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Northern Girls: True Stories
Publisher title : Northern Girls, True Stories
MICHELLE WILLMS
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Summary
One of CBC’s 50 top nonfiction titles for spring 2026!
After being tracked by wolves and left behind in the forest as a child, after sleeping through a flame-spilling chimney fire, after regularly riding in vehicles driven by adults under the influence, and after physically fighting off one of her mother’s abusive partners, author Michelle Willms is both surprised and grateful she survived her northern childhood. Following the sudden death of her mother in 2001, Willms began writing about her and her family’s history to better understand how tragedy and the breakdown of trust impacted multiple generations, and to find healing.
Brave, engaging and electric, Northern Girls is a collection of true stories about the fractured legacy of growing up in rural northern Ontario. Exploring themes of generational trauma, parental addictions, and domestic violence, Willms confronts a past replete with both fragility and resilience.
Michelle Willms holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Social Work from McMaster University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Her writing has appeared in multiple literary journals, as well as the anthology This Side of the Divide: Stories of the American West (Baobab Press). She is the 2021/2022 recipient of the Norman L. Rothstein Memorial Scholarship, awarded by the Smith Family Foundation on the recommendation of the Department of Creative Writing. Michelle and her family live in Southern Ontario, Canada, as settlers on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, Ojibway/Chippewa, and Haudenosaunee peoples.
PRAISE
“The storytelling is skilful in its pacing, tone, phrasing, and impact. …This small-format paperback sits lightly in the hand, but like many products of the North it punches above its weight.” — The Seaboard Review
“Set against the backdrop of Northern Ontario in the midst of a tumultuous childhood, this collection stitches together beauty and danger, resilience and oblivion. Willms lays bare her coming-of-age with the candour of youth, an unflinching eye, and a poet’s ear for language. Fierce, harrowing, and lyrical, this collection asks what it means to survive.” — Anna Leventhal, author of Sweet Affliction
“Weaving exquisite craft with insight and compassion, Willms makes the stark, dangerous beauty of Northern Ontario as much a character in this collection as her beloved cat Britt, Uncle Normand, and childhood friends Molly and Amanda. Her use of figurative language, concrete sensory detail, and at times, epistolary form, evoke an intimacy that is as breathtaking as Lake Nosbonsing frozen over in the winter. And, like the noise of ice groaning beneath the weight of human feet, you will sigh with deep relief as your heart cracks beneath the weight of Willms’ powerful truths. Sometimes heartrending, always tender, I couldn’t put Northern Girls down.” — Léa Taranto, author of A Drop in the Ocean
“In Northern Girls, the landscape is never just scenery; it’s an accomplice, a witness, and a mirror. Willms writes the Canadian North with a visceral, sensory precision that chills to the bone—from the ‘lake-water seasoned flesh’ of a trout to the terror of wolves tracking a family through the snow. But the more harrowing wilderness here is family, where a mother’s neglect is as biting as the frost and safety is as fragile as a ‘mirror-top’ lake. This collection is an intimate, beautiful excavation of what it means to survive the freezing temperatures of both the Canadian winter and a difficult family life and emerge, like the grass in spring, into a hard-won light.” — Sarah Einstein, author of Mot: A Memoir
“Like scales on a freshly caught trout, Willms’ true stories in Northern Girls glisten with visceral detail, evoking a felt sense of place that can only come through deep reflection and narrative refinement of memories. Willms breaks the silence on intergenerational family trauma with searing vulnerability. She writes with poetic lyricism and emotional precision, balancing grit with love and connection. Her deeply moving stories skip like stones thrown across a darkly placid northern lake.” — Cid V Brunet, author of This Is My Real Name
Details
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Price:
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$16.99
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Category:
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Author:
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MICHELLE WILLMS
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Title:
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Northern Girls: True Stories
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Release date:
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March 2026
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Editor:
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BARAKA BOOKS
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Pages:
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139
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Subject:
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DIVERS
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ISBN:
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9781771864237 (17718642311)
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Renaud-Bray Reference:
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4625321
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Item nb:
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4625321
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Digital rights
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Format:
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EPUB
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Availability :
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Canada,
other authorized countries.
