Staff Picks
At FriesenPress, we celebrate each and every book we help our authors publish. Here are some of our team’s recent favourites – happy reading!
City in Mourning
Victoria's Point Ellice Bridge Disaster by
Robert James Clark
On May 26, 1896, in Victoria, British Columbia, hundreds of residents and visitors headed out to a grand military display, the culmination of days of celebration surrounding Queen Victoria’s birthday. As a packed electric streetcar crossed the Point Ellice Bridge, passengers heard a loud crack and felt a sharp jolt. A moment later, the car, its occupants and the entire span of the bridge crashed into the water below, resulting in fifty-six deaths and overwhelming the city with grief. Who was to blame? The province, which had built the bridge? The tramway company, which had dangerously overloaded it? Or the city, which had failed to maintain it? The legal wrangling would drag on for years, while a political battle played out over plans for the bridge’s replacement. In City in Mourning: Victoria’s Point Ellice Bridge Disaster, Robert James Clark delivers a gripping investigation of North America’s deadliest streetcar accident. Through meticulous research, he explores the disaster’s repercussions, the political and social tensions of the era, and the poignant stories of those who lived—and died—on that fateful day.
Vanishing Voices
A Crystal Coast Mystery by
Melissa Collins Harrell
Some secrets do come back from the grave. When Amelia Jackson returns to Swansboro, North Carolina, after studying overseas, she expects her work at the local museum to be a quiet opportunity to preserve the memories of the town’s oldest residents. Instead, the oral history project uncovers forgotten family histories, hidden journals, and secrets that powerful people have spent decades hiding. As Amelia listens to the residents’ memories, she learns the troubling story of the mysterious death of a young woman in 1945. When another young woman is found dead by the waterfront, Amelia realizes that the past and present are connected. She embarks on a journey to solve the mystery, recruiting not only some of the town’s most animated living residents, but a few delightful spirits of women from the past as well. Melissa Collins Harrell weaves together mystery, history, and a touch of the supernatural in Vanishing Voices: A Crystal Coast Mystery. Intriguing to teen and adult readers alike, the novel explores whose stories are preserved, whose are erased, and how justice can reach through the centuries to bring resolution and peace to the souls of the departed.
On Acting ... and Life
A New Look at an Old Craft by
William B. Davis
Dozens of books on acting exist, but none of them are quite like this. On Acting and Life provides both insightful acting advice and the memoir of an acclaimed actor of both stage and screen. Modelled after Stephen King’s bestseller, On Writing, the book is divided into two parts. Part one takes readers on a seventy-year journey that begins with William B. Davis, at age twelve, riding his bicycle through the streets of Toronto to his first acting classes, and eventually leads to him starring in the long-running television series, The X-Files. From a summer theatre in Ontario to the National Theatre of Great Britain to the National Theatre School of Canada to the William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study in Vancouver, few have achieved such a colourful journey. Along the way, Davis met all sorts of familiar faces, including Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Albert Finney, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson, among others. Although there is a lot about acting in part one, the heart of the book for an aspiring or working actor is in part two. What has Davis learned in seventy years of working both in the theatre and in film and television? A lot, as you will see. Davis’ grasp of the art of acting is vast and practical. And in some ways, original. In his final chapter, Davis explores the underlying philosophy of acting and actor training and argues for bringing the work in to the twenty-first century.
Tiny Toad Goes Home
by
Lawrence Litzgus
When Benjamin finds a tiny toad in the forest near his house, he falls in love with it right away. It would make the perfect pet! Benjamin takes the toad home and sets it up in an old fish tank, with all the fresh water and bugs it needs. But no matter what Benjamin does, the tiny toad won’t eat. How can Benjamin make his tiny friend happy? Will it ever feel comfortable in its new home? Tiny Toad Goes Home is a beautiful story that tugs on your heartstrings but ultimately leaves you feeling good. It teaches children about environmental responsibility and respect, stewardship of nature, and how to have empathy for creatures that are very different from ourselves. The world needs more kindness, especially directed toward nature's vulnerable creatures, and Benjamin's story reminds us that, at the end of the day, one's love for nature's creatures is sometimes best shared from afar.
The Silver Princess
by
Kiara Kiddle
On Halloween night, Amelia’s biggest worry is finding the perfect costume. By dawn, she’ll be fighting for her life. For eighteen-year-old Amelia, the annual Halloween party is a chance to escape reality with her closest friends. But when a night of dressing up takes a shocking turn, she discovers the truth she never saw coming. She is not human. She is an Elven princess, the prophesied ruler of Ostrya, a realm under siege by the dark lord Taldinyon. Thrust through a portal into a war-torn medieval world, Amelia must embrace a power she doesn’t understand, a rare and destructive silver flame magic tied to her destiny. Alongside her friends, the loyal Cameron, charming Wyatt, steadfast Oliver, and protective Elias, she journeys through decimated villages and ancient forests, fighting to save a kingdom that believes she is its only hope. But survival demands sacrifice. As Amelia grapples with her new identity and her new emerging feelings threatening her relationships and friendships, a bounty is placed on her head. With enemies closing in and betrayal lurking where she least expects it, Amelia will lose people she loves and be forced to make choices that could shatter her world. The Silver Princess is the first book in the Silver Flame Saga, a captivating fantasy romance where one woman must lose everything to discover who she is truly meant to be.
