Gr 12 ISU NOVEL SUGGESTIONS for SPECIALIST HIGH SKILLS MAJORS (RCSS)

Please note – this list only contains novels suitable for 4U English (literary novels), currently available at RCSS, for the 9 SHSM Majors offered at RCSS.

All novels will be found in the fiction section, sorted by the author’s last name (FIC ABC – where ABC is the first 3 letters of the author’s last name; i.e. Margaret Atwood would be ATW).

Non-fiction titles have the Dewey Decimal number listed.

Table of Contents

1. Arts & Culture.........................................................................................................................1Film/Movies/Television..........................................................................................................1

Performing Arts - Music/Dance/Theatre................................................................................1

Visual Arts.............................................................................................................................. 1

Portrait of the Artist.........................................................................................................1

Writers & Writing...................................................................................................................2

Pop Culture.............................................................................................................................2

Cultural Groups/Regions........................................................................................................2

Africa................................................................................................................................2

Asia...................................................................................................................................2

Chinese........................................................................................................................ 2

Indian...........................................................................................................................2

Japanese...................................................................................................................... 2

Middle East.................................................................................................................. 3

Central/South America.....................................................................................................3

Europe..............................................................................................................................3

North America – specific regions/groups.........................................................................3

Mennonite................................................................................................................... 3

Native Americans/Canadians.......................................................................................3

2. Business..................................................................................................................................43. Energy.................................................................................................................................... 4

Off the Grid.............................................................................................................................4

4. Health & Wellness.................................................................................................................4Sports/Athletes/Recreation – see Sports SHSM.....................................................................4

Last updated: May 2013

Mental/Psychological Health..................................................................................................4

Abuse/Bullying/Racism.....................................................................................................5

Depression/Suicide...........................................................................................................5

Disease/Disability/Syndromes................................................................................................6

Addiction/Alcoholism.......................................................................................................6

Doctors/Medicine...................................................................................................................6

Trauma/Accidents..................................................................................................................6

Geriatrics................................................................................................................................7

Miscellaneous.........................................................................................................................7

5. Horticulture & Landscaping....................................................................................................7Agriculture..............................................................................................................................7

6. Hospitality & Tourism.............................................................................................................8Restaurants/Food...................................................................................................................8

Travel/Journey/Road Trip.......................................................................................................8

7. Information & Communications.............................................................................................88. Sports..................................................................................................................................... 99. Transportation........................................................................................................................9Alphabetical List, by Title.............................................................................................................10

Last updated: May 2013

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1. Arts & Culture

Film/Movies/TelevisionAmphibian Carla Gunn (environmentalists; television; pollution; anxiety)Englishman’s Boy, The Guy Vanderhaeghe (Hollywood; Native Americans; murder; journey - pursuit)Execution Channel, The Ken MacLeod (techno-thriller; media activism; television; terrorism)Film Club, The David Gilmour (non-fiction 920 GLI – film)Like We Care Tom Matthews (television; rock musicians)River of the Brokenhearted, The David Adams Richards (film; entrepreneur; Canada – East coast)Shanghai Girls Lisa See (Chinese-Americans; immigration; filmmaking)Slumdog Millionaire Vikas Swarup (television game show; India; prisons)Story House Timothy Taylor (boxing; reality television; architecture)Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See Juliann Garey (mental illness; movie industry)

Performing Arts - Music/Dance/TheatreAccordion Crimes, The Annie Proulx (music; murder; immigration)Beautiful Mystery, The Louise Penny (Gregorian chants; music; police investigation)Black Swan Green David Mitchell (80s music; speech impediment; bullying )Commitments, The Roddy Doyle (pop group; Ireland; Barrytown trilogy – book 1)Complicated Kindness, A Marian Toews (Mennonite culture, 70s pop music)Dance, Gladys, Dance Cassie Stocks (painters; dancers; geriatrics)Fall on Your Knees Anne-Marie MacDonald (Canada - East coast; music; suicide)Half-blood Blues Esi Edugyan (music; jazz band; Europe; racism)High Fidelity Nick Hornby (pop music; entrepreneur)In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje (actors; missing persons; immigration; Canadian wilderness)Like We Care Tom Matthews (television; rock musicians)Little Shadows, The Marina Endicott (theatre/Vaudeville; death of a parent) Painted Girls, The Cathy Marie Buchanan (dance; visual art - Degas; death of a parent; addiction;

actors) Piano Tuner, The Daniel Mason (music; Burma; journey)Whale Music Paul Quarrington (music – composition; suicide; rock musicians; addiction; mental

health)

Visual ArtsAlias Grace Margaret Atwood (mental health; quilting)Beauty of the Humanity Movement, The Camilla Gibb (art preservation; Vietnam war)Dance, Gladys, Dance Cassie Stocks (painters; dancers; geriatrics)Lacuna, The Barbara Kingsolver (Mexico; writers; artists)Painted Girls, The Cathy Marie Buchanan (dance; visual art - Degas; death of a parent; addiction;

actors) Picture of Dorian Gray, The Oscar Wilde (painting; mental health)Slow Man J.M. Coetzee (home healthcare; photographers; accident victim)Still Life Louise Penny (murder investigation; artist)Stone Carvers, The Jane Urquhart (carving; Vimy Ridge memorial)

