National Network for Equitable Library Service

No one at school knew that fifteen-year-old Aggie and her mother were hoarders until the Idiot Boys. That made her even more a target of bullies than she was before. At home, aka The Dump, her loneliness and despair are further punctuated by her mother's alcoholism, neglect, and paranoia. But Aggie is a warrior and she devises a plan to fight back —–a plan that enlists a few of the other misfits at school. The plan isn't an easy one, though, and when she is beaten by a group of girls, she finds strength and encouragement from some unlikely sources.

Dale Paul is a witty, self-absorbed rogue and the hedge fund whale. He enjoys a life of self-delusion that allows him to gamble other people’s money for his personal enrichment. When his biggest gamble — involving the pensions of the American military — fails, charm and boarding school connections aren’t enough to save Dale Paul from jail time for fraud.

With millions of copies sold The Stranger is one of the most widely read novels in the world. It stands as perhaps the greatest existentialist tale ever conceived. When a young Algerian named Meursault kills a man, his subsequent imprisonment and trial are puzzling and absurd. This remarkable translation by Matthew Ward has been considered the definitive English version since its original publication.

For all of her days, Reta Winters has enjoyed the useful monotony of happiness: a loving family, good friends, growing success as a writer of light fiction novels "for summertime." This placid existence cracks open one fearful day when her beloved oldest daughter, Norah, drops out of life to sit on a gritty street corner, silent but for the sign around her neck that reads "goodness." Reta's search for what drove her daughter to such a desperate statement turns into an unflinching and surprisingly funny meditation on where we find meaning and hope.

After barely surviving the events of The Killer Trail, Vancouver psychiatric social worker Chris Ryder once again finds himself at the centre of a high-profile murder case: Marvin Goodwin, a young man who falls on the extreme end of the autism spectrum, is found covered with blood at the suspected murder scene of a local businessman. When Chris Ryder is called in to find out what he can about the young man, he finds that the weight of blood might just be too much for him to bear. D.B.

Told in a continuous monologue from patient to psychoanalyst, this novel draws us into the turbulent mind of one lust-ridden young Jewish bachelor named Alexander Portnoy.

When Kirsten awakens in the hospital, she has no recollection of being viciously attacked the night before. But then slowly, painfully, haunting details reveal themselves.

Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. Lila isn't what she seems. A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila's husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it's discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth.

Juno was wrong about the Crouch family. She thought that they had the perfect life. But after overhearing a chilling conversation, she knows this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when she strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she's been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena's station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again. But days later, Selena's nanny disappears.