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The Rosary and the Rifle The Murder of Mary Ann MacKinnon
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95On July 1, 1931, Mary Ann MacAulay married John Charles ‘JC’ MacKinnon at St. Mary’s Church in Souris, PEI. This mother of 12 children was a busy farmer’s wife, known for her optimistic outlook. Her optimism shone through her weekly column in The Charlottetown Patriot entitled “Mrs. Wiggs and Her Garden Patch”. Mrs. Wiggs’ writings not only identify her as an astute observer and chronicler of local events, educational issues, agricultural practices, and economic issues but also that Mary Ann was one of Mother Nature’s admirers and a person inclined to optimism where it could be found.
Mary Ann’s oldest child, Estelle, was 19 years old in 1951. A very attractive young lady, Estelle had graduated from Grade 11. Not long afterward, she was assaulted by an ex-boyfriend, Joey MacDonald, who was about to be tried for attempted rape. Before the trial, Mary Ann and family sat down to say the Rosary. About half way through, they heard glass breaking and first thought it was the chimney of the Aladdin lamp. Immediately when the sound was heard, Mary Ann swayed on her seat and fell backward. Her family members saw blood coming from behind her left ear and they then realized she had been shot. Mary Ann died on the second anniversary of her husband’s death leaving behind eleven orphaned children.
This is the story of the trial of Joey MacDonald and the family Mary Ann left behind.
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Ancient Land, New Land Skmaqn – Port-la-Joye – Fort Amherst National Historic Site of Canada
Publisher: Acorn Press$24.95The Mi’kmaq have inhabited Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island) for millennia. At this site, known in Mi’kmaq as Skmaqn, or “waiting place,” the Mi’kmaq met the French in the 18th century to renew their friendship and military alliance at a time when the French and British empires were fighting for supremacy in North America.
As Europeans settled on what had become to be known as Isle Saint Jean, the major European players were France and Great Britain, each of whom started constructing forts and sending soldiers, warships and settlers. A key strategy of the French was to establish a close alliance with the Mi’kmaq, one that was maintained by missionaries. Thus Skmaqn became the French fort Port-la-Joye. The French saw it as the most strategic location as its harbour was large, sheltered, and easy to defend because of the narrow entrance through which any enemy ships would have to pass.
One of the first permanent French settlements on the island, Port-la-Joye was the seat of colonial government and a port of entry. This site was surrendered to Great Britain in 1758 and renamed Fort Amherst, the British organized the deportation of more than 3,000 Acadians.
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Broken Crayons
Artist: Marla LesagePublisher: Acorn Press$14.95When Ms. Gillis, a preservice teacher on Prince Edward Island, decides to complete her International Teaching Practicum in Kenya, sponsored by Farmers Helping Farmers, she is very excited. She can’t wait to start her adventure in the warm African sun, leaving behind cold February days in Canada and (as she comes to learn) a well-stocked Island classroom. She is eager to share her newly-acquired teaching skills with the children in Kenya. She arrives laden with gifts and school supplies from friends on PEI. As she distributes a gift of crayons to her students, she soon realizes that she is the one who has the most to learn. Broken Crayons is a delightful story written for school age children. It is based on a true story that never grows old and one which carries a message for all, no matter your age.
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Ashtanga Yoga The Definitive Guide to Therapeutic & Traditional Yoga
Publisher: Acorn Press$25.95This ground–breaking guide to Ashtanga yoga, by two of the world’s leading teachers, Manju Jois and Greg Tebb, is the only book on yoga you’ll ever need.
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Kira’s Crossing
Publisher: Acorn Press$14.95Five years had passed since Kira discovered that she was a mermaid adopted by a fisherman and his wife. Her birth parents were merrow royalty who had been imprisoned by their enemies, the shape shifting Finfolk. The Finfolk had also taken over Merhaven, the hereditary undersea home of the West Atlantic merrows. Encouraged by merrow clans and supported by the local fishing community, Kira decided to join a Merhaven recovery mission. Also volunteering for the operation was Janus, a mysterious, handsome young merrow from the North Sea, as well as several Spegars, large merrows from across the Atlantic, who hunted with spears. In the chaos that followed the mission, Kira found herself on an unexpected journey that would take her across the continent and a fight for her own survival.
