Showing results by publisher "Second Story Press" in All Categories

Twelve-year-old Anna Krawitz is imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto with her older sister, Lina, and their father. Happy days spent reading about anatomy and science in Papa’s bookshop are long gone, and the knowledge they have is used to help their neighbors through the illnesses caused by starvation and war.

When the Nazis came to power in Europe, the lives of homosexuals came to be ruled by fear as raids, arrests, prison sentences, and expulsions became the daily reality. When the concentration camps were built, homosexuals were imprisoned along with Jews. The pink triangle, sewn onto prison uniforms, became the symbol of their persecution. Branded by the Pink Triangle combines historical research with first-person accounts and individual stories to bring this history to life for listeners.

Seventeen-year-old Maddie has always felt a hole in her life, but she has finally found a way to fill it with her quest to mold her body into her ideal, thinnest shape. When she comes across the world of “thinspiration” websites, where young people encourage each other in their mission to lose weight, she quickly becomes addicted. Finally, she has found a place where she is understood and where she can belong.

Faye tells her unforgettable story of heroism, hardship, and resistance. Faye was an ordinary teenager when the Nazis invaded her town on the Russian-Polish border. She had a large, loving family, good friends and neighbours, most of whom were lost soon after the horrors of the Holocaust began. But Faye survived, and the photographs she took testify to her experiences and the persecution she witnessed. Decorated for heroism, Schulman uses her biography to tell an extraordinary story not just of survival, but of struggle and resistance against oppression.

Krista and Jason have been best friends since preschool. It never mattered that he was a boy with reddish-brown hair and she was the “Korean girl” at school. Now in fifth grade, everyone in their class is preparing their Heritage Month projects. Jason has always loved Krista’s Korean family, and particularly their cooking, but Krista is conflicted about being her school’s “Korean Ambassador”. She’s also worried about asking her intimidating grandma to teach the class how to make their traditional kimbap dish.

Growing up in the Fiji Islands in the late 1960s, Kalyana Mani Seth is an impressionable, plump young girl suited to the meaning of her name: blissful, blessed, the auspicious one. Her mother educates Kalyana about her Indian heritage, vividly telling tales of mischievous Krishna and powerful Mother Kali, and recounting her grandparents’ migration to the tiny, British colony.

Separation and divorce can be a grueling experience. Spouses who once loved each other can be swept up by an adversarial system where they declare war on each other, forgetting all that was good between them and disregarding the needs of their children. It doesn't have to be that way. When Cate Cochran and her ex-husband’s marriage failed, they tried an unusual arrangement to keep their family together.

It is 1939 in Berlin, Germany, and 12-year-old Lillian and her Papa are on the run from Nazi soldiers. Because they are Jewish, they are in danger of being arrested and put in prison. Lillian’s father is blind, and it seems no one is willing to help them - until they meet Otto Weidt. Mr. Weidt runs a factory that makes brushes for the Nazi army, and his secret is that he employs blind Jewish workers. Lillian learns that Otto Weidt is determined to keep her, Papa, and all the Jewish workers safe. But will he be able to?

It’s 1938 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Paul is feeling pressured to join the Hitler Youth. The last thing he wants to do is march around with a bunch of bullies, supporting the Gestapo and abusing the city’s Jews, but even Paul’s parents think he should go along with his classmates in order to keep himself safe. Just when he’s starting to despair, Paul meets the Edelweiss Pirates, a group of teenage boys and girls who are working to undermine the growing power of the Nazis. When he joins the rebel organization, he finds out just how hair-raising and dangerous it is.

Marie Russell and Detective Roméo Leduc are finally getting married, but the joyous occasion is overshadowed by the unexpected arrival of Magnus Sørenson, renowned eco-warrior and Marie’s first great love. When Magnus’ plans for a dramatic environmental protest take a dark turn, Roméo and Marie are forced to abandon their honeymoon in the Laurentians in order to catch a killer, unearthing long-buried secrets along the way.

The National Assembly of Cree Peoples has gathered together in the Windy Lake First Nation, home to the Mighty Muskrats - cousins Chickadee, Atim, Otter, and Sam. But when the treaty bundle, the center of a four-day-long ceremony, is taken, the four mystery-solving cousins set out to catch those responsible and help protect Windy Lake’s reputation!

Alison Green, desperate Valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year.

Windy Lake First Nation is hosting the annual Trappers Festival, and the four Mighty Muskrats are excited about the sled-dog races and the chance to visit with family and friends from far and wide. But during the Teen Sled Race, the lead dog is the victim of a frightening accident that may be more than it seems. Between mysterious strangers seen lurking by the trail and a loud group of animal rights protestors, the Muskrats have a lot of suspects. Despite the chill of winter, the case is heating up for Sam, Otter, Atim, and Chickadee!

Growing up in the shadow of a famous mother, Clara has never felt good about her body. Now, at 16, she has an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. After a social media disaster, she decides to escape for the summer to Paris to stay with her estranged dad and her six-year-old brother, Alastair, who is on the autism spectrum. Charged with his care, Clara and Alastair set out to explore the city.

Europe, on the eve of the Second World War, and a Jewish family feels the Nazi danger closing in. Led by their indomitable mother, Marie, the Reesers make a daring escape from under the watchful eyes of the Gestapo, fleeing their comfortable home in Czechoslovakia to safety and a new life in Canada. Their lives are saved, but all else is lost, including four beautiful and valuable paintings that Marie loved.

The Dogs of Winter begins after a howling snowstorm envelops Montreal, and the body of a young woman is discovered in its wake. The only clue to her identity is the photograph in her pocket, and on it, the phone number of Detective Inspector Romeo Leduc. Meanwhile, Marie and Romeo are busy navigating their deepening relationship, and a student at Marie’s college is the victim of a terrible assault.

Since Joel tackles what happens when the unimaginable loss of a child becomes reality. Julie Schwartz introduces listeners to her son Joel David Schwartz, who lived with Autism Spectrum Disorder and died by accidental overdose at age 25. Joel’s unique cognition created situations where he baffled yet informed; infuriated yet endeared; lost and yet won. His mother describes how Joel was a “charming nerd”, inviting us to get to know him in all his complicated detail. She asks that we maintain Joel’s memory by finding small ways to be kind and celebrating our differences.

In a small village in the Laurentians, north of Montreal, a reclusive older woman is found strangled outside her home. Roméo Leduc, chief inspector for homicide, is one day away from his first vacation in years but reluctantly answers the call on the case. Marie Russell lives in the same small community. She did not know her elderly neighbor, and she does not expect to become embroiled in solving her murder. But when a startling new clue emerges, Marie becomes an inadvertent detective.

After losing her job and learning she might also lose her house because of a bad investment, Jess, a fiercely independent and hilariously wry BC grandma, resorts to growing pot in her basement to make ends meet. She then has to juggle her public life as a grandmother and member of the town’s senior women’s group - The Company of Crones - with her secret life as a pot grower.

Born into privilege but expected to use her advantages for the good of others, Senator Nancy Ruth has led an uncommon, unconventional life. Like Nancy herself, this book is rich in surprises and contradictions about a remarkable woman who used her privilege to support social change and the battle to better women’s lives.