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Vintage Cabot Trail
Publisher: Cape Breton University Press$4.95In 1932, the Nova Scotia and Canadian governments undertook to upgrade centuries-old hardscrabble roadways and pathways that linked numerous isolated communities perched between ocean and mountain, roughly circumscribing the bounds of the Cape Breton Highlands.
For 75 years, the Cabot Trail, one of the world’s most stunning travelways, has not only relieved isolation, it has captivated, charmed and challenged motorists, cyclists, runners and walkers alike.
This booklet commemorates the 75th anniversary (1932-2007) of the designation of the Cabot Trail by revisiting the Trail’s earliest years through images from the archives of the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University.
Terry MacLean, PhD, is a retired CBU Professor, a writer and heritage consultant living in Sydney. He was former Senior Historian at the Fortress of Louisbourg and is the author of books and articles on aspects of Cape Breton history and culture.
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Ten Wooden Boats You Can Build
$27.45The beauty of this book is that the construction bugs have already been worked out of the designs. Plans, step-by-step instructions, material lists photographs and detailed diagrams.
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Hermit of Gully Lake
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$18.95The Hermit of Gully Lake is a thought-provoking, intimate and respectful look at the life and times of American-born but Nova Scotia-raised Willard Kitchener MacDonald (1916-2003), better known as the Hermit of Gully Lake. For sixty years, MacDonald endured hardship and extreme isolation, living as recluse in a cave-like shelter six feet by nine feet in the deep woods wilderness of northern Nova Scotia.
He moved far into the woods after jumping from a troop train that would have taken him to Halifax and on to Europe for World War II. In the past thirty years, as his legend grew, many people began to seek him out, squeezing into his tiny shelter to play fiddles and guitars with the man they call Kitchener, marvelling at his wisdom, his wit and his intriguing views of events in the wider world, which he chose not to be part of. Even when his friends urged him to sign up for his old age pension in the 1980s, he steadfastly refused to sign his name to any document, even a government cheque. He was reluctant to speak about his past, saying only that he had refused to go and fight in World War II because the Bible told him, “Thou shalt not kill.” When he died, however, there was enough national interest in this unique individual that both the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star sent reporters to cover the event.
Joan Baxter is an award-winning Nova Scotian author who has written extensively about Africa. She is now living in northern Nova Scotia where she has turned her attention to this incredible story of a man of enormous strength and character who became a legend. She is back home after two decades of living in and reporting from Africa for the BBC World Service and Associated Press. Her most recent book, A Serious Pair of Shoes, won the Evelyn Richardson Award.
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Robin’s Impossible, Crazy Idea
$8.95Ever since starting grade four, Robin’s days at Ernest Lee Elementary School have been dreary. At the center of this unhappiness is her teacher, Ms. Beetroot, whose stern looks and endless lists of rules leave no room for fun. All this changes when Robin and her class are greeted by a wild and wonderful substitute teacher.
“Welcome, children! My name is Mr. Cunningham. That’s cunning as in sly, and ham as in joking around. I will be your substitute grade 4 teacher for today. Let the show begin!” He turned, opened the large door, and gave a welcoming bow.”
Mr. Cunningham brings excitement and fun back into the grade 4 classroom, but that night Robin must face the inevitable – Beetroot would be back the next day. That is when an impossible crazy idea begins to take shape in Robin’s mind. But how will she convince the grade 4 class that this crazy idea will work and how will she keep this impossible idea a secret from Ms. Beetroot?
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Summer Feet
$22.95From 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 offer. With Sheree Fitch’s classic lip-slippery, lyrical rhymes and Carolyn Fisher’s bright and colourful illustrations, Summer Feet will be an instant summertime favourite.
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Chocolates, Tattoos, and Mayflowers
$24.95Did you know that goose grease apparently cures the common cold, while salt fish draws a fever? How about the fact that “Torpedos” (automobiles) were manufactured in Kentville in 1910? These are just some of the tidbits of Maritime wisdom and little-known facts that you will find in Chocolates, Tattoos, and Mayflowers.
Collected over the years for Clary Croft’s popular radio column on CBC’s Mainstreet, these stories, memories, photographs, and advertisements show a fascinating side of Maritime popular culture and history. From accounts of sea monsters and famous duels to the history behind Maritime staples like Pot of Gold chocolates and Morse’s Tea, these entertaining and evocative pieces are sure to spark conversations around your kitchen table—just like any good Maritime subject!
