ON AUGUST 30TH WE ARE CELEBRATING BOBBIE ROSENFELD… THE OLYMPIAN WHO COULD DO EVERYTHING    THE BOBBIE ROSENFELD STORY CONTINUES! Guest post by author Anne Dublin    Who would have known that, about twenty years after Second Story Press published Bobbie Rosenfeld: The Olympian Who Could Do Everything, the story would continue to the present day? In the last couple of months, I’ve had the privilege of speaking to various groups about Bobbie (Fanny) and her achievements—both as an outstanding athlete and a celebrated journalist for Toronto’s Globe and Mail. Why this sudden in ..read more

When I first read The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser by Kathy Kacer in 1999, I was a sixth-grade student, and I could not have imagined how this book would deeply impact the events of the rest of my life. As a senior Elementary student participating in the Forest of Reading, I was given the opportunity to attend the Silver Birch Awards ceremony in downtown Toronto if I read all ten non-fiction and all ten fiction-nominated books. So, I did. I read twenty books. And I fell in love with The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser. The exact details get a little bit blurry here for me (I was only 11), but for some re ..read more

Second Story Says Goodbye to a Beloved Author, Sister, and Friend Helen Wolfe, who smashed stereotypes as an educator, writer, and world traveller in her wheelchair, died at home on August 17th, secure in the love of her sister Margie, family, and dear friends. Daughter of Holocaust survivors Josef and Toby Wolfe, Helen was born on July 16, 1953 with spina bifida. She grew up in a time when people with disabilities were segregated, and little was expected of them. From childhood, she had a fierce determination to live life to the fullest. Helen upended social norms and surmounted obstacles whi ..read more

  “Two Spirit is a relatively new term, but Two-Spirit people have been around for forever, and it was considered a great thing to embody both male and female spirits, and I think it still is. ” — Phoenix Wilson   On this year’s National Indigenous Peoples Day we want to celebrate a wonderful new work of Indigenous Children’s Literature, Phoenix Gets Greater, written by Marty Wilson-Trudeau with Phoenix Wilson, and illustrated by Megan Kyak-Monteith. It explores the bonds of family and the importance of giving children the freedom to be who they really want to be. Readers will follow ..read more

Quick View Twenty years ago, the true story of the search for Hana Brady was shared with readers around the world. This incredible journey full of mystery, memories, and lessons for today has touched the hearts of millions, been translated into multiple languages, and been adapted for the stage and screen. Hana’s Suitcase follows Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of a small Holocaust education centre in Tokyo, who received a suitcase from the Auschwitz Museum marked with the words "Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Orphan". Fuelled by her student's curiosity, Fumiko began a search through history for the a ..read more

Illustration by Qin Leng We are heartbroken to tell you that Carolyn Jackson, our much-admired managing editor from 2006-2017, died January 5th after a long and distinguished career in the book and magazine industry. Her contributions were substantive — as publisher at St. Remy Press in Quebec, editor of Air Canada’s en Route magazine and an author and editor of children’s and adult books. For eleven years before retiring Carolyn was managing editor at Second Story Press where she brought her decades of experience and insight, enriching our women-focused, social justice program ..read more

The holidays are upon us, and 2021 is almost over. You’ve probably noticed newspapers and websites releasing their annual “Best of 2021” lists for reading. But why do we need to label the “Best”? Reading during the pandemic has been strange for many of us. For some, we’ve read more than usual, or we’ve expanded into different genres or started listening to audiobooks. For others, it’s been difficult to read for fun at all and have found it easier to return to our favourites for comfort. Instead of a “Best of 2021” list, we at Second Story Press wanted to share some of our favourite books this ..read more

November is the new December for holiday shopping. Even if you read about the supply chain issues in the Toronto Star, the Globe & Mail, or on Twitter, you might still have questions. What exactly does it mean? How will it affect you this year? Or, if you’re a last-minute, procrastinating shopper like me, how on earth will you get it done on time? Don’t worry, let’s try to plan ahead, shop early, and shop local (it goes without saying, but try and avoid the gluttonous conglomerate, Amazon, as much as possible!). Although I love shopping and can spend way too much time in a bookstore, I al ..read more

by Suzanne Meade September—it evokes a sense of new. New notebooks, new pencils, new backpack. As a teacher, back-to-school season is a time of change, nervousness, and excitement as everyone adjusts to a new routine. This year is no different. Except that in many ways, it’s very different. The past eighteen months have been unprecedented in our lifetimes. Everyone had to shift, sometimes more than once. For many of us this caused greater anxiety. We felt isolated, we struggled managing the whole family at home while juggling work and school. A lot of parents and students are dealing with the ..read more

There’s something different about summer reading. Curling up with a book in cold weather may be cozy and comforting, but summer reads somehow feel more luxurious and languid. We go for books that are a little easier, a little more fun, that carry us along on a current of good pacing and captivating characters. The covers are bright and alluring, invoking mystery, escape, romance. For me, memories of reading in the hot summer months always take me back to family vacations on the outskirts of Bancroft, a beautiful town in Southern Ontario’s Cottage Country. When I was in middle school, my family ..read more