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Miramichi Dictionary
Editor: Herb CurtisPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$10.95A one-of-a-kind interpretive guide to the distinct dialect spoken in New Brunswick’s Miramichi region. Startin’ off with the “Ah, geez” of the letter A, “zacktly” all the way to the letter Z.
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A Distorted Revolution How Eric’s Trip Changed Music, Moncton, and Me
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95In this narrative history and memoir, journalist, musician, and Monctonian Jason Murray follows the rise of the band that put the Maritimes on the map.
Eric’s Trip was a band defined as much by its DIY ethos as its low-fi, discordant music. The four-piece formed in an early-’90s Moncton basement and in a few short years, went from recording themselves on a four-track and selling cassettes at local record stores to signing on Seattle’s Sub Pop records, opening for Sonic Youth, and touring internationally.
Twenty years after the band’s breakup (1996), A Distorted Revolution is the ultimate nostalgia trip. Through personal recollections, interviews with band members and others integral to the early 90s scene, this highly anticipated book offers a rare glimpse inside the band’s formation, success, and ultimate unravelling. Includes over 20 images.
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A Tale of Two Countries
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95With a broad scope deeply anchored in demographics, A Tale of Two Countries focuses on Saillant’s powerful argument: that the “twin forces of economic and demographic gravity” spell trouble for eastern Canada, and for the country as a whole, if we don’t act now. With charts, extensive endnotes, and compelling arguments, A Tale of Two Countries is a must-read for those seeking an accessible, evidence-based policy analysis of Canada’s uncertain future, recommendations for addressing its consequences, and their potential impact on all Canadians.
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Last Lullaby
$21.95Set in the fictional town of Paddy’s Arm, Newfoundland, Alice Walsh’s debut mystery novel is at once harrowing and homey, equal parts police procedural and diner gossip. When Claire and Bram’s only child dies suddenly, it at first appears to be a case of crib death. But when the real cause of death indicates homicide and Claire is arrested as the number-one suspect, her friend, lawyer Lauren LaVallee, promises she’ll do everything she can to prove Claire’s innocence.
As Lauren combs Paddy’s Arm for suspects, amid department politics and small-town talk, leads abound. Why are professors Frances and Annabelle being so secretive about their adopted daughter? What’s behind a troubled student’s sudden disappearance? And who is the mysterious platinum blonde observed at the scene of the crime? Meanwhile, Lauren’s own secret—a case that almost cost her her career back in Montreal—and the sudden return of an ex-lover who wants back in her life, threaten to overwhelm the investigation altogether.
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The City Speaks in Drums (pb)
Artist: Susan TookePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Available for the first time in paperback, the award-winning The City Speaks in Drums follows two boys from North End Halifax as they explore their neighbourhood and the city beyond, finding music everywhere. At the skate park, by the Public Gardens, down Spring Garden Road, and on the boardwalk, drums and saxophones and dancers and basketballs create the jumbled, joyful, pulsing rhythm of Halifax. Shauntay Grant’s playful spoken word-style poem and Susan Tooke’s vivid illustrations create a wildly energetic and appealing journey through the big, bright city.
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Fire in the Belly
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95A paperback edition of the award-winning biography by of Purdy Crawford, who went from Toronto’s Bay Street as an outsider, the son of a coal miner from tiny Five Islands, Nova Scotia, to one of Canada’s top lawyers and best-known business mentors.
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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 the Island (Vol3)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$10.95In the third installment of the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne Shirley heads for Redmond College, leaving behind her rural life in Avonlea for the city of Kingsport. There she must deal with an unfortunate marriage proposal, the beginning of her writing career, and the sudden attention of Gilbert Blythe. Is Anne ready for true love?
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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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Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set (Vol 1-4)
$51.80In these classic editions, Nimbus presents the first four volumes of the Anne of Green Gables series as it originally appeared – complete, easy to read, and as enduring as the heartwarming story of Anne herself. The box set includes: Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and Anne of Windy Poplars.
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Whispers of Mermaids and Wonderful Things
Editor: Anne HuntPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95From celebrated children’s poet and author Sheree Fitch and early childhood educator and researcher Anne Hunt comes this illustrated compendium of Atlantic Canadian poetry and verse for young readers. Spanning centuries of work, from Milton Acorn to Kathleen Winter, and a broad thematic scope–from soft lullabies to silly, jiggly lyrics, poignant meditations on nature, loss, and love–over 100 poems from the region’s best are sure to delight educators, parents, and young readers everywhere. With brilliant spot illustrations from acclaimed New Brunswick artist Lloyd Fitzgerald, Whispers of Mermaids and Wonderful Things is a feast for all senses.
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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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Disposable Souls
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$24.95The body of Pastor Sandy Gardner, a TV preacher with a global following, turns up near a Halifax container pier. The mysterious case lands with Cam Neville, a city cop with a dead wife, PTSD, and a haunting past. Can Neville, a former biker and war hero, solve the killing and find himself?
