I was driving my 15-year-old daughter to her bus stop, frantic over whether we’d get there in time. She was digging through her backpack for the bus pass that too often seems to go missing. She snapped at me, and I took a deep breath and asked her as kindly as I could not to address me that way.
It’s rare that we are given an opportunity to look inside the life of someone whose job it is to study our lives, but that’s exactly what happens in “Not by Chance Alone: My Life as a Social Psychologist” by Elliot Aronson (Basic Books: $27.50).
Among the most crucial but also volatile relationships in human life is the one between a domestic worker — a housekeeper, a nanny, a caregiver — and his or her employer. Various aspects of such relationships have been considered in novels ranging from “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” to Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help,” and most recently in Mona Simpson’s smart, endearing, and bittersweet new novel, “My Hollywood” (Knopf: $26.95).
Rise and Shine: The Extraordinary Story of One Man’s Journey From Near Death to Full Recovery” by Simon Lewis (Santa Monica Press: $24.95) A car accident on the crowded roadways of Southern California is a wholly unremarkable event. For producer and writer Simon Lewis, however, the crash that killed his wife — and nearly ended his life, too — was the beginning of a saga of struggle and redemption that is truly heroic.
One lemonade stand set up to raise a few dollars for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School district has grown into a community-wide effort, backed by local businesses ranging from the growing Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt chain to Huckleberry Café and Bakery on Wilshire. With an Aug. 15 deadline to collect money for the Save Our Schools campaign, kids, parents, and community members are putting their all into raising funds to bring back teachers, aids, and programs cut for the 2010-11 school year.
Whenever my son was upset or hurt or scared, I used to whisper in his ear, \”Don\’t worry, Eli, mommy will always save you.\” A few weeks ago, I almost wasn\’t able to keep that promise.
An Israeli officer was killed during border clashes between Lebanese and Israeli troops.
Israelis faced down a deeply divided debate Monday over what to do about approximately 400 children of undocumented workers who are set for deportation, the New York Times reports.
It all started with cake. Well, almost. The truth is, the cake was just one of the early signs of distress.