It’s Scratchy, It’s Catchy, and I Just Don’t Like It
by
Steph Mulley
Mollie has her heart set on the perfect sweater—it has all the colours of the rainbow, a heart, and even a bunny. She just has to have it! But when Grandma knits her one instead, things don’t go quite as planned. It’s colourful, it’s one of a kind, and it just might unravel more than Mollie expected. Is this the worst sweater ever…or the most wonderful one of all?
Songbirds Keep Singing
A Memoir of Healing from Autoimmune Brain Inflammation by
Lisa Lauter
In 2017, forty-five-year-old Lisa Lauter experienced mysterious neurological symptoms. For months, she didn’t feel like herself and doctors had no answers. A mother of three preteen boys, Lisa had many reasons to explain away her odd symptoms. In her situation, what parent wouldn’t be tired, forgetful, and sleep-deprived? But that didn’t explain the weakness in her left side, the tingling feeling, and numbness. It didn’t explain why, on a relaxing summer day, Lisa had her first tonic-clonic seizure. Songbirds Keep Singing: A Memoir of Healing from Autoimmune Brain Inflammation blends personal accounts, research, and the author’s public health background as she searches for answers following her first seizure. Using her experience as both a survivor and nurse, Lisa explores the value of applying holistic concepts such as mindset, nutrition, exercise, gut health, hormones, and the environment alongside conventional medicine treatments to recover from a rare autoimmune disease. This book is a valuable resource for anyone navigating a complicated diagnosis who is curious about taking a multi-targeted approach to healing autoimmune inflammation comprehensively. Empowering and informative, Songbirds Keep Singing is a must read for people with brain injuries and autoimmune diseases, caregivers and health care professionals. It offers a roadmap to robust health for anyone seeking to balance their immune system and improve brain health.
What Did You Say?
A book about Central Auditory Processing Disorder by
Jennifer M. Burke
The words people say to you take a longer trip than you’d think! Every step of the way—from their brain to their tongue, from their tongue to your ears, from your ears to your brain—things can get scrambled or misunderstood. And the different ways our brains are built can make it harder to understand what people are saying, even after the words have come all that way. My name’s Emma, and I have Central Auditory Processing Disorder. (I’ll explain what those words mean inside this book!) Having CAPD means that even when I can hear somebody, it can be hard for me to sort out the words in my head to figure out what they mean. Sometimes, the sounds end up in the wrong order! That can be funny, but really confusing, too. Thankfully, there are things we can do to help when words are getting mixed up between my brain and your brain. Come join me inside this book to learn about how we understand each other and how we misunderstand each other (And take a look at some funny mix-ups along the way)!
For Maria
by
Lenore MacAdam
Alex Halliday, a Crown prosecutor, is having coffee with her father on a beautiful autumn day in Cork Bay, Ontario. When he is gunned down in front of her, the killer says only two words, “For Maria.” Already devastated by her father’s murder, Alex faces another shock – he may not have been the person she thought he was. Reeling from confusion, grief and anger, Alex is forced to question everything. She puts herself, and her friends, in danger as they try to find answers, delving into government corruption, gang wars and a decades-old secret that Cork Bay has never fully buried. For Maria is a sharp, funny, deeply felt debut about the lies small towns tell to survive — and a daughter brave enough to find out the truth about her father.
River Reflects Earth
by
Anne M. Smith-Nochasak
Why did we trust Alexa King? Narrator and chronicler Luke has been asking herself this a lot lately. Maybe it’s because the farther River and her companions travel, the more they learn how dangerous the Elect can be. Luke has so many questions, too many. Has Alexa underestimated the Emissary’s powers? Will twelve-year-old River be strong enough to resist him? Is Flo safe or one of the enslaved elderly? How will they win with no armour, no weapons, and dwindling numbers? And how does Luke fit into a revolution that doesn’t seem to want her? In the final installment of the Taggak Journey trilogy, while rebel grandmother Flo serves the revolution at home, River and her supporters prepare for the Last Battle. In the wilderness, they persevere through the elements, reunite with old friends and loved ones, and fight not only for the good of humanity, but the sake of the earth. River grows into her role in the resistance, even as she grieves all she’s lost. She lives as her father taught her: And when your arms are too tired to paddle, reach again one more time. And one more time. She is a paddler who will always reach one more time in the stormiest waters. But will this be enough in the Last Battle?