Books & Publications

"Although diminished in numbers, Birchtown remains a proud symbol of the struggle by Blacks in the Maritimes and elsewhere for justice and dignity." So says the plaque at Black Loyalist Heritage Park in Birchtown, commemorating the former Black slaves who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War to gain their freedom in the form of a small plot of land near Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

In Birchtown and the Black Loyalists, Wanda Taylor recounts the incredible story of the Black Loyalists of Birchtown for young readers. With educational and accessible language, readers are introduced to the journey of Black American soldiers taken from Africa as slaves, their quest for freedom, the settlement and struggle of Black Loyalists on Nova Scotian soil, and the enduring spirit of their descendants in spite of a history marked by hardship and loss. Includes informative sidebars, highlighted glossary terms, recommended reading, historic timeline, an index, and dozens of historical and contemporary images.

In 1921, prominent lawyer and Nova Scotia Black leader James R. Johnston's vision of a place welcoming of Black children came to reality. In an era of segregation and overt racism that saw most orphanages refuse to take in Black children, the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children fulfilled an important role.

But despite its good intentions, today the Home is mostly known for a troubling past. Former residents launched a class action lawsuit alleging sexual and physical abuse suffered at the Home over a period of several decades. In The Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children: The Hurt, The Hope, and The Healing, author Wanda Taylor interviews former residents participating in the lawsuit and upcoming public inquiry and connects their stories to her own relationship with the Home. The former residents in this book provide an unsettling, and sometimes graphic, description of what life was like inside the Home and describe the many ways the government system designed to protect them instead exacerbated a culture of abuse and neglect.

When 15-year-old Kanika falls for Danny, an older guy she has always had a crush on, she becomes his "ride or die chick". Soon after establishing that she will do anything for him, Danny sells her into the sex trade. Kanika is drugged and taken to Toronto where she finds her friend has also been a victim of the sex trafficking plot. With the help of an older sex worker, Kanika manages to survive and escape the people abusing her.

Based on true events, Ride or Die tells the story of how a young Black girl from a small town is lured into the sex trade by an older boy.

Adopted by Caucasian parents, biracial teen Lizzie feels like she never belonged. After the death of her father, Lizzie starts acting out ― dating, staying away from home for days and giving up her plans to continue her education. When Lizzie discovers she is pregnant, she is faced with the difficult choice of having a child or getting an abortion. This leads Lizzie to want to find her own birth mother. After running away from home, Lizzie ends up in Kingston, where she tracks down an older woman named Ruth who sheds light on the circumstances surrounding Lizzie's birth.

Larry the Lion, Manny the Monkey, and Pico the Panda are bored at the zoo. They decide to dress up and take their instruments to Bell Street. At first, the people of Bell Street are afraid, and run to hide. Then a brave little girl with a maraca joins the zoo animals and starts dancing. The neighbors see this and start to come outside. Soon, everyone is in the street dancing to the music.

The Black Loyalists were the first large group of people of African ancestry to settle in Halifax, in 1782. In 1796 the Jamaican Maroons arrived. Then in 1813, Black refugees fleeing the United States came. These Loyalists, Maroons, and refugees settled in the Preston area, and although some subsequently left for Sierra Leone, many stayed and established the largest community of African Nova Scotians in the province. Since then, the Preston township—comprising North Preston, East Preston, and Lake Loon/Cherry Brook—has become a web of vibrant neighbourhoods with a rich and complex history.

With care and precision, award-winning writer Wanda Lauren Taylor delves into the history and development of this area, the organizations and churches that helped bolster the population, and the struggles, successes, and personal stories of several Preston-area residents. Through interviews and archival documents, Taylor shows how a resilient group of marginalized people built a thriving community that generations of African Nova Scotians can be proud of. Contains seventy-five images, both contemporary and archival, of the people and places around Preston.

Arlaina Jefferson is eager to prove herself. Tasked with caring for her cousin's rabbit, Obeena, Arlaina knows all that stands between her and the grown-up world of middle school is one year of staying out of trouble and making sure to clean up Obeena's turds. It would be easy—if growing up didn't also mean growing wiser.

Having faced thoughtless comments from fellow students, Arlaina is already struggling to explain the hurt she feels to her best friend, Tina. But when their teacher, Mr. Matthews, asks an ignorant question about classmate Nadia's headscarf, Arlaina has the confirmation she needs: Mr. Matthews is part of a larger problem that plagues Grover School. All those comments that Arlaina—and several other students—once brushed off suddenly seethe under the light of truth. Some things just can't be fixed by Obeena's warm and fuzzy charms.

Bolstered by her father's childhood experience in the Million Man March, Arlaina teams up with no-nonsense Nadia and a host of other Grover School students to right a systemic wrong. After all, proving you're grown up doesn't always mean staying out of trouble!