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Phantom of Fire
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Things aren’t going so well for fifteen-year-old Dylan Maples. He’s sick of his own reflection, his parental units are driving him nuts, and, worst of all, he’s trying to come to terms with the unexpected death of one of his best friends. Now, to top things off, he’s been roped into a family trip to stay with family friends in New Brunswick. After just a few hours in Bathurst, Dylan worries this will turn out to be the most boring vacation ever, but when he meets a local girl, Antonine, and the two of them witness what looks like a burning ship on the water, he begins to think that New Brunswick might be more interesting than he thought. As Dylan and Antonine begin to research the famous ghost ship of the Bay de Chaleur, they raise more questions than they answer. Does Antonine’s father hold a clue to the mystery? What’s the deal with the local right-wing politician who is on everybody’s minds these days? And what really happened on the water all those years ago?
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The Secret of the Silver Mines
$12.95Just when Dylan Maples is settling down after last summer’s trip to Ireland’s Eye, the parental units are at it again—planning another family adventure. Only this time, it’s not a summer vacation, but an extended trip way up north to Cobalt, Ontario, in the middle of a bitter winter. Once a thriving silver mining community, all that’s left of the town’s rich history are the long abandoned mines.
A Toronto millionaire has hired Dylan’s dad to retrieve a fortune in silver allegedly stolen from his grandfather back in the early part of the twentieth century. But was the fortune really stolen? And if so, where has it been hidden? The answers to these questions reside with one man—Theobald T. Larocque, Cobalt’s oldest citizen. But no one has seen him in years. And no one seems at all eager to help Dylan’s dad locate him—except, of course, his devoted son Dylan, and Dylan’s newfound friend and accomplice, Wynona Dixon.
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Bone Beds of the Badlands
$12.95Bone Beds of the Badlands transports readers to the heart of dinosaur country in the most gripping and terrifying Dylan Maples Adventure yet!
Dylan and his best friends, Terry, the Bomb, and Rhett, have won first place in the National Science Fair for their amazing mechanical T-rex. The prize: a parent-free trip to one of the coolest places on Earth—the badlands of Alberta, home to ancient dinosaur remains and a landscape that looks like the surface of an alien planet. Unfortunately, it is also the scene of a manhunt for a desperate killer. Recently escaped from custody, known as “the Reptile,” this bizarre seven-foot man was last seen heading straight for the badlands, a perfect place to hide if you never want to be found.
When the boys and their new friend Dorothy get separated from their guided tour of Dinosaur Provincial Park, they may be lost, but they’re not alone…
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Monster in the Mountains
$12.95After Dylan Maples’s terrifying adventure in Alberta, the holiday his “parental units” plan in British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains seems like a dream. Swimming, hiking, and loafing around are welcome distractions from vivid memories of his narrow escape from “The Reptile,” the frightening criminal who pursued him and his friends through the badlands. But Dylan soon discovers that he is heading into an area teeming with legends of real-life monsters, among them the sea serpent Ogopogo and the awesome sasquatch. In fact, more mysterious creatures are said to exist in BC than in any other place in the world….
Dylan tries not to take it all too seriously. But when he arrives in the resort town of Harrison Hot Springs and meets his eccentric uncle, Walter Middy, he is pulled right into the heart of the sasquatch mystery. Before you can say, “I see a monster!”, Dylan, Walter, and their new friend Alice are deep in the wilderness, on the trail of the deadly beast.
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The Mystery of Ireland’s Eye
$12.95Dylan is twelve years old and embarking on his first ocean kayaking trip with his parents. He has spent the last year convincing them that he is ready for the challenging—and very dangerous—adventure. In fact, he has been determined to go ever since he heard about the destination: Ireland’s Eye. The small island off the coast of Newfoundland is the easternmost settlement in Canada. Or it was. It is now hauntingly empty, a ghost town clinging to the edge of the unforgiving Atlantic. What is it about Ireland’s Eye that so captivates Dylan he is willing to take such risks to get there? Does the ghost town have anything to do with the dreams Dylan keeps having of his favourite grandfather who has just passed away? And why does the old man on St. John’s docks grimly whisper, “Don’t go to Ireland’s Eye” when he hears of Dylan’s plans?
