NNELS Upgrade

A thirst for adventure, a deep desire to push themselves beyond their comfort zones, and an innate curiosity about the world and its peoples drive the biographies of the ten women explorers profiled here. As explorers they bring skills in cartography, geography, history, anthropology, botany, photography, linguistics and writing to their travels. Their stories begin with Sacagawea, a Native guide in the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805, and end in the present, with Mattie McNair and Denise Martin, the Canadian leaders of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.

In a quiet village in Czechoslovakia, laws restricted the freedom of Jewish people during WWII. A small plot of land by the river was allocated to the village’s Jewish youth, and it was here that some brave young people decided to create a newspaper.

In the spring of 2000, Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of a small Holocaust education centre for children in Tokyo, received a special shipment of artifacts from the Auschwitz museum. Among the items was an empty suitcase. From the moment she saw it, Fumiko was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner – Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (the German word for orphan). Children visiting the centre were full of questions. Who was Hana Brady? Where did she come from? What happened to her?

Presents biographical sketches highlighting the contributions of women to the field of medicine.

The stories of these men are tales of courage, determination and honesty, often in the face of racism and adversity. Read about Larry Merculieff, who helped bring a once oppressed Aleutian people to a position of power and self-sufficiency, Frank Abraham, an Ojibwe Chief whose wisdom and honesty helped his tribe to rise from near financial failure, Raymond Cross, a Coyote leader who won a victory of compensation for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara people, and Stanley Vollant, an Aboriginal surgeon who fulfilled a 100-year-old Innu tribal prophecy.

A biography for young readers on the inspiring life of June Callwood, one of Canada’s greatest journalists and humanitarians. Filled with images and details of June’s life, from her humble beginnings in small-town Ontario to her work as a journalist, where she interviewed Elvis, to her founding of Jessie's house, a place to provide support and housing for teen parents. Her love for life and her desire to help others will inspire young readers who want to make their world a better place.

Profiles of ten outstanding women leaders, including Suzanne Rochon-Burnett, a Métis broadcaster, journalist and First Nations advocate, winner of the Governor General’s Award for her work on Native Women’s rights; Susan Aglukark, Inuit singer and songwriter; and Emily Pauline Johnson—Canada’s first published First Nations poet. All of these trailblazing women are role models who have raised the profile of indigenous culture in North America.

The true story of the ship St. Louis, which left Germany in May 1939 full of Jewish passengers seeking refuge in Cuba. Denied port in Cuba, the US, and finally Canada, the St. Louis was forced to return Europe, where many passengers later died in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of two children, Sol and Lisa, both of whom survived the war and shared their experiences, we see as their journey begins with excitement and hope, only to end in frustration and fear.

Rachel Fletcher is eleven years old when she, her mother and sister are crammed on board the Exodus, a dilapidated vessel smuggling 4500 Jewish refugees risking their lives to reach Palestine, their biblical homeland. Despite all they had suffered during the Holocaust, Jewish refugees are still not wanted in many countries. Even a Canadian immigration officer famously said at the time “None is too many” when asked how many refugees Canada would take in. Nonetheless, Rachel and the other refugees refuse to give up hope when war ships surround them.

Sportswriters and broadcasters in this country agree that Bobbie Rosenfeld may be Canada's greatest female athlete of the twentieth century. A Sports Hall of Famer, Bobbie was born in 1904 in a small Russian town and came to Canada with her immigrant parents when she was less than a month old. Her love for all sports showed itself early. As a young girl she excelled in track and field, ice hockey, tennis, basketball and softball. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam, she won both gold and silver medals.