National Network for Equitable Library Service

When PhD candidate Glen Harrison proposes researching the origins of the earliest known tarot cards, the Visconti-Sforza deck, for his thesis, his art history professors are dubious. As he struggles to find a convincing argument, one of the cards yields a surprising clue. It is the first in a series of seemingly chance encounters and random finds that takes him down a new and terrifying path, which leads from the safety of the museums and libraries of pre-9/11 New York to the most hidden reaches of West Africa, where a mystery as dark and ancient as the cards themselves unfurls.

A small-town Bill Clinton look-alike agonizes over whether to accept a tempting offer from the CIA; an obese young woman finds love in a prairie cafe; a lonely child encounters a supernatural being; a teenage girl struggles with a sexual predator as she hitchhikes on the autobahn; a newly divorced man tries to return his adopted children; two brothers and a sister take their father's ashes back to the North, trying to make it over the ice road before break-up. These are just a few of the stories from Margaret Macpherson's remarkable debut collection, Perilous Departures.

Holy Days of Obligation is a collection of short stories which weaves together the family history of a working-class Catholic family. Set in industrial Ontario, the stories are narrated by Bertie, who is the oldest of nine children. Bertie uneasily straddles two worlds: that of her parents, Frank and Elizabeth, who have too many children and not enough money, and that of her siblings, with whom Bertie shares the confidences and frustrations and adventures of growing up.

When young, unlucky Wendy Li finds herself floating above the trees and buildings of her home town Winnipeg, she immediately suspects she's been murdered by her husband's jealous ex-lover, Evelyn. But no one is aware of Wendy's spirit drifting over the city, longing to settle the unfinished business of her life. The citizens of Winnipeg are embroiled in controversy over the construction of a new casino.

Pertice McIlveen, a young Ontario woman who loves Hemingway and hates hats, receives a mysterious key in the mail. Accompanied by her best friend Es, she travels to Gannet Island off the coast of New Brunswick to find the door it fits into. There she discovers a charming cottage by the sea has been willed to her by a secret benefactor identified only as PM, on the condition she wears the hats that come with it. She accepts the challenge, leaving behind her life in Toronto and moving into Honeysuckle Cottage.

After Light spans four generations of the Garrison family, over the course of the twentieth century. Irish Deirdre, forced into marriage at sixteen, never stops trying to regain her freedom, though her ruthless escape attempts threaten to destroy her family. Her son, Frank, raised in Brooklyn, is a talented young artist, until he's blinded in WW2. With fierce determination, Frank forges a new life for himself, but the war has shaken him deeply.

Pearl Serein is the most desired woman in town. Her lovers are the city's leading men. She breaks up marriages, and after she dumps her lovers, their careers go down the tubes. Celebrity gossip scribe Tommi Bonneau chronicles Pearl's every romantic move in the morning paper, Le Cri du Matin. And he is relentless in serving his story, keeping the ideal of romantic love amongst the rich and famous at the heart of the ongoing saga.

Body Trade weaves together two stories of survival. The main narrative follows Rosie and Tanya, two young Canadian women who decide to leave the Northwest Territories and head south on an ill-conceived road trip through California, Mexico and Central America. The story takes a life-defining twist when their search for freedom and adventure brings them into contact with predators of the Central American sex trafficking trade.

Born in the Caribbean, Philomena Jones is abandoned by her mother and left to the mercy of her grandmother, who, after raising eight children and grandchildren, is not capable of dedicating herself to another child. Love-starved, Philomena is easy prey for the island's new pastor. She leaves home for America, hoping to find her mother, but ends up drifting and battling mental illness. Relocated to a supportive housing facility, Philomena meets a diverse cast of women who, despite their wildly differing backgrounds and difficulties, share one common bond; their history of abuse.

Krista and Jason have been best friends since preschool. It never mattered that he was a boy with reddish-brown hair and she was the "Korean girl" at school. Now in fifth grade, everyone in their class is preparing their Heritage Month projects. Jason has always loved Krista's Korean family, and particularly her mom's cooking, but Krista is conflicted about being her school's "Korean Ambassador". She's also worried about asking her intimidating grandma to teach the class how to make their traditional kim-bap.