Collects the best of the author's essays from five decades of the "Irish Times" to reflect a changing culture as well as her observations on such topics as the royal wedding, waitressing, and boring airline companions.

Nandan's got a plan to make his junior year perfect, but hooking up with his friend Dave isn't part of it -- especially because Nandan has never been into guys. Still, Nandan's willing to give a relationship with him a shot. But the more his anxiety grows about what his sexuality means for himself, his friends, and his social life, the more he wonders whether he can just take it all back. Is breaking up with Dave -- the only person who's ever really...

"Perfectly normal couple Sam and Maggie live in a perfectly normal neighborhood, with their perfectly normal dog Winston. All the houses look the same. The people sound and look the same. On the outside, everything is fine. But is it? Winston, their sweet dog, has been dead for some time now, and Sam and Maggie begin to struggle to keep up the facade of their idyllic suburban life. The mystery continues as the couple, despite being as "fine" as they...

One day at HorrorLand: The Morris family are on their way to Zoo Garden, however seem to have lost their way. They soon find themselves in a theme park called "Horror Land." Luke and Lizzy want to go onto a few rides, so their parents decide to ask for directions. However soon the Morris family discovers that this theme park is not entirely safe. Welcome to Camp Nightmare: It's Billy's first time at summer camp. So far, the camp appears to be a perfectly...

Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing. After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she's finally back home after spending four months in exile--aka it's back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea's sick of duty. After all, that's what got her into this mess in the first...

Miki Durand has always dodged the limelight. As the illegitimate daughter of a French movie star and a Russian billionaire, she craves a normal life- and it's almost within reach. She's up for a tenure-track position and has a perfect-on-paper boyfriend. What more could a woman want? But when an unforeseen tragedy knocks her off cruise control, Miki finds herself leaving sunny LA for cosmopolitan St. Petersburg. With the fate of her father's international...

Kevin, Nick, and Joe are international superstars trying to live normal lives as teens. When Nick writes a love song for a girl he likes, his brothers try to convince him that he's moving to fast; the boys plan an awesome surprise for their mom's birthday; The Lucas brothers fall head over hills for the pizza girl, Maria, and after racking up a huge bill they are banned from ordering again; a childhood friend, called Carl, visit them and manipulate...

In the first book of the Jeanie and Genie series, new student Willow Davis turns fellow second grader Jeanie Bell's life upside down with her unbelievable, magical secret! For Jeanie Bell, things at Rivertown Elementary are nice, normal, and totally average'just the way she likes it. But when a new girl, Willow Davis, joins the school, all of a sudden strange things start happening. Will Willow's big secret ruin the girls' friendship'and change life...

"A daring rescue in the middle of a snowstorm in this compelling Red Fox Road companion survival story for ages 10 to 14, for fans of Hatchet and The Skeleton Tree. After a family trip turned disastrous when their truck broke down in the middle of an old logging road in Oregon, Francie is now back in British Columbia. People try to make things as "normal" as possible for her, but they don't understand that trying to be normal in your old life that's...

From the brilliant comedic mind behind the hit movie Yes Man, a hilarious and pitch-perfect look at the rudeness that's all around us -- where it comes from, how it affects us, and what we can do about it. You're not just imagining it: People are getting more and more rude - from cutting in line, gabbing on their phones and clipping their nails on public transportation, to hurling epithets on Twitter and in real life (including a certain President...