Peter Hedges
Author
Language
English
Description
Just about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1,091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her TV chair is threatening to cave in. Gilbert's long-suffering older sister, Amy, still mourns the death of Elvis, and his knockout younger sister has become hooked on...
2) The heights
Author
Publisher
Dutton
Pub. Date
[2010]
Language
English
Description
A "devilishly delightful" (Bookpage) new novel from an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
Tim and Kate Welch are seemingly the last middle-class family in the exclusive neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, NewYork. Tim is a popular history teacher, and an ordinary guy. Kate is not ordinary, but she aspires to be. Brought up by a hippie mother, Kate stays home with their two young...
Tim and Kate Welch are seemingly the last middle-class family in the exclusive neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, NewYork. Tim is a popular history teacher, and an ordinary guy. Kate is not ordinary, but she aspires to be. Brought up by a hippie mother, Kate stays home with their two young...
Author
Publisher
Hyperion Press
Pub. Date
[1998]
Language
English
Description
A "funny and supremely moving" novel about a seven-year-old navigating a world of turmoil by the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Harper's Bazaar).
Seven-year-old Scotty Ocean decides that seven is going to be "his year." But soon after his birthday, his artist-turned-alcoholic mother abandons the family-leaving Scotty and his two older sisters alone with their father. As his perfect year falls apart, Scotty begins to act out during school...
5) Ben is back
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Formats
Description
Ben Burns, a drug-addicted teenager, shows up unexpectedly to visit his family on Christmas Eve. His wary mother welcomes him, but after finding out he's still in danger, she must to do everything she can to help her family.
Series
Language
English
Description
Gilbert lives in Endora, a place where nothing happens. Aside from a secret affair with a housewife, Gilbert spends his days stocking shelves at a grocery store, caring for his mentally handicapped brother, and holding together a large family headed by Mama, a former beauty queen whose weight tops 500 pounds. But just when Gilbert thinks nothing will ever change, a pretty stranger arrives on the scene, capturing Gilbert's heart and inspiring him to...
7) About a boy
Publisher
Universal
Language
English
Description
Will is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is to avoid any kind of responsibility. So he decides to invent an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms. Will gets a lesson about life from a bright but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you are never too cool to grow up.
Publisher
Touchstone Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
[2008]
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Dan Burns is a local newspaper advice columnist. He is a widower with three daughters. He brings the family to his parent's house for a family gathering. When Dan goes to a local bookstore, he meets Marie. When he gets home, he finds out that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch. Dan's mother Nana announces that she met an old acquaintance of Dan's, Ruthie Draper and that she has set up a date between Dan and Ruthie. Dan refuses to go. Mitch...
9) Ben is back
Publisher
Lionsgate
Pub. Date
[2019]
Language
English
Description
When a drug addict surprises his family by returning home on Christmas Eve, he and his mother realize that they must rebuild their relationship. As the day progresses, she realizes that her son is still in danger -- from relapse, from his past -- and she will have her patience and love tested.
10) Pieces of April
Publisher
MGM Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
[2004]
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
Family outcast April lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby. In order to spend some time with her dying mother, April invites her conservative suburban family to her place for a Thanksgiving feast. While she frantically tries to complete the meal, the family drives in from Pennsylvania sharing less-than-pleasant opinions about April's lifestyle. Her dad tries to think positively, while sister Beth flaunts...
11) About a boy
Publisher
Universal
Pub. Date
[2008]
Language
English
Description
Will is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is to avoid any kind of responsibility. So he decides to invent an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms. Will gets a lesson about life from a bright but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you are never too cool to grow up.
12) Little sister
Publisher
Kino Lorber
Pub. Date
[2017]
Language
English
Formats
Description
Young nun Colleen is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, "Your brother is home." On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war. During...