In search of the truth, Neville and his partner, a Mi’kmaw Mountie named Blair Christmas, enter a perilous world of strippers, kiddie porn, and corruption that threatens to destroy them. Meanwhile, Neville is torn between loyalties to his two brothers, one still with the Satan’s Stallion bike club founded by their father, and another, a priest who wants to save everyone, including Cam.
In Disposable Souls, author Phonse Jessome has created a complex and compelling protagonist and placed him in a gritty underbelly of bikers, cops, and killers, masterfully blurring the lines between good and bad, sinners and saints.
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The Land Beyond the Wall An Immigration Story
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Emma lives on the grey, cold, lonely side of a wall, where people speak in whispers and no flowers grow. On the other side, there is happiness and colour, but she can never go there. When Emma’s parents disappear, she is sent to live with her Aunt Lily, who, “just like the land withered from lack of sunshine, was broken by the life she led.” One day, Aunt Lily discovers Emma drawing and dashes her niece’s dream of becoming an artist. That is, until one day, when a strange boat captain, and an even stranger boat, arrive, and she leaves her world behind forever.
Following Emma’s arrival in a strange land (Halifax’s Pier 21), her placement in a group home, and the discovery of her voice through art, The Land Beyond the Wall is a beautifully rendered allegory that uses magic realism to confront the harsh realities of immigration, and the universal struggle of finding one’s voice, and one’s place in the world.
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Field Notes A City Girl’s Search for Heart and Home in Rural Nova Scotia
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Sara Jewell has collected lots of addresses—eighteen in total—including four in Vancouver, British Columbia, and three in her hometown of Cobourg, Ontario. But there was one address that always remained constant: Pugwash Point Road in rural Nova Scotia. She was nine years old the first time her family vacationed in the small fishing village about an hour from the New Brunswick border, and the red soil stained her heart. Life, as it’s wont to do, eventually took Jewell away from the east coast. But when her marriage and big-Âcity life started to crumble, she only wanted one thing: a fresh start in Pugwash.
Accented with five original drawings from Joanna Close.
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Bryant Freeman All Things Fishing
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Bryant Freeman was born by a river, and the sound of roaring water was both magical and constant. For the rest of his life, Freeman, an icon in the New Brunswick fly-fishing community, would be drawn to the outdoors, and, invariably, rivers. Freeman has been honoured for his many contributions to fly tying and the conservation of Atlantic salmon and his specialty fly shop, Eskape Anglers in Riverview, New Brunswick, has been a destination for decades, a gathering place for tyers and anglers. Fondly known as Bryant the Banana Finger Man, Freeman is also a born storyteller, and in this book, readers are treated to some of his tales. They even get instructions on how to tie a Carter’s Bug. Author and fisherman Doug Underhill follows Freeman from his childhood on the banks of Nova Scotia’s Medway River to today, revealing fascinating insights into the man and the fine art of fly tying.
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Be a Night Detective Solving the Mysteries of Twilight, Dusk, and Nightfall
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95Why are moths drawn to light at night? Why do some flowers only bloom under the moon? Are stars really falling from the sky?
Naturalist and artist Peggy Kochanoff answers these questions and more in this illustrated guide to solving nature mysteries after dark. From the author of Silver Birch-nominated Be a Wilderness Detective and Hackmatack-nominated Be a Beach Detective comes a new adventure full of fascinating facts. From tiny cicadas in the grass and skunks digging in your backyard, to the Northern Lights dancing in the sky, Kochanoff shines a light on the intriguing nightlife of Atlantic Canada’s nocturnal creatures.
Features a glossary, identification page, and further reading.
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From Seed to Centrepiece A Floral Journey through the Seasons
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$34.95The rich soils and climate of Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley are home to over 150 types of flowers, grasses, and foliage from May until November. As a flower farmer, Amanda Muis Brown of Humble Burdock Farms uses her innate understanding of the unpredictable Maritime growing season and a palette of farm fresh flowers to create stunning and joyful designs with all of the colour, chaos, and texture of the natural world.
With lyrical, narrative text, From Seed to Centrepiece takes readers through a year on the farm, showcasing the joys and obstacles of planning, growing, maintaining, and celebrating local flowers. Divided into seasonal chapters, subdivided by month, readers will learn what is growing and when; what to look out for, how to prepare, cultivate, and enjoy their own flower gardens. Includes profiles of the author’s favourite flowers, as well as sidebars on farm wildlife, tips and tricks for keeping your cut flowers beautiful. Complete with over 300 stunning colour photographs of the farm, its flowers, and arrangements and decorations—from flower crowns to holiday centrepieces and kid-friendly crafts—for every season.
