click times to expand content Philip Skyler learned early in his life that his face would get him into trouble and there was nothing he could do about it. Born with an extreme facial deformity, he became the object of attention. Though medical scientists named his condition Van der Woude syndrome, his classmates, especially the bullies, just called him “Monkeyface”. Monkeyface Chronicles is his sweet story of revenge. Philip’s aphorism-toting grandfather used to say, “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect,” and Philip Skyler is about to embark on a life journey of payback that has everything to do with cause and effect. Philip’s journey ultimately takes him through the most unusual family circumstances, where no one was really who they seemed to be, whether it was his reclusive scientist father, or his Citizen Kane-like grandfather. While riding his father’s motorcycle to Toronto to escape the dregs of Faireville, Philip has a life-changing experience that transforms him from the dupe he was as a kid into a conquering hero in his twenties. His unforgettable ride brings him to triumph over adversity and redeems him from the world of losers into which he was cast.
Dr. Zol Szabo chose public health for its noble ideals and predictable hours. He never expected to be intimidated by the Prime Minister’s Office, roughed up by the RCMP, or threatened by the Hamilton mob. Though Zol and his team have investigated every centimetre of Camelot Lodge, a residence for healthy seniors blessed with generous pensions and high–ranking political connections, the source of the converted mansion’s spate of fatal food poisonings remains elusive. As the death count rises, the outbreak threatens Zol’s beloved grandfather Art Greenwood, a military veteran, engineering genius, and piano whiz. The Mounties muscle in, and Zol’s boss threatens him with exile to North Overshoe. Zol’s friend and colleague Hamish Wakefield, obsessed with microbes and car washes, discovers dangers at the Lodge that make the rabid bats in the turret and the dumpster–diving cook seem like minor indiscretions. As Zol and Hamish struggle with the scientific details, Zol’s private–eye girlfriend Colleen tails potential suspects, and the health unit’s epidemic specialist Natasha Sharma sifts through mountains of disappointing data. It takes Art Greenwood, marshalling the insights of his silver–haired companions, to expose the deaths for what they are: a string of murders. Decades after wars are over, peace is not as simple as a comfy chair in Camelot.
A story of magic, family, a mysterious stranger... and a band of marauding raccoons. Otter Lake is a sleepy Anishnawbe community where little happens. Until the day a handsome stranger pulls up astride a 1953 Indian Chief motorcycle – and turns Otter Lake completely upside down. Maggie, the Reserve’s chief, is swept off her feet, but Virgil, her teenage son, is less than enchanted. Suspicious of the stranger’s intentions, he teams up with his uncle Wayne – a master of aboriginal martial arts – to drive the stranger from the Reserve. And it turns out that the raccoons are willing to lend a hand.
Vortex tells the story of Turk Findley, the protagonist introduced in Axis, who is transported ten thousand years into the future by the mysterious entities called “the Hypotheticals.” In this future humanity exists on a chain of planets connected by Hypothetical gateways; but Earth itself is a dying world, effectively quarantined. Turk and his young friend Isaac Dvali are taken up by a community of fanatics who use them to enable a passage to the dying Earth, where they believe a prophecy of human/Hypothetical contact will be fulfilled. The prophecy is only partly true, however, and Turk must unravel the truth about the nature and purpose of the Hypotheticals before they carry him on a journey through warped time to the end of the universe itself.
Returning to Ontario's northern lakes as an adult to bury his father, Ray Carrier is taken back not only to a tangled romance in that green paradise but also to the forests and lonesome swamps that have haunted his dreams. As a teenager, Ray was enchanted by the grace and privilege of the Miller family on Providence Island, part of the wealthy resort community up the road from the farm where Ray and his widowed father spent their summers. Ray's father had always said that he was too impressed by money. But it was more than that. There was Quentin Miller, a beautiful girl, older than Ray, who thought nothing of strolling to the end of a dock, stripping naked, and diving into the lake. But something happened near the abandoned railway tracks long ago — something that shattered Ray's illusions of love and money. And now something must be settled before Ray can achieve peace and let go of Providence Island and the Millers once and for all.
As the first girl born to the Nachimada family in over 60 years, the beautiful Devi is the object of adoration of her entire family. Strong-willed and confident, she befriends the shy Devanna, a young boy whose mother has died under tragic circumstances. The two quickly become inseparable, until Devi meets Machu the tiger killer, a hunter of great repute and a man of much honour and pride. Soon they fall deeply in love, an attraction that drives a wedge between Devi and Devanna. It is this tangled relationship among the three that leads to a devastating tragedy—an event that forever changes their fates and has unforeseen and far-reaching consequences for generations to come.
This eagerly awaited new novel from Trevor Cole combines the humour and sharp observations of contemporary life that he is known for with an irresistibly twisted premise, for fans of the quirkily macabre Six Feet Under and Dexter, and readers of Paul Quarrington, Miriam Toews, Jonathan Franzen, and, of course, Trevor Cole. In his first two, GG-shortlisted novels, Trevor Cole proved himself a master of drawing us into the shadowy side of human nature with sharp observation and warm wit. In Practical Jean, he goes a step further: this is a darkly humourous and revelatory tale of an ordinary, small-town woman with the usual challenges of middle age — a do-nothing husband, a family that refuses to understand her — who realizes her fondest wish is to protect her dearest friends from the indignities of aging and illness. And that's when she decides to kill them...
Meet Iain Reid: an overeducated, underemployed twenty-something, living in the big city in a bug-filled basement apartment and struggling to make ends meet. When Iain lands a job at a radio station near his childhood home, he decides to take it. But the work is only part time, so he is forced to move back in with his lovable but eccentric parents on their hobby farm. What starts out as a temporary arrangement turns into a year-long extended stay, in which Iain finds himself fighting with the farm fowl, taking fashion advice from the elderly, fattening up on a gluttonous fare of home-cooked food, and ultimately easing (perhaps a little too comfortably) into the semiretired lifestyle. A hilarious and heartwarming comic memoir about food, family, and finally growing up, One Bird's Choice marks the arrival of a funny, original, and fresh new voice.
Whether it’s helping to whitewash a barn, hoeing endless rows of vegetable plants, or driving tractor to prepare for spring seeding, there’s plenty of work to be done on a farm. Through this collection of prose and poetry, reflect on the realities of farm families, their connection with community, weather and economy, as well as being stewards of the land from which they make a living.
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