BOOKS – LISA BUSH

The District: A Dr. Ada Logan Mystery

How do you report a crime that hasn’t yet happened? This is the question Sue Kowalski, Superintendent of Communications at Suncrest School District, grapples with. When documents Sue has been compiling are discovered, she knows it’s only a matter of time before her male colleagues find out and discredit her, invent a reason for her to resign, or dispose of her altogether.

When Sue dies in what appears to be an accidental car collision, an unusual stipulation in her trust weaves together the lives of five women who are grappling with their own professional and personal demons—Dr. Ada Logan whose quest for justice has left her depleted and disillusioned; Eleanor Monroe, an outspoken artist who has been blacklisted since becoming a single mother; Cat Murray, a theatre director who believes if she works hard enough, her talent will finally be recognized by her employer; Jenn Star an award-winning historian who is working under the supervision of a man she once mentored; and Dr. Miriam González García, whose ongoing success as a principal doesn’t transfer to promotion or pay increases.

Thrown together, these fiercely ambitious individuals must learn how to trust each other, and themselves, before they are professionally discredited, their mental stability is shattered, or they face a fate similar to Sue’s.

City Hall: A Dr. Ada Logan Mystery

When environmental scientist, Dr. Ada Logan, throws a coffee cup across the kitchen, she’s forced to admit that her first months of motherhood aren’t going well. Her husband promises Ada he will handle the situation. Exhausted, flooded with postpartum hormones, and under pressure from her University, Ada is shocked to learn that his solution is to invite her mother-in-law, Pilar, to come and stay with them in Calgary. The day that Pilar arrives in Calgary, the city is covered in a block of ice, and Ada discovers her neighbour, Alex Sánchez, a charismatic, local politician, dead at the foot of his basement stairs. Pilar joins forces with her ambitious daughter-in-law to uncover the truth behind Alex Sánchez’s death. Joined by a cast of resilient characters—Susan Rothburg, the neighbour who knows more than she lets on; Sara Rajavi, the mental health worker with fierce beliefs of her own; Ethel Knight, the older woman who reminisces about the quieter days; and Lorelie Sánchez, Alex’s widow who desperately wanted out of her unhappy marriage—Ada and Pilar start to uncover the complex secrets of their neighbourhood and their city.

Lisa Bush’s imagined Calgary feels at once familiar and fantastical – the perfect setting for a mystery in which nothing is exactly as it seems.

Sam Hester, Calgary comics artist

There's plot twisting, nail biting suspense held in these pages, where Ada and Pilar may become the unlikely heroines of the whole city.

Micheline Maylor, Past Poet Laureate, City of Calgary

Teaching Well: How Healthy, Empowered Teachers Lead to Thriving, Successful Classrooms

How can teachers balance the needs of busy overwhelming classrooms with the needs of their own health and well-being? This remarkable book shows you hwow embracing a healthy lifestyle is not only beneficial for teachers, but for students, classrooms, and schools, too. It suggests that teachers can reduce the amount of time they work outside the classroom and still be a motivated and engaged teacher.

Promoting a healthy work–life balance for teachers, the book explores how to avoid burnout while still creating an effective learning community in your classroom. The conversational tone of the book, along with a wealth of anecdotal examples, will make this highly readable resource an invaluable guide for every educator.