Quick, Caro must catch the little red bird before Alexis is of Acadian descent she falls into the sea! She and her twin Claude will try every- and is looking for his scat- thing to save their dear hen... who’s got surprises in store for tered family while his friend them! Hugh dreams of a better life. But once they arrive on the North American continent, a young starving cougar will disrupt the boys’ destiny... | Children’s Picture Book | 978-2-89750-221-8 $13.95 While wounded Hugh is saved by a fellow crew member, Alex- 8.5 x 8.5 | 32 pages | paperback | Ages 3–8 is gets lost in the forest and ends up in an Indigenous village Bouton d’or Acadie Publisher: decimated by the smallpox. Amongst the cadavers, a young Pub date: June girl is left alive. She and Alexis will help each other in their fight for survival...

Le chien d’or de Africville Québec Text by Shauntay Grant Une aventure des Art by Eva Campbell Trois Mousquetaires

Text by Denis M. Boucher When a young girl visits the Art by Paul Roux site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she’s heard from her family Alexis Nadeau, director of come to mind. She imag- the exhibits at the Civilisa- ines what the community tions museum in Montreal, was once like — the brightly has been receiving threats painted houses nestled into signed: Québec Golden the hillside, the field where boys played football, the pond Dog. The three musketeers where all the kids went rafting, the bountiful fishing, the huge Gabriel, Ania and Mama- bonfires. Coming out of her reverie, she visits the present-day dou immediately start to investigate. Gabriel even spots a real park and the sundial where her great- grandmother’s name is golden dog walking around the streets of Quebec! Would it carved in stone, and celebrates a summer day at the annual be the same legendary golden dog that stands on the Porte Africville Reunion/Festival. St-Jean at the entrance of the old Quebec. Does the bizarre professor, Bazil Bizaroff , have anything to do with it? And how do you protect yourself against a ferocious dog whose fur is $13.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-2-89750-218-8 lined with flames? 10.25 x 8.25 | 32 pages | hardcover | Ages 4–8 Publisher: Bouton d’or Acadie Pub date: September | French Language $19.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-2-89750-194-5 6 x 9 | 288 pages | paperback | Ages 8–12 Publisher: Bouton d’or Acadie | Pub date: May

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Revised Edition Finding Your The Weir Inner Moose A Novel Ida LeClair’s Guide to Livin’ the Good Life Ruth Moore

Susan Poulin The Weir, written in 1943, takes place in a small island Ida has found her “inner fishing village during the moose,” and become a years before World War II, Certified Maine Life Guide. set against a backdrop of After years of “Running with hard work and struggle. the Moose,” she’s picked up Ruth Moore, one of the a few pointers and is now great regional novelists eager to share the wisdom of the twentieth century, of their ways. Taking her inspiration from Maine’s antlered brilliantly and authentically captures not only the characteristics friend, Ida covers topics ranging from A to Zumba, and offers of coastal Maine and its people, but using them to write a helpful hints on how to live a happier life. This uplifting and story of universal human drama featuring two primary families entertaining motivational moose-terpiece is guaranteed to who feud, gossip, and struggle while being battered by the make you smile. relentless tides of change sweeping over their community and their entire way of life. This reissue of Ruth Moore’s debut novel includes a new introduction. $19.95 | Humour | 978-1-94476-293-3 5.5 x 8.5 | 256 pages | paperback Publisher: Islandport Press | Pub date: June $20.95 | Fiction | 978-1-94476-294-0 5.5 x 8.5 | 352 pages | softcover Publisher: Islandport Press | Pub date: September

The Little Blue Summer

Fisherman Jim Nichols Text by Margaret Wise Brown Art by Dahlov Ipcar A riveting coming-of-age novel told in retrospect by a washed-out taxi-driving As a “writer of songs and musician from Baxter, Maine, nonsense,” the words of who must come to terms Margaret Wise Brown have with his past by returning to delighted generations, from Maine and confronting the Goodnight Moon to The Runaway Bunny. This lesser-known secrets and violence in his classic, written in 1945, tells a rhythmic, comparative story of family. two fishermen––one big and one little as they spend aday working at sea. $20.95 | Fiction | 978-1-95214-303-8 5.5 x 8.5 | 256 pages | paperback $13.95 | Children’s Picture Book | 978-1-94476-296-4 Publisher: Islandport Press | Pub date: August 6 x 6 | 24 pages | board | Ages 2–6 Publisher: Islandport Press | Pub date: September

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I’m Just I’m Just Sayin’ Cape Breton’s Cape Breton’s s ayIn’.... My Shorter Writings Christmas, 7 sayIn’ Christmas Canada’s Prime David Muise 7 Ministers in Caricature

I’m Just Sayin’ is a collec- Bruce MacKinnon tion of short essays about Cape Breton life and David Muise’s own childhood in Here are 50 Christmas sto- Cape Breton—a book that ries from the heart of Cape Collected Breton. Now a genuine holi- Shorter keeps alive the joy of grow- Writings ing up in this rare world that day tradition, this seventh A 7th Treasury of Stories and Memories book of lasting memories once was Industrial Cape Edited by Ronald Caplan Collected Shorter Writings David Muise of Breton. A generous river of and terrific storytelling will David Muise good humour and empathy continue to delight young flows through this book. and old throughout the year. Preserving priceless moments, this is a book of intimate adventures, indoors and out—of the kind usually remembered $17.00 | Biography | 978-1-92690-878-6 | 5.8 x 8.5 only briefly at Christmastime, and then gone. Gathered to be 164 pages | paperback | Publisher: Breton Books read again and savoured, Cape Breton’s Christmas is an all- new and lasting book to enjoy and to share. Pub date: May

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