You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Once an almost inaccessible logging town, Vancouver has grown into a major North American urban center and a jewel of the Pacific Rim. Within a mere century, it has metamorphosed from a little-explored rain forest to a thriving and cosmopolitan metropolis that will host the 2010 Olympics. This book shares the city's extraordinary coming of age through 150 striking images. Carefully reproduced, they capture Vancouver in every phase of its growth, from the coming of the railway to the intense urban expansion that has taken place since the 1950s.
Dale Portman's insightful storytelling is a heartwarming affirmation of the bond between human and dog. This collection of crime and rescue stories by the retired park warden and dog trainer highlights the vital role dogs play in saving lives, upholding the law and recovering bodies. Portman describes the escapades of Canadian Rockies park warden Alfie Burstrom and his canine partner, Ginger-the first certified avalanche search team in North America-as well as his own adventures tracking down criminals and missing persons with his German shepherd, Sam. Reading these stories of working dogs will give you a new appreciation of the important roles they play and how they really are our silent heroes.
Peppered with lively stories, literary references and pithy observations on the emerging culture and future development of the Dominion of Canada, this 19th-century travelogue is a remarkable and authentic slice of history. In these accounts of his travels in North America, Alexander Staveley Hill weaves together details of Canadian and American history with practical advice on such matters as what to wear while ranching and considerations for British investors thinking about buying ranchland. English gentleman ranchers, outlaws and whisky traders, Native cowboys and guides, practical boarding-house landladies and cheery ranchers' wives who fed hungry travellers and put them up on the parlour are just some of the colourful characters in From Home to Home.
What makes players simply the best? That’s what coach Mike Johnston and former NHL great Ryan Walter set out to discover in Simply the Best: Players on Performance. The authors interviewed these top competitors to discover how they prepare to be the best in the world, how they lead a dressing room from the inside out, and how coaches best inspire their winning performances. In their previous book, the hugely successful Simply the Best: Insights and Strategies from Great Hockey Coaches, Johnston and Walter asked top hockey coaches to talk about the methods they use to get the best performance from their players. In seeking the players’ perspective, the authors have again compiled fascinating information that is as relevant to the game of life as it is to hockey. Young and old alike will be inspired and motivated as they gain access to exclusive insights directly from the players. Simply the Best: Players on Performance is not only a must-read for hockey fans, players, and coaches, but will also resonate with anyone pursuing excellence, individually or as part of a team.
The tragic murder of Reena Virk—which inspired the major television series Under the Bridge—and its aftermath are recounted in heart-wrenching detail by her grieving father. The horrifying killing of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk at the hands of her peers in 1997 shocked and stunned the public. This callous act of violence drew nation-wide attention to bullying and cast a spotlight on Virk’s mourning parents, Manjit and Suman, who had already been let down by social services and law enforcement by the time of their daughter’s murder. In Reena: A Father’s Story, Manjit Virk speaks out for the first time about his family’s life before and after Reena’s death. This is a powerful story of an immigrant family’s struggles to make a new life in a new country, the cultural clashes they endured, the anguish they experienced over their loss of their child, and, ultimately, their perseverance in the face of unspeakable tragedy and public scrutiny.
Journalist Leroy Victor Kelly's "The Range Men" chronicles the early days of ranching in southwestern Alberta, from the arrival of the first large herds in 1876 through to 1913. Kelly gathered material from the records of the North-West Mounted Police, William Pearce's government reports, "the Calgary Herald," "the Macleod Gazette" and other publications, and collected anecdotes from old-time stockmen such as George Lane and John Ware. A window into the period after the buffalo but before extensive settlement, "The Range Men" paints a vivid, engrossing and sometimes unflattering picture of colonial life and attitudes. Kelly's unvarnished account of the relentless march of 'progress, ' as settlements were built and big ranches like the Cochrane, the Medicine Hat and the Bar U were born, notes the impact of farming on the wild prairie ecology and documents treaty betrayals and efforts to reduce and 'subdue' First Nations through smallpox and rum. More than a story of cattle trades and the hard beginnings of the Alberta cowboy, "The Range Men" is an authentic and important slice of history.
Robert Service's time in the Yukon, at first as a transplanted bank clerk and later living off the royalties of poems like "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee," is the core of a fascinating life. Starving in Mexico, residing in a
Retired park warden Dale Portman lived his dream of riding the range for a living in the spectacular Canadian Rockies. His exhilarating tales take us to an Old West world of wild horses and hair-raising roundups, youthful bravado and larger-than-life characters: Bert, the tough Millarville patriach; Donny and Faye, free-spirited children of the Alberta foothills; and Jim, the eccentric park warden who careens from one potential disaster to another. Filled with humour and adventure, these true stories capture the excitement and danger of backcountry life.
Since 1873, the Mounties have brought the law to the furthest reaches of the Canadian frontier. Sam Steele, the "Lion of the North," was involved in almost every significant event in the Canadian West; James Macleod and James Walsh negotiated peace with the First Nations peoples. Less famous, unsung heroes risked their lives enforcing justice in the Canadian wilds. From stopping the whisky trade to policing the chaotic gold rush and patrolling the lonely North, these true tales of the early days of the Force are sure to amaze and entertain.
Grade level: 4, 5, 6, e, i.