Scarborough Catherine Hernandez by Catherine Hernandez 9781551526782, 9782017901402, 2017901407, 1551526786 instant download after payment.

In Scarborough, a low-income urban neighbourhood, three kids struggle to rise above poverty, abuse, and a system that consistently fails them. The adults in their lives either rise to the occasion or fall by the wayside; together, they make up a troubled yet inspired community that refuses to be undone.

"In Catherine Hernandez's debut, Scarborough, this landscape comes to life, populated by children whose parents, as with mine, didn't relax because they were in survival mode, trying to build a boat while they were sailing it... Scarborough, recently nominated for a Toronto Book Award, is an ambitious collection of intertwined stories. The characters' lives intersect in the company of Hina Hassani, a young social worker tasked with community outreach. Her very job is the manifestation of institutional good intentions, or, in less charitable terms, the white-saviour complex. (Hernandez herself clearly has no time for bureaucrats, the best example being Hina's boss, an out-of-touch woman who works downtown and never visits the centre but fills her missives with microaggressions, ill-fitting advice and an e-mail signature that enthusiastically quotes Oprah.)"  -  The Globe & Mail