by Terry Goodkind One of the masters of fantasy is back with his 35th book! Book one of his new series: The Sword of Truth. On the day she awoke remembering nothing but her name, Kahlan Amnell became the most dangerous woman alive. For everyone else, that was the day that the world began to end.
DRAGON SEER
by Janet McNaughton Madoca has been a slave since early childhood admiring the dragons from afar. Due to a twist of fate she is chosen to be the next dragon seer, one who will care for these mysterious creatures and learn their magic lore. Over time, her love of these amazing and little understood living souls becomes deep. But as her people begin to question the traditions that placed dragons at the very heart of her society, Madoca must find a way to save her beloved dragons. Is there a solution?
THE PRESENTATION SECRETS OF STEVE JOBS (How to be insanely great in front of any audience)
by Carmine Gallo Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs’ wildly popular presentations have set a new global standard. Relive some of his most memorable highlights in front of the audience and some of his presentation secrets that have helped the company sell billions of dollars worth of technologies from the Mac, iTunes and iPod, and iPad. Beware this ain’t no book about PowerPoint, it's about how to engage and ignite your audience no matter your intention. Useful applications for students and teachers!
SURVIVING THE ANGEL OF DEATH
by Eva Mozes Kor & Lisa Buccieri Eva Mozes Kor was 10 years old when she arrived in Aushwitz. While her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, she and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man known as the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele. Subjected to sadistic medical experiments, she was forced to fight daily for her and her twin sister’s survival. The book also includes an epilogue on Eva’s recovery from this experience and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis!
Well, the third year of Off the Shelf and so many books to share. So, let's get going!
Going Bovine by Libba Bray Sixteen year old Cameron wants to get through high school and life in general with a miniumum of effort. But that's before he's given bad news: he's sick and he's going to die. Which totally sucks. But hope arrives; Dulcie, a loopy punk angel tells Cam that there is a cure--if he's willing to go in search of it. With the help of Gonzo, a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf, Can sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted American. Going Bovine is a dark and very comedic journey. It the the Michael J. Printz award as the best young adult novel in 2009 in the United States.
Stones into Schools by Greg Mortensen Picking up where Three Cups of Tea left off in late 2003, Stones into School traces Mortensen and his non -profit Central Asia Institute's efforts to work in a whole new country, the secluded northeat corner of Afghanistan. Eventually, the book concludes in 2007 as the CAI launches new schools in the heart of Taliban country. A much better read and Mortensen has improved as a writer and storyteller.
The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard You may have seen the terrific short film on the Internet by the same name. Simply put, we have too much stuff and most of it is toxic. In North America, we make up 5% of the world's population but we consume 30% of world's resources and create 30% of the waste. But unlike other doomsayers, Leonard offers a vision and plan for change. Like the film, this is a shocking eye-opener that will make you question whether or not you really need the new iPod or cell phone.
Aboriginal Awareness Education Week. To celebrate, we've chosen a couple of fiction works written by Canadian aboriginal authors. The variety here is astounding.
Keeper ‘n Me by Richard Wagamese
This is the story of Garnet Raven who was taken from his home on an Ojibway Indian reserve and placed in a series of foster homes at the age of thirteen. He finally escapes at the first opportunity only to find himself adrift on the streets of the big city.
Three-Day Road by Joseph Boyden
The story of two young Cree snipers in the killing fields of Ypres and the Somme in WWI. Vivid war scenes. One of Mr. Yaz’s personal favourites!
Sketco, the Raven by Robert Ayre
Considered a classic these are the tales of Sketco the Raven—the cunning trickster delivers to the world the moon, the Sun and the stars, gives man fire, helps create the tides and much more.
Ravensong by Lee Miracle
Set along the Pacific Northwest Coast of the early 1950s, this story unfolds in an urban native community overrun by a flu epidemic. Stacey, seventeen, balances her family's traditional ways against white society's intrusive new values, and knows that her future lies in both. With its terrific humour, this is a drama that turns out to be damning, inspirational, and prophetic.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld From the man who brought the ‘Uglies’ series. In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker powers who are attempting to take over the world using mechanical machinery armed with ammunition and guns, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn, who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically engineered beasts. Aboard their monstrous airship Leviathan, Alex and Deryn experience a fantastic round-the world adventure.
