At FriesenPress we celebrate each and every book our authors publish. Below are a few that staff have nominated as their picks. Selections change frequently, so be sure to check back for new recommended books. And, of course, all the titles you see below are available here at the FriesenPress Bookstore. Happy reading!
To celebrate Canada’s Centennial, ten men paddled a canoe from British Columbia to Quebec. They relived the challenges of “Les Vrais Voyageurs”, fishing, hunting and sleeping under the stars. They survived treacherous rapids, waterfalls and exhausting portages. Van Tamelen, the crew’s bowman, tells their story. This is a book that will leave any outdoor adventurer begging for more. “You, and all members of your crew, are deserving of our most sincere congratulations on the realization of a Centennial project of this magnitude. It is without doubt the most spectacular individual Centennial project that I have heard about in this year and, as you know, there were many extraordinary feats, indeed, accomplished. But a 5200 mile canoe trip tops them all.” Lester B. Pearson Prime Minister of Canada
In the spring of 2006, Shelly Dubois is as happy as she’s ever been. A recent move to beautiful Vancouver Island has proven to be a terrific decision. Her husband Jean is pleased with his new job, their younger daughter Aleida is adjusting well, and their eighteen-year-old, Chantal, is finishing up her twelfth grade year back in Alberta so she can graduate with her lifelong friends. Shelly has a new job too and time enough to devote herself to the music that has always filled her life with joy. But then comes the phone call that will change everything forever – Chantal has an inoperable brain tumor. Regular life ends abruptly and over the next two years begins a new, much darker life of radiation, chemotherapy, and terror over the increasingly bad news about Chantal’s health. And in the end, despite her relentless, exhausting efforts to save her daughter, a disbelieving Shelly has to watch her slip away. In the days after Chantal’s passing, Shelly slips into a netherworld of incapacitating grief, which isolates her from her husband and surviving daughter and makes everyday life unmanageable. But as time moves on, she slowly begins to discover a pathway to healing. Deeply affecting, while imbued with hope, I Lost My Child to Cancer serves as an inspiring insight into how to cope with unimaginable sorrow.
Who was Wah Lee? To the Keen family living in North Cariboo, B.C., Wah Lee was their forefather from China; amongst local historians, Wah Lee is the name for a general store in Quesnel, B.C. This book unravels the mystery of a name, which is also the story of a person, a business, and a family that traverses 150 years of history and crosses the Pacific from China to Canada. What unfolds is not just the history of one family, but a history of the recent past in Canada and China told through the trials and fortunes, hopes and dreams of individual family members. This is a story that can be treasured by family members, historians, and other Chinese-Canadians alike in years to come.
You’re Not Dead chronicles its Hero’s travels during his ten-month hospitalization, beginning with his viral meningoencephalitis, and ending with his struggle to regain his life and independence. Acerbic and illuminating, You’re Not Dead pulls the reader into the Hero’s lived experience, while peeling away the layers of politeness we often use when discussing disability. The Hero is brutally honest as he writes of his journey through the medical system. He speaks of overwhelming pessimism, of pronouncements from “on high” made with little knowledge of his condition or progress, and of being spoken at, rather than being spoken to. You’re Not Dead is both devastating and inspiring, highlighting the importance of perseverance in the face of profound adversity.
Four hurricanes have swept through Florida with devastating effect. Reconstruction isn't so simple when insurance companies and homeowners disagree about liability and time lines. Workers from out-of-state add to the confusion as do the politicians' sweeping statements. Most of the action of the novel takes place at the Pelican Motel where a disparate group of people have gathered. Will they get a second chance at a happy ending? Will the wealthy matron in the northeast who has links with this motel survive her stalker? And what is her secret? The collection of short stories continues the theme of 'second chances'. Will the wedding at the lake mend the past? Was the one-night stand worth it? Was the drowning an accident or a wrong righted? What would you do if you had a second chance?
It’s not easy being different – especially when you are one of thousands in a hive. Manuka knows as a worker bee, she’s only supposed to do her job and not ask questions. But her head is so full of ideas that could improve life in the hive that sometimes they just pop out of her mouth. Typically, this gets her in trouble – especially when she starts to question why bees in her hive are getting sick. As Manuka and her friend Cotton get closer to the answer, they cross Acacia, the Queen Bee’s Chief Attendant. Acacia banishes them to the outside world, where they are forced to fend for themselves. Although dangerous, this world also offers hope. Manuka finds new friends – including a fierce but friendly bumblebee, a lovesick male bee, and a fast-talking hummingbird – and learns of a Sacred Tree that may hold the cure for what ails the hive. However, Manuka must face Acacia once again – and Acacia has more than one deadly secret that could mean the end of everyone and everything that Manuka loves. Queen Bee is a celebration of the power of individuals and ideas. It is also a story about how finding your destiny can be the same as finding yourself
British Columbia is blessed with spectacular beauty and diversity, from its coastal shores and temperate rainforests to the Rocky Mountains, from its southern deserts to the northern sub-Arctic tundra. This book will take you on a wondrous and extensive journey through British Columbia in all its seasons, divulging not only its varied landscapes, but displaying some of the abundantly rich nuances of plant and animal life, many existing nowhere else in Canada. The book will showcase rarely seen wildflowers, berries ready for the picking, as well as mushrooms, lichens, mosses, and ferns all fighting for light on the forest floors. It will unveil unique wildlife behaviour, colourfully painted insects, pesky rodents, stunning birdlife (and their lovably whimsical offspring), and a profusion of majestic land and marine mammals. Images of Vancouver and Victoria, as well as abandoned relics from the past returning to nature all complement British Columbia’s natural beauty, becoming essential to the inherent mosaic that defines this province. With its varied and wondrous landscapes, graced by its diversity of flora and fauna, British Columbia is arguably one of the most unique gems of this planet, all the while shouting out for its preservation.
Something deadly lurks at the bottom of Wounded Horse Lake. County department of natural resources biologist Jack Burrows and his best friend Hank Klein are blissfully unaware of the danger as they set out to do an exploratory dive into the otherwise pristine body of water one weekend. A few minutes into the dive, the two friends spot something strange on the bottom. Hank goes in closer to investigate. Moments later, Jack sees his buddy rocketing toward the surface. He realizes right away that something has gone seriously wrong with the experienced scuba diver. A rapid ascent from such a depth can lead to decompression sickness (a.k.a. “the bends”) or even death. Struggling to come to terms with the accident, Jack launches an investigation into what he and Hank saw down there and who might be responsible. Little does he realize where that investigation will lead. Like the tiny mountain lake itself, he comes to see that deadly secrets are lurking just beneath the surface—of his family as well as the otherwise idyllic community of Montville, where he lives. With the fate of so many resting in his hands, Jack must decide between perpetuating a terrible cover-up or revealing the truth and putting the future of his family and his entire community in peril.
