When Mayann Francis was named Nova Scotia's first Black lieutenant-governor, she wondered if the community would accept her. Francis was born just three months after businesswoman Viola Desmond was arrested for sitting in a whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow. Had enough changed? In this candid memoir, Francis describes her journey from humble beginnings in Whitney Pier, the daughter of immigrants, to the vice-regal office. She explains how her religious faith and her family's belief in education equipped her for life's challenges, including the loss of much of her vision. Before Francis was named lieutenant-governor, she had earned a masters degree in New York City and worked in a series of senior positions. But her time in the vice-regal office was not without challenges. Francis was unable to live in Government House for much of her term because the official residence was being renovated. As the renovations dragged on, there were rumours, she writes, that some politicians and bureaucrats did not want her to ever move in. Was it, she asks, because she was Black? Francis poses tough questions in this book, but also offers advice and encouragement to anyone faced with challenges.

Nine-year-old Mayann and her family are traveling from Cape Breton to New York City by train. Everything is exciting to young Mayann, but most exciting is the chance to show off her new purse When the family arrives in big, bustling NYC, Mayann visits with relatives, goes to the zoo and rides the subway. She even receives a beautiful black doll, something she's never seen before. But on one subway ride, she loses her treasured purse. Heartbroken, Mayann struggles with a lesson that will make the whole trip worthwhile.

2016 Speaker's Book Award — Shortlisted Former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty shares the story of his life in politics and the leadership lessons he has learned. Dalton McGuinty was premier of Ontario for ten years, from 2003 to 2013. Inheriting a province wounded from years of cutbacks and divisive politics, McGuinty led Ontario through a deep recession and a challenging shift away from a manufacturing-based economy. Moving boldly, he initiated a major rebuilding of the province's schools and hospitals as well as a transformation of its transportation and energy infrastructure. Here, McGuinty tells the story of his life in politics, including his first crushing defeat, the victories that followed, his campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party, and his years as premier. Delivering a frank look at his years in power, he offers insight into major issues, like the closing of the coal-fired electricity plants, the HST, full-day kindergarten, and the two cancelled Ontario Hydro gas plants. Perpetually underestimated by both his opponents and the media, Dalton McGuinty prevailed through a mix of sheer determination and political shrewdness, becoming the longest-serving Liberal leader in Ontario in over a century. Here he shares the valuable lessons he has learned along the way about leadership and the limitations and expectations for political leaders in the twenty-first century.

"Africa's Children is a testament to one's heritage, a belief in one's ancestors, and a record of truth ... no told!" – Dr. Henry V. Bishop, chief curator, Black Cultural Centre, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Chronicling the history of Black families of the Yarmouth area of Nova Scotia, Africa's Children is a mirror image of the hopes and despairs and the achievements and injustices that mark the early stories of many African-Canadians. This extensively researched history traces the lives of those people, still enslaved at the time, who arrived with the influx of Black Loyalists and landed in Shelburne in 1783, as well as those who had come with their masters as early as 1767. Their migration to a new home did little to improve their overall living conditions, a situation that would persist for many years throughout Yarmouth County. By drawing on a comprehensive range of sources that include census and cemetery records, church and school histories, libraries, museums, oral histories, newspapers, wills The Black Loyalist Directory, and many others, this is a history that has been overlooked for far too long.

An in-depth view of the political actions and legacy of Newfoundland's first Prime Minister.

The Halifax diaries (1811-1816) of Lady Sherbrooke, wife of Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, appear in print for the first time to mark the 200th anniversary of the Sherbrooke's arrival in Halifax. Lady Sherbrooke, the daughter of a clergyman, was a well-educated young English woman. Her diaries chronicle the social and cultural life of colonial Halifax, and ordinary events such as births, marriages, birthdays, and deaths. The diaries also record events of the 1812-1815 war between Britain and the United States. The 224-page volume includes a Foreword by The Honourable Mayann E. Francis, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Editor G. Brenton Haliburton's introduction and his annotations to the diary entries provide historical detail about the events and people mentioned in the diaries. Articles and clippings from Halifax's newspapers of the day give readers a feeling for life in early 19th century Halifax. The book also includes maps and a detailed index.

A founding member of the Group of Seven, Jackson portrayed the Canadian landscape in a bold and inventive manner, illustrating a key chapter in Canadas coming of age.

When the conflict between Serbs & Albanians becomes intense, a young couple from Kosovo decide to leave their home. Their young cat does too, and this story of triumph and generosity touches the heart.

Despite outliving him by 68 years, Mary Ann McCracken’s legacy is overshadowed by that of her more famous brother, executed United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken. She was, however, an abolitionist, a social reformer and an activist who fought for the rights of women and Belfast’s poor throughout a long life that encompassed the most turbulent years of Irish history. As treasurer, secretary and chair of the Ladies Committee, she helped girls from the Poor House learn crafts that would provide them with livelihoods. Dedicated to championing Belfast’s poor, she was President of the Ladies Industrial School and she campaigned to abolish the use of climbing boys in chimney sweeping. Mary Ann was involved in early women’s suffrage campaigns and prison reform schemes and was a passionate member of the Women’s Abolitionary Committee. In her late eighties, she could be found on the docks, handing out anti-slavery leaflets to emigrants embarking for the slave-owning United States. The motto of this remarkable woman, which accurately sums up her character, was, better ‘to wear out than to rust out’. But her radical, humanitarian zeal and generous strength of character were indefatigable, and her contribution to Belfast life is still felt and celebrated today.

Matthew and his Auntie take Warren on his first trip to the coast to collect sweetgrass, a traditional Mi'kmaw medicine and valued smudging ingredient. Along the way, Warren learns about the many uses of sweetgrass, and how to pick it respectfully.