Michael Parker

Many families and almost all schools spend a great deal of time developing children academically, but studies show that scholastic achievement is not the only key to future success. Developing non-cognitive skills, which children often learn from their parents, is equally relevant.

"Two strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing both his financial and personal failures; and Maria, who after years of dodging her mistakes has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, the other looking back, they face off over the car they both want and think they need: a low-slung sky-blue 1984 Buick Electra. The car, too, has seen its share of failures. Each dent and ripped seam represents...

n the early 1970s, in Stovall, Texas, seventeen-year-old Earl—a loner, dreamer, lover of music and words—meets and is quickly infatuated with Tina, the new girl in town. Tina convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where Earl and Tina are quickly separated. Two days later, Earl is being questioned by the police about Tina’s disappearance and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can’t remember what happened in Austin,...

A young girl takes a trip from her bedroom into the sky, past the moon, and through the universe, learning that she is made of stars.

Three men and three women fall in and out of love and back again. Eleanor, a sophisticated and slightly anal art restorer, is pitted against Frankie, a smartly dressed divorcee who still shares a flat with his bitter ex-wife, who meet one night at a salsa club. Another pairing sees Mo, a tough, love-'em-and-leave-'em kind, reunite with Eddie, a clumsy bloke who was in love with Mo years before and now dreams of winning her back. Meanwhile, Jocelyn,...

For too long, Carrie Bradshaw had been looking for love in all the wrong places...but in all the right shoes. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda are back, four years after the hit TV series ended. As they continue to juggle career, relationships, motherhood and life in Manhattan, the girls realize that more than ever, true friendship never goes out of style.