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The Last Canadian Knight
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95From a small-town law office in Nova Scotia to the boardrooms of London, England, where he was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s “privatization ace,” lawyer and businessman Sir Graham Day has established a sterling international reputation as a tough-minded but charming negotiator. In The Last Canadian Knight, award-winning business journalist Gordon Pitts chronicles Day’s meteoric rise and explores the valuable lessons Day has gleaned from a lifetime of global business experience.
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In Their Own Words
$21.95What was the First World War really like for Maritimers overseas? This epistolary book, edited by historian Ross Hebb, contains the letters home of three Maritimers with distinct wartime experiences: a front-line soldier from Nova Scotia, a nurse from New Brunswick, and a conscripted fisherman from Prince Edward Island. Up until now, these complete sets of handwritten letters have remained with the families, who agreed to share them in time for the one-hundredth anniversary of the Great War’s end in 2018. These letters not only give insight into the war, but provide greater understanding of life in rural Maritime communities in the early 1900s.
In Their Own Words includes a learned introduction and background information on letter writers Eugene A. Poole, Sister Pauline Balloch, and Herry Heckbert, enabling readers to appreciate the context of these letters and their importance.
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Historic House Names of Nova Scotia
$17.95Mount Uniacke, Acacia Grove, Winckworth, Saint’s Rest, Spruce Tree Cottage. Ever wonder how Nova Scotia houses got their names? The better-known names are largely connected with prominent historical figures who resided in commodious homes with sprawling grounds, but the naming tradition was far more prevalent than that. Historic House Names of Nova Scotia provides a fascinating look at the house-naming tradition in Nova Scotia. What sorts of names did Bluenoses create, and what did the names mean? Author and historian Joe Ballard has amassed a wealth of historical information and photos on the subject.
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My Two Grandmothers
$12.95Acadian Mémère and Scottish Nannie seem to have nothing in common but their grandchildren, but in this beautiful picture book from bestselling author Diane Carmel Léger and illustrator Jean-Luc Trudel, difference is celebrated. A co-publication with Bouton d’or Acadie, published simultaneously in French.
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Anne of Avonlea (Vol 2)
$12.95Now sixteen, Anne is grown up – sort of. The second novel in L. M. Montgomery’s classic series follows Avonlea’s red-headed darling as she begins her new job as a schoolteacher, and becomes curious about the strange yet handsome Gilbert Blythe. As she enters adulthood, she does so with humour and a sense of adventure.
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Anne of Windy Poplars (Vol 4)
$10.95In the fourth book of the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne Shirley begins a new career and faces a new challenge: the “royal family” of Summerside, the Pringles. Apparently she’s not their preferred choice as principal of Summerside High. But she quickly finds friends at Windy Poplars and learns the secrets of her new-found home, triumphing as always.
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The Sea Was in Their Blood
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95The Sea Was in Their Blood explores two key questions: who were the men aboard the Miss Ally, and why were they battered and sunk by a storm forecasted days in advance? Through interviews with the crew’s families and friends, rescue personnel, and members of the tight-knit fishing communities of Woods Harbour and Cape Sable Island, award-winning journalist Quentin Casey pieces together the tragic sinking—including important case details not previously reported—and weaves in the backstories of the Miss Ally‘s crew and the lingering effects of their disappearance.
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Her Mother’s Daughter
$19.95From best-selling author Lesley Crewe comes a poignant and moving novel.
Sisters Bay and Tansy are complete opposites. Widowed mother Bay has never lived anywhere but Louisbourg; restless Tansy left the town as a teenager and stayed away for years.
And now, Tansy is home. Home, and unwittingly falling in love with her sister’s almost-boyfriend. Home, and befriending Ashley when all Bay can do is fight with her teenaged daughter. Home, and desperately hiding the real reason she fled all those years ago.
When crisis hits the family, the sisters draw closer. But the closer they are, the more explosive their relationship, and soon their troubled history threatens to shatter what’s left of their family forever.
Complex and heartwarming, Her Mother’s Daughter is an exploration of family and friends and the tangled skeins of love, mistakes, and secrets twisting between us all.
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Anne of Green Gables
$14.95Now even the youngest Anne of Green Gables fans can celebrate the centennial anniversary.
