Dundurn Press

The Chinese have become a vibrant part of Toronto’s multiculturalism, with no less than seven Chinatowns created since 1984.

Short-listed for the 2013 Speaker’s Book Award and for the 2012 Heritage Toronto Award

The modest beginnings of the Chinese in Toronto and the development of Chinatown is largely due to the completion of the CPR in 1885. No longer requiring the services of the Chinese labourers, a hostile British Columbia sent them eastward in search of employment and a more welcoming place.

In 1894 Toronto’s Chinese population numbered fifty. Today, no less than seven Chinatowns serve what has become the second-largest visible minority in the city, with a population of half a million. In these pages, you will find their stories told through historical accounts, archival and present-day photographs, newspaper clippings, and narratives from old-timers and newcomers. With achievements spanning all walks of life, the Chinese in Toronto are no longer looking in from outside society’s circle. Their lives are a vibrant part of the diverse mosaic that makes Toronto one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

Discover the scrapyard statue planned for University Avenue, the flapper-era "CN Tower" that led to a decade of litigation, and an electric light-rail transit network proposed in 1915.

Winner of the 2012 Heritage Toronto Award of Merit

Quill & Quire cited Unbuilt Toronto as a book filled with "well-researched, often gripping tales of grand plans," while Canadian Architect said that it is "an impressively researched exploration of never-realized architectural and master-planning projects intended for the city." Now Unbuilt Toronto 2 provides an all-new, fascinating return to the "Toronto that might have been."

Discover the scrapyard statue planned for University Avenue, the flapper-era "CN Tower" that led to a decade of litigation, and an electric light-rail transit network proposed in 1915. What would Toronto look like today if it had hosted the Olympics in 1996 or 1976? And what was the downtown expressway that Frederick Gardiner really wanted?

With over 150 photographs, maps, and illustrations, Unbuilt Toronto 2 tracks the origins and fates of some of the city’s most interesting planning, transit, and architectural "what-ifs."

After saving her dog, Robin begins rescuing wild animals and she’s soon running an illegal animal shelter.

Short-listed for the 2012 CLA Book of the Year for Children Award and for the 2012 IODE Violet Downey Book Award

Twelve-year-old Robin will never get over her mother’s death. Nor will she forgive her father for moving the family to a small town to live with a weird grandmother. At her new school Robin is laughingly called "Green Girl" and is taunted relentlessly because of an award she received. She decides not to care about anyone or anything. But when her pregnant dog plunges into the frozen lake, she saves the dog and hence the puppies.

Robin finds she can’t stop herself from caring. She begins rescuing wild animals and rehabilitates them in the barn. Robin’s father forbids her to take in more, but she rescues some skunks, anyway, and hides them. Other animals arrive, and soon she’s running an illegal animal shelter. When she’s found out, Robin mounts a campaign to save her shelter. Will she have the courage to stand against the whole town?

The Canadian National Exhibition grounds are so richly steeped in history that there are spirits that dwell there who like to come out and play and work.

When one thinks of Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition, memories of bright lights, cotton candy, the rush of people, and the excitement of rides spring to mind. But when the lights go down and the people head home, the fairground takes on a life of its own. The spirits that dwell there from the exhibition’s long history come out to play and work, even to scare the occasional employee.

The grounds and buildings of the CNE are so richly steeped in history that they are a magnificent storehouse of energy. This area has been in continuous use since before the 18th century, starting with Fort Rouille in 1750 and Fort York in 1793. From murders to accidents, it is no surprise that Exhibition Place is haunted. There are many reasons for spirits to dwell in that site, but it may be the joy and excitement that tempts them to linger. These spirits carried the pride and accomplishment of being part of something grand, something that will live on beyond them. That’s the true spirit of the Canadian National Exhibition.

Follow George Fetherling as he travels through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia looking for any remaining traces of the Indochina that was.

In Indochina Now and Then, George Fetherling recounts multiple journeys through Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, keeping an eye peeled and an ear cocked for whatever faint traces of French rule might remain. While doing so he searches diligently in village markets, curio shops, and rubbish bins, not to mention bookstalls along the Seine in Paris, for early picture postcards of Southeast Asia, the sort that native Frenchmen and Frenchwomen sent home to Europe.

The book is illustrated with 60 such images, most of them taken before the First World War. They evoke vanished ways of life in these exotic "lands of charm and cruelty" that have survived the wars and turmoil of the late 20th century to emerge, smiling enigmatically, as the friendly face of free-market socialism. In its prose and pictures, Indochina Now and Then is a travel narrative that will leave an indelible impression in the reader’s imagination.

Canadians line the overpasses of the Highway of Heroes to show their support, grief, and pride in our fallen champions.

The first four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan were repatriated at Canadas largest military base in 2002. The fallen soldiers were driven down the 172-kilometre stretch of highway between Trenton and Toronto, and pedestrians lined the overpasses, hoping to make a connection with the grieving families. The support these people show isnt political; its not a movement for or against Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Its always been a grassroots movement about showing respect for our fallen champions. People young and old, emergency services workers, Canadian Legion members, military personnel, friends of the fallen, and family of fallen soldiers stand atop each bridge along the highway in the blistering heat or bone-chilling cold. After five years of this display of patriotism, the Highway of Heroes was officially named in the summer of 2007 and has been a gleaming example of a nation’s grief and its pride.

