Peggy's Cove: The Amazing History of a Coastal Village

Nonfiction: Nova Scotia History, The Maritimes

146 pages, $15.95, 6"x9" Paperback (Includes photographs)

ISBN-13: 978-1-897426-00-5

ISBN-10: 1-897426-00-3

Available in July 2008

Amazon || Chapters

Here is the complete history of the famous cove and the unique village that hosts thousands of visitors each year. The story begins with the formation of the rocks along these shores and the impact of the glaciers. The Mi'kmaq were the first to live here in the summers, harvesting the
riches of the sea. A land grant in 1811 brought the first hardy settlers, who built homes and wharves and discovered that the sea could provide bounty but was also a source of great danger.

The story includes the origin of the name, Peggy's Cove, and details about the everyday life of nineteenth-century families living here. A history of the famous lighthouse is included and there are excerpts from many of the famous and not-so-famous visitors who have written
about the Cove through two centuries.

The author explores the most damaging storms, the shipwrecks, the reports of sea monsters and other strange phenomena. Fishing was always a source of income, but it changed over the years. At times the fish prices were so low it was not worth the effort and, in recent years, dramatic changes to the ocean have seen the collapse of several important species of fish.

In the twentieth century, Peggy's Cove attracted artists, writers and ultimately thousands of tourists. Sculptor William de Garthe made his home here and created his monument to the coastal fishermen out of the sheer granite outcropping in his backyard. In 1998, Swissair Flight
111 crashed off the shores of Peggy's Cove and the community opened its doors to the world in an effort to provide support for the rescue workers and the families of the victims. From the earliest days to the present, the story of Peggy's Cove has been a tale of natural wonder and
human endurance.

Lesley Choyce lives at Lawrencetown Beach and is the author of 65 books including
Nova Scotia: Shaped By The Sea and The Coasts of Canada, a history of the country's shorelines. He has also edited Nova Scotia: A Traveller's Companion.

The Book of Michael

Red Deer Press
Juvenile Fiction/Social Issues/Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
Ages 16+ • 224 pages • 5 1/4 x 7 1/4"
ISBN 0–88995–417–8 paper • CDN 12.95 • USA 12.95

Michael Grove was sixteen years old when he was convicted for the murder of Lisa Conroy, the girlfriend he loved very much. The circumstances surrounding her final hours attract considerable media attention, especially because Michael and Lisa had sex just prior to her death. A public outcry against light penalties for young offenders ensures Michael is tried as an adult; he receives a harsh and severe penalty. Six months into his imprisonment, the true murderer confesses. Michael is released but quickly finds that the stigma of imprisonment and the (wrongful) rap for murder is not an easy thing to escape out on the streets.

White Pine Award Nomination for The End Of The World As We Know It

Lesley's Young Adult novel "The End of the World As We Know It" has been nominated for a 2008 White Pine Award.

Click here for more information about this prestigious award.

"Author Lesley Choyce has filled his latest book with quirky yet complex characters, and his adept portrayal of one teen's inner struggles - struggles that are not fuelled by extreme poverty, abuse, or neglect or any other external provocations - is at once profound and utterly realistic. Carson's story of subtle growth and quiet transformation will resonate with a wide range off readers. It is a beautifully honest book tinged with sadness, but ultimately filled with optimism and hope."
-- Atlantic Books Today (Halifax)

Book Description

"I hate the world and everything in it. And that includes me."

Asked to write something for English class that expresses who he really is, 16-year-old Carson takes pleasure in blistering the page with hate for everything in his life. Stuck in a private school for kids who have repeatedly flunked out elsewhere, Carson knows he's got nowhere lower to sink to. "Flunk Out Academy" is the last resort for Carson and his classmates, in a small town where its deeply troubled students are decidedly unwelcome.

Then Carson meets someone who is even less optimistic than he. Christine struggles to get by, living in a trailer by herself, abandoned by her mother and father, so desperate that she has become almost immune to the pain and loneliness.

Confronted by her deep sadness, Carson starts to care for her and she for him. Once focused on someone other than himself, he begins to notice the world around him and realize that there is beauty as well as hopelessness, love as well as hate. Together the two teenagers struggle to work out how they are going to live in an imperfect world. There are no easy happy endings, but somehow the journey eventually makes the pain worthwhile.

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Red Deer Press; 1 edition (May 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889953791
• ISBN-13: 978-0889953796
  

If you like, you can order your copy from many online and bricks & mortar book sellers. Here are a few links for your convenience:
Chapters.ca || Amazon.com

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Lesley Choyce books on eBay SPECIAL OFFER -- AUTOGRAPHED

SPECIAL: Autographed by author copy of NS Shaped by the Sea (2007)

Available here.

Nova Scotia: Shaped by the Sea -- a Living History (New Revised 2007 Edition)

Nova Scotia: Shaped By The Sea

A Living History - New Revised Edition

Pottersfield is pleased to announce
the release of

Nova Scotia: Shaped By The Sea
A Living History - New Revised Edition

By Lesley Choyce

The history of Nova Scotia is an amazing story of a land and people shaped by the waves, the tides, the wind and the wonder of the North Atlantic. Lesley Choyce weaves the legacy of this unique coastal province, piecing together the stories written in the rocks, the wrecks and the record books of human glory and error. In this true- life adventure, he provides a down-to-earth journey through history that is both refreshing and revealing.

The story begins after the retreat of the glaciers when the first people arrived and, over thousands of years, evolved the highly civilized Mi'kmaq culture. The arrival of the Europeans disrupted their life, unleashing tumultuous conflicts that would last centuries.
Then came the power struggle between France and England, which was fought at sea as well as on land. As England emerged the victor, the Acadians were driven from the land they loved. Once the wars subsided, the pirates and privateers still plundered the seas, but the honest sailors and shipbuilders of Nova Scotia led the province into a flourishing world trade. During the First World War, Nova Scotia was again thrust into military action, resulting in one of the most devastating explosions ever to rip through a city. Decades later, Halifax was torn apart again, this time by military riots.

Here in the new century, it is clear that the way of life along this coast is changing. But while the wealth of the sea has been diminished by human greed, the dreams of life in harmony with the fierce yet beautiful North Atlantic live on, even as the coastline continues to be carved away by the restless surge of the waves.

The first edition of this book was published by Penguin Books in 1996. Lesley Choyce lives at Lawrencetown Beach and is the author of 65 books including The Coasts of Canada, a history of the country's shorelines. He has also edited a companion volume to Nova Scotia: Shaped by the Sea titled Nova Scotia: A Traveller's Companion.

"It is a good tale, well told, which opens the door to the wanderings of the imagination."
The Globe and Mail

324 pages $24.95 6" x 9" Paperback ISBN 978-1- 895900-94-1 -----------

Books available for sale from Nimbus Publishing: 1-800-Nimbus9

Surfers For Peace

Surfers for Peace is intended to be a worldwide community of surfers and surf-friendly people who believe there is a true connection between surfing and making the world a more peaceful place to live.

Click here for more ...

2007 Tall Grass Festival, Seaforth Nova Scotia

Photo courtesy Maya Swan