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Eastword, May-June 2007imPRESSed!: The newest titles by WFNS members
Free as the Wind is set during the early 1960s, when it was decided the wild Sable Island horses would be removed and sold at auction. School children across the country wrote Canada’s then Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, pleading with him to restore the horses to the island — to save them from certain death. This fictional account of that pivotal moment in Canada’s history follows young Lucas Beauregard, son of the retiring superintendent of Sable Island, as he befriends and then plots to save Gem, one of the horses of Sable Island. Jamie Bastedo’s work focusses on taking science
and natural history to the streets. Whether hosting lively nature shows
on the radio or writing about his northern home, Jamie spreads a contageous
enthusiasm and love for the land. Well established as a popular science
writer, he has written books on northern nature and numerous natural
history magazine features.
Often, when beleaguered by the troubles of this world, we ask, "What can one person do?" In With Every Breath We Take, a grandmother asks herself this question and then lets her imagination run wild. She is sick and tired of war. How can she put an end to it? Inspired by the World War I "Christmas truce" when soldiers came out of their trenches and fraternized with their enemies, she crochets snowflakes to bring about an unexpected snowstorm and a modern day reenactment of that World War I truce. Geoff Butler lives in Granville Ferry. He has written, illustrated and self-published two books, Art of War: Painting It Out of the Picture and The Look of Angels: Angels in Art. Tundra Books has published his children's books, the most recent being Ode to Newfoundland. Geoff is a visual artist who has completed a series of paintings called Canuckiana and is now working on a Global Village theme.
George Elliott Clarke’s newest dramatic poem, Trudeau, is an irreverent, jubilant portrait of the life and politics of one of Canada’s most controversial political heroes. Clarke’s poem provides a whimsical and informative look at the balance of world powers in the 1960s and 70s, infused with the spirit of the many revolutions taking place throughout the world during these years. When the focus moves to the Quiet Revolution and Trudeau’s response to this crisis in his leadership, Clarke presents a leader at once loved and loathed at home, who perseveres through both political and personal upheaval. George Elliott Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia. His numerous awards include: the Portia White Prize, a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Fellowship, the Governor General’s Award for Poetry, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Achievement Award and a Trudeau Foundation Fellowship. He is currently the E. J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto.
Father Declan Burke fled Ireland forty years ago and never looked back. Now settled in New York, he thinks he’s put the old country behind him, until he reads the obituary of one Cathal Murphy. The obituary, he sees at once, is not about Murphy at all. It is a coded indictment of Burke’s own life. And an announcement of his impending death. Burke’s former lawyer Monty Collins investigates the obit with its allusions to Burke’s IRA past, but he gets no help from Burke, who — good soldier to the end — keeps the silence of the grave. From the farms of Ireland to the tenements of New York City, Collins is confronted by a cast of enigmatic characters, including the owner of a nightclub frequented by the New York mob; a sultry chanteuse; and Burke’s hotheaded son Francis, whose resentment and dubious activities set the family on a road to destruction. Monty isn’t the only one who is surprised when he reaches the end of the road. Burke too must now confront the suspicion that he has been manipulated all along by an unseen hand. Anne Emery is a graduate of Dalhousie Law School. She has worked as a lawyer, legal affairs reporter, and researcher. She lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her husband and daughter. Her first novel was Sign of the Cross (2006). Maurey has always been persecuted for the colour of his skin and eyes. He has never known more about his parents than that his mother died the day he was born. When the king's chancellor discovers that Maurey possesses a ring belonging to the missing queen and another that may be the key to finding the hidden kingdom of the inhuman warlocks of Talverdin, he is imprisoned, revealed as a Nightwalker and sentenced to execution in philosopher's fire. Rescued by a young baroness with her own reasons for fearing the chancellor, Maurey sets out on a dangerous journey to the land of his father's people. If he and Annot are to survive and prevent the destruction of the last refuge of the Nightwalkers, Maurey will have to call on human and inhuman skills he never knew he possessed, and win the trust of both sides of his family. Originally from Kingston, Ont., K.V. Johansen studied English and History at Mount Allison University, received a Master's in Medieval Studies from the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, and another Master's, in English, from McMaster. She held the 2001 Eileen Wallace Research Fellowship in Children's Literature to work on a book on the history of children's fantasy literature, Quests and Kingdoms, and received the 2004 Frances E. Russell Award for research in children's literature from IBBY Canada. She currently lives in Sackville, NB.
It is 2009 and North Korea has purchased four outdated submarine-launched ballistic missile boosters from a French company tasked with destroying the rockets. Because they are not a weapon in and of themselves, international law governing the sale of strategic weapons cannot prevent the acquisition. Both the US and Canadian governments, however, know too well what the unstable North Korean leader intends for the rocket boosters in light of his failure to successfully launch a missile of his own. When a carefully planned covert mission to intercept the rockets unravels due to mechanical problems with the ultra quiet spy submarine USS Jimmy Carter, a replacement must be found and quickly! The surprising solution comes in the form of a Canadian submarine. Originally from Moncton, New Brunswick, Daniel Little has called Yarmouth, Nova Scotia home since 2003. A deep-rooted interest in military history from an early age has led him to explore many of North America’s museums and battlefields, as well as acquiring an extensive library on all aspects of warfare.
