The city of Los Alamitos and the contiguous, unincorporated community of Rossmoor exemplify small-town America amid the populous western Orange County sprawl. Their tree-lined streets, well-kept homes and first-rate schools are reflected in Rossmoor's selection as the No. 1 suburb in California (and No. 9 nationwide) in a 2012 study by Coldwell Banker Realty. The evolution of Los Alamitos from cattle ranches and sugar beet factory town to World War II military town and ultimately into residential neighborhoods took a century. Meanwhile, the planned "walled 'city' of Rossmoor" was created between 1955 and 1961. Despite annexation talk, Rossmoor and "Los Al" coexist apart together, so to speak, on Long Beach's outskirts. Author Larry Strawther traces the histories of these interdependent sister communities, which epitomize the reality in the legend of the Orange County lifestyle.

Filled with fascinating detail and intriguing characters, Rancho Los Alamitos begins over two thousand years ago, when the land was known as Povuu'ngna, an important ancestral village of the Tongva people. By the early twentieth century, Rancho Los Alamitos had become the home and working ranch of Fred and Florence Bixby, whose idyllic way of life was supported by a newly discovered cache of crude oil buried deep within the ground. Letters, diaries, ledgers, and historic photos paired with lively text explore in detail the living dreams, triumphs, and travails of not only the owners and the workers but also the Tongva people who continue to revere this sacred ground today. The resilience of Rancho Los Alamitos comes from the depth of its cultural and natural diversity, a ready well of renewal, but its legacy echoes the enduring meaning of Povuu'ngna. This is a place of new beginning, a place of value ever changing and always the same.

The Perfect Score Project is an indispensable guide to acing the SAT – as well as the affecting story of a single mom’s quest to light a fire under her teenage son. It all began as an attempt by Debbie Stier to help her high-school age son, Ethan, who would shortly be studying for the SAT. Aware that Ethan was a typical teenager (i.e., completely uninterested in any test) and that a mind-boggling menu of test-prep options existed, she decided – on his behalf -- to sample as many as she could to create the perfect SAT test-prep recipe. Debbie’s quest turned out to be an exercise in both hilarity and heartbreak as she took the SAT seven times in one year and in-between “went to school” on standardized testing. Here, she reveals why the SAT has become so important, the cottage industries it has spawned, what really works in preparing for the test and what is a waste of time. Both a toolbox of fresh tips and an amusing snapshot of parental love and wisdom colliding with teenage apathy, The Perfect Score Project rivets. In the book Debbie does it all: wrestles with Kaplan and Princeton Review, enrolls in Kumon, navigates khanacademy.org, meets regularly with a premier grammar coach, takes a battery of intelligence tests, and even cadges free lessons from the world’s most prestigious (and expensive) test prep company. Along the way she answers the questions that plague every test-prep rookie, including: “When do I start?”...”Do the brand-name test prep services really deliver?”...”Which should I go with: a tutor, an SAT class, or self study?”...”Does test location really matter?” … “How do I find the right tutor?”… “How do SAT scores affect merit aid?”... and “What’s the one thing I need to know?” The Perfect Score Project’s combination of charm, authority, and unexpected poignancy makes it one of the most compulsively readable guides to SAT test prep ever – and a book that will make you think hard about what really matters.

Considers (89) H.R. 13160, (89) H.R. 13161.