River City

On the night of the Rocket Richard Riot in 1955, the legendary Cartier Dagger is stolen from Montreal’s Sun Life Building. Many believe the dagger gives whoever possesses it mystical powers, and its journey through history is as spectacular as it is bloodstained. The same night, a police informer is found murdered in a nearby park with a dagger wound to his heart. But who murdered him, and why? Thirteen years later, Pierre Elliott Trudeau is prime minister, and the separatist movement is gaining momentum in Quebec. The case is still unsolved, and a young constable named Émile Cinq-Mars is asked to investigate. Suspenseful and labyrinthine, River City is at once a prequel to John Farrow’s bestselling novels City of Ice and Ice Lake, a panoramic window onto a city’s storied past, and a brilliant novel of politics, greed, murder and myth.

Brockville’s origins reach back to the resettlement of Loyalists following the American Revolution and the threat of American encroachment. Following the War of 1812, Brockville, along the St. Lawrence River, benefitted greatly from the rapidly expanding colonization. A centre for the political activity of the day and a focal point for the Orange movement, Brockville was often immersed in controversy. The end of the 19th century was the golden age of patent medicine business and Brockville was home to two of the most successful, the W. H. Comstock Company and the G. T. Fulford Company. "Pink Pills for Pale People" were sold worldwide. Today, Brockville retains the charm of its heritage mansions and is home to a number of prominent industries.

A New York Times Notable Book Winner of the Kiriyama Book Prize In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society. Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.

An original look at a city's development through the eyes and words of real children who have lived there. Kidmonton: True Stories of River City Kids is a lively illustrated book for young readers that relates the city's history entirely from the point of view of real children over time. Using the techniques of fiction to bring true stories to life, the book embraces all of Edmonton's children: aboriginal, immigrant, inner-city and suburban, challenged and privileged, born in Edmonton and recently arrived. A timeline, glossary, and suggestions for more reading and city exploring are also included. This chapter book has been written specifically for eight and nine year-olds who often encounter Alberta's history for the first time in Grade Four. Full of fresh, vivid writing—and humour—it will be a pleasure to read in the classroom or at home. Kidmonton tells the city's story to its youngest citizens in a bold, new way. Please visit www.courageouskids.ca for more information on the whole Courageous Kids series.

In this powerful story from Christine Baldacchino, author of Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, a young girl navigates social anxiety at family gatherings and works with her father to find a solution. Violet Shrink doesn’t like parties. Or bashes, or gatherings. Lots of people and lots of noise make Violet’s tummy ache and her hands sweat. She would much rather spend time on her own, watching the birds in her backyard, reading comics or listening to music through her purple headphones. The problem is that the whole Shrink family loves parties with loud music and games and dancing. At cousin Char’s birthday party, Violet hides under a table and imagines she is a shark gliding effortlessly through the water, looking for food. And at Auntie Marlene and Uncle Leli’s anniversary bash, Violet sits alone at the top of the stairs, imagining she is a slithering snake way up in the branches. When Violet learns that the Shrink family reunion is fast approaching, she finally musters up the courage to have a talk with her dad. In this thoughtful story about understanding and acceptance, Christine Baldacchino’s warm text demonstrates the role imagination often plays for children dealing with anxiety, and the power of a child expressing their feelings to a parent who is there to listen. Carmen Mok’s charming illustrations perfectly capture Violet’s emotions and the vibrancy of her imagination. A valuable contribution to books addressing mental health. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Often referred to as “the Big Tomato,” Sacramento is a city whose makeup is significantly more complex than its agriculture-based sobriquet implies. In River City and Valley Life, seventeen contributors reveal the major transformations to the natural and built environment that have shaped Sacramento and its suburbs, residents, politics, and economics throughout its history. The site that would become Sacramento was settled in 1839, when Johann Augustus Sutter attempted to convert his Mexican land grant into New Helvetia (or “New Switzerland”). It was at Sutter’s sawmill fifty miles to the east that gold was first discovered, leading to the California Gold Rush of 1849. Nearly overnight, Sacramento became a boomtown, and cityhood followed in 1850. Ideally situated at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers, the city was connected by waterway to San Francisco and the surrounding region. Combined with the area’s warm and sunny climate, the rivers provided the necessary water supply for agriculture to flourish. The devastation wrought by floods and cholera, however, took a huge toll on early populations and led to the construction of an extensive levee system that raised the downtown street level to combat flooding. Great fortune came when local entrepreneurs built the Central Pacific Railroad, and in 1869 it connected with the Union Pacific Railroad to form the first transcontinental passage. Sacramento soon became an industrial hub and major food-processing center. By 1879, it was named the state capital and seat of government. In the twentieth century, the Sacramento area benefitted from the federal government’s major investment in the construction and operation of three military bases and other regional public works projects. Rapid suburbanization followed along with the building of highways, bridges, schools, parks, hydroelectric dams, and the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant, which activists would later shut down. Today, several tribal gaming resorts attract patrons to the area, while “Old Sacramento” revitalizes the original downtown as it celebrates Sacramento’s pioneering past. This environmental history of Sacramento provides a compelling case study of urban and suburban development in California and the American West. As the contributors show, Sacramento has seen its landscape both ravaged and reborn. As blighted areas, rail yards, and riverfronts have been reclaimed, and parks and green spaces created and expanded, Sacramento’s identity continues to evolve. As it moves beyond its Gold Rush, Transcontinental Railroad, and government-town heritage, Sacramento remains a city and region deeply rooted in its natural environment.

Experience Calgary's history through the story of its "other" river. In this revised and updated edition, John Gilpin delivers the definitive history of the Elbow River and the vital role it has always played in the lives of Calgarians. Drawing upon a rich archive of historical documents, photos, and maps, Gilpin takes readers on a sweeping journey through Calgary's past, from the founding of Fort Calgary to the creation of the Glenmore Reservoir, which unlocked the city's potential for growth. Along the way, you'll meet many of the mavericks who shaped the Calgary we know today, and you'll discover the Elbow's outsized role in the city’s growth. The Elbow River was the axis of Calgary's early development, and the battleground for its early feuds. Gilpin concludes by bringing the floods of 2013 into historical context, reminding us that Calgary has always had a complicated relationship with the Elbow as both a benefactor and a threat.

Cities have been built alongside rivers throughout history--shaping the development of urban landscapes and altering ecologies. Yet we have rarely given these urban landscapes their due. River Cities, City Rivers explores how such histories have shaped the present and how they might inform our visions of the future.