Annotation: Mortimer is a journal-keeping lab rat who dreams of traveling to space. When a spot on the International Space Station (ISS) opens up he knows he must do whatever it takes to become an intergalactic space rat! Mortimer sets out to prove his worth with his journal and video camera to prove that rats …
Annotation: Beatrice has woken in a strange land without memories in a treehouse magically stocked with supplies and a set of helpful books. Her curiosity and compassion lead her to explore the land and meet its talking animal inhabitants. Among these is Croc Harry who seems equally eager to eat her and converse with her. …
Annotation: Autumn comes from a privileged, loving family. Cody comes from an abusive, alcoholic home. When he runs away, Autumn finds him curled up in pain, without resources, and without a safe place to stay. Autumn offers Cody a refuge and soon the both of them begin learning about lives neither have experienced. Questions: How …
Annotation: Stephen is obsessed with pirates, at least all of the good parts. He and his best friend know that pirates have a bad reputation for the robbing and fighting, so they’ve come up with a new term: piventurate! All the good parts of being a pirate, without the bad stuff. Unfortunately, Stephen’s mom is …
Continue reading “Fiction: Double O Stephen and the Ghostly Realm”
Annotation: Jake Simmons hates The Regency, the decrepit old apartment building he has been forced to move into with his mother. Nothing works at The Regency, it’s a dump and despite his mother saying it is only temporary, even living in the dump for a short period of time is too much! Jake also hates …
Annotation: Some of the most famous buildings in the world are renowned mostly for their impressive height. Who hasn’t heard of the Empire State Building in New York City. But did you know that people have been building tall structures for thousands of years and for many different reasons? For example, the pyramids of Egypt …
Continue reading “Non-Fiction: Why Humans Build Up: The Rise of Towers and Skyscrapers”
Annotation: Artist Carey Newman created the Witness Blanket to honour and bring awareness to Indigenous children taken from their families and sent to residential schools all across Canada. Newman and his team collected objects, photographs and documents from residential schools all across Canada. The book tells the important stories behind of all of the gathered …
Continue reading “Non-Fiction: The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art, and Reconciliation”
Annotation: Who isn’t interested in having a superpower? Right? This book explores all aspects of wearable-technologies’ history, development, uses and ethics. You will meet the scientists and inventors both innovating and guarding this growing wearable-tech-frontier. Questions: What is wearable technology? What superpowers does wearing it give us? What is an algorithm? Can you think of …
Continue reading “Non-Fiction: Superpower? The Wearable-Tech evolution”
Annotation: The dynamic duo who brought you “Turtle Island: The story of North America’s First People” and “What the Eagle sees: Indigenous stories of rebellion and renewal” reveal ways in which Indigenous knowledge is used to solve contemporary real world problems. Eldon Yellowhorn (Piikani Nation) is an archaeologist and professor at Simon Fraser University. With …
Continue reading “Non-Fiction: Sky Wolf’s Call: The Gift of Indigenous Knowledge”
Annotations: What if going to school had to be kept a secret? There are many reasons learning has had to be hidden. Students have been denied the ability to speak their own language, to learn about their culture, or banned from learning if they were a girl! Secret schools have been needed throughout history so …
Continue reading “Non-Fiction: Secret Schools: True Stories of the Determination to Learn”