Portrait of the ArtistArtist of the Floating World, An Kazuo Ishiguro (Japanese art theory)Forest Lover, The Susan Vreeland (Emily Carr)My Name is Asher Lev Chaim Potok (artist)Painted Girls, The Cathy Marie Buchanan (dance; visual art - Degas; death of a parent; addiction;

actors) Underpainter, The Jane Urquhart (life of an artist)

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Writers & WritingAnthologist, The Nicholsan Baker (publishing; poetry)Happiness Will Ferguson (writing) Hour I First Believed, The Wally Lamb (mental health, school shooting—based on Columbine)Lacuna, The Barbara Kingsolver (Mexico; writers; artists)Possession A. S. Byatt (for the truly gifted student!)Reinvention of Love, The Helen Humphries (on Victor Hugo)Sutton J.R. Moehringer (banking; mobsters; bank robberies; journalists)Sweet Jesus Christine Pountney (writers; road trip)Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson (non-fiction 371.82209 MOR – Afghanistan; entrepreneur)Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Rachel Joyce (road trip – walking; writing)Warlord’s Son Dan Fesperman (journalism; war; Afghanistan)

Pop CultureElectric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Tom Wolfe (1960s American culture; drug abuse; road trip)Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter S. Thompson (1960s drug culture-for mature students only)

Cultural Groups/Regions

Africa419 Will Ferguson (Internet scam; murder; sub-Saharan Africa)Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese (doctors; India; Africa)Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad (Congo; travel)Little Bee Christopher Cleave (travel; Nigerians; refugees)Poisonwood Bible, The Barbara Kingsolver (Africa; travel – missionaries)Sweetness in the Belly Camilla Gibb (Ethiopia)

AsiaDesirable Daughters Bharti Mukherjee (East Indian-American; immigrants)Piano Tuner, The Daniel Mason (music; Burma; journey)Writing on My Forehead, The Nafisa Haji (East-Indians; immigrant families; journalism)

Chinese American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey

in the New China Matthew Polly (non-fiction 796.8155 POL – kung fu; China; bullying; monks)

Bone Setter’s Daughter, The Amy Tan (Chinese American culture conflict) Headmaster's Wager, The Vincent Lam(China; business; gambling) Joy Luck Club, The Amy Tan (Chinese American culture conflict) Midnight at the Dragon Café Judy Fong Bates (Chinese-Canadians; restaurant owners)Saving Fish From Drowning Amy Tan (Chinese American culture conflict) Shanghai girls Lisa See (Chinese-Americans; immigration; filmmaking)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See (China; geriatrics; farming; abuse)Typical American Gish Jen (Chinese-American)

Indian Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese (doctors; India; Africa)Dahanu Road Anosh Irani (India; farming; alcoholism; spousal abuse)Secret Daughter Shilpi Somaya Gowda (doctors; adoption; journey; India)Slumdog Millionaire Vikas Swarup (television game show; India; prisons)

Japanese Electrical Field, The Kerri Sakamoto (murder; Japanese-Canadians)Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden (Japan; hospitality)Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson (Japanese American culture conflict)

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Middle East Kabul Beauty School (hairstyling; Afghanistan; entrepreneurship)Kite Runner, The Khaled Hosseini (Afganistan)Thousand Splendid Suns, A Khaled Hosseini (Afganistan)Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson (non-fiction 371.82209 MOR – Afghanistan;

entrepreneur)Warlord’s Son Dan Fesperman (journalism; war; Afghanistan)

Central/South AmericaHouse of the Spirits, The Isabelle Allende (mental health; Latin American culture)Island beneath the Sea Isabel Allende (life on a sugar plantation)Lacuna, The Barbara Kingsolver (Mexico; writers; artists)

EuropeCommitments, The Roddy Doyle (pop group; Ireland; Barrytown trilogy – book 1)Half-blood Blues Esi Edugyan (music; jazz band; Europe; racism)Book of Saints, The (Italy; bullying)

North America – specific regions/groupsAccordion Crimes, The Annie Proulx (music; murder; immigration)Alone in the Classroom (abuse; Canadian Prairies)Confederacy of Dunces, The John Kennedy Toole (New Orleans)Elle Douglas Glover (survival; Newfoundland; First Nations)Fall on Your Knees Anne-Marie MacDonald (Canada - East coast; music; suicide)Friends of Meager Fortune, The David Adams Richards (lumber industry; Canada – East Coast)In a Glass House Nino Ricci (sequel to Book of Saints, The; farming; immigration; travel)In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje (actors; missing persons; immigration; Canadian

wilderness)Lakeland Allan Casey (non-fiction 971.073 CAS – preserving land and lakes in Canada)River of the brokenhearted, The David Adams Richards (film; entrepreneur; Canada – East coast)Road to Bliss Joan Clark (runaways; cults; Canadian Prairies)Surfacing Margaret Atwood (survival; Northern Ontario)Two Solitudes Hugh MacLennan (French-English Canada; business people)

Mennonite Age of Hope, The David Bergen (Mennonite family in Winnipeg)Complicated Kindness, A Marian Toews (Mennonite culture, 70s pop music)Irma Voth Miriam Toews (Mennonites in Mexico)Peace Shall Destroy Many Rudy Wiebe (Mennonite culture)Russlanders, The Sandra Birdsell (Mennonite culture)

