FINALIST FOR TORONTO BOOK AWARDS

The inside story of the grassroots fight to have a suicide barrier erected on Toronto’s “bridge of death.”

Most Torontonians have no idea their city once hosted the second most popular suicide magnet in North America, behind the Golden Gate Bridge. Since its completion in 1918, more than four hundred people jumped to their death from the Bloor Viaduct, which spans the cavernous Don Valley.

That number might still be rising if not for the tireless efforts of a group of volunteers, led by two citizens, who fought City Hall for years to get a suicide barrier erected. Not only did they win, they saved numerous lives and brought to light valuable research on how barriers actually lower suicide numbers overall. The resulting barrier — The Luminous Veil — has been praised for its ingenious and inspiring design.

The Suicide Magnet tells how the battle was won, and explores the ongoing efforts to help those suffering from mental health challenges.

After years working in homicide, retired Toronto detective Steve Ryan reflects on six cases he will never forget.

Retired detective Steve Ryan worked in Toronto’s homicide squad for over a decade. For Ryan, the stories of Toronto’s most infamous crimes were more than just a headline read over morning coffee — they were his everyday life.

After investigating over one hundred homicides, Ryan can never forget the tragedies and the victims, even after his retirement from the police force. In The Ghosts That Haunt Me, he reflects on six of the many cases that greatly impacted him — seven people whose lives were senselessly taken — and that he still thinks about nearly every day. While the stories are hard to tell for Ryan, they were harder to live through. Yet somewhere between the crimes and the heartache is a glimmer of hope that good eventually does prevail and that healing can come after grief.

Although many adults believe they have had encounters with strange creatures from alien spaceships, not everyone has actually reported their experiences to official investigators. But if you're a young person it's even less likely that people will believe you and more likely that your story will never be officially recorded. After all, who would believe a kid?

I Saw It Too! is the first collection of stories told by children, documenting what they saw and when they saw it. These accounts are real cases of UFOs they've seen or alien creatures they've encountered that were reported to government or military officials, UFO investigators, and journalists.

Inside you will find eighteen of these strange, fascinating, and believable tales recounted by young people from around the world with story illustrations by Stacey Archer with Lonigan Gilbert. The truth is really out there, and renowned ufologist Chris Rutkowski has tracked it down!

McGuinty brandit une torche, il éclaire la voie pour les politiciens qui luttent pour être de « belles âmes ».

La politique ressemble parfois à une traversée maritime périlleuse. Ballottés par la tempête, les politiciens peuvent perdre de vue les étoiles qui les guident. Ils peuvent perdre leur chemin. Ils peuvent se perdre eux-mêmes. Ils peuvent faire et dire des choses qui trahissent leur responsabilité fondamentale : donner le meilleur d’eux-mêmes à celles et ceux qu’ils représentent.

Dans Sois une belle âme, Dalton McGuinty incite les dirigeants à demeurer fidèles à eux-mêmes et à celles et ceux qu’ils ont le privilège de servir, même dans des contextes difficiles. Leader chevronné ayant passé plus de deux décennies dans l’arène politique, McGuinty a habilement rassemblé une collection de citations qui remontent à plusieurs siècles, et qu’il accompagne de conseils mesurés. Cet ouvrage est une boussole pour toutes les politiciennes et pour quiconque aspire à diriger avec intégrité.

Life changes dramatically for suffragette Anne Brown after her husband’s assassination.

In the spring of 1880, wealthy politician and Globe and Mail editor George Brown was at the height of his career when he was shot by a disgruntled poet who worked in the newspaper’s boiler room. Brown left an undeniable legacy as founder of the modern Liberal party, fierce abolitionist, industrialist, and preeminent Father of Confederation. Yet he was not without his flaws: Brown infamously disliked the Irish and arrogantly declared that women should not vote.

In this deeply imagined work of historical fiction, narrated through the perspective of characters most impacted by his formidable presence, readers witness the struggle of a motherless Irish domestic in fear and awe of Brown; his wife, Anne, a suffragette who is caught between devotion and defiance of her husband’s authority; and the world-weary poet who seethes with resentment, harbouring notions of revenge.

Immersive, epic and emotionally moving, Unto the Day is an intelligent, captivating literary feat.