Scarborough is a low-income, culturally diverse neighbourhood east of Toronto, the fourth largest city in North America; like many underserved communities, it suffers under the weight of poverty, drugs, crime. Scarborough the novel employs a multitude of voices to tell the story of a tight-knit neighbourhood under fire: among them, Victor, a Black artist harassed by the police; Winsum, a Caribbean restaurant owner struggling to keep it together; and Hina, a Muslim school worker who witnesses first-hand the impact of poverty on education. And then there are the three kids who work to rise above a system that consistently fails them: Bing, a queer Filipino boy who lives under the shadow of his father's mental illness; Sylvie, Bing's best friend, an Indigenous girl whose family struggles to find a permanent home to live in; and Laura, whose history of neglect by her mother is destined to repeat itself with her father.

Scarborough offers a raw yet empathetic glimpse into a troubled community that locates its dignity in unexpected places: a neighbourhood that refuses to be undone.