Northern Girls: True Stories
By
WILLMS, MICHELLE
ANDORRE
ÉMIRATS ARABES UNIS
AFGHANISTAN
ANTIGUA-ET-BARBUDA
ANGUILLA
ALBANIE
ARMÉNIE
ANGOLA
ANTARCTIQUE
ARGENTINE
SAMOA AMÉRICAINES
AUTRICHE
AUSTRALIE
ARUBA
AZERBAÏDJAN
BOSNIE-HERZÉGOVINE
BARBADE
BANGLADESH
BELGIQUE
BURKINA FASO
BULGARIE
BAHREÏN
BURUNDI
BÉNIN
BERMUDES
BRUNÉI DARUSSALAM
BOLIVIE
BRÉSIL
BAHAMAS
BHOUTAN
BOUVET, ÎLE
BOTSWANA
BÉLARUS
BELIZE
Canada
COCOS (KEELING), ÎLES
CONGO, LA RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE DU
CENTRAFRICAINE, RÉPUBLIQUE
CONGO
SUISSE
CÔTE D'IVOIRE
COOK, ÎLES
CHILI
CAMEROUN
CHINE
COLOMBIE
COSTA RICA
CUBA
CAP-VERT
CHRISTMAS, ÎLE
CHYPRE
TCHÈQUE, RÉPUBLIQUE
ALLEMAGNE
DJIBOUTI
DANEMARK
DOMINIQUE
DOMINICAINE, RÉPUBLIQUE
ALGÉRIE
ÉQUATEUR
ESTONIE
ÉGYPTE
SAHARA OCCIDENTAL
ÉRYTHRÉE
ESPAGNE
ÉTHIOPIE
FINLANDE
FIDJI
FALKLAND, ÎLES (MALVINAS)
MICRONÉSIE, ÉTATS FÉDÉRÉS DE
FÉROÉ, ÎLES
FRANCE
GABON
GRENADE
GÉORGIE
GUYANE FRANÇAISE
GHANA
GIBRALTAR
GROENLAND
GAMBIE
GUINÉE
GUADELOUPE
GUINÉE ÉQUATORIALE
GRÈCE
GÉORGIE DU SUD ET LES ÎLES SANDWICH DU S
GUATEMALA
GUAM
GUINÉE-BISSAU
GUYANA
HONG-KONG
HEARD, ÎLE ET MCDONALD, ÎLES
HONDURAS
CROATIE
HAÏTI
HONGRIE
INDONÉSIE
IRLANDE
ISRAËL
INDE
OCÉAN INDIEN, TERRITOIRE BRITANNIQUE DE
IRAQ
IRAN, RÉPUBLIQUE ISLAMIQUE D'
ISLANDE
ITALIE
JAMAÏQUE
JORDANIE
JAPON
KENYA
KIRGHIZISTAN
CAMBODGE
KIRIBATI
COMORES
SAINT-KITTS-ET-NEVIS
CORÉE, RÉPUBLIQUE POPULAIRE DÉMOCRATIQUE
CORÉE, RÉPUBLIQUE DE
KOWEÏT
CAÏMANES, ÎLES
KAZAKHSTAN
LAO, RÉPUBLIQUE DÉMOCRATIQUE POPULAIRE
LIBAN
SAINTE-LUCIE
LIECHTENSTEIN
SRI LANKA
LIBÉRIA
LESOTHO
LITUANIE
LUXEMBOURG
LETTONIE
LIBYENNE, JAMAHIRIYA ARABE
MAROC
MONACO
MOLDOVA, RÉPUBLIQUE DE
MADAGASCAR
MARSHALL, ÎLES
MACÉDOINE, L'EX-RÉPUBLIQUE YOUGOSLAVE DE
MALI
MYANMAR
MONGOLIE
MACAO
MARIANNES DU NORD, ÎLES
MARTINIQUE
MAURITANIE
MONTSERRAT
MALTE
MAURICE
MALDIVES
MALAWI
MEXIQUE
MALAISIE
MOZAMBIQUE
NAMIBIE
N-CALÉDONIE
NIGER
NORFOLK, ÎLE
NIGÉRIA
NICARAGUA
PAYS-BAS
NORVÈGE
NÉPAL
NAURU
NIUÉ
NOUVELLE-ZÉLANDE
OMAN
PANAMA
PÉROU
POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE
PAPOUASIE-NOUVELLE-GUINÉE
PHILIPPINES
PAKISTAN
POLOGNE
SAINT-PIERRE-ET-MIQUELON
PITCAIRN
PALESTINIEN OCCUPÉ, TERRITOIRE
PORTUGAL
PALAOS
PARAGUAY
QATAR
RÉUNION
ROUMANIE
RUSSIE, FÉDÉRATION DE
RWANDA
ARABIE SAOUDITE
SALOMON, ÎLES
SEYCHELLES
SOUDAN
SUÈDE
SINGAPOUR
SAINTE-HÉLÈNE
SLOVÉNIE
SVALBARD ET ÎLE JAN MAYEN
SLOVAQUIE
SIERRA LEONE
SAINT-MARIN
SÉNÉGAL
SOMALIE
SURINAME
SAO TOMÉ-ET-PRINCIPE
EL SALVADOR
SYRIENNE, RÉPUBLIQUE ARABE
SWAZILAND
TURKS ET CAÏQUES, ÎLES
TCHAD
TERRES AUSTRALES FRANÇAISES
TOGO
THAÏLANDE
TADJIKISTAN
TOKELAU
TIMOR-LESTE
TURKMÉNISTAN
TUNISIE
TONGA
TURQUIE
TRINITÉ-ET-TOBAGO
TUVALU
TAÏWAN, PROVINCE DE CHINE
TANZANIE, RÉPUBLIQUE-UNIE DE
UKRAINE
OUGANDA
ÎLES MINEURES ÉLOIGNÉES DES ÉTATS-UNIS
ÉTATS-UNIS
URUGUAY
OUZBÉKISTAN
SAINT-SIÈGE (ÉTAT DE LA CITÉ DU VATICAN)
SAINT-VINCENT-ET-LES GRENADINES
VENEZUELA
ÎLES VIERGES BRITANNIQUES
ÎLES VIERGES DES ÉTATS-UNIS
VIET NAM
VANUATU
WALLIS ET FUTUNA
SAMOA
YÉMEN
MAYOTTE
AFRIQUE DU SUD
ZAMBIE
ZIMBABWE
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Digital Rights Management :
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Digital watermark
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Numeric warehouse :
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DE MARQUE INC.
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Number of authorized devices:
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3
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1.10 Mbytes
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Northern Girls: True Stories
,
WILLMS, MICHELLE
©
BARAKA BOOKS
2026
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