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When the Hill Came Down
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Keefe Williams lives a childhood of neglect and disconnect, feeling completely invisible. Known only for the story of the night his parents died and the freak event that killed them, he suffers silently holding on to the one thing in his life that sets him apart. When Keefe is a teenager Summer Barkley moves to the community. She is oblivious to the entrenched story of Keefe Williams’s life, giving him an opportunity to finally be someone separate from his tragic past. As their relationship develops, Keefe can claim his true identity.
Through Keefe’s art and Summer’s writing the need to truly explore and understand the past becomes something from which they cannot run. When the Hill Came Down explores greed, jealousy, love, loyalty and the very fabric of a community full of stories whose threads intertwine. The colour, texture and multi-faceted of any story in any community, bear scrutiny. Nothing is ever exactly the way it seems.
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A Tale of Two Fiddlers The Early Days of Sports and Life in Charlottetown
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95This is the story of the Charlottetown family as seen through the eyes of the oldest boy, Fred “Fiddler” MacDonald. This memoir tells of Frederick James’ journeys in the City, starting with his days as a newspaper and a shoe-shine boy while attending Queen Square School, an all-boys Catholic school in the centre of the City. The story retraces his paper route in the mid-1950’s and the people that he encountered in his travels.
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Legends of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$10.95Long isolated from their fellow countrymen by the Strait of Northumberland, the inhabitants of Prince Edward Island developed personal characteristics and a way of life peculiarly their own. These stories depict Islanders and that way of life before modern transportation linked the Island Province with the mainland.
The book contains fifty-nine stories set against the background of the Garden of the Gulf before the turn of the century. Some of the legends are written in the Island dialect and any persons and places in the areas are mentioned by name. Legends of Prince Edward Island is the result of years spent in collecting the now almost forgotten folklore of pioneer days.
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The Keto Solution A Practical Guide for Living Your Low-Carbohydrate Life
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95At the age of 40, Angela Doucette was seriously overweight and starting to show signs of metabolic disease. She had developed high blood pressure, had some concerning numbers in my cholesterol/lipid profile and was about 50 pounds overweight. She felt miserable and frustrated having tried so many weight loss and exercise programs but nothing seemed to work long term. She switched to “Primal” eating and was finally able to shift the weight. Surprisingly, though, her blood pressure decreased naturally, her hs-CRP (an inflammatory marker) dropped significantly, and her lipid profile improved without medication! As a way to share the benefits, she started a weight loss and coaching program and offers workshops as well as online and in-person meetings. She has created a peer support network through the Keto Solution Facebook group, which continues to grow.
As Dr. Gary Fettke says, “Once you see the benefits, you can’t unsee them.” This journey has not only changed her professional outlook and career path, it has also given her hope for her future. With the knowledge and motivation to make the changes, she feels that other Maritimers can see these changes too. Packed with recipes and helpful hints, The Keto Solution is the only book you need for switching to a Keto lifestyle.
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Illustrated History of the Acadians of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Written for the general reader, this book by Georges Arsenault provides an overview of the three hundred years of French and Acadian presence on Prince Edward Island. The author describes the first settlements established on the Island by France, the deportation of the Acadian inhabitants in 1758, and their resettlement on the Island. He also looks at the evolution of the economy, the role of the Catholic Church, French-language education, and the struggles to ensure a vibrant French culture in the Acadian communities throughout the Island.
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The Bygone Days Folklore, Traditions & Toenails
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Reginald—better known as “Dutch”—Thompson is a multi-faceted storyteller with unforgettable voices—those of Roy from Murray Harbour North, Adelaide from Bunbury, Gus from Chepstow, and countless others—to tell the stories of the Bygone days in Prince Edward Island [sometimes NS, too]. Stories that, without Dutch’s talent and care, might be remembered only by family and close friends or lost altogether.