2008 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic tale of the red-headed orphan who is mistakenly sent to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. The story has been translated into many languages the world over and is considered a classic in children’s literature, though it continues to be read by children and adults alike.
Anne of Green Gables: Stories for Young Readers, adapted by Prince Edward Island writer Deirdre Kessler, is suitable for readers ages six and up. With colourful, historically accurate illustrations by award-winning illustrator David Preston Smith, this adapted version of L. M. Montgomery’s wonderful story will delight readers too young for chapter books but nonetheless enthralled by the enduring appeal of this timeless classic story.
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Foul Deeds
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$15.95A professional criminologist, Rosalind works with a cranky Private Investigator named McBride–a long-time association that has led her from one sordid foray to another in the world of crime. Her passionate escape is theatre and her latest venture is with an ad hoc company of out-of-work actors putting on a production of Hamlet. Ros finds her work on Shakespeare’s language to be a fabulous distraction until the uncanny parallels between life and art bring her face to face with murder.
Peter King, a respected environmental lawyer, dies suddenly- supposedly of heart failure- but his son Daniel, haunted by bad dreams, believes otherwise. Before McBride can get to the bottom of the case, Ros’s friend Sophie- the actress playing Ophelia- and her advisor Harvie Greenblatt, the prosecutor, are both drawn deep into danger. Ros and McBride discover that the case involves more than either of them bargained for: kidnapping, a city hall cover-up, a late-night chase and family secrets. Set in Halifax, Foul Deeds is an intriguing, fast-paced story with theatrical flare and plenty of humour. Linda Moore is the crime writer Maritime readers have been waiting for.
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Story of the Hooked Rugs of Chéticamp
Publisher: Breton Books$16.95This delightful book is filled with full-colour pictures of hooked rugs and rare historic black-and-white photos. This updated edition includes details about the lives of Chéticamp rug hookers, the rug making process, the tools and materials, as well as examples of magnificent tapestries and rugs in the collection of Élizabeth Lefort Gallery, Les Trois Pignons. This book trumpets the skill and pride of an extraordinary people in a beautiful place, the Acadians of Cape Breton Island. Hard work, dedication, disputes and cooperation come to life in this well-researched history of a humble folk craft that grew to a world-renowned art form. Rich with anecdote, beauty and warmth leap from the pages! By Anselme Chiasson and Annie-Rose Deveau; translated from the French by Marcel LeBlanc.
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Peggy’s Cove The Amazing History of a Coastal Village
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$15.95Here is the complete history of the famous cove and the unique village that hosts thousands of visitors each year. The story begins with the formation of the rocks along these shores and the impact of the glaciers. The Mi’kmaq were the first to live here in the summers, harvesting the riches of the sea. A land grant in 1811 brought the first hardy settlers, who built homes and wharves and discovered that the sea could provide bounty but was also a source of great danger.
The story includes the origin of the name, Peggy’s Cove, and details about the everyday life of nineteenth-century families living here. A history of the famous lighthouse is included and there are excerpts from many of the famous and not-so-famous visitors who have written about the Cove through two centuries.
The author explores the most damaging storms and the shipwrecks, the reports of sea monsters and other strange phenomena. Fishing was always a source of income, but it changed over the years. At times the fish prices were so low it was not worth the effort and, in recent years, dramatic changes to the ocean have seen the collapse of several important species of fish.
In the twentieth century, Peggy’s Cove attracted artists, writers and ultimately thousands of tourists. Sculptor William de Garthe made his home here and created his monument to the coastal fishermen out of the sheer granite outcropping in his backyard. In 1998, Swissair Flight 111 crashed off the shores of Peggy’s Cove and the community opened its doors to the world in an effort to provide support for the rescue workers and the families of the victims. From the earliest days to the present, the story of Peggy’s Cove has been a tale of natural wonder and human endurance. -
Sterling Silver
The personal essay has so much potential as a literary form that it’s gratifying to see it being skilfully and engagingly employed in this book. Silver Donald Cameron has plenty on his mind, and he knows how to hold our attention. Cameron easily entices us into his essay “Rocky Mountain High” with this for openers:”Downhill skiing is a certifiably silly sport, I whimper to myself as the chair-lift bears me inexorably over the treetops and gullies, like a slab of beef going around the overhead conveyors in an abattoir. “.
