ArcaMax

Q. My ex and I have been divorced for three years. We both have new partners, and our children get along well with everyone. This year, my daughter suggested that we all have Thanksgiving together. My ex thinks it's a great idea, but my current partner isn't comfortable with it. My daughter doesn't understand why we can't all celebrate together....Read more

On a morning walk to catch the last colors of fall, we saw what appeared to be a large pile of vanilla wafers in the easement up ahead. Whoever trashed an entire box of vanilla wafers clearly has no appreciation for banana pudding.

A few steps closer, we saw that the mound was not vanilla wafers but an enormous puffball of small mushrooms. They...Read more

I pondered a lot on this topic.

Mostly, because I wondered, why shouldn’t a 71-year-old woman be the main character of a novel? In real life, there are as many people who are 71 as there are 34-year-olds or 52-year-olds. A decade ago, an older main character might have seemed like a novelty in a book, but those days are long gone.

Today, ...Read more

This reviewer was immediately captivated by Cuban transplant award-winning crime author and educator Teresa Dovalpage’s 12th book "Last Seen In Havana" and has been catching up with her backlist. Recently released "The Novel Detective" is described as being “a metafictional mystery” with a “life as art” storyline. The author is the ...Read more

'THE CAT IN THE HAT'

Rated PG for action, some peril, mild language and rude humor.

What it’s about: An adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss book in which a chaos-loving cat tries to cheer up two kids with messy fun.

The kid attractor factor: The familiar children's book, the animation and the kid-friendly humor.

Good lessons/bad lessons: ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Over the years, Stephanie Wallace and her twin sister, Della, have recruited extra roommates to make ends meet, first their brother, Joshua, then his girlfriend, Diana, as rent climbed to $3,700 on their two-bedroom apartment in San Jose. Still, they scrimp on groceries to pay the utilities and are planning to get rid of ...Read more

Q: Our breakup was nasty, and I rarely talk to my child’s other parent. When we do, it’s on a court-ordered app. Lately I have been getting notifications that my ex is trying to talk to me. I don’t want to talk. He drives me crazy. How can I convince the court that my child is better off with me? What’s good ex-etiquette?

A: I ...Read more

“Sit down and take a deep breath,” the husband says, as he brings in the mail. “You’re going to love this.”

“We won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes!” I yell.

“No,” he says.

“It’s a check from the government saying they’re sorry they overcharged us on taxes for the past 45 years.”

“Wrong again,” he says...Read more

Folklore has been relegated to entertainment in many ways, but I want us to remember the power of a folk story.

A mother in a dark room, tucking her child into bed at night, giving them a cautious warning to not get out of bed for the creature in the closet, El Duende, may get them. A similar warning has also been uttered by mothers to small ...Read more

In "Scripts," Brandon Knightley explores the complicated relationship between the stories we inherit, the stories we tell and the lives we ultimately choose for ourselves.

At the center of the novel is Arlene, a woman trapped in an emotionally empty and increasingly frightening marriage who discovers an unexpected path toward self-expression ...Read more

Karlo Campana is usually outnumbered these days. He has three young kids under age 4. On a recent Saturday, he played a mini game of basketball with his two older kids in their Southern California home, shooting a ball into a hoop on the door, while his baby boy watched from his bouncy chair.

Campana took paid time off in May after the birth of...Read more

'THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK'

Rated R for language.

What it’s about: An aging New York City pickpocket finds himself in a pickle while facing his own obsolescence in a changing world.

The kid attractor factor: This is an adult drama, not really for kids.

Good lessons/bad lessons: Sometimes human cunning can outwit the tech ...Read more

Q. My child tells me that she can do various things at her mother’s home that she can’t do at mine. It seems to me that there are no rules over there, and it makes me look unreasonable. I think my ex is doing this on purpose, so the kids will prefer her home. What’s good ex-etiquette?

A. My first question is, how do you know?

You said ...Read more

We often race one another clearing the table after dinner. It’s not an overt race with running shoes, numbers strapped to our chests and the crack of a starting pistol, but a low-key, passive-aggressive, run-walk type race.

I move toward the sink with a dish holding the scattered remains of a lone chicken enchilada. He pulls back his chair; I...Read more

Bedtime picture books have a tricky job. They need to be engaging enough to hold a wiggly child’s attention, yet calming enough to carry that child toward sleep. Suzanne Hobbs’s "The Sleepy Snake" manages both beautifully, and it does so with a charm that makes it a book parents will be happy to read night after night.

Snake has had a full ...Read more