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Atlantic Animal ABC
Artist: Angela DoakPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95From Atlantic puffin to zooplankton, with lots of wild Atlantic Canadiana in between–like lobster, brown bat, moon jellyfish, porcupine, and more–Atlantic Animal ABCs is the perfect introduction for young ones to the region’s wildlife.
With vibrant paper collage illustrations, Angela K. Doak’s whimsical animal interpretations are a great teaching tool for introducing baby to alphabet and animals all at once, and leave lots of room for play!
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Not My Party The rise and fall of Canadian Tories, from Robert Stanfield to Stephen Harper
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$34.95This outspoken, timely book by former Mulroney Cabinet Minister Tom McMillan indicts Stephen Harper for destroying the historic Canadian Conservative Party while prime minister and party leader, accusing him of turning a force for progressive Canadian values into an American Republican Âstyle vehicle for right-Âwing ideologues. Lamenting Harper’s hyperpartisan “cult of personality” politics, McMillan argues the Conservative Party is no longer the enlightened national institution founded by Sir John A. Macdonald and nurtured by successive Tory leaders until the 2003 Reform/Canadian Alliance Party merger.
In a crisp, conversational tone, McMillan contrasts this new brand of Conservatism with Robert Stanfield’s 1960s/70s “politics of thoughtfulness,” assessing the impact of Stanfield’s legacy on successive Conservative leaders. He urges Conservative progressives to reclaim their party from right-Âwing extremists and revive its commitment to nation Âbuilding and national unity; to re-brand itself, once again, as Progressive Conservative.
A fascinating political memoir from a longÂtime Conservative Party insider, Not My Party explores the evolution-or devolution-of Canada’s Conservative Party, how backÂroom party politics operates, and political leaders succeed or fail.
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Cammie Takes Flight
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95A heartfelt coming-of-age story, Cammie Takes Flight explores the values of perseverance, unlikely friendships, and what it means to be a family.
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The Little Book of Ontario
Photographer: George FischerPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95In The Little Book of Ontario, George Fischer captures the crystal clear lakes, sprawling forests, and glittering skylines of the Heartland Province. From the Great Lakes to the Canadian Shield, Fischer takes readers on a visual journey, with nearly 80 stunning full-colour photographs, across Ontario’s graceful waterfalls, flowing rivers, rustic buildings, rolling farmlands, and vibrant cities. In this popular, travel-sized format, the newest offering in the Little Book series shows Ontario’s people, towns, and landscapes through every season.
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Goth Girl
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.95There are only three things fifteen-year-old Victoria Markham truly enjoys: English class, her signature “Goth Girl” look, and art. It’s just that she tends to do the last one late at night, with spray paint, in public places. It isn’t long before Vic is caught red-handed and forced into community service with a bunch of stereotypes: there’s Rachael, the princess; Russell and Peter, a pair of fist-bumping punks; and Zach, the rich jock, who Vic is secretly crushing on. The motley crew has to collaborate to produce a mural for Halifax, but getting it organized is like herding cats.
On top of all that, Vic’s mother’s boyfriend, the only father figure Vic has ever known and the one who taught her to paint, left them both. Vic’s mother is still reeling, her relationship with her daughter strained. She doesn’t understand Vic’s insistence on spiking her hair, piercing her nose and lip, and wearing black clothing and heavy makeup. Vic is convinced her mother doesn’t care enough to find out what’s really behind the get-up.
Tensions run high as Vic tries to figure out who she is: Victoria Markham, or Goth Girl? Sometimes, there’s more to people than meets the eye.
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If You Could Wear My Sneakers
Artist: Darcia LabrossePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95A Sheree Fitch classic, the Silver Birch and Hackmatack Award-winning children’s picture book about children’s rights, If You Could Wear My Sneakers, is now available for a new generation of young readers. A series of humorous poems, paired with timeless illustrations, interprets 15 of the 54 articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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The Flying Squirrel Stowaways From Halifax to Boston
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95It’s wintertime in Nova Scotia and two flying squirrels are busy exploring the woods around their spruce-tree home. After a busy night of playing and gliding and snacking, they’re ready to settle down and sleep all day.
But humans have other plans: the tree is cut down and packed onto a truck bound for Boston, Massachusetts. Turns out their new home has been chosen as Halifax’s annual thank-you gift, the Boston Christmas Tree. The little squirrels have no idea they’re about to embark on a journey across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine on the way to Boston. Will the accidental stowaways be discovered? And what awaits them in their new American home?
From the author and illustrator of Jigs and Reels comes a vibrantly illustrated, fun holiday story about curiosity, adventure, and making a new home.
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A Harbour Seal in Halifax
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Seal went for a stroll…
The icy puddles were too small for swimming
The rocks were too tall for climbing.
Seal saw bright lights. They sparkled.
Seal liked the snow.
