What happens in one community when a group of educated women chooses not to work? Four friends are forced to confront the choices they've made in opting out of their careers--until a series of startling events shatters the peace and, for some of them, changes the landscape entirely.

"A deep and troubling examination of the dark corners of working-class America, where unemployment and the loss of traditional jobs have produced an epidemic of drug abuse, bigotry, and even suicide, coupled with an urgent plea to rearrange our priorities to address the ills of middle America and emphasize the common good"-- "Is America in a state of irrevocable decline? In this provocative and disturbing examination of our country, Pulitzer Prize-winning...

Readers learn about some of the reasons that can cause a parent to lose his or her job, and how to help their families cope with change and the possibility of hard times.

When his classmates are boasting about their parents' jobs, Charlie gets carried away and leaves the impression that his accountant dad is not only the president of his company but also that he will hand out free calculators to everyone. With rumors flying around the school and expectations escalating, Charlie jumps the gun and tells his teacher Mrs. Burke that his dad can speak to their class during Career Week. Now Charlie has no choice. He has...

"The Great Recession "officially" ended in the summer of 2009, but for 25 million unemployed and underemployed Americans the fallout continues. Located on Long Island, the birthplace of the post-war suburban American Dream, Hard Times follows the story of four families who are dealing with long-term unemployment-white-collar workers who had moved up in the world, only to see their dreams dissolve as they now search in vain for a job. Their humanity...

"Benny Catspaw's perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He's not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn't know who or why. Then Benny receives an inheritance from an uncle he's never heard of: a giant crate and a video message. All will be well in time. Stranger yet is what's inside the crate. He's a seven-foot-tall self-described "bad weather friend" named Spike...

When Birdie discovers cash in an abandoned house she thinks it could be the answer to her and her mother's problems, but she wonders about the people who left that money behind and tries to figure what is best for her family and what is the right thing to do.