Blacklisted by the PTA is an irreverent look at motherhood and the modern family. From the high chair to a vinyl restaurant booth on date night, Lela Davidson has captured life on the cul-de-sac with a husband, two kids, and the occasional pet. Whether failing at cloth diaper origami or smug in knowledge that her children have never consumed a PopTart, Lela assures parents they are not alone, and that it's okay to laugh-at yourself, and at your kids. These are the stories of every parent--even if we don't always tell them out loud. Each of these 62 essays can be read in under five minutes for a quick laugh-either with or at the author. As a CPA on the mommy track, all Lela wanted to do was sit on the driveway and drink wine out of a box with the neighbors. Luckily, she started writing down her stories instead. Whether tackling PTA meetings, neighborhood politics, or inflation-by-Tooth Fairy, Lela exposes the humor in every awkward moment and maternal meltdown. From a trendy Seattle condo, to a tidy Arkansas subdivision, Lela shares the comic side of family life. She takes you to Mexican bars, the hockey rinks of St. Louis, ski slopes near Santa Fe, shopping in Dallas, and even introduces you to a few strippers--the novices on the playgrounds of New York City, and the pros in Vegas. Lela says what the rest of us are thinking. Her hilarious observations and subtle satire are always spot on. She's not afraid to reveal her screw-ups, along with fleeting delusional moments of wherein she honestly believes she is the best mom ever. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lela Davidson is the Managing Editor of ParentingSquad.com and the Associate Editor of Peekaboo magazine. Her writing is featured regularly in family and parenting magazines throughout the country, and in Chicken Soup for the Soul: New Moms. Lela is also a popular teacher of online writing and promotion strategies.

It’s a suburban jungle out there When syndicated columnist Tracy Beckerman trades in her TV job and cool NYC existence for the New Jersey suburbs, she doesn’t expect to also trade in her entire identity. But her new life as a stay-at-home mom knocks her for a loop in more ways than one. From the embarrassment of being ticketed while driving in her bathrobe to the challenge of making friends in the land of big hair and minivans, Beckerman shares her struggles with self-deprecating humor as she endeavors to reclaim her cool. Beckerman reveals the universal trials, tribulations, and triumphs of every mom who has to figure out how to stay sane while fishing Barbie heads out of the toilet; how to laugh when your kid asks the fat cop at the doughnut shop if he’s having a baby; and how to look good when your post-baby butt is so big you want to hang a “Caution: Wide Load” sign behind you. At once irreverent, hilarious, and keenly observed, Lost in Suburbia is about what you give up to become a mother—and what you get back.

***Unmissable, hilarious and kind, this is the first novel from Kathryn Wallace, who blogs as I Know, I Need to Stop Talking*** "SAM! AVA! Get downstairs, NOW. Have you done your TEETH? HAIR? SHOES? Come on, come on, come on, we're going to be bastarding late again. No, I haven't seen Lego Optimus Prime, and nor do I give a shit about his whereabouts. Sam, will you stop winding your sister up and take this model of the Shard that I painstakingly sat up and created for you last night so that I wouldn't be in trouble with your teacher. I mean, so that you wouldn't be in trouble with your teacher. No, it doesn't smell of 'dirty wine'. Well, maybe it does a little bit. Look, Sam, I haven't got time to argue. Just hold your nose and get in the car, okay? AVA! TEETH! HAIR! SHOES!" Gemma is only just holding it together - she's a single parent, she's turning 40 and her seven-year-old daughter has drawn a cruelly accurate picture which locates Gemma's boobs somewhere around her knees. So when her new next-door neighbour, Becky, suggests that Gemma should start dating again, it takes a lot of self-control not to laugh in her face. But Becky is very persuasive and before long Gemma finds herself juggling a full-time job, the increasingly insane demands of the school mums' Facebook group and the tricky etiquette of a new dating world. Not only that, but Gemma has to manage her attraction to her daughter's teacher, Tom, who has swapped his life in the City for teaching thirty six to seven year olds spelling, grammar, basic fractions - and why it's not ok to call your classmate a stinky poo-bum... It's going to be a long year - and one in which Gemma and Becky will learn a really crucial lesson: that in the end, being a good parent is just about being good enough. Readers love this hilarious, fast paced slice of family life: ***** Utterly hysterical - NetGalley Reader ***** Brilliant... Funny, touching and modern... just amazing - NetGalley Reader ***** I have been a mum at the school gates and the observations in this book are spot on. I shall be recommending it to all the school mums I know - NetGalley Reader **** A perfect read to snort with laughter over whilst lying in a bath with a glass of bubbles (if you can get the kids to stay out of the bathroom for long enough)! - NetGalley Reader **** Kathryn Wallace has Absolutely Smashed It with this novel. I loved it and couldn't put it down... had me properly laughing out loud several times - NetGalley Reader **** This will make you giggle about life as a parent where we are all spinning plates of different sizes and at different speeds. I would recommend wholeheartedly to fellow friends who are also spinning their own plates! - NetGalley Reader ***** A hilariously, honest, open, recognisable and highly relatable story - NetGalley Reader ***** A light hearted but honest look at mummies, yummy mummies and can't quite manage everything mummies - NetGalley Reader

“There’s no way I would have ever imagined swapping datinghorror stories with my mother-in-law. But life is now officially very, very weird.” In Eleven Short Months Charlotte Smith Has: A. Become a widow too soon B. Had her job transferred out of state C. Driven over 1500 miles with two cranky kids D. Moved in with her mother-in-law, Rose Fiorello Smith (a cross between Mary Poppins and Napoleon) For Charlotte aka Charlie, dealing with bumps in the road is a fact of life lately. Maybe it’s time she made Rose realize that embracing change isn’t about waving goodbye, but saying hello to a life where limits are for sissies…and a new beginning is only a new hairdo away.

'Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?' That question was to be repeated endlessly during the anti-Communist investigations carried out by the House Committee on un-American Activities (HUAC) in the early 1950s. The refusal of ten members of the film industry to answer the question in 1947 led to the decision by studio bosses to fire them and never to hire known Communists in the future. The Hearings led to scores of actors, writers and directors being named as Communists or sympathisers. All were blacklisted and fired. Hollywood's Blacklists is a history of the political and cultural factors relevant to understanding the why and the how of the various investigations of the alleged Communist infiltration of Hollywood. What was HUAC? What propaganda role did films play during World War II and the Cold War? What values were at stake in the confrontation between Left and Right that saw the former so resoundingly defeated and expelled from Hollywood? Answers to these and other questions are offered via analyses of the motives of the various players and of the tactics deployed by HUAC to reward collaboration and punish dissent.

Revealing the formative influence of 1950s leftist radicalism on African American literature and culture.