Death in the Air by Shane Peacock
Young Sherlock Homes witnesses the fall and death of a trapeze artist--something is afoot—and foul play is suspected. What the young detective doesn't know is that his discovery will set him on a trail leading to a gang of notorious and ruthless criminals.This is the latest in the Boy Sherlock Holmes Series.
Juggling Fire by Joanne Bell
Sixteen-year old Rachel embarks on a solo quest to find her father, who disappeared years ago in the Yukon wilderness. As the days pass and her quest leads her deeper into the wilderness, she must confront danger and ensure loneliness and despair before she can unearth the truth about her father.
Fifteen year old Noah Thorpe is spending the school term in George River in Quebec Far North. The Inuit kids call him a Qallunaaq—the Inuktitut word for a non-Inuit person and someone ignorant of the customs of the North. Noah thinks that they have strange ways of looking at the world plus they eat raw meat and blubber and there isn’t even a doctor let alone a McDonalds in town.
Greener Grass by Caroline Pignat
This book was a finalist for the 2009 Governor General’s award, the highest award for recognition in literature in Canada. It’s Ireland 1847 and right in the middle of the great famine. Landlords raise rents and tumble cottages leaving thousands homeless and overcome with hunger and disease. Kit’s family is slated for eviction. She will do anything she can to help. But how far will she go? Stealing? Murder?
Wave by Eric Walters
The riveting sage of a brother and sister caught in the centre of the 2004 tsunami catastrophe. Told in alternating voices of Sam and Beth this is an unforgettable account of a terrifying and dramatic true event.
What is Stephen Harper Reading by Yann Martel
Every two weeks since April 2007, Yann Martel (author of The Life of Pi) has mailed Prime Minister Stephen Harper a book along with a letter encouraging the politician to take time to the time to read life-shaping literary works. This book includes his letters to the PM. His list includes many of the books that most of us have read: The Metamorphosis, A Clockwork Orange, To Kill a Mockingbird Le Petit Prince, and Animal Farm.
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Those that heard Ivan speak are aware that this is her first novel. Joey is a good-hearted mechanic from small-town Alberta whose wife recently left him for another woman. When a stranger named James approaches his shop and agrees to purchase a beat-up blue Volvo in exchange for a beautiful, hand-crafted cello, Joey see it as an opportunity to finally make some overdue changes in his life.
Me, Myself & Ike by K.L. Denman
An eye-awaking story about a teenager coming to grips with his mental illness. Kit Latimer used to be happy. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a few close friends, and a solid family life. Now his only friend is the enigmatic and possibly deranged Ike, who convinces Kit to undertake a secret and very dangerous mission. Increasingly alienated, paranoid, and confused, Kit stands to lose everything—including his life—if Ike has his way.
Seaweed in the Soup by Stanley Evans
The fifth mystery in the popular series, Seaweed in the Soup, combines hard-boiled mystery narrative with the mythology of the Coast Salish people of the west coast. Victoria is known as the garden city, but when a gardener is found dead and a policeman’s wife is killed things begin to smell not so fragrant. Police detective Silas Seaweed begins to suspect that these murders are related to the recent wave of gang-related crime that is sweeping British Columbia. His quest to find the killers leads him from the loud and steamy nightclubs of Victoria to the remote and quiet islands of Desolation Sound.
Born to Write: The Remarkable Lives of Six Famous Authors by Charis Cotter
We all have a story to tell! But these six authors including Phillip Pullman, E.B. White, and C.S Lewis were extraordinary children who transformed their early struggles into spellbinding bedtime reading that have become staples in the literary. Check out their stories!
