Winner of Child magazine's Book of the Year award for her hilarious and candid book on single motherhood, The Lunch-Box Chronicles, Marion Winik returns to the topic of parenting in these nine essays. Beginning with the story of her second wedding and her move to rural Pennsylvania, she covers everything from blending families and having a child in one's 40s to dealing with the legal problems of teenage boys to the evolution of the values of a family over generations. The central essay of the group, "The Story of Laurie," focuses on Winik's profound friendship with a mom she at first believes she has little in common with. As they get to know each other, she comes to understand just how wrong she was.