Native Americans/Canadians Elle Douglas Glover (survival; Newfoundland; First Nations)Englishman’s Boy, The Guy Vanderhaeghe (Hollywood; Native Americans; murder; journey -

pursuit)Indian Horse Richard Wagamese (residential school; hockey) Keeper'n me Richard Wagamese (Native Canadian; foster homes; substance abuse)Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, The Louise Erdrich (Ojibway; gender identity)Living, The Annie Dillard (settlement of Washington state; frontier life; Native Americans)Monkey Beach Eden Robinson (Native family in B.C,Three Day Road Joseph Boyden (Northern Ontario; Native-Canadian; racism; traditional

healers; addiction)Through Black Spruce Joseph Boyden (alcoholism, drug abuse)

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2. BusinessApprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The Mordecai Richler (real estate, film making)Color Purple, The Alice Walker (tailoring)Headmaster's Wager, The Vincent Lam (China; business; gambling) High Fidelity Nick Hornby (pop music; entrepreneur)Kabul Beauty School (hairstyling; Afghanistan; entrepreneurship)Mount Pleasant Don Gillmor (finance; investment)Payback Margaret Atwood (non-fiction 306.3 ATW – money and the idea of reciprocity/nemesis )Salmon Fishing in Yemen Paul Torday (sport fishing; entrepreneurs)Story of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski (family business; survival runaway; murder)Sutton J.R. Moehringer (banking; mobsters; bank robberies; journalists)Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson (non-fiction 371.82209 MOR – Afghanistan; entrepreneur)Two Solitudes Hugh MacLennan (French-English Canada; business people)

3. EnergyAmphibian Carla Gunn (environmentalists; television; pollution; anxiety)Golden Spruce, The John Vaillant (non-fiction 333.75 VAI – B.C. lumber industry)Lakeland Allan Casey (non-fiction 971.073 CAS – preserving land and lakes in Canada)Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood (post-apocalyptic survival; environmental degradation; biotechnology;

farming)Solar Ian McEwan (global warming; solar energy)Year of the Flood, The Maragaret Atwood (natural disaster)

Off the GridElle Douglas Glover (survival; Newfoundland; First Nations)Far North Marcel Theroux (journey – survival; Arctic; society structure)Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad (Congo; travel)In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje (actors; missing persons; immigration; Canadian wilderness)Into the Wild Jon Krakauer (non-fiction 917.98045 MCC-K – survival; Alaska)Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer (non-fiction 796.52209 KRA – climbing Mt. Everest; survival; post-

trauma)Life of Pi Yann Martel (survival on the sea)Living, The Annie Dillard (settlement of Washington state; frontier life; Native Americans)Navigator of New York, The Wayne Johnston (exploring the North Pole; expeditions)Old Man and the Sea, The Ernest Hemingway (fishing; survival on the sea)Our Lady of the Forest David Guterson (survival; lumber industry; abuse victims)Outlander, The Gil Adamson (mining; survival travel; murder)Road, The Cormac McCarthy (survival road trip; post-apocalyptic)Roughing it in the Bush Susanna Moodie (autobiography—pioneer)Surfacing Margaret Atwood (survival; Northern Ontario)Wild Trees: a story of passion and daring Richard Preston (non-fiction 585.50979 PRE – forests;

naturalists; wilderness survival)

4. Health & Wellness

Sports/Athletes/Recreation – see Sports SHSM

Mental/Psychological HealthAlso see “Disease/Disability/Syndromes”

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Alias Grace Margaret Atwood (mental health; quilting)Amphibian Carla Gunn (environmentalists; television; pollution; anxiety)Audience of Chairs, An Joan Clark (mental health)Beloved Toni Morrison (sanity)Catch 22 Joseph Heller (mental health)Dinner, The Herman Koch (mental health; sociopathic behaviour)Gathering, The Ann Enright (sexual abuse, grief)Hour I First Believed, The Wally Lamb (mental health, school shooting—based on Columbine)Hours, The Michael Cunningham (mental health)House of the Spirits, The Isabelle Allende (mental health; Latin American culture)We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Lionel Shriver (mental health; school shooting)One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey (mental health)Outcast, The Sadie Jones ( trauma after mother’s death; mental health)Piano Man’s Daughter, The Timothy Findley (mental health)Picture of Dorian Gray, The Oscar Wilde (painting; mental health)Pilgrim Timothy Findley (mental health)Road to Bliss Joan Clark (runaways; cults; Canadian Prairies)Room Emma Donaghue (mental health; kidnapping)She’s Come Undone Wally Lamb (diet; mental health)Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See Juliann Garey (mental illness; movie industry)Unless Carol Shields (mental health)Whale Music Paul Quarrington (music – composition; suicide; rock musicians; addiction; mental

health)

