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On April 14, 1998, Sarah de Vries disappeared from her usual spot on the corner of Princess and Hastings in Vancouver. She became one of the many women who had vanished from the Downtown Eastside—women, most of them sex workers and drug addicts—whose DNA would later be found on the Pickton farm. Reflecting on her adopted sister’s story, through Sarah’s own poetry and journals and the recollections of those close to her at home and downtown, Maggie uncovers the portrait of a bright, charismatic woman who found herself trapped in a downward spiral of self-loathing, prostitution, drugs, and violence. In this achingly honest book, the reader is drawn into revelations and understanding just as Maggie was. Tragic though it was in many ways, Sarah’s life had meaning.
"First, that is a lie. You are not trying to take a train to Germany. Second, your papers are false. Do you think you can trump up false papers and just walk onto one of our trains?" (Hunger Journeys) It’s World War Two in Amsterdam. Lena leaves her starving family to travel by train with her friend Sofie to Almelo, a town close to the German border, in search of food. It’s a risky plan. The girls have false papers and are quickly pulled off the train by German soldiers. Only by fluke do they get back on again—with the help of Albert, one of the soldiers. After Lena discovers that the train had also been used to transport Jews to concentration camps, she fears her new friendship with the well-meaning Albert may lead her into more danger. Sofie, too, befriends a soldier, a relationship that quickly turns serious and has unfortunate consequences for both girls.
An exciting and moving story of a black bear cub's dangers and adventures in his first two years, uniting the intertwined cycles of bear and fish. A map, facts about bears and salmon, and a letter from the Pacific Salmon Foundation complete this true-to-life nature story for young readers.
Martha knows she is adopted, but she's well-loved and popular, at least until her mother gets pregnant and she feels her parents' attention start to shift. Upset and confused, Martha lashes out at—and loses—her friends. She also makes no secret about her annoyance at being forced to do a school project about sturgeon with Chance, a difficult boy whose foster parents are family friends. To add insult to injury, Martha's birth mother announces that she is getting married and moving away. Now Martha isn't number one in anybody's life. When her mom goes into labor prematurely, Martha realizes that she needs to figure out a way to be a better friend and daughter, and a great sister.
Kaya is adopted, multiracial, grieving the death of her father—and carrying a painful secret. Feeling ill at ease with her family and in her own skin, she runs away repeatedly, gradually disappearing into a life of addiction and sex work. Meanwhile, her sister, Beth, escapes her own troubles with food and a rediscovered talent for magic tricks. Though both girls struggle through darkness and pain, they eventually find their way to a moment of illumination and healing. This powerful YA novel is rooted in the tragic life of the author’s sister, Sarah, a victim of serial killer Robert Pickton and the subject of Maggie de Vries’s Governor General’s Literary Award–nominated memoir for adults, Missing Sarah. Sarah’s tragic experiences inspired the character Kaya, as well as an adult sex worker she meets on the streets. Vancouver’s missing women form a chilling backdrop for the story.
Follows the adventures of Big Fish, a 177-year-old sturgeon living in British Columbia's Fraser River, who during her very long life endures and survives such catastrophes as rock slides, lake drainages, and sport fishermen.
Every time Chance turns around, he gets in trouble. In school, he can't sit still. Reading is hard and math is harder, but anything to do with science fascinates him. When his class starts raising butterflies from caterpillars, Chance is hooked. School is suddenly fun again, but when he decides to take his caterpillar home, he learns that loving something often means letting it go.
While on a picnic, a father puts together familiar elements from various stories until he comes up with a version his children like.