Bøger udgivet af Great Plains Publications Ltd

Will is Shane Neilson's debut collection of short fiction. The book ranges from straightforward East Coast depictions of alcoholism and frustrated farming told in dense, lyric prose, to experimental works that play overtly with language and form.

In The Lucky Ones: African Refugees' Stories of Extraordinary Courage, Anne Mahon presents a collection of personal accounts of heartbreaking loss, extraordinary bravery, and the resilience needed to begin again in a new country. Candidly told in their own words, the subjects reveal the uplifting truth of their unbreakable human spirit. A wide assortment of men and women ranging in age from four to 73 represent a variety of African countries and backgrounds. Their compelling stories span from experiences in their African birth countries to their new home in Manitoba. These inspiring insights?challenge assumptions and encourage understanding.? All author proceeds from the sale of this book will go to micro-lending opportunities and post-secondary scholarships for the African community of Manitoba.

While spending the summer trying to deal with her parent's divorce, Juliana, with the help of her Ojibway friend, uncovers an ancient secret that helps her reconcile with her father and, at the same time, acquire a new appreciation for the dangerous beauty of Canada's north country.

Bethany, a beautiful and popular teen hangs herself the night before Halloween. Her devoted sister follows her into a frozen death, and a city where trees bleed along the banks of a river of blood. Meanwhile, Addy is visiting from Montreal, determined that Natalie's mother will give birth to her baby while she is there. Consider a baby born in a snowstorm, one girl who never sleeps and another who craves blood, ghostly footprints and dangling corpses, New Year's fireworks and an unexpected kiss, all tied to a legendary queen who lives in the hidden center of Suicide City.

It's 1978, the year after Elvis Presley died, and Kepler Pressler is a sixteen-year-old Toronto kid with an obsessive attachment to his sock monkey, a tendency to burst into tears, a mother with a nail fetish and a fondness for Shakespeare, and a father who says he works for the Space Agency and disappears a lot. Is dad dead? And what exactly happened on Kepler's 16th birthday? He is devoting a year to figuring it out in a mental health institute.

For seventeen-year-old Maggie Johnson, transitioning the dead isn't hard. What's tough is surviving the insults and pranks of Serge Popov, high school thug and the dumbest jock to ever set foot in Dead Falls, Alberta. When she finds him dead and later discovers his spirit trapped in her room, she figures it's a case of divine justice. Let the jerk rot for eternity, bound to an earthly prison. But someone - or something - has a different agenda. If Maggie doesn't help Serge cross over, she'll die at the hands of the otherworldly entity that's taken an interest in the dead bully. As she digs into the circumstances of Serge's murder, she'll uncover the secrets hidden by the world of the living and the wonders revealed by cities of the dead - if her investigation doesn't kill her first.

Emerging from the back rooms, ultimate insider Michael Decter treats us to a range of raunchy and riveting stories of politics in Canada. From his youth stuffing envelopes for the NDP in Winnipeg to his days as Ontariopremier BobRae's right--handman, Michael Decter has helped shape policy in several governments. He has also met with the great, the not so great, and the downright bad. His stories of encounters with Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Bob Rae, Bill Clinton, and a host of others are by turns hilarious and thought--provoking. If you've ever wondered what went on in the smoke--filled rooms where nation--changing decisions of the 1980s and 90s were taking place, this is the book for you.

Winner of the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award! Selected for the Best Books For Kids & Teens 2015 Six months ago, Julia's life was perfect. Then her dad died. Now she lives with her grieving mother and sick grandmother in a puny apartment above their bookstore. After a dark bout of depression, Julia is fragile, and mourns both her father and her old life. But she has one thing to be happy about: Jeremy, the most popular boy at school, has chosen her. Jeremy's love for Julia is passionate, even obsessive. As she grows closer to Jeremy, Julia pushes her disapproving friends and family away. But Jeremy only becomes more controlling and Julia has to decide what lines cannot be crossed. "Julia's story is one that needs to be told ... [a]uthor Jodi Carmichael writes about life as a teenager with humour and insight, showing how easy it is for peer pressure and the need to be loved to lead to risky behaviour." - Quill & Quire "Carmichael's writing is vivid and her depiction of Julia's feelings and actions feels authentic and contemporary. This is a young writer to watch." - Winnipeg Free Press

The young occupy a territory of their own, a foreign land inaccessible to nostalgia and regret. In these eloquent, arresting stories, an assortment of exotic youth send tremors through the foundations of the established world: four summer students interrupt a once--famous artist's retreat from society; a naive job seeker shakes a frustrated employee out of middle--aged complacency; and a high school student's safety is threatened by her teacher's passion for the Riel Rebellion. Unsentimental, often funny, rarely nostalgic, each story of?he Young in Their Country's a complete world.

Finalist, Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-FictionFinalist, Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book In September 2015, Sheila North was declared the Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), the first woman elected to the position. Known as a "bridge builder", North is a member of Bunibonibee Cree Nation. North's work in advocacy journalism, communications, and economic development harnessed her passion for drawing focus to systemic racism faced by Indigenous women and girls. She is the creator of the widely used hashtag #MMIW. In her memoir, Sheila North shares the stories of the events that shaped her, and the violence that nearly stood in the way of her achieving her dreams. Through perseverance and resilience, she not only survived, she flourished.

