Books in CCI’s Library relevant to the Civics course (updated May 2015)

 Here are a few fiction and nonfiction suggestions for an extended reading project for someone doing the Civics course.  These books cover a wide range of reading levels and most,though not all, are written by Canadians. Topics include both Canadian and international issues like immigration, terrorism, genocide, political action, activism, privacy, the war in Afghanistan, refugees, use of global resources and more.   

YOUNG ADULT FICTION suggestions. . .

Blue Gold by Elizabeth Stewart "Coltan, or "blue gold," is a rare mineral used in making cell phones and computers. Across continents, the lives of three teen girls are affected by the "blue gold" trade. " Sylvie's family had to flee the Democratic Republic of the Congo after her father was killed by a rogue militia gang in the conflict for control of coltan. The refugee camp where she now lives is deplorable, and Sylvie yearns for a way out -- to save not only herself, but her remaining family. Laiping labors in a Chinese factory, soldering components for cell phones. She had left her small

village to make her fortune, but the factory conditions are crushing, and the constant pressure to send money home adds to her misery. Yet when Laiping tries to improve her situation, she sees what happens to those who dare question the electronics company's policies. Fiona is a North American girl who, in one thoughtless moment, takes a picture on her cell phone she comes to regret. In the aftermath, she learns not only about trust and being true to oneself, but the importance of fighting for what is right. All three teens are unexpectedly linked by these events. Elizabeth Stewart conducted extensive research to authentically capture the experiences of all three girls. The result is an intense and powerful story about their struggles to create better lives for themselves in the face of the world's increasing appetite for coltan.

Shattered by Eric Walters In order to pass social studies, fifteen-year-old Ian must complete community volunteer service. Choosing to work at "The Club” sounds like fun, until he arrives at what turns out to be a soup kitchen for the homeless in an unsafe part of the city. After a near-mugging, from which he's saved by a fierce, pipe-wielding homeless man, Ian figures this will probably be the most depressing and scary assignment he's ever had to complete. When Sarge, the man who saved him, shows up at the soup kitchen looking far less fierce, Ian begins to get to know him. His real name is Jacques, and he was a soldier in the Canadian Armed

Forces. His last tour of duty was as a peacekeeper stationed in Rwanda, an African nation Ian knows little about.

In this gripping tale, Ian learns not only about Rwanda but about the world, and he is not at all prepared. But what will he do with his new-found knowledge? Can he help Jacques, a man who has lost everything but his nightmarish memories? With a Foreword by General Roméo Dallaire, force commander for the United Nations Mission to Rwanda, Shattered is an important book, one that asks what one person can do to make a difference.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret

prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, his injured best friend Darryl does not come out. The city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: "M1k3y" will take down the DHS himself.

Borderline by Allan Stratton The truth is closing in. Life's not easy for Sami Sabiri since his dad stuck him at a private school where he's the only Muslim kid. But it's about to get a lot worse. When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious. . . . He's not the only one. In a whirlwind, the FBI descends on his home, and Sami's family becomes the center of an international terrorist investigation. Now Sami must fight to keep his world from unraveling. An explosive thriller ripped from today's headlines, borderline is the story of a funny,

gutsy Muslim-American teen determined to save his father, his family, and his life.

Quid Pro Quo by Vicki Grant . . . a high-stakes, fast-moving legal thriller about real people, and funny people at that. Cyril MacIntyre's mother is a twenty-eight-year-old ex-street kid who drags her son to all her law school classes, then proceeds to get herself kidnapped. That aside, Cyril's life isn't too different from that of other thirteen-year-olds. He has all the usual adolescent issues to deal with: parent problems, self-esteem problems, skin, hair and girl problems. He just has legal problems too. And he's got to solve them if he wants to save his mother's life.

If you like reading short stories. . .

Stories of a Nation: Defining Moments in Our History (a collection of short stories)

Inspired by history, Story of a Nation is a beautifully illustrated collection of original stories from some of Canada's most celebrated and bestloved authors. Twelve of the country's finest writers, including Margaret Atwood, Roch Carrier, Timothy Findley, Antonine Maillet, Alberto Manguel and Michael Turner, when presented with the question, What are the great events in Canadian history? responded by travelling into the past to discover the moments, both familiar and unexpected, that shaped our nation. 

Drawing on their skills as master storytellers, the contributors to this collection offer wonderfully imaginative accounts of what it's like to make history. Margaret Atwood casts her eye back to 1759 and brilliantly captures the journal entries of a frightened French woman, trapped in Québec City as the English forces attack. In "The First of July," David Macfarlane's youthful narrator loses himself in the papers of an elderly neighbour, and through the records of her past, experiences the heartbreaking, stunting loss of war. In Thomas King's hilarious story, "Where the Borg Are," a young boy named Milton Friendlybear offers a Star Trekkian reinterpretation of the Indian Act, linking its significance to the fate of the universe. And revisiting an occasion of huge national pride, Michelle Berry tells the story of a fouryearold girl caught up in the excitement of the 1972 Summit Series, hopeful that the passion of hockey will hold her crumbling family together. 

 

. . . and finally a couple of CLASSIC FICTION titles that examine social and political ideas. . .

1984 by George Orwell Winston Smith works for the Ministry of truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent - even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101 . . .

Ninteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a tyrannical regime.

Animal Farm by George Orwell Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This 1945 satire addresses the socialist/communist philosophy of Stalin in the Soviet Union.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs, all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations, where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress... Huxley's ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterpiece.

Some NON-FICTION suggestions. . .

Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire When Lt-Gen. Roméo Dallaire was called to serve as force commander of the UN intervention in Rwanda in '93, he thought he was heading off on a straightforward peacekeeping mission. Thirteen months later he flew home from Africa, broken, disillusioned & suicidal, having witnessed the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days.

In Shake Hands with the Devil, he takes readers with him on a return voyage into hell, vividly recreating the events the international community turned its back on. This book is an unsparing eyewitness account of the failure by humanity to stop the genocide, despite timely warnings. Woven thru the story of this disastrous mission is his own journey from confident Cold Warrior, to devastated UN commander, to retired general engaged in a

painful struggle to find a measure of peace, hope & reconciliation. This book is a personal account of his conversion from a man certain of his worth & secure in his assumptions to one conscious of his own weaknesses & failures & critical of the institutions he'd relied on. It might not sit easily with standard ideas of military leadership, but understanding what happened to him & his mission to Rwanda is crucial to understanding the moral minefields peacekeepers are forced to negotiate when we ask them to step into dirty wars.

The World Needs your Kid : How to Raise Children Who Care and Contribute by Marc and Craig Kielburger The Dalai Lama has observed that the greatest challenge facing our time is that we're raising a generation of passive bystanders. If he is right, then the most vital work in this moment belongs to parents, grandparents, mentors and teachers. Inside this inspiring guide, you'll find life lessons from remarkable individuals, committed parents, and compassionate children. Contributors include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mia Farrow, Jane Fonda, Robert Kennedy Jr., Jason Mraz, and Dr. Jane Goodall. Read revealing stories and

insights from the not-so-typical childhoods of Craig and Marc Kielburger. The brothers, whose work now inspires more than a million youth every year, share groundbreaking lessons on teaching kids to care. Discover how small actions every day can make the world a better place.

Courage and Compassion: Ten Canadians Who Made a Difference

What makes a hero? There are many kinds of people who act heroically in small and large ways. This book profiles ten individuals whose incredible acts of courage and compassion protected the human rights we hold most dear. The heroes of this book are men, women, and even children from different points in Canadian history who have worked and fought for the basic human liberties to which every person is entitled.

Humanity’s Future. Essays on a variety of topics including globalization, poverty, global warming, GMO’s, food, the energy crisis and genetic experimentation.

Eyes Wide Open by Paul Fleischman

We're living in an Ah-Ha moment. Take 250 years of human ingenuity. Add abundant fossil fuels. The result: a population and lifestyle never before seen. The downsides weren't visible for centuries, but now they are. Suddenly everything needs rethinking – suburbs, cars, fast food, cheap prices. It's a changed world. This book explains it. Not with isolated facts, but the principles driving attitudes and events, from vested interests to denial to big-country syndrome. Because money is as important as molecules in the environment, science is joined with politics, history, and psychology to provide the briefing needed to comprehend the 21st century.

Prying Eyes: Privacy in the Twenty-First Century by Betsy Kuhn

In George Orwells classic novel 1984, he described a disturbing imaginary world: a government used technology to monitor its citizens day and night. Some people worry that in todays hightech world, we are losing our privacy, just like the citizens in 1984. Prying Eyes describes the advantages of new technology and the ways it may threaten your privacy. The Global Positioning System (GPS) in your car can be used to track you; the search engine you use to help you find things instantly on the Internet also stores information about the Web sites you visit. What happens to all of that data about you? Not all privacy issues are about technology, though. Some are legal questions. This book explores the topic of privacy rights in a balanced, thoughtprovoking way 

that encourages critical thinking.  

David Suzuki: the autobiography by David Suzuki David Suzuki's autobiography limns a life dedicated to making the world a better place. The book expands on the early years covered in "Metamorphosis" and continues to the present, when, at age 70, Suzuki reflects on his entire life and his hopes for the future. With characteristic candor and passion, Suzuki describes how he became a leading environmentalist, writer, and thinker; the establishment of the David Suzuki Foundation; his world travels and meetings with luminaries like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama; and the abiding role of nature and family in his life. David Suzuki is an intimate and inspiring look at a modern-day visionary

Fifteen Days: stories of bravery, friendship, life and death from inside the new Canadian army by Christie Blatchford

. . . with her many reports from Afghanistan, and in dozens of interviews with the returned members of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and others back at home, she found the subject she was born to tackle. Her reporting of the conflict and her deeply empathetic observations of the men and women who wear the maple leaf are words for the ages, fit to stand alongside the nation’s best writing on war. It is a testament to Christie Blatchford’s skills and integrity that along with the admiration of her readers, she won the respect and trust of the soldiers. They share breathtakingly

honest accounts of their desire to serve, their willingness to confront fear and danger in the battlefield, their loyalty towards each other and the heartbreak occasioned by the loss of one of their own. Grounded in insights gained over the course of three trips to Afghanistan in 2006, and drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews not only with the servicemen and -women with whom she shared so much, but with their commanders and family members as well, Christie Blatchford creates a detailed, complex and deeply affecting picture of military life in the twenty-first century.

Piece by Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada (a collection of short essays/memoirs)

This new anthology features stories by some of Canada’s finest authors who were born in another country and who went through the experience of trying to “fit in.” Exploring the time and incidents, dating from the shock of first impressions to the author’s first stirrings 

of “becoming Canadian” and what that meant to them, the young adult audience is a perfectly tuned readership for this collection.  Whether the teens were born in Canada or not, both the newly arrived and young adults share a powerful desire to fit in, to be accepted.