Gracie has a nice, comfortable life in the Halifax Public Gardens. Her days are full of swimming in lakes and fountains, napping in bushes, and gobbling up the delicious treats that visitors to the park bring especially for her — muffins, popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches. Yum! But one day Gracie’s favourite people stop giving her food. What’s happening? Why won’t anyone share their lunch? Aren’t they worried she’ll starve? Despite her best efforts, Gracie’s turned away by all her food sources, and to fill up she has to turn to, well, duck food. And despite herself, she starts to enjoy it. Judith Meyrick is a freelance writer. Her published work includes humorous articles and book reviews. She received an honourable mention for two categories in the 2004 Atlantic Writing Competition. Judith’s home is in Halifax, Nova Scotia but she is currently in Waiganui, New Zealand on an extended writing retreat. Richard Rudnicki began drawing at a very young age, went on to study fine art and graphic design and became resident artist with CUSO. A short time later he started a graphic design firm, which grew into a successful company. In 1994 he sold his company and returned to drawing and painting, becoming a fulltime visual artist. Richard lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
When Theodore Too and Lucy Tug decide it’s a perfect day for an adventure, they go to visit the Shipwreck School, a school of fish who live by an old sunken ship! But when they arrive, there’s no sign of the fish…until Theodore Too and Lucy look down and see the fish caught in a stray net. Oh no! Luckily, tugboats are best at tugging, and the two boats pull the net apart and save their new friends. Hooray for Theodore Too and Lucy, and hooray for the Shipwreck School! This is the second book in the series that features Theodore Too, the youngest tugboat in Halifax Harbour, full of questions and eager for adventure. With his friends Lucy Tug, McKay Bridge, Dartmouth Ferry, Guy Seagull, George Lighthouse and Fisherman Murphy, Theodore Tug explores the harbour, discovers a shipwreck and saves his friends. Michelle Mulder is a graduate of the Humber School of Writing and won Harpweaver’s Eleanor Abram prize for fiction in 2004. Her articles have appeared internationally in publications such as Maclean’s, Canadian Geographic and Reader’s Digest. Yolanda Poplawska is an illustrator and graphic designer living in Halifax. She is the author and illustrator of A Halifax ABC and illustrator of Theodore Too and the Too Long Nap. She also illustrates a series of greeting cards depicting Nova Scotian scenes.
The human body is a world. How it contains all that it
does, how it is altered, and how it is transformed after death are the
concerns of Quick. From the shock of a near fatal car accident
to a meditation on the body as one world within other, larger worlds,
the book becomes an anatomy in itself.
In Return to the Sea a young girl and her family set off on a summer road trip from Ontario to the Maritimes. On their way to their grandparents’ cottage in New Brunswick they visit many of the most famous tourist attractions east of Ontario: historic Quebec City; the world’s longest covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick; the legendary tides of the Bay of Fundy; Peggy’s Cove; the city of Halifax; and Anne’s Prince Edward Island. Everything -- from the car ride to pirate stories, bonfires, and bike rides -- is cherishingly documented by a young girl. Heidi Jardine Stoddart holds a Master of Arts degree in Art Education from NSCAD University, and was an elementary school teacher in her home town of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. She is the author of two other children’s books, East to the Sea and A Nothing-to-do Day. Heidi currently lives in Rothesay, New Brunswick with her husband, and spends most of her time teaching, drawing, painting, and looking for shells at the seashore.
The Confluence is the story of Kate Bradley, who is haunted by the loss of her father in a wile British Columbia river and takes up residence in a remote part of France; of Alain Auberjean, a concert violinist who believes his father was a Resistance hero executed by the Nazis; and of the elderly and mysterious Madeleine Serault, who fought with the Maquis during World War Two and now tries to protect a troubling secret in a small French village. J.A. Wainwright was born in Toronto in 1946 and has lived in Halifax since 1972, where he is McCulloch Pofessor in English at Dalhousie University. He has published five books of poetry, including Flight of the Falcon: Scott’s Journey to the South Pole 1910-1912 and Landscape and Desire: Poems Selected and New; and two novels: A Deathful Ridge: A Novel of Everest and A Far Time. He also edited A Very Large Soul: Selected Letters from Margaret Laurence to Canadian Writers and Every Grain of Sand: Canadian Perspectives on Ecology and Environment.
This poetry collection offers detailed imagery and a gallery of unusual characters. A versatile author, Paul Zann has written several books, from picture books and YA novels to adult novels and plays. His poems have appeared in journals in Canada, United States, England, Spain and Australia, including Grain, The Antigonish Review, and Pottersfield Portfolio. A Canadian citizen born in Australia, Paul Zann emigrated with his wife and daughter in 1968. After teaching at the University of Saskatchewan, he moved to Truro, Nova Scotia. His YA novels, The Aussie Six in Canada and The Aussie Six in Australia, are also published by Borealis Press; The Aussie Six in Spain is forthcoming. |
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Free
as the Wind 
With
Every Breath We Take: a modern fable in which a snowflake helps put
an end to war
Obit
Unheard,
Unseen...
Gracie,
The Public Gardens Duck