Abuse/Bullying/RacismAlone in the Classroom (abuse; Canadian Prairies)American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in

the New China Matthew Polly (non-fiction 796.8155 POL – kung fu; China; bullying; monks)Black Swan Green David Mitchell (80s music; speech impediment; bullying )Book of Ruth, The Jane Hamilton (spousal abuse)Book of Saints, The (Italy; bullying)Dahanu Road Anosh Irani (India; farming; alcoholism; spousal abuse)Gathering, The Anne Enright (sexual abuse, grief)Half-blood Blues Esi Edugyan (music; jazz band; Europe; racism)Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction 616.02774 LAC-S – tobacco

farming; doctors; racism; genetics)Island beneath the Sea Isabel Allende (life on a sugar plantation)Lullabies for Little Criminals Heather O’Neill (drugs; sexual abuse)Our Daily Bread by Lauren B. Davis (alcoholism, sexual abuse/incest, drug abuse; police; social

services)Our Lady of the Forest David Guterson (survival; lumber industry; abuse victims)Purple Hibiscus Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (child abuse)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See (China; geriatrics; farming; abuse)Tell it to the Trees Anita Rau Badami (child and wife abuse)Three Day Road Joseph Boyden (Northern Ontario; Native-Canadian; racism; traditional healers;

addiction)Woman Who Walked into Doors, The Roddy Doyle (alcoholism, spousal abuse)

Depression/SuicideBell Jar, The Sylvia Plath (mental health; depression; suicide)Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Murial Barbary (12 yr old contemplates suicide)Every Last One Anna Quindlen (gardener; violence; depression)Fall on Your Knees Anne-Marie MacDonald (Canada - East coast; music; suicide)Prozac Nation Elizabeth Wartzel (non-fiction 616.8527 WUR – clinical depression)School of Essential Ingredients, The Erica Bauermeister (restaurant; cooking class; grief;

depression)

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Whale Music Paul Quarrington (music – composition; suicide; rock musicians; addiction; mental health)

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Disease/Disability/SyndromesAlways Looking Up Michael J. Fox (non-fiction 791.43028 FOX-F – Parkinson’s; actors)Ash Garden, The Dennis Bock (effects of radiation poisoning)Black Swan Green David Mitchell (80s music; speech impediment; bullying )Blindness Jose Saramago (epidemic blindness)Cure for Death by Lightning, The Gail Anderson-Dargatz (farming; Tourette’s syndrome)Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Mark Haddon (autism)Deafening Frances Itani (deafness)Dive from Clausen’s Pier, The Ann Packer (accident victims; quadriplegic)Love Anthony Lisa Genova (autism)Lucky Man: A memoir Michael J. Fox (non-fiction 791.43028 FOX – Parkinson’s; actors)Range of Motion Elizabeth Berg (accident victims; coma)Still Alice Lisa Genova (Alzheimer’s)Story of My Life, The Helen Keller (autobiography—deaf/blind)

Addiction/AlcoholismDahanu Road Anosh Irani (India; farming; alcoholism; spousal abuse)Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Tom Wolfe (1960s American culture; drug abuse; road trip)Gossip of the Starlings Nina de Gramont (equestrian; drug addiction)Headmaster's Wager, The Vincent Lam (China; business; gambling) Keeper'n me Richard Wagamese (Native Canadian; foster homes; substance abuse)Lullabies for Little Criminals Heather O’Neill (drugs; sexual abuse)Our Daily Bread by Lauren B. Davis (alcoholism, sexual abuse/incest, drug abuse; police; social

services)Painted Girls, The Cathy Marie Buchanan (dance; visual art - Degas; death of a parent; addiction;

actors) Three Day Road Joseph Boyden (Northern Ontario; Native-Canadian; racism; traditional healers;

addiction)Through Black Spruce Joseph Boyden (alcoholism, drug abuse)Water For Elephants Sarah Gruen (abuse)Whale Music Paul Quarrington (music – composition; suicide; rock musicians; addiction; mental

health)Woman Who Walked into Doors, The Roddy Doyle (alcoholism, spousal abuse)

Doctors/MedicineBloodletting and Other Cures Vincent Lam (doctors; medical students; alcoholism)Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese (doctors; India; Africa)English Patient, The Michael Ondaatje (burn victim)Good Doctor, The Damon Galgut (medicine)Heart Specialist, The Claire Rothman (doctors; medical research)Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction 616.02774 LAC-S – tobacco

farming; doctors; racism; genetics)Saturday Ian McEwan (surgery; home invasion/crime )Secret Daughter Shilpi Somaya Gowda (doctors; adoption; journey; India)Slow Man J.M. Coetzee (home healthcare; photographers; accident victim)Smoke Elizabeth Ruth (smoking; burn victims; gender identity; tobacco farming)Three Day Road Joseph Boyden (Northern Ontario; Native-Canadian; racism; traditional healers;

addiction)

Trauma/AccidentsBook Thief, The Mark Zusak (war trauma)Dive from Clausen’s Pier, The Ann Packer (accident victims; quadriplegic)Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathon Safran Foer (after 9/11)Finnie Walsh Steven Galloway (hockey; accident victims)

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Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels (post-war trauma)In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje (actors; missing persons; immigration; Canadian wilderness)Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer (non-fiction 796.52209 KRA – climbing Mt. Everest; survival; post-

trauma)Little Bee Christopher Cleave (travel; Nigerians; refugees)Little Shadows, The Marina Endicott (theatre/Vaudeville; death of a parent) Outcast, The Sadie Jones ( trauma after mother’s death; mental health)Outlander, The Gil Adamson (mining; survival travel; murder)Painted Girls, The Cathy Marie Buchanan (dance; visual art - Degas; death of a parent; addiction;

actors)Range of Motion Elizabeth Berg (accident victims; coma)Sarah’s Key Tatiana De Rosnay (war and post-war trauma)Warlord’s Son Dan Fesperman (journalism; war; Afghanistan)We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Lionel Shriver (mental health; school shooting)Whale Music Paul Quarrington (music – composition; suicide; rock musicians; addiction; mental

health)