"Sixteen-year-old Sarah (it's pronounced SAH-rah, thank you) has a successful blog creating fusion recipes. When Sarah is invited to compete on Cyber Chef, a virtual cooking competition that soars in popularity at the height of the pandemic, her twists on her Baba's recipes are not enough to pique the palate of the show's producers. She is pushed to present dishes that represent her Filipinx culture, but these flavours are foreign to her since her parents raised her emphatically Jewish. To survive Cyber Chef and find her cultural identity, Sarah must discover why her mother turned her back on all things Filipinx, and learn the true meaning of fusion."--

A man runs for his life from the promise of death held by trees; a lost VHS tape offers footage of a lost, grisly history; a diaspora clings to magical shards of home and more in this collection of genre fiction by authors from across the Canadian Prairies.

"Mosienko became a hockey legend in 1952 when he recorded the fastest hat-trick in NHL history --a record that stands to this day. This biography tells the story of a Manitoba legend, from his childhood spent skating on the rinks of Winnipeg's North End in the 1920s and 30s to his illustrious fourteen-year NHL career to his return to Winnipeg to play with the Winnipeg Warriors to his post-retirement career as the owner of the iconic Mosienko Bowling Lanes. Through exclusive interviews with Mosienko's friends, family, and teammates, Dilello paints a vivid picture of Mosienko, a man known for his sportsmanship and community spirit as well as his incredible hockey talent."--

"Errol Ranville has been running all his life: from chronic poverty and racism in rural Manitoba; a discriminatory music business; alcohol and drug addiction; and the responsibilities that come with being regarded as a role model. Though Errol has faced seemingly insurmountable barriers as an Indigenous performer in a predominately white music business, his band C-Weed & the Weeds released several #1 songs and went on to score JUNO nominations in 1985 and 1986. Errol was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indigenous Music Awards in 2011. Errol's autobiography Run as One is filled with love and passion as he embraces the role of trailblazer for the countless musicians that follow his path"--

"From pre-contact Indigenous trading through 1939, Thinking Big examines the history of businesses, business leaders, and organizations in Winnipeg. Discover how the Winnipeg business community dealt with challenges such as the Great Depression and the post-World War I depression, and organized itself to take advantage of periods of growth and prosperity."--

On the last day of elementary school, eleven-year-old Anna finds a leather-bound book about handwriting analysis. Anna could use help deciphering people. Her best friend has started wearing mascara and plans to spend the summer with a more fashionable classmate. And her parents threaten to give away her tortoises just because she's a little forgetful about taking care of the sick one.Why does everyone expect Anna to change before middle school starts? She's going to stay exactly the same. After all, large loopy letters, like Anna's, show she's perceptive and generous. It's everyone else's sloppy writing that is so hard to understand. But a mysterious note forces Anna to make a choice between her graphology obsession and the people -- and tortoises -- she cares about the most.

Shortlisted for the 2021 Manuela Dias Book Illustration Award! The Automatic Age is the story of a father and son navigating an automated apocalypse. The future was supposed to be a mechanical utopia of automats, self-driving cars, food pills, and nostalgia machines, designed to create maximum comfort and efficiency for its human inhabitants. But this automated paradise has turned into a world where robot search teams find and remove the troublesome humans that clutter it with grim efficiency. Now Kerion and his young son, Barry, are two of the few people left behind. They must find a way not only to survive, but to reclaim their humanity. "Chomichuk has developed a fascinating, complex setting . . . And he uses it to explore timely themes of automation, scarcity economics, and robot ethics, while also showcasing his formidable imagination." - Quill & Quire "Though the action-filled plot with its short chapters will easily hold readers' attention, it is Chomichuk's worldbuilding that will really grab readers." - CM Review

Part memoir, part social history, this collection of ten essays explores the various physical and natural elements that form the backdrop to Braun's memories of growing up on a farm in southern Manitoba in the mid-20th century. From blackboard chalk to curling rocks in the chapter on stone, from mirages to straight-line winds in the essay on light and air, she reflects on her interactions with the elements as a child and how her responses influenced her evolution into adulthood. Braun includes intriguing tidbits about the science and history behind each element as it pertains to life in her unique location on our planet. The book highlights the value and beauty of the simple components of our surroundings that we take for granted growing up, exposes their true complexity, and reveals how the fascination with a "simple" thing can become a lifelong pursuit that sustains our artistic and spiritual needs.

