Kirjahaku

Devon, who is in his mid-twenties, is undergoing a personal crisis in his life: he's unsatisfied with his job and his unscrupulous friends offer little guidance, as they are struggling with their own demons. When things start unraveling at a frantic rate, Devon decides to completely revamp his entire existence.

Lucien, a lawyer, takes on a case to defend his wife's brother, Stefan, who is in jail. While doing research, he decides to recreate the crime Stefan allegedly committed ... and, in the process, gets himself into trouble. Based on pulp and noir fiction from the early 20th century, it's a story of love and deception, in which everyone is guilty of something.

This is a story of several friends in their twenties - Marcel, Josef, Cameron and Amelia - looking to make a change in their highly diversified lives and decide to take a trip in a fish truck across the country, starting in Pennsylvania and ending up in California, with many stops along the way. As they travel, they openly share stories from their past about love, defeat, sexual encounters and embarrassments while they are on their way to new beginnings. Marcel is the most troubled of all of them - having been institutionalized for many years - and acts as their unlikely tour guide and confidant. Inspired by Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales as well as road movies, it's a celebration of freedom and burgeoning maturity.

Three one-act plays about unresolved issues: two firefighters - both former military - debate whether or not to return to active duty ("Battles We Have Fought and Won"), a mother and daughter argue over past domestic problems ("The Cut-Paper Shadow") and a man and a young woman wake up in a studio apartment after a drunken night together and try to make sense of what led them to that point ("Silver Light, Good Morning").

At the fictitious Warren G. Harding High School, teachers in the faculty room hear a rumor that they're potentially getting their salaries cut - and hours extended - and are divided over whether or not to do a "walk-out" at the end of the school day or stay put and accept the changes. One new teacher is caught in the middle of the argument, fearful she may lose her job if she aligns herself with the protestors.

Compiled over several years as a substitute teacher - sometimes referred to as a "guest teacher" - this collection of essays covers issues in all grade levels, from kindergarten to 12th grade. It was written from the perspective of an outsider and gathers testimony and first-hand experiences of other teachers, students, principals, administrators and parents. The book details day-to-day classroom experiences ranging from the funny to the sad to the downright absurd. Some of the episodes might come as a surprise to the unaware: a teacher is a surrogate parent and must face a medley of behavioral problems, political red tape and principals incapable of running an institution.