GeriatricsBone Setter’s Daughter, The Amy Tan (dementia; Chinese American culture conflict)Dance, Gladys, Dance Cassie Stocks (painters; dancers; geriatrics)Flee, Fly, Flown Janet Hepburn (road trip; geriatrics)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See (China; geriatrics; farming; abuse)Still Alice Lisa Genova (dementia)Stone Angel, The Margaret Laurence (geriatrics)Sunset Manor Richard B. Wright (geriatrics)Wife Tree, The Dorothy Speak (stroke/geriatrics)

MiscellaneousBrave New World Aldous Huxley (genetic engineering)Game Control Lionel Shriver (epidemic as population control)Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction 616.02774 LAC-S – tobacco

farming; doctors; racism; genetics)Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, The Louise Erdrich (Ojibway; gender identity)Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides (gender issues)Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro (organ donation)She’s Come Undone Wally Lamb (diet; mental health)Slow Man J.M. Coetzee (home healthcare; photographers; accident victim)Smoke Elizabeth Ruth (smoking; burn victims; gender identity; tobacco farming)

5. Horticulture & LandscapingDevil and the White City, The Erik Larson (architecture; landscape architecture)Every Last One Anna Quindlen (gardener; violence; depression)Larry’s Party Carol Shields (landscaping—mazes)Lost Garden, The Helen Humphreys (horticulture)Orchard Thief, The (non-fiction 635.9344 – horticulture; crime)Stone Diaries, The Carol Shields (horticultural columnist)

AgricultureCrow Lake Mary Lawson (biologist; farming)Cure for Death by Lightning, The Gail Anderson-Dargatz (farming; Tourette’s syndrome)Dahanu Road Anosh Irani (India; farming; alcoholism; spousal abuse)Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction 616.02774 LAC-S – tobacco

farming; doctors; racism; genetics)In a Glass House Nino Ricci (sequel to Book of Saints, The; farming; immigration; travel)

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Island beneath the Sea Isabel Allende (life on a sugar plantation)Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood (post-apocalyptic survival; environmental degradation;

biotechnology; farming)Silent Spring Rachel Carson (non-fiction 363.7384 CAR – environmentalism; pesticides)Smoke Elizabeth Ruth (smoking; burn victims; gender identity; tobacco farming)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See (China; geriatrics; farming; abuse)

6. Hospitality & TourismDinner, The Herman Koch (mental health; sociopathic behaviour)Kabul Beauty School (hairstyling; Afghanistan; entrepreneurship)Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden (Japan; hospitality)

Restaurants/FoodEat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert (non-fiction 910.4 GIL – food; travel)Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel (cooking)Midnight at the Dragon Café Judy Fong Bates (Chinese-Canadians; restaurant owners)School of Essential Ingredients, The Erica Bauermeister (restaurant; cooking class; grief; depression)Stanley Park Timothy Taylor (chefs; murder; homelessness)

Travel/Journey/Road TripAlso see “Off the Grid”

Cat’s Table, The Michel Ondaatje (ship travels)Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert (non-fiction 910.4 GIL – food; travel)Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Tom Wolfe (1960s American culture; drug abuse; road trip)Englishman’s Boy, The Guy Vanderhaeghe (Hollywood; Native Americans; murder; journey - pursuit)Flee, Fly, Flown Janet Hepburn (road trip; geriatrics)Flying Troutmans, The Miriam Toews (road trip)Grapes of Wrath, The John Steinbeck (road trip)Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad (Congo; travel)In a Glass House Nino Ricci (sequel to Book of Saints, The; farming; immigration; travel)In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje (actors; missing persons; immigration; Canadian wilderness)Little Bee Christopher Cleave (travel; Nigerians; refugees)Motorcycle Diaries, The Ernesto Guevara (non-fiction 918.0435 GUE – road trip)Navigator of New York, The Wayne Johnston (exploring the North Pole; expeditions)Old Man and the Sea, The Ernest Hemingway (fishing; survival on the sea)On the Road Jack Kerouac (autobiography--road trip)Peace Like a River Lief Enger (murder; outlaws; journey)Piano Tuner, The Daniel Mason (music; Burma; journey)Poisonwood Bible, The Barbara Kingsolver (Africa; travel – missionaries)Road to Bliss Joan Clark (runaways; cults; Cdn prairies)Secret Daughter Shilpi Somaya Gowda (doctors; adoption; journey; India)Singing Fire, The Lilian Nattel (runaways; poverty/crime; prostitution)Story of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski (family business; survival runaway; murder)Sweet Jesus Christine Pountney (writers; road trip)Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Rachel Joyce (road trip – walking; writing)Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig (non-fiction 917.30492 PIR – road trip)