Remember when the train ran from tip to tip and along all the small branches, taking goods, people, and baseball teams to other parts of the Island? How about when ice cream and two pieces of cakes cost 10 cents at White’s Ice Cream Parlour on Kent Street? When lobster was not the gourmet’s delight it is now and the backs were used to fertilize the crops? That butchering the pig before a full moon will mean less fat on the meat? Or that it was bad luck to cut your nails on Sundays.
From CBC Radio to the pages of this book, you’ll hear Dutch’s voice encouraging these informative, illuminating, poignant, and hilarious stories from the minds and hearts of Maritimers born between 1895 and 1925, almost as if they were all still here and telling them to you.
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the Whither Poems
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95the whither poems is a poetry collection by Catherine Edward, a septuagenarian grandmother. “Whither is an oldish word, with a helpful attitude. I love it for that,” she says. “The overarching theme of the book is ‘that which cannot be’ while admitting to ‘what must be’. It is in the response to unanticipated, uninvited change that one’s mettle is revealed.”
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Welcome to Camp Fill-in-the-Blank
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Page’s perfectly organized life turns upside down when her parents send her to Prince Edward Island to babysit her cousins Crusoe and Danger (those are their real names) for the summer. The only problem is that her cousins feel that they are too old to have a babysitter—they would rather be at summer camp. Page realizes the solution to the problem is to give her cousins exactly what they want: summer camp in their own backyard. Despite Page’s meticulous efforts to plan a different theme for each week of Camp Fill-in-the-Blank, she quickly learns that life with her cousins rarely goes according to plan.
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Historic PEI : Vintage Postcards of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Throughout Canada’s early days, Prince Edward Island was a thriving province with a strong tourist industry. Historic Prince Edward Island portrays the quaint lifestyle and the busy industry that Canada’s smallest province had to offer. With unique messages to friends and family, these early postcards paint a picture of history not available in history books.
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Minegoo the Mi’Kmaq Creation Story of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$13.95A long time ago, the Great Spirit created all of the sky and stars but it wasn’t enough. He then made a beautiful place called Minegoo, a place so beautiful that He almost placed it amongst the stars. He decided that instead, he would place Minegoo in the most beautiful spot on earth. He summoned Kluskap and asked him to find this spot. After searching the whole world, Kluskap found the Shining Waters, the spot in the Gulf of St. Lawrence that would be home of the Mi’kmaq people created in his own image.
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Bodies and Sole A Shores Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95The Shores is celebrating a killer 200th anniversary. A skull tossed up on the beach sparks a heritage murder investigation.
Meanwhile, serial widow Vera Gloom moves into the village with her three ex- husbands. Are they one big happy family? Amateur sleuth, Hy McAllister has her doubts, and things get even more interesting when Vera starts working on husband number four. Hy has to convince Mountie Jane Jamieson that these people are more than just a little dysfunctional—before it’s too late.
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Something Fishy A Shores Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Herrings are falling from the sky over The Shores – an unusual phenomenon anywhere, but especially so in this case. A newcomer, Anton Paradis, has set up a restaurant that specializes in dangerous dining, cooking up food that can kill to tantalize the palates of wealthy clients. It’s a recipe for death. Someone’s bound to get hurt.
Someone does. Oddly, the victim dies laughing. By accident or design?
Mountie Jane Jamieson suspects it’s no accident. But could there really be another murder at The Shores?
All the while, a wind turbine slices its blades over the cape, menacing the villagers with its eerie presence. Death is in the wind as well as on the dinner plate.
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Fairies on My Island
Artist: Christina PattersonPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95If you look closely, maybe you too can discover the world of fairies. Get ready for Shaun and Christina Patterson to take you into a magical worlds of Fairies. A place where silliness and fun are just as important as being true to yourself and taking care of nature. The Pattersons have traveled far and wide on Prince Edward Island to uncover the secret world of fairies. Join them now as they discover the world of fairies. Complete with instructions to make your own fairies, this book is a true guide to many of the fairies you will see on your search.
