Renowned for his compeling , humane portraits of everyday Arab lives, Tahar Ben Jelloun has affirmed his place in the literary world by winning such awards as the Prix Goncourt and Prix Maghreb. In The Last Friend, Ben Jelloun presents a spellbinding coming-of-age story and a dazzling portrait of Morocco in an era of repression and disillusionment. In Tangiers in the late 1950s, two teenagers, Mamed and Ali, strike up an intense friendship that will last a lifetime. But lurking just beneath the surface is a deep, unspoken jealousy in danger of destroying them both.

Decades after persecution and loss drove him into hiding, one old preacher has received a vision from God-in one week, his city will be destroyed. Walter Barnes abandoned his pulpit long ago and has watched as the church he loved faded into silence, giving an increasingly violent world over to its own devices. Now judgment is coming, but like Abraham, Walter has made a wager with God. If he can change the heart of the city, then mercy will have its day. His journey will lead him from the broken streets to the steel citadels of a city that has forgotten him and his faith, forcing him to confront the choices that have haunted him for years. And the clock is ticking.

Suzie Cain has more problems than she can count—the least of which is the fact that, if she touches a person, that person’s going to die within the week. That, at least, she can work with. If people want to give her money to hang out with terrible people, well—it isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, but it’s a living. She has bigger problems. For starters, she doesn’t know who she is. Oh, she knows she’s Suzie, orphan and foster kid. She knows she’s dangerous. But why? Where did she come from? Her only clue is an old photo of a very angry woman with some sort of…shadow hovering behind her and a strange poem—or is it a curse?—written on the back. And now she’s picked up a new problem, a biker named Ace who seems to be tracking her across state lines. He’s operating under the assumption that Suzie is a mercenary for hire, just like he is—and he doesn’t like the competition. But when she’s got the chance, she doesn’t touch him and she doesn’t know why. If Suzie can break her curse, she can change her luck. But life is never that simple. Because of course not. CW: Sexual assault, curses, morally gray heroines, ice cream in egregious quantities.

Fourth grade is tough for self-deprecating misfit Ida May when her quirky best friend moves away

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A beautiful book . . . a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." —Wall Street Journal "A penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory . . . Nunez has a wry, withering wit." —NPR "Dry, allusive and charming . . . the comedy here writes itself.” —The New York Times A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog's care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them. Elegiac and searching, The Friend is both a meditation on loss and a celebration of human-canine devotion.

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