"Journeyman is a first-person biography of Ojibwe right-winger Jamie Leach, son of the legendary NHL superstar Reggie Leach. Follow the fascinating hockey trajectory from his childhood years watching his father play for Philadelphia Flyers, to Jamie's first goal in the NHL. Journeyman touches on Jamie's summers on Lake Winnipeg, the World Junior Hockey Championships, his life in the minor leagues, and his eventual draft into the NHL as a Pittsburgh Penguin. Discover how some of hockey's biggest stars such as Bobby Clarke, Jaromir Jagr, and Mario Lemieux influenced Jamie's life. Written in close consultation with Jamie and his mother, readers will learn about the struggles Jamie conquered, including his father's alcoholism and his own crippling self-doubt. A story of determination, heartbreak and perseverance."--

"The Truth About the Barn offers answers to important questions about how barns came into being, why they look the way they do, why they're worth reflecting on, and what possible future they may have. Chapters investigate the barn's place in culture and religion, art and literature. Psychological and philosophical implications are explored. Readers are treated to an occasional recollection of the author's own experiences with barns."--

Selected for the Forest of Reading Teen Committee's Summer Reading pick! Finalist for SYRCA 2018 Following the events of Pulse Point, 12-year old Ama and the other Underlanders living in a world of darkness dig for brine, the City's real energy source. Underland is a dangerous place: cave-ins, starvation and illness are constant threats. When their leader deserts them, Ama goes looking for him and stumbles on two Citizens. Neither knew the other existed. 18-year old Sari lives in the City, blissfully unaware of what goes on beneath her feet. The disappearance of her best friend, Kaia, has left her feeling isolated. A chance encounter with her sister leads her to join a group called the Resistance who are on a secret mission to reveal the secrets the Council keeps hidden. When Kaia mounts an attack on the City, Sari and Ama are thrown together in a battle that will decide their futures and the fate of the City. "[Underland] convincingly portrays the human instinct to resist change opposed to the resilient values of compassion, justice and freedom...Underland could be read as a standalone and will be enjoyed by anyone who likes dystopian fiction." - CM: Canadian Review of Materials "Underland inspires faith that a few good people can make the difference and that redemption is possible through transformation" - CanLit for LittleCanadians

Shortlisted for the 2021 Manuela Dias Book Design AwardA 2021 Manitoba Day Award Honorable Mention Manitoba's history is one of being carved. Ice sculpted the land before nomadic first people pressed trails across it. Southern First Nations dug into the earth to grow corn and potatoes while those in the north mined it for quartz used in arrowheads. Fur traders arrived, expanding on Indigenous trading networks and shaping new ones. Then came settlers who chiselled the terrain with villages, towns and cities. But there is failure and suffering etched into the history. In Winnipeg, slums emerged as the city's population boomed. There were more workers than jobs and the pay was paltry. Immigrants and First Nations were treated as second-class, shunted to the fringes. Rebellions and strikes, political scandals and natural disasters occurred as the people molded Manitoba. In The Lesser Known, Darren Bernhardt shares odd tales lost in time paired with archival images, such as The Tin Can Cathedral, the first independent Ukrainian church in North America; the jail cell hidden beneath a Winnipeg theatre; the bear pit of Confusion Corner; gardening competitions between fur trading forts and more. Once deemed important enough to be documented, these stories are now buried. It's time to carve away at them once again.

The stories in Vermin are linked by themes of loss, longing and music: a restaurant server in a Tofino restaurant reflects on the nature of men in her past and present; a woman prepares to marry a brooding artist unpopular with both her parents and her small town community; a new homeowner has strange encounters with a previous owner who is struggling to let go. Stories in this collection have appeared in Joyland, The Saturday Evening Post, Room, The Antigonish Review and other journals and anthologies.

Nominated for the Forest of Reading White Pine Award! Shortlisted for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award! Eugenia Grimm is a tough girl living in a tough town at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She drinks and fights and pushes against expectations. She is also hurting: after her father died by suicide, her older brothers drifted away and her mother up and left. After a last-straw violent incident and faced with the possibility of incarceration, she is sentenced to time at an Intensive Support and Supervision Program located at a remote mountain ranch. There, she begins to make connections, explore difficult truths, and might even turn things around--until a series of events pull her into a dark spiral she may not have the strength to resist. "[T]he characters - therapists and troubled youth alike - have an inviting combination of snarkiness and depth." - Quill & Quire "...many serious themes are woven into the story, but there is also the wonderful appreciation of what can be achieved if only people are given the time, encouragement and incentive to work out their problems and improve their lives." - CM Magazine

She lives outside the village, in the woods, near the river, with her sister. Or her mother. She doesn't really know. Her life is simple, but nothing ever stays the same. Her body is changing; life around her is changing, too. And there aren't many people around who can explain to her what's happening. A story with a sombre offbeat mood, guided along by a narrator using unique and colourful language. Originally published by Québec-Amérique as À l'abri des hommes et des choses

As a window into the magic and medicine of the Northwest Territories, Richard Van Camp's fourth short story collection is hilarious and heartbreaking. A teenaged boy confesses to a vicious assault on a cross-dressing classmate; Lance tells the sensual story of becoming much closer to his wife's dear friend Juanita; while a reluctant giant catches up with gangsters Torchy and Sfen in a story with shades of supernatural and earthly menace. Night Moves continues to explore the incredible lives of indigenous characters introduced in The Lesser Blessed, Angel Wing Splash Pattern, The Moon of Letting Go, and Godless but Loyal to Heaven. If this is your first time to Fort Simmer and Fort Smith, welcome. If it's another visit--come on in: we've left the lights on for you.