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Roger Sudden An Historical Novel of Conflict, Adventure, and Passion
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Roger Sudden, first published in 1944, is a stirring historical novel set in Nova Scotia during the English/French rivalry over the possession of North America. Roger Sudden, a ruthless trader with both the English and the French, becomes embroiled in the bitter conflict between Halifax and Louisbourg for control of the northern continent.
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Building for Justice The Historic Courthouses of the Maritimes
Publisher: SSP Publications$6.95In this beautifully illustrated volume, James Macnutt, Q.C. has succeeded in compelling us to look at courthouses in a different way. Courthouses are not only one of the most significant buildings in the cities, towns or villages in which they are located, they are also an excellent interpretation of the way justice is administered in each Maritime province.
Building for Justice is a celebration of a monumental architecture that, along with the buildings of church and state, forms one of the cornerstones of our society.
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Haven in the Heart of Halifax An Illustrated History of the Public Gardens
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$25.95The Public Gardens is one of the finest examples of a Victorian garden anywhere in the world. Nestled in the heart of the city, this important public space has a fascinating history. When you enter the Public Gardens, it feels for a moment as if you have stepped back in time. Everything seems to slow down when you push open one of the iron gates and set foot on the winding gravel paths that meander throughout plantings of astonishing variety. It is seemingly timeless but, of course, it has changed a great deal over almost one hundred years.
Nestled in the heart of the city, the Public Gardens’ origins date from the 1830s. Inside its gates are a staggering variety of beautiful flowers, shrubs, and trees and the most memorable historic structures. The aesthetic of the Public Gardens was the vision of Richard Power, the Gardens’ original superintendent.
Over time, the Gardens took its current form, through the addition of familiar features such as the bandstand, cast iron gates, fountain, and bridges. The structures and monuments in the garden themselves are filled with significance. Citizens and visitors alike have found a quiet oasis of calm in the middle of the downtown core. It is a place where memories have been made, as generation after generation have taken in the seven hectares of beauty. When you enter the Public Gardens, it feels as if you are stepping out of a hectic city and back in time. But the Public Gardens has survived through the careful stewardship of a cross section of the community.
This lavishly illustrated book is the first comprehensive history of this remarkable place.
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Coastal Nova Scotia
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$11.95A selective guide to outdoor activity in Nova Scotia, including both challenging, invigorating recreation and relaxing activities. Organized by region, this book has activities for all ages.
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Skunks for Breakfast
Artist: Brenda Jones$8.95Everyone knows there are no skunks in Nova Scotia…Right? Well, that’s what Pamela thinks, until she wakes up one morning to a terrible smell.
Now Pamela stinks, her father stinks, her sister stinks, and her mother stinks. Soon her life stinks—her friends at school won’t come near her! And no matter how many skunks her father catches underneath the house, there always seems to be another.
Join Pamela and her family as they confront the odorous onslaught—and watch Pamela slowly start to like the unexpectedly cute creatures.
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Black Snow
$19.95Black Snow is a love story set during the Halifax Explosion. The 1917 disaster was the largest man-made blast the world had ever known, and it cut Halifax off from the rest of the world for the darkest thirty-six hours in its history. Rich in fact and shocking images, the story sets a blistering pace following one man’s search through a ruined city for the love of his life as he confronts the wreckage of his past.
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History of Hangings in Nova Scotia
$17.95Almost as soon as Halifax was settled by the British in 1749, it became a violent place to live, and in attempts to deal with this, public hangings and floggings were a common occurrence for close to a hundred years. Subject to the British legal system, criminals in Halifax were hanged for crimes that ranged from petty theft to gruesome murders.
From the original gallows tree at the bottom of George Street to hangings in rural communities, citizens were always drawn to a hanging. This book explores many of the Nova Scotian crimes that ended with the noose. Some of those included are the Saladin pirates, one of the bloodiest cases ever brought before a court in Nova Scotia; the hanging of Peter Mailman, who murdered his wife but captivated a reporter; and the trial of William Robinson, who not only murdered his wife but desecrated her body and tried to burn the evidence.
Hangings may have been grisly events, but they drew large crowds, and are a testament to the prevalent interest in the dark side of history. Issues of deterrence, public opinion, and effectiveness down through the years are explored by the author as she traces the crimes and punishment for murders that prevailed from the very first hanging in the province in 1749 to the last hanging in 1937.