Sixteen-year old Porter Delancy has his future figured out, but his nice, neat plans are shaken when a man he believes may be the father who abandoned him and his twelve-year old sister earlier suddenly appears in his Toronto neighbourhood. He really wants nothing to do with the deadbeat dad, but his curiosity causes Porter to re-examine the past.
Pop by Gordon Korman
New York Times bestselling author is back with a story about Marcus a football player who moves to a new town in the dead of summer and doesn’t know a soul. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with former ‘King of Pop’, NFL linebacker Charlie Popovich. But that’s not all. There is a secret about Charlie that his family is desperate to hide!
Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese
A group of chronically homeless people—the ragged company—take refuge from an approaching Arctic snowstorm in an old movie theatre. Together they form an unlikely bond made even stronger by the discovery of a lost winning lottery ticket with a $13.5 million jackpot. But none of the ragged company can claim their winnings for lack of a fixed address; unless they can enlist the help of Granite, a jaded and lonely journalist who has given up writing.
Only in the Movies by William Bell
The author of Stones, the Blue Helmet, and Forbidden City, William Bell, offers up the story of Jake, who, since happening upon a film crew shooting a battle scene in the park near his home, has wanted to become a screenwriter and make movies. Jake enrols in the New York School of the Arts where he meets a group of unpredictable characters. With hilarious scenes and Shakespearean plot twists this is a terrific read.
Simon Says Gold by Simon Whitfield with Cleve Dheensaw
From the moment Simon Whitfield burst onto the world stage at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games as triathlon’s first Olympic champion it has been a whirlwind life. This book documents Whitfield’s personal journey to Olympic glory as he recounts that day in Sydney, but also of the anguish of failing to repeat as Olympic champion in Athens in 2004, and his dramatic comeback at the Beijing 2008 Games with a silver medal. An inspiring read!
It takes a graveyard to raise a child. Nobody Owens lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts and ghouls that inhabit the place. He is known as Bod by his friends. But, living in a graveyard isn’t all fun and games, and if Bod tries to leave he runs the risk of being killed by Jack—the same man that murdered his family. Gaiman has won dozens of awards for his fantastic fantasy fiction.
What is the What by Dave Eggers
This is the novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who along with thousands of other children—the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally resettles in the US he finds a like of promise but also a myriad of new challenges. An absolutely astonishing story!
Reclusive author J.D. Salinger passed away last week at the age of 91. His 1945 classic ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ follows Holden Caufield as he struggles with the pains of adolescence. This THE most read book in the LVR library.
I Will Not Write an Uncensored, Unauthorized History of the Simpsons: by John Ortved
Here is it. Before King of the Hill, before Family Guy there was TheSimpsons. Ortved's books includes the history of the longest running show in television history--it wasn't even suppose to be a show. Interviews with cast members and writers including Conan O'Brien are peppered throughout the book. A must read for fans of The Simpsons, television, and all things sacred in popular culture today!
Madness Betrayal and the Lash: The epic voyage of Captain George Vancouver by Stephen Bown
Five years at sea, across 65 000 miles of ocean—equivalent of twice around the world, visiting every continent and mapping tens of thousands of miles of coastline it was the longest voyage in the history of humankind. Yet Vancouver died in disgrace, shunned, and in debt. For history buffs only!
Whitewater Cooks at Home by Shelley Adams
Yes, we finally have a copy of our own. Like the first one this is on its way to being a national bestseller.
What It Is by Lynda Barry
How do objects summon memories? What do real images feel like? For decades, these types of questions have permeated the pages of Lynda Barry's compositions, with words attracting pictures and conjuring places through a pen that first and foremost keeps on moving. What It Is demonstrates a tried-and-true creative method that is playful, powerful, and accessible to anyone with an inquisitive wish to write or remember. Each page is a full-colour collage that is not only a gentle guide to this process, but an invigorating example of exactly what it is: "The ordinary is extraordinary".
The single most power thing a person can do to empower and enlighten themselves is read. Magazines. Newspapers. Audiobooks. Atlases. Online. Just read, baby!