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Tallulah the Theatre Cat
Publisher: Acorn Press$9.95Tallulah the village cat is passionately drawn to the theatre in Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island. Her search to fit in takes us on a humourous behind-the-scenes tour of a theatre. Her rise from being most unwelcome to greatly appreciated is a story of the values of persistence, loyalty and following one’s bliss.
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Morgan’s Boat Ride
Artist: Anna BaldPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95Morgan and her dog head out on an accidental journey down the river that flows past the summer cottage where they holiday with Morgan’s mother. As they float along the river they observe landscape and life on the water, various birds and people enjoying the activities the river has to offer. But the story is not only about their adventure, it is also about community, about how all the people who see them drifting past hurry off to make sure that they come to no danger. The story ends at the local wharf where the entire community comes together to celebrate their adventure and their safe return.
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Maritime Seafood Chowders, Soups and More
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Prince Edward Island Chef Paul Lucas is back with another book that’s chock full of new ways of cooking old fare – and vice versa. With his first book, Prince Edward Island Seafood: Local Fare, Global Flavours, Chef Paul created seafood fusion dishes that were fit for a (future) king and queen. Now he goes back to basics, focusing on soups and sauces that form the basis of most good recipes – which, of course, he includes here. In these 64 pages you’ll find everything you need to know about making good soup stock – beef, pork, fish, veggie – and sauces – white, velouté, glace, fruit purée – then turning them into a soups and stews, risotto and bouillabaisse, which will leave your guests feeling like royalty, too. Paul writes recipes like he’s talking to you in your own kitchen. Whether it’s common-sense stuff, like “There’s no sense in wasting time in producing a fine dice of vegetables if your end product is going to be puréed,” or quips like “When it comes to stocks, size does matter,” Lucas adds as much zest to the writing of recipes as he does to the recipes themselves.
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Ni’n na L’nu The Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95- Winner of APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award
- Winner of PEI Book Award for Non-fiction
This lavishly-illustrated book tells a story through words and images that has never before been told, not in any single book. The focus is entirely on the Mi’kmaq of the Island, an island which for thousands of years has been known to the Mi’kmaq and their ancestors as Epekwitk. That name means “cradle on the sea” and no more poetic description of PEI has ever been penned. The story of the PEI Mi’kmaq is one of adaptation and perseverance across countless generations in the face of pervasive change. Today’s environment is far from what it was millennia ago. So too, the economy, society, lifestyle, language and religion of the people has witnessed some dramatic shifts. Nonetheless, despite all the changes, today’s Mi’kmaq feel deeply connected to the Island in its entirety and to their ancestors and the values they still share. This book tells those many stories, and communicates much more. While the book is a stand-alone publication, it is also a companion to a travelling exhibition of the same name.
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Beach Reading
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95Lorne Elliott’s new novel, Beach Reading, takes us back to the early 1970s on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island, where a hilarious and colourful cast of Lorne Elliott characters are engaged in uproarious political, financial, musical, amorous, and ecological shenanigans. Our young hero, Christian, is an eloquently wry and precocious university drop-out, who has never savoured the wonders of women or alcohol. A budding naturalist raised in central Canada, he arrives on PEI for a summer job in the newly-established Barrisway National Park, and sets up camp on the beach. There, he becomes enmeshed in the struggles of the boisterous MacAkrin siblings to remain in their park-enclosed home, rivalries and lustful longings at park headquarters, and the skullduggeries of an Island political campaign. Lorne Elliott gloriously conjures the mischief and zaniness, the lovable rascals and lamentable rogues, of Island life behind the tourist posters. He deftly evokes the kindness and camaraderie of Islanders, and the Island’s high-spirited revelry. Beach Reading transforms the Land of Anne and Avonlea into the land of Wallace MacAkrin, the Barley Boys, and Barrisway. “Come play on our Island,” as the tourist slogan says, and you’ll be laughing with bittersweet delight for days.
