Lesley Choyce, Editor, Atlantica: Stories from the Maritimes and Newfoundland (Goose Lane Editions, 2001) $19.95 ISBN 0-8692-309-0.

       "Atlantica is a region of the imagination," writes Lesley Choyce in his foreword to the short story collection, "a literary nation onto itself... We cultivate our eccentricities and cherish the way we weave our lives into anecdote, narrative, legend and myth..."
       Atlantica features stories by twenty Atlantic Canadian authors, some long-credited masters of their craft, others promising new voices on the Canadian scene. Characters created by Alistair MacLeod, Sheldon Currie, Donna Morrissey, Budge Wilson, and many others appear on the pages of this book and share their unique tales. Their stories celebrate both bizarre and everyday life experiences with humour, grief and compassion, while paying deep respect to the fleeting moments that sometimes change the course of our lives.

Christy Ann Conlin, Heave (Doubleday Canada, 2002) $29.95, ISBN 0-385-65807-9.

       Heave explores the joys and agonies of family, of what one generation inherits from the next, and how the past is inevitably linked to the present. Seraphina Sullivan - a twenty-one-year-old party girl from rural Nova Scotia - longs for the world. From the pastoral countryside of the Maritimes to urban bars in London, England, and through a mental hospital ward and rehab centre, Serrie embarks upon a journey of self-discovery. The story begins as Serrie bolts from her wedding day and tries to understand what has brought her to this moment. Memories loop throughout the book as she searches for equilibrium.
       First-time novelist Christy Ann Conlin has worked as a seasonal fruit picker, a factory worker, an antiquities sales clerk, a teacher, a researcher and a science grant writer. She is a graduate of the MFA program in creative writing at UBC. Conlin lives in Halifax and in Turner's Brook.

Sheree Fitch, EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street (The Nova Scotia Hospital Foundation, 2001). Illustrated by Laura Jolicoeur. $10.00, ISBN 0-9681578-1-5.

       "If ever you go traveling - On EveryBody Street - You'll see EveryBody's - Different - Than EveryOne you meet..." Sheree Fitch's playful words lead you into this beautiful children's book and invite you to celebrate our gifts, our weaknesses, our differences, and our sameness. Fitch displays her wit and mastery of words in quick, rollicking rhymes that are complimented by Laura Jolicoeur's lively illustrations. EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street was produced to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Festival of Trees in support of the Nova Scotia Hospital.
       Sheree Fitch is a poet, educator, author of more than fourteen books and the recipient of many literary awards. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. and River John, NS.
       Laura Jolicoeur is a ceramic artist living in Dartmouth. Her artwork is collected internationally in private and public collections. Her book, Moons and Mermaids, is being adapted into a children's play to be performed in collaboration with Mermaid Theatre this fall.

Sally Ross, Les écoles acadiennes en Nouvelle-Écosse, 1758 - 2000 (Centre d'études acadiennes, Université de Moncton, 2001). $18.00. ISBN 0-919241-61-1.

       Sally Ross' latest title, Les écoles acadiennes en Nouvelle-Écosse, 1758 - 2000, traces the history of public schools in all the Acadian regions of Nova Scotia and is based on historical documents and interviews with Acadians. It is a factual, but human and moving, story about the struggles for French education in an Anglophone province. The book is accompanied by maps and photos and features a foreword by Maurice Basque.
       Sally Ross taught the history and culture of French Canada for ten years, studied in France and holds a License és Lettres and a doctorate from the Université de Tours. She has translated several books from their original French and co-wrote The Acadians of Nova Scotia Past and Present with Alphonse Deveau.

Deborah Hale, Carpetbagger's Wife (Harlequin Historical, 2002). $5.99. ISBN 0-373-29195-7.

       This novel about a Yankee carpetbagger and a Southern widow was inspired by Sommersby, a movie starring Richard Gere and Jodi Foster. When Caddie returns home to Sabbath Hollow with her two children, she finds her brother-in-law occupying their house with his new wife. Lon threatens to banish his sister-in-law from her home. Suddenly a stranger appears at the door. Could it be her presumed-dead husband, Del?
       Author of several historical romance books, Deborah Hale was born in Moncton and raised in Kouchibouguac and Saint John, and later studied Special Education at the University of New Brunswick. She now lives in Lower Sackville.

Michael Seary, Please Don't Touch the Art!: Security and Public Access in Art Museums (AGNS, 2001) $7.95, ISBN 088871-697-4.

       When you are in an art gallery admiring the paintings, do you ever feel you're being watched? Well, you are. This brief publication tells about the security personnel who watch you and the Gallery staff who work to ensure that your experience as a visitor is a happy one.
       The author, in his capacity of Security Liaison Officer for the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, presents his observations about the relationship between the security personnel, gallery staff and visitors. This series of fifteen 'word sketches' is designed, like paintings on the wall, to delight and inform.
       Michael Seary is a teacher, artist and writer. His lifelong experience of schools, museums, galleries and other public agencies has inspired him to examine how these institutions work for their public. He lives in Halifax.

Don Butler, More Close Encounters of a Driving Examiner (Strait Printing and Publishing, 2001). $14.00 (includes shipping and handling).

       Don Butler takes us on another captivating drive away from the ordinary to the thrilling life of the driving examiner. The book is rich with description and real-life imagery, each story provides a truly East Coast experience. "Whether is be Sister Engelina from the convent or Hans Van Snickle in the Land of Opportunity, Don introduces us to each character intimately, allowing us to experience nerve-wrecking driving situations first hand."
       Don Butler lives in rural Pictou County and works as a driving examiner. More Close Encounters of a Driving Examiner is his third self-published book.

Ciarán Llachlan Leavitt, When the Wave Breaks: First Branch of the Reparations Cycle (Silver Dragon Books, 2001) $14.99, ISBN 1-930928-58-0.

       "Beauty, death and dreams, are the substance of myth. Even Gods fall in love. Like mortals, they sometimes love not wisely, but too well. As sometimes happens with love, there is jealousy and pain. And like us, they mistake possession for love."
       When the Wave Breaks explores the humanity of the Gods and tells of the flight of the Tuatha De Danaan from doomed Atland to what will one day become modern Ireland. When Danaan Goddes makes a fateful choice to spurn her betrothed, her entire nation must pay the price in blood. Her new lover must not only find a way to save Brighid from a vengeful Bres, but must also win the right to stand as Consort to the Beltaine Queen.
       Ciarán's stories are filled with the mythology of her youth and reflect her love of history and sociology. She lives in Mahone Bay.

Sandra Oakley-Andrews, The Oakleys Take a Trip (Dartmouth Historical Association, 2001). Illustrated by Marijke Simons. $16. ISBN 0-9696646-8-0.

       This is the trip of a lifetime for seven-year-old Sam and her sister Jo - seeing where their cousins live in Newfoundland, crossing to St. Pierre and Miquelon, and, to Sam's astonishment, lunching at Chicken Burger in the next town. En route, Sam's and Jo's parents answer all the girls' questions and give them stories and songs which bring Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and St. Pierre alive for them and the readers.
       Sandra Oakley-Andrews grew up in Dartmouth. She has written stories and poems since childhood and has found never-ending adventure and fuel for her writing in travels with her family.