7. Information & Communications1984 George Orwell (futuristic) 419 Will Ferguson (Internet scam; murder; sub-Saharan Africa)Execution Channel, The Ken MacLeod (techno-thriller; media activism; television; terrorism)Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (futuristic firemen; books)

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Game Control Lionel Shriver (epidemic as population control; technology)jPod Douglas Coupland (computers)Late Nights on Air Elizabeth Hay (radio)Microserfs Douglas Coupland (computers)Neuromancer William Gibson (computers)Writing on My Forehead, The Nafisa Haji (East-Indians; immigrant families; journalism)

8. SportsAmerican Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New

China Matthew Polly (non-fiction 796.8155 POL – kung fu; China; bullying; monks)Fever Pitch Nick Hornby (soccer; teaching)Finnie Walsh Steven Galloway (hockey; accident victims)Gossip of the Starlings Nina de Gramont (equestrian; drug addiction)Old Man and the Sea, The Ernest Hemingway (fishing; survival on the sea)Indian Horse Richard Wagamese (residential school; hockey) Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer (non-fiction 796.52209 KRA – climbing Mt. Everest; survival; post-trauma)Knights of the Hill Country Tim Tharp (football)Salmon Fishing in Yemen Paul Torday (sport fishing; entrepreneurs)Story House Timothy Taylor (boxing; reality television; architecture)

9. Transportation Also see Travel/Journey/Road Trip

Last Crossing, The Guy Vanderhaeghe (pioneer travel)Leaving Earth Helen Humphreys (early aviation—Amelia Earhart)Winter Vault Anne Michaels (engineering; architecture; St. Lawrence seaway; flooding)

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Alphabetical List, by Title

#s A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z#s1984 George Orwell (futuristic) 419 Will Ferguson (Internet scam; murder; sub-Saharan Africa)

AAccordion Crimes, The Annie Proulx (music; murder; immigration)Age of Hope, The David Bergen (Mennonite family in Winnipeg)Alias Grace Margaret Atwood (mental health; quilting)Alone in the Classroom (abuse; Canadian Prairies)Always Looking Up Michael J. Fox (non-fiction 791.43028 FOX-F – Parkinson’s; actors)American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New

China Matthew Polly (non-fiction 796.8155 POL – kung fu; China; bullying; monks)Amphibian Carla Gunn (environmentalists; television; pollution; anxiety)Anthologist, The Nicholsan Baker (publishing; poetry)Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, The Mordecai Richler (real estate, film making)Artist of the Floating World, An Kazuo Ishiguro (Japanese art theory)Ash Garden, The Dennis Bock (effects of radiation poisoning)Audience of Chairs, An Joan Clark (mental health)

BBeautiful Mystery, The Louise Penny (Gregorian chants; music; police investigation)Beauty of the Humanity Movement, The Camilla Gibb (art preservation; Vietnam war)Bell Jar, The Sylvia Plath (mental health; depression; suicide)Beloved Toni Morrison (sanity)Black Swan Green David Mitchell (80s music; speech impediment; bullying )Blindness Jose Saramago (epidemic blindness)Bloodletting and Other Cures Vincent Lam (doctors; medical students; alcoholism)Bone Setter’s Daughter, The Amy Tan (dementia; Chinese American culture conflict)Book of Ruth, The Jane Hamilton (spousal abuse)Book of Saints, The (Italy; bullying)Book Thief, The Mark Zusak (war trauma)Brave New World Aldous Huxley (genetic engineering)

CCat’s Table, The Michel Ondaatje (ship travels)Catch 22 Joseph Heller (mental health)Clockwork Orange, A Anthony Burgess (psychological conditioning)Color Purple, The Alice Walker (tailoring)Commitments, The Roddy Doyle (pop group; Ireland; Barrytown trilogy – book 1)Complicated Kindness, A Marian Toews (Mennonite culture, 70s pop music)Confederacy of Dunces, The John Kennedy Toole (New Orleans)Crow Lake Mary Lawson (biologist; farming)Cure for Death by Lightning, The Gail Anderson-Dargatz (farming; Tourette’s syndrome)Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Mark Haddon (autism)Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese (doctors; India; Africa)

DDahanu Road Anosh Irani (India; farming; alcoholism; spousal abuse)

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Dance, Gladys, Dance Cassie Stocks (painters; dancers; geriatrics)Deafening Frances Itani (deafness)Desirable Daughters Bharti Mukherjee (East Indian-American; immigrants)Devil and the White City, The Erik Larson (architecture; landscape architecture)Dinner, The Herman Koch (mental health; sociopathic behaviour)Dive from Clausen’s Pier, The Ann Packer (accident victims; quadriplegic)

EEat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert (non-fiction 910.4 GIL; food; travel)Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Tom Wolfe (1960s American culture; drug abuse; road trip)Electrical Field, The Kerri Sakamoto (murder; Japanese-Canadians)Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Murial Barbary (suicide)Elle Douglas Glover (survival; Newfoundland)English Patient, The Michael Ondaatje (burn victim)Englishman’s Boy, The Guy Vanderhaeghe (Hollywood; Native Americans; murder; journey - pursuit)Every Last One Anna Quindlen (gardener; violence; depression)Execution Channel, the Ken MacLeod (techno-thriller; media activism; television; terrorism)Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathon Safran Foer (post 9/11)

FFahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (futuristic firemen; books)Fall on Your Knees Anne-Marie MacDonald (Canada - East coast; music; suicide)Far North Marcel TherouxFear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter S. Thompson (1960s drug culture-for mature students only)Fever Pitch Nick Hornby(soccer; teaching)Film Club, The David Gilmour (non-fiction 920 GLI – film)Finnie Walsh Steven Galloway (hockey; accident victims)Flee, Fly, Flown Janet Hepburn (road trip; geriatrics)Flying Troutmans, The Miriam Toews (road trip)Forest Lover, The Susan Vreeland (life of Emily Carr)Friends of Meager Fortune, The David Adams Richards (lumber industry; Canada – East Coast)Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels (post-war trauma)

GGame Control Lionel Shriver (epidemic as population control; technology)Gathering, The Ann Enright (sexual abuse, grief)Generica or Happiness Will Ferguson (writing) Golden Spruce, The John Vaillant (non-fiction 333.75 VAI – B.C. lumber industry)Good Doctor, The Damon Galgut (medicine)Gossip of the Starlings Nina de Gramont (equestrian; drug addiction)Grapes of Wrath, The John Steinbeck (road trip)

HHalf-blood Blues Esi Edugyan (music; jazz band; Europe; racism)Headmaster's Wager, The Vincent Lam (China; business; gambling) Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad (Congo; travel)Heart Specialist, The Claire Rothman (doctors; medical research)High Fidelity Nick Hornby (pop music; entrepreneur)Hour I First Believed, The Wally Lamb (mental health, school shooting—based on Columbine)Hours, The Michael Cunningham (mental health)House of the Spirits, The Isabelle Allende (mental health; Latin American culture)

I

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Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Rebecca Skloot (non-fiction 616.02774 LAC-S – tobacco farming; doctors; racism; genetics)

In a Glass House Nino Ricci (sequel to Book of Saints, The; farming; immigration; travel)In Cold Blood Truman Capote (non-fiction account of 1959 murder in Kansas)In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje (actors; missing persons; immigration; Canadian wilderness)Indian Horse Richard Wagamese (residential school; hockey) Into the Wild Jon Krakauer (non-fiction 917.98045 MCC-K – survival; Alaska)Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer (non-fiction 796.52209 KRA – climbing Mt. Everest; survival; post-trauma)Invisible Man Ralph Ellison (race, hypocrisies, stereotypes)Irma Voth Miriam Toews (Mennonites in Mexico)Island beneath the Sea Isabel Allende (life on a sugar plantation)

JJoy Luck Club, The Amy Tan (Chinese American culture conflict) jPod Douglas Coupland (computers)

KKabul Beauty School (hairstyling; Afghanistan; entrepreneurship)Keeper'n me Richard Wagamese (Native Canadian; foster homes; substance abuse)Kite Runner, The Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)Knights of the Hill Country Tim Tharp (football)

LLacuna, The Barbara Kingsolver (Mexico; writers; artists)Lakeland Allan Casey (non-fiction 971.073 CAS – preserving land and lakes in Canada)Larry’s Party Carol Shields (landscaping—mazes)Last Crossing, The Guy Vanderhaeghe (pioneer travel)Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, The Louise Erdrich (Ojibway; gender identity)Late Nights on Air Elizabeth Hay (radio)Leaving Earth Helen Humphreys (early aviation—Amelia Earhart)Life of Pi Yann Martel (survival of the sea)Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel (cooking)Like We Care Tom Matthews (television; rock musicians)Little Bee Christopher Cleave (travel; Nigerians; refugees)Little Shadows, The Marina Endicott (theatre/Vaudeville; death of a parent) Living, The Annie Dillard (settlement of Washington state; frontier life; Native Americans)Lost Garden, The Helen Humphreys (horticulture)Love Anthony Lisa Genova (autism)Lucky Man: A memoir Michael J. Fox (non-fiction 791.43028 FOX – Parkinson’s; actors)Lullabies for Little Criminals Heather O’Neill (drugs; sexual abuse)

MMemoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden (Japan; hospitality)Microserfs Douglas Coupland (computers)Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides (gender issues)Midnight at the Dragon Café Judy Fong Bates (Chinese-Canadians; restaurant owners)Monkey Beach Eden Robinson (Native family in B.C)Motorcycle Diaries, The Ernesto Guevara (non-fiction 918.0435 GUE – road trip)Mount Pleasant Don Gillmor (finance; investment)My Name is Asher Lev Chaim Potok (artist)My Sister’s Keeper Jodi Picoult (medical emancipation)

NNavigator of New York, The Wayne Johnston (exploring the North Pole; expeditions)

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Neuromancer William Gibson (computers)Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro (organ donation)No Great Mischief Alistair MacLeod (uranium mining)

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OOliver Twist Charles Dickens (social criticism, poverty, crime)On the Road Jack Kerouac (autobiography--road trip)One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey (mental health)Orchard Thief, The (non-fiction 635.9344 – horticulture; crime)Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood (apocalyptic survival)Our Daily Bread by Lauren B. Davis (alcoholism, sexual abuse/incest, drug abuse; police; social services)Our Lady of the Forest David Guterson (survival; lumber industry; abuse victims)Outcast, The Sadie Jones ( trauma after mother’s death; mental health)Outlander, The Gil Adamson (mining; survival travel; murder)

