The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson
Author: Lois Simmie
Publisher: Greystone Books
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2014-12-31
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1771641843

John Wilson came to Canada from Scotland in 1912, leaving his wife and family with the promise to return in a year. In 1914 he joined the Mounties, and while stationed in Saskatchewan village, he caught TB and fell hopelessly in love with the young woman who took care of him. He would do anything for her, anything at all. Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Non-Fiction, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson is played out against a backdrop of catastrophic events—World War I, economic depression, the TB and Spanish Flu epidemics. It is a riveting story of passion, murder and retribution

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that

They Shouldn't Make You Promise that
Author: Lois Simmie
Publisher: Coteau Books
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2003
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781550502060

Eleanor Smith has it all - just ask the people around her. She's married to a successful and respected man; they live in a beautiful home with three healthy children, and enjoy a busy social life and a good reputation. So why is Eleanor so unhappy? Her husband thinks she's just going through a bad spell and can, if she wants to, snap out of it. Her psychiatrist thinks she just has to inject a little romance into her marriage and she'll be fine. Her mother thinks she should just shut up and count her blessings. Even an anonymous woman in a doctor's office has an opinion - it's "the change." But clearly, for Eleanor, these aren't the answers. The problem goes deeper than merely a faltering marriage, a temporary depression, or simple ingratitude. With insight, compassion and no small amount of wit, Lois Simmie chronicles Eleanor's harrowing journey toward an understanding of why she feels the way she feels, and what to do about it. They Shouldn't Make You Promise That is both a joy and a heartbreak to read. It's an engrossing and rewarding tale told by an adept storyteller, a modern-day fable about promises kept, broken and regretted, and promises that should not be made.

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson

The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson
Author: Lois Simmie
Publisher: Greystone Books
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1995
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781550545104

John Wilson came to Canada from Scotland in 1912, leaving his wife and family with the promise to return in a year. In 1914 he joined the Mounties, and while stationed in Saskatchewan village, he caught TB and fell hopelessly in love with the young woman who took care of him. He would do anything for her, anything at all. Winner of the 1995 Arthur Ellis Award for Non-Fiction, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson is played out against a backdrop of catastrophic events—World War I, economic depression, the TB and Spanish Flu epidemics. It is the riveting account of a mounted policeman and the women who loved him.

Private Peaceful

Private Peaceful
Author: Michael Morpurgo
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 61
Release: 2012-08-24
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1849435715

Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line. Winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year, Private Peaceful is by the third Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo, award-winning author of War Horse. His inspiration came from a visit to Ypres where he was shocked to discover how many young soldiers were court-martialled and shot for cowardice during the First World War. This edition also includes introductory essays by Michael Morpurgo, Associate Director of Private Peaceful production Mark Leipacher, as well as an essay from Simon Reade, adaptor & director of this stage adaptation of Private Peaceful.

Betty Lee Bonner Lives There

Betty Lee Bonner Lives There
Author: Lois Simmie
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Total Pages: 180
Release: 1993
Genre: Canada
ISBN:

In this collection of quirky short stories, the reader meets a woman running away from a beer-swilling oaf; a man who believes that God lives behind the counter of the A & W; and a father and daughter isolated in their grief. Some strong language.

Lost in the Barrens

Lost in the Barrens
Author: Farley Mowat
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2009-01-13
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1551991853

Awasin, a Cree Indian boy, and Jamie, a Canadian orphan living with his uncle, the trapper Angus Macnair, are enchanted by the magic of the great Arctic wastes. They set out on an adventure that proves longer and more dangerous than they could have imagined. Drawing on his knowledge of the ways of the wilderness and the implacable northern elements, Farley Mowat has created a memorable tale of daring and adventure. When first published in 1956, Lost in the Barrens won the Governor-General’s Award for Juvenile Literature, the Book-of-the-Year Medal of the Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians and the Boys’ Club of America Junior Book Award.

Finding My Way

Finding My Way
Author: Lois Simmie
Publisher:
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2019-10
Genre: Women authors, Canadian
ISBN: 9781550507935

An autobiography from a Saskatchewan writer whose writing transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. Lois Simmie was born in Mervin, Saskatchewan in 1932. Filled with awe and wonder at the bountiful and remarkable world unfolding around her Simmie takes us on the journey of her life and the events that shaped her into a writer. She describes her whimsical youth in Saskatchewan in a bygone era of Frank Sinatra on the radio, Amos 'n' Andy, the jitterbug, jazz, square dances, and Hollywood movies every Friday night in the town hall. Simmie's magical delight in all things transports us through the Depression and war years to childhood summer visits to Hopkinsville, Kentucky in her relatives' Gone With the Wind -style southern mansion, an adventure in the lush beauty of Brazil, and to Scotland while writing her first non-fiction book, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson, about the murder of a young Scottish woman by her RCMP husband. Simmie fell in love with words at a young age but it isn't until later in life that she takes up her calling as a writer while living in Saskatoon. She describes the burgeoning Saskatchewan writing scene as "electric" as she enters an exciting community of like-minded writers and poets, a hotbed of creativity and inspiration that is the impetus of her finest writing and the culmination of an astonishing life story.

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass
Author: Drew Hayden Taylor
Publisher: Vintage Canada
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1039000614

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.

April Raintree

April Raintree
Author: Beatrice Mosionier
Publisher: Portage & Main Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2011-03-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1553792076

A revised version of the novel In Search of April Raintree, written specifically for students in grades 9 through 12. Through her characterization of two young sisters who are removed from their family, the author poignantly illustrates the difficulties that many Aboriginal people face in maintaining a positive self-identity.