On the last day of the Second World War, Frank and Russ fought each other. In the days after, they became friends.

This is the remarkable tale of a long-forgotten letter. It was written from Germany in the aftermath of the Second World War to a Canadian in a peaceful Southern Ontario town. Both had been soldiers and had met on a German battlefield. The letter lay unseen for years and was found by the Canadian’s son long after the old soldier’s death. This book tells how that faded letter led to the discovery of the one-time German paratrooper who became his father’s friend in the immediate aftermath of the war.

A Letter from Frank is part war story and part biography, following the lives of Russ Colombo, the Canadian soldier, and Frank Sikora, the German paratrooper. One grew up during the Depression in Ontario, the other was a German in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. This non-fiction narrative also chronicles author Stephen J. Colombo’s struggle to come to terms with a father haunted by the war. Their recollections provide insights into the events that shaped the generations that forged a modern Canada and rebuilt Germany after its near-total devastation. In a surprising twist, this book also provides previously unknown historical details of later NHL president Clarence Campbell at war (Campbell was Russ Colombo’s commanding officer).

During the American Revolution and the border conflicts that followed, Simon Girty’s name struck terror into the hearts of U.S. settlers in the Ohio Valley and the territory of Kentucky. Girty (1741-1818) had lived with the Natives most of his life. Scorned by his fellow white frontiersmen as an "Indian lover," Girty became an Indian agent for the British. He accompanied Native raids against Americans, spied deep into enemy territory, and was influential in convincing the tribes to fight for the British.

The Americans declared Girty an outlaw. In U.S. history books he is a villain even worse than Benedict Arnold. Yet in Canada, Girty is regarded as a Loyalist hero, and a historic plaque marks the site of his homestead on the Ontario side of the Detroit River.

In Native history, Girty stands out as one of the few white men who championed their cause against American expansion. But was he truly the "White Savage" of legend, or a hero whose story was twisted by his foes?

More than ever before boys need guidance, and this book will guide parents on all subjects, such as bullying, discipline, and homework.

From video games to the Internet, technology and popular culture are having a profound effect on today’s boys. Boys need guidance more than ever. But how can we help them do better in school? How can we keep the lines of communication open?

Raising Boys in a New Kind of World is a passionate call for greater empathy. The more we know about boys, the more realistic our expectations of them will be. We need to stop seeing normal boy behaviour as a problem and learn to understand a boy’s need for movement, his unique learning styles, and his personal methods of communicating.

Michael Reist writes from the front lines. As a classroom teacher for more than 30 years and the father of three boys, he has seen first-hand the effects that changes in modern culture are having on boys. Raising Boys in a New Kind of World is an inspiring and entertaining collection of positive, practical advice on many topics, including discipline, homework, video games, and bullying, and provides numerous tips on how to communicate with boys.

Short-listed for the 2011 Saskatchewan Book Awards: Children’s Literature Award and Regina Book Award

Who is the girl staring out of the old photograph? Every time Alyssa Dixon looks at it, even by accident, she finds herself on an Iowa farm in 1931. The past is nothing like Alyssas unhappy life her mother severely depressed after the stillbirth of Alyssas baby sister; escalating bullying by Brooklynne, a popular girl; and a teacher who is unsympathetic toward Alyssas familys pacifist beliefs.

Why cant Alyssa live in the past with her new friend, Deborah? Yet Alyssa is always pulled back to the present, where things only get worse. Maybe the farm isnt so idyllic, though. Deborahs mother is ill with a difficult pregnancy, and theres so much work. A series of old family photos shows Alyssa unsettling things about Deborahs family things Deborah seems not to know. Can Alyssa help the baby be born safely, and at the same time work through the overwhelming problems at home?

Here is one of the most unique and fascinating food histories in the world, exploring the diverse culinary history of Canada.

Winner of the 2007 Canadian Culinary Book Award for Canadian Food Culture

In Canadians at Table we learn about lessons of survival from the First Nations, the foods that fuelled fur traders, and the adaptability of early settlers to their new environment. As communities developed and transportation improved, waves of newcomers arrived, bringing memories of foods, beverages, and traditions they had known, which were almost impossible to implement in their new homeland. They discovered instead how to use native plants for many of their needs. Community events and institutions developed to serve religious, social, and economic needs from agricultural and temperance societies to Womens Institutes, from markets and fairs to community meals and celebrations.

Gavin Hamilton’s research shows that a toxin found in natural rubber might well have been the culprit in the 43 babies’ deaths at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children in 1980–81.

In 1980-81, 43 babies died at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children from a supposed digoxin overdose. Serial murder was suspected, leading to the arrest of nurse Susan Nelles. In order to clear Nelles’s name, an investigation was launched to find an alternate explanation.

