Lamar Public Library

Chicago weatherman David Spritz is living the life most of us dream of: he's a celebrity, makes a six-figure salary working two hours a day, and is on the short list for the meteorologist job on a national morning show. But his professional successes are over-shadowed by his personal failures. He's divorced from his wife, his kids are slipping away from him and even his Pulitzer Prize-winning father won't take him seriously.

After her older sister, Dana, is diagnosed with cancer, Erin and her family must deal with the resulting anxiety, finding their relationships with each other and with God put to the test.

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter's attractive friend.

Based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, Running with Scissors is a wickedly funny, brave and moving tale of surviving a most unusual childhood. Augusten's (Joseph Cross) mother (Annette Bening) is a deluded aspiring post with bipolar disorder whose marriage to his dad (Alec Baldwin) is in ruins. Soon, she is seeing a very eccentric therapist named Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), while Augusten is left in the care of Finch's wackly family, including...

Carly May was adopted and has never found out anything about her own biological roots, yet tracing genealogical roots for other families is how she makes a living. She has been hired by Winifred Simmons y Castillo, aunt of the governor of New Mexico, to write a history of her family, but only of the female descendants. This is highly unusual; then, when Carly arrives in Taos, she finds that the governor's father has died, and no one is truly mourning...

In this memoir, Isabel Allende reconstructs the painful reality of her own life in the wake of tragic loss--the death of her daughter, Paula. Recalling the past thirteen years from the daily letters the author and her mother, who lives in Chile, wrote to each other, Allende ... recounts the stories of the wildly eccentric, strong-minded, and eclectic tribe she gathers around her that becomes a new kind of family. Throughout, Allende shares her thoughts...

A stunning national bestseller, here is the story of a family in the tradition of Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment. The Farrells are a family as ordinary and special as any family. There are parents, a son, and an eleven-year-old daughter with big dreams of gymnastic gold. But a shocking tragedy consumes them, and it becomes all too clear that when it comes to love, everyone is at risk. A Book-of-the Month Club Main Selection with movie rights...

"Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that typically occurs in adolescents and young adults between the ages of 18 and 35. Untreated, it can have a wide-ranging and often devastating impact not only on the lives of these young people, but also on those who love and care for them. Indeed, in an era of de-institutionalization and managed care, it is their families who will become the first line of defense against this serious, potentially life-altering...

A look at the parents of the American presidents, full of facts and anecdotes as well as psychological profiles based on Wead's findings. He analyzes the types of families into which our presidents were born, and sheds a fascinating light on how their destinies were shaped during childhood. Using papers and letters, as well as private conversations and interviews with six presidents and first ladies, Wead focuses on the early life of George Washington;...