PPainted Girls, The Cathy Marie Buchanan (dance; visual art - Degas; death of a parent; addiction; actors) Payback Margaret Atwood (non-fiction 306.3 ATW – money and the idea of reciprocity/nemesis )Peace Like a River Lief Enger (murder; outlaws; journey)Peace Shall Destroy Many Rudy Wiebe (Mennonite culture)Piano Man’s Daughter, The Timothy Findley (mental health)Piano Tuner, The Daniel Mason (music)Picture of Dorian Gray, The Oscar Wilde (painting; mental health)Pilgrim Timothy Findley (mental health)Poisonwood Bible, The Barbara Kingsolver (Africa; travel – missionaries)Possession A. S. Byatt (for the truly gifted student!)Prayer for Owen Meany, A John Irving (rock quarry)Prozac Nation Elizabeth Wartzel (non-fiction 616.8527 WUR – clinical depression)Purple Hibiscus Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (child abuse)

RRagged Company Richard Wagamese (homelessness; film)Range of Motion Elizabeth Berg (accident victims; coma)Reinvention of Love, The Helen Humphries (on Victor Hugo)River of the brokenhearted, The David Adams Richards (film; entrepreneur; Canada – East coast)Road, The Cormac McCarthy (survival road trip; post-apocalyptic)Road to Bliss Joan Clark (runaways; cults; Canadian Prairies)Room Emma Donaghue (mental health; kidnapping)Roughing it in the Bush Susanna Moodie (autobiography—pioneer)Russlanders, The Sandra Birdsell (Mennonite culture)

SSalmon Fishing in Yemen Paul Torday (sport fishing; entrepreneurs)Sarah’s Key Tatiana De Rosnay (war and post-war trauma)Saturday Ian McEwan (surgery; home invasion/crime )Saving Fish From Drowning Amy Tan (Chinese American culture conflict) Secret Daughter Shilpi Somaya Gowda (doctors; adoption; journey; India)Shanghai Girls Lisa See (Chinese-Americans; immigration; filmmaking)She’s Come Undone Wally Lamb (diet; mental health)Silent Spring Rachel Carson (non-fiction 363.7384 CAR – environmentalism; pesticides)Singing Fire, The Lilian Nattel (runaways; poverty/crime; prostitution)Slow Man J.M. Coetzee (home healthcare; photographers; accident victim)Slumdog Millionaire Vikas Swarup (television game show; India; prisons)Smoke Elizabeth Ruth (smoking; burn victims; gender identity; tobacco farming)Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson (Japanese American culture conflict)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See (China; geriatrics; farming; abuse)Solar Ian McEwan (climate change)Stanley Park Timothy Taylor (chefs; murder; homelessness)Still Alice Lisa Genova (Alzheimer’s; demnetia)

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Still Life Louise Penny (murder investigation; artist)Stone Angel, The Margaret Laurence (geriatrics)Stone Carvers, The Jane Urquhart (carving Vimy Ridge memorial)Stone Diaries, The Carol Shields (horticultural columnist)Story House Timothy Taylor (boxing; reality television; architecture)Story of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski (family business; survival runaway; murder)Story of My Life, The Helen Keller (non-fiction; autobiography—deaf/blind)Sunset Manor Richard B. Wright (geriatrics)Surfacing Margaret Atwood (survival theme—Northern Ontario)Sutton J.R. Moehringer (banking; mobsters; bank robberies; journalists)Sweet Jesus Christine Pountney (writers; road trip)Sweetness in the Belly Camilla Gibb (Ethiopia)

TTell it to the Trees Anita Rau Badami (child and wife abuse)Thousand Splendid Suns, A Khaled Hosseini (Afganistan)Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson (non-fiction 371.82209 MOR – Afghanistan; entrepreneur)Three Day Road Joseph Boyden (Northern Ontario; Native-Canadian; racism; traditional healers;

addiction)Through Black Spruce Joseph Boyden (alcoholism, drug abuse)Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See Juliann Garey (mental illness; movie industry)Two Solitudes Hugh MacLennan (French-English Canada; business people)Typical American Gish Jen (Chinese-American)

UUnderpainter, The Jane Urquhart (life of an artist)Unless Carol Shields (mental health)Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Rachel Joyce (road trip – walking; writing)

WWarlord’s Son Dan Fesperman (journalism; war; Afghanistan)Water For Elephants Sarah Gruen (abuse)We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Lionel Shriver (mental health; school shooting)Whale Music Paul Quarrington (music – composition; suicide; rock musicians; addiction; mental health)Wife Tree, The Dorothy Speak (stroke/geriatrics)Wild Trees: a story of passion and daring Richard Preston (non-fiction 585.50979 PRE – forests;

naturalists; wilderness survival)Winter Vault Anne Michaels (engineering; architecture; St. Lawrence seaway; flooding)Woman Who Walked into Doors, The Roddy Doyle (alcoholism, spousal abuse)World Elsewhere, A Wayne Johnston (architecture)Writing on My Forehead, The Nafisa Haji (East-Indians; immigrant families; journalism)

YYear of the Flood, The Maragaret Atwood (natural disaster)

ZZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig (non-fiction 917.30492 PIR – road trip)