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Spin to Sea
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Every year at harvest, in a cosy cove on the south shore of Nova Scotia, families and neighbors gather by the water and send their carved pumpkins out into the bay. Spin to the Sea celebrates this enchanted, annual event through magical illustrations and lyrical text. Izra Fitch is 15 years old and lives in the Annapolis Valley with her parents, two brothers and their cats.Her first book, Spin to the Sea was created outside, in cafes and at the kitchen table. Izra loves to make art, stories and music. She also likes rainy weather, graphic novels, travelling, gorillas and chocolate. No pumpkins were harmed in the making of this book.
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Bully 101
Publisher: Acorn Press$18.95Bully 101 is an irreverant look at a familiar and ongoing issue. It explores both the temptations of bullying and the remarkable possibility of kindness. It is an excellent conversation starter for both families and schools, or anyone who hopes for peace. The illustrations are funky. The text rhymes and twists. Geared towards primary-grade 7 Bully 101 identifies ways in bullying occurs, (cyber, playground, bus,) the feelings that result (for both the bully and victim) and the simple notion that anyone can chose kindness instead. The book does not answer all questions surrounding bullying; it does not preach either. Rather, it will begin conversations on why we bully, or watch it happen and it presents the idea that everyone has the choice to not participate in it.
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Ten Thousand Truths
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95A moving story of losing family but finding a new one. Thirteen-year-old Rachel is bad news, or so her foster care worker tells her. She’s been shuttled from one rotten foster family to another ever since her mother and brother died in a car accident five years ago, and she’s running out of options. So when she gets caught shoplifting and is kicked out of her latest home, the only place left to send her is the last resort for kids like her: a farm in the middle of nowhere run by a disfigured recluse named Amelia Walton, whom Rachel nicknames “Warty” because of the strange lumps covering her face and neck. Rachel settles into life at the farm, losing herself in her daily chores and Amelia’s endless trivia, and trying to forget her past and the secret she’s holding inside. But when a letter arrives for her out of the blue, Rachel soon realizes that you can’t hide from your past-or your future.
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Acadian Traditions on Candlemas Day Candles, Pancakes and House Visits
Publisher: Acorn Press$19.95Georges Arsenault’s latest edition to the Acadian Traditions series Most English-speaking people just associate the 2nd of February, or Groundhog Day, with superstitions related to the weather. In Acadian communities, however, it was known as Candlemas Day and at one time was an important religious and social festivity. Pancakes were the symbolic food of choice. In many villages, young Acadians went from door-to-door collecting food for a communal feast or to give to the poor. This book by Georges Arsenault enables us to discover a festivity rich in traditions and a significant part of the cultural heritage of Acadians everywhere.
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All is Clam A Shores Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Press$22.95It’s Christmas at The Shores. There’s no snow yet, but there are so many outdoor lights that the tiny coastal village can be seen from space. Apart from Ian Simmons’ place, and he’s considered odd, there’s only one house in the village that isn’t lit up. It’s been dark for years. That’s about to change. Wild Rose Cottage is about to come to life, and death, once again. Meanwhile, the villagers wish for snow to complete the Christmas portrait. When it comes, it’s with the body of newcomer, Fitz Fitsimmons, a former acrobat turned bully and drunk. Mountie Jane Jamieson has seen murder here before, but none where she’d rather not catch the killer.
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The Reluctant Detective
Publisher: Acorn Press$17.95A young widow, orphan and mother, Wilhelmina Anne Brown is just beginning to find some stability in her new home in Prince Edward Island when she is forced to deal with the death of her beloved uncle, Bill Darby. Darby, a Charlottetown private investigator, leaves Anne and her fourteen-year-old daughter a small savings account and his business, where Anne has worked as office manager for six years. What follows is Anne’s struggle to protect her family, find justice for her clients, and forge a new life for herself in this page-turning thriller.
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The Year Mrs. Montague Cried
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Susan White was born in New Brunswick and moved from one New Brunswick city to another. As a teenager her family moved to the Kingston Peninsula and she only left long enough to earn her BA and Bed at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Settling on the peninsula, she and her husband raised four children and ran small farm while she taught elementary school. Since retiring she is grateful to now have the time to work on her writing and the freedom to regularly visit her new granddaughter in Alberta.