No one on the Grange Royal Commission of Inquiry had expertise in diagnosis. The post-mortem diagnosis of digoxin poisoning was based on a single biochemical test without knowledge of the normal values. Gavin Hamilton’s extensive research shows that a toxin found in natural rubber, a digoxin-like substance, might well have been the culprit in the babies’ deaths. He clearly demonstrates that explanations other than serial murder account for the cluster of infant deaths at HSC.

What can be learned from this black stain on Canada’s judicial system? One lesson certainly stands out: we can’t ever again allow a group of unqualified amateur diagnosticians make life-and-death decisions about such important matters as potential serial murders.

Discover the main features of Emancipation Day celebrations, learn about the people of African ancestry’s struggle for freedom, and the victories achieved in the push for equality into the 21st century.

On August 1, 1834, 800,000 enslaved Africans in the British colonies, including Canada, were declared free. The story of Emancipation Day, a little-known part of Canadian history, has never been accessible to the teen reader through either the school curriculum or classroom resources, despite its significance in the story of Canada. Talking About Freedom closes this gap by exploring both the background to August 1 commemorations across Canada and the importance of these long-established annual celebrations.

What is the connection between the Caribana festivities in Toronto and emancipation? Why are some communities restoring Emancipation Day to their roster of annual events? Talking About Freedom introduces a range of personalities and happenings through historical facts, memorable personal recollections, vivid images, and detailed narratives. Included are connections to the ongoing struggles of people of African ancestry as they seek to achieve equality, with insightful links woven across the past, present, and future.

Paddles Up! provides an in-depth look at dragon boating from its beginnings in ancient China to the modern-day prominence of Canadian teams on the international scene, as told in the words of top coaches of men's and women's teams, experts and enthusiasts, and sports health professionals across Canada. Contributing writers include Mike Haslam, executive president International Dragon Boat Federation; Matthew Smith, president Dragon Boat Canada; Kamini Jain, Vancouver; Albert MacDonald, Halifax; Jamie Hollins, Pickering; Matt Robert, Montreal; and Jim Farintosh, Toronto. Through legends, history, and traditions, to paddling tips and mental readiness, and from choosing gear to exceptional achievements, a battery of Canadian dragon-boat notables share their considerable knowledge in one authoritative volume.

By every principle of war, every shred of military logic, logistics support to Canada's Task Force Orion in Afghanistan should have collapsed in July 2006. There are few countries that offer a greater challenge to logistics than Afghanistan, and yet Canadian soldiers lived through an enormous test on this deadly international stage - a monumental accomplishment. Canadian combat operations were widespread across southern Afghanistan in 2006, and logistics soldiers worked in quiet desperation to keep the battle group moving. Only now is it appreciated how precarious the logistics operations of Task Force Orion in Kandahar really were.

What the Thunder Said is an honest, raw recollection of incidents and impressions of Canadian warfighting from a logistics perspective. It offers solid insight into the history of military logistics in Canada and explores in some detail the dramatic erosion of a once-proud corner of the army from the perspective of a battalion commander.

Folktale, memoir, fiction, literary hoax, The Yellow Briar is all of these. Ostensibly the charming remembrance of an Irish orphan who escapes the Great Famine of 1840s Ireland and comes to the New World to seek a fresh start on the streets of Toronto and in the pioneer hinterland of Canada West (Ontario), the book was actually a fictional humbug perpetrated by John Mitchell, a Toronto lawyer, who first published the tale in 1933.

Patrick Slater, the protagonist of the "memoir," is said to have died in 1924 but not before setting his saga down on paper. And what an account it is! The Globe and Mail felt that the book "gives a picture of Ontario to be found in no other work of fiction we know and has won for itself a permanent place in Canadian literature." If nothing else, Slater/Mitchell captures perfectly the lilt of the Irish and the wry wisdom of an old soul to paint an affecting portrait of trials and tribulations in a long-ago time.

What’s in a name? Personal misfortune, or so it would appear if your name happens to be "Flam Grub." This touching contemporary novel shows how our lives are entwined with our names and how our destinies are never certain.

Full of humour and sadness, quirky wit, and quiet moments of beauty, Flam Grub tells the tale of a young man’s misadventures and his retreat to the security of reading books, work in a bookstore, and a career as an undertaker until fame unexpectedly comes his way.

Both an endearing tale and a shrewd send-up of contemporary life, Flam Grub is the second book from the rich imagination and skillful pen of new Canadian author Dan Dowhal.

In an age when "survival" shows permeate the media, noted northern traveller Hap Wilson shares accounts of his lifelong involvement with wilderness living within the Canadian Shield. Wilson knows better than most how to live in the woods. As park ranger, canoe guide, outfitter, trail builder, and environmental activist, he learned from firsthand experience that nature can neither be beaten or tamed.

Trails and Tribulations takes the reader on a journey with the author through natural settings ranging from austere to mysterious and breathtaking. Contents include animal attacks, bush fires, the threat of hypothermia, and vision-quest sites, to name but a few.