One snowy night in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, a strange figure peeks out from behind a parked car. A woman screams! So begins a lost harbour seal’s adventure through the steep streets of the sleepy winter city. Soon, Constable and Officer are on the case, and if they work together, they just might be able to help the harbour seal find his way back home.
Celebrated children’s author and illustrator Doretta Groenendyk brings the true story of Halifax’s famous winter 2015 flipÂslippery visitor to life with colourful paintings and simple text. A Harbour Seal in Halifax is destined to become a local family favourite.
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Truth and Honour The Death of Richard Oland and the Trial of Dennis Oland
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95Truth and Honour explores the 2011 murder of Saint John businessman Richard Oland, of the prominent family that owns Moosehead Breweries, the ensuing police investigation and the arrest, trial, and conviction of the victim’s son, Dennis Oland, for second Âdegree murder.
Oland’s trial would be the most publicized in New Brunswick history. What the trial judge called “a family tragedy of Shakespearian proportions,” this realÂlife murder mystery included adultery, family dysfunction, largely circumstantial evidence, allegations of police incompetence, a high-powered legal defence, and a verdict that shocked the community.
Today, the Oland family maintains Dennis Oland’s innocence. Author Greg Marquis, a professor of Canadian history at the University of New Brunswick Saint John, leads readers through the case, from the discovery of the crime to the conviction and sentencing of the defendant. Offering multiple perspectives, Truth and Honour explores this question: was Dennis Oland responsible for the death of his father?
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A Bird on Every Tree
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95Carol Bruneau, author of six acclaimed works of fiction (most recently, These Good Hands), brings her finely honed voice to 12 new stories about shifting concepts of Nova Scotian identity.
In “The Race,” a war bride’s remarkable life trajectory unfolds as she competes in an international swim marathon in the Northwest Arm. Strain erupts between a Haligonian couple in “Burning Times,” while they struggle to keep track of one another, both physically and emotionally, on an Italian vacation. In “Polio Beach,” cousins gather oceanside over the will of a recently deceased aunt who once saved one of them from drowning.
Writing with empathy, humour, and linguistic precision, Bruneau follows characters who find themselves connected to Nova Scotia by birth, through attempts at escape and new beginnings, or as a temporary resting place, always carrying with them their own idiosyncratic and complex definitions of “home.”
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East Coast Crafted The Essential Guide to the Beers, Breweries, and Brewpubs of Atlantic Canada
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$39.95From the pioneering breweries of historic downtown Halifax to the distinct merroir of rural Prince Edward Island, from the banks of New Brunswick’s St. John River to the far-flung iceberg alleys of Newfoundland, East Coast Crafted features behind-the-scenes profiles of each of Atlantic Canada’s nearly 70 breweries and brewpubs. With a fun, narrative style, authors Christopher Reynolds (Cicerone, beer judge, co-owner, Stillwell beer bar) and Whitney Moran (beer journalist and editor) get to know the people behind the pints and offer readers dozens of recommendations as they explore their favourite suds from across the region. The result is the first comprehensive guide to Atlantic Canada’s evolving craft beer industry, an ideal read for beer tourists and local champions of Canada’s fastest-growing craft beer-producing region.
Features a foreword from Canada’s preeminent beer writer, Stephen Beaumont ( World Atlas of Beer ), and over 60 colour photos from celebrated photographer Jessica Emin ( The Wine Lover’s Guide to Atlantic Canada ).
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Mary, Mary
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95In a Cape Breton family of black sheep, Mary is pure as the driven snow. She is patient and kind with her alcoholic grandmother and volatile mother, loyal and attentive to her spoiled cousin, and pleasant and polite all day as a grocery cashier. Her well-Âoff aunt, the only other normal person in the family, wants to help her more, but Mary’s mother is too prickly and proud. So Mary goes to work, comes home, takes care of her family, and wonders if there’ll ever be more to life.
When a young couple moves into the apartment upstairs, it sparks a series of changes that leads to major family revelations, and Mary discovers that sometimes doing the wrong thing is the exact right thing to do.
Tender, authentic, and crackling with Lesley’s irrepressible humour, Mary, Mary is a book for anyone who’s ever had a family—good, bad, or a messy mix of both.
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The Black Battalion 1916-1920
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$22.95Black military heritage in Canada is still generally unknown and unwritten. Most Canadians have no idea that Blacks served, fought, and died on European battlefields, all in the name of freedom. The story of the overt racist treatment of Black volunteers is a shameful chapter in Canadian history. It does, however, represent an important part of the Black legacy and the Black experience. It is a story worth reporting and worth sharing.
In this thirtieth-anniversary edition of Ruck’s celebrated history of Nova Scotia’s No. 2 Construction Battalion, known as the Black Battalion, the original text and over 60 photographs and documents is presented for a whole new generation of readers, along with a new foreword and photographs from journalist Lindsay Ruck, Calvin W. Ruck’s proud granddaughter.
