Meet Caroline Gray: divorcee and newly-single mother. Firmly closing the door on her acrimonious divorce, Caroline and son Ben have moved to trendy Frencham where they join Caroline's long-time best friends, Heather and Eva. Settling into their new life is easy, but nothing has prepared Caroline for the demands of motherhood at The Sycamore, the school the trio's beloved offspring attend. Forget classroom bullies, forget trips to the head's office, this is full-scale adult playground politics. This is battle with the mothers who won't take no for an answer -- the Playground Mafia. Amidst the four-wheel drives, Ben's complicated afterschool play-date schedule and her friends' perilous extra-marital affairs, Caroline tries to keep a low and very single profile. But it's not long before she too finds herself under the mafia's scandal-radar, and her life takes an unexpected turn ...

The average playground is full of bullies, show-offs and gossips - and we don't mean the kids. Parents have evolved into the worst kinds of stereotype in the last few decades and this fun and funny book identifies them all: Spot them in your playground today!From Competitive Mum to Flaky Mum to Tittle-Tattle Mum (and with a few dads thrown in for good measure), the playground stereotypes are hilarious and horrifying in turn.Packed with wonderfully observed case studies, this book will strike a chord with an mum who ha cowered behind the bike shed to avoid League-Tables Mum.The authors (obviously both 'normal' mums) have used over 13 years' of experience of primary school playgrounds to identify and categorise all the key players.

When I was a child I tried a whole host of things and I always had the full support of my mother, Carmel Armstrong, and she told me that I could do anything that I put my mind to and I believed her and not only did I believe her, but I have also tried to pass this same message on to others as often as I could and especially to children because there's no greater gift that a human being can give to another than the gift of encouragement. And because of the wonderful and magnificent gift of encouragement, I am currently living my dream of being a published author and I have wanted this title ever since I watched my mother sit in front of her typewriter while filling the pages with words and in case you haven't guessed by now my mother was also a writer. The Playground is a gritty Gangster Novel that takes you on a journey through the lives of Sophia and David Bloom; mother and son who are forced to move to a Housing Project that's located on the Eastside of South Central Los Angeles after a family tragedy robs them of their financial well being. And their move takes place just before the rise of Crack Cocaine and before the decline of Heroin and it puts them in direct contact with dirty Cops, F.B.I. Agents, C.I.A. Operatives, Gangsters, Drug Dealers, White Supremacists, Thieving dope fiends of the worst kind, Revolutionaries or Domestic Terrorists if you prefer, and other shady representatives of the United States Government. But that's just the beginning because you see there's an unbelievable twist to the story that you won't believe. And I invite you to learn who Damu is and who Warlock is.

Sophie’s mine. And I’ll kill to keep her. Navigating the mafia underground in Chicago is not easy. It’s like a waltz where nobody ever taught you the steps. You show respect when it’s due, never back down, And kill who they want you to kill. I didn’t become a Made Man by being careless, But even the most ardent professional stumbles now and again. Sophie’s job is to keep me from ending up in the slammer, She thinks we’re done once I walk out of court a free man. Too bad I’m hooked on my defense lawyer’s lovely charms, And what I want, I get. You see, Indro Lastra is a Made Man, And a Made Man gets what he wants. I want Sophie Vercetti. And I won’t let anything stop me. Not a gang war. Not the police. And not even the Family stand in my way. And once I get her… I’m never, ever, letting her go.

When you’re “connected” in the Windy City, there are no guarantees. I grew up in the Family, navigating the labyrinth of courtesies in the layer cake of the Chicago Mob. When the capo says jump, you ask “how high?” They tell you to off somebody… You get the job done or you don’t come home. Play your cards right, and you’ll be a Made Man. Set for life—a violent life, but set. Play them wrong… well, the pay is great, but the retirement plan stinks. Enter one Isabella Lastra. Beautiful but sad, thoughtful but spirited. One look, and I know… I have to make her mine. I’m supposed to protect Isabella, not fall in love with her. The Loggia Family is out for blood, and Isabella is in their crosshairs. I’ll do anything to protect the woman I love. Anything. Even if I have to steal her. Can love survive in this blood-soaked, honor-bound world? Or will my quest to be a Made Man cost me the one woman I can’t live without? One thing’s for sure, if they want to take Isabella from me… They’re going to have to kill me first.

This stark and unsentimental recollection of childhood and coming of age in the back alleys and bustling streets of San Francisco Chinatown reveals the sinister and pervasive influences of organized crime. "Chinese Playground: A Memoir" traces author Bill Lee's maturation from innocent child in a troubled family to a street punk, gang member, and college graduate struggling to break free of his involvement in escalating violence. Lee's personal accounts of two high-profile murder incidents are engrossing. The 1977 Golden Dragon Massacre in San Francisco that left five dead and eleven wounded, was carried out by his blood-brothers who were engaged in the most violent Asian gang war in U.S. history. A decade later, a mad gunman killed seven and injured four at ESL, a high tech firm in Sunnyvale, California where Lee was employed. An unlikely hero emerges as he accepts his fate, employing his street instincts to save coworkers during the murderous rampage. Startling details on both crimes are revealed for the first time. This true story is a provocative read providing valuable insight into Chinese American culture, organized crime, distressed families, at-risk youths, personal recovery, Bay Area history, and Silicon Valley.

From noted parenting expert and New York Times bestselling author Denene Millner comes the definitive book about parenting African American children. For over a decade, national parenting expert and bestselling author Denene Millner has published thought-provoking, insightful, and wickedly funny commentary about motherhood on her critically acclaimed website, MyBrownBaby.com. The site, hailed a “must-read” by The New York Times, speaks to the experiences, joys, fears, and triumphs of African American motherhood. After publishing almost 2,000 posts aimed at lifting the voices of parents of color, Millner has now curated a collection of the website’s most important and insightful essays offering perspectives on issues from birthing while Black to negotiating discipline to preparing children for racism. Full of essays that readers of all backgrounds will find provocative, My Brown Baby acknowledges that there absolutely are issues that Black parents must deal with that white parents never have to confront if they’re not raising brown children. This book chronicles these differences with open arms, a lot of love, and the deep belief that though we may come from separate places and have different backgrounds, all parents want the same things for our families—and especially for our children.

I hate the Harlequin boys. Fox, JJ, Chase and Maverick. The four names tattooed onto my heart more permanently than the ink on my skin. Once upon a time, they broke my heart, stole my life and sent me away from everything I'd ever known. But they don't just live in this town anymore, they rule it. And the view here may be beautiful, but the sun, sea and sand hide dark secrets. The gangs. The lies. The violence. It all lurks beneath a veil so thin that once you've seen through it, you can never close your eyes to the truth again. But I don't plan on closing my eyes. I have four devils set in my sights. And this dead girl no longer has anything to lose.

There are 50 places at The Oaks, the best grammar school in Letchbury, and 1,000 children applying. Competition is fierce and parents are prepared to do everything and anything to get their child one of the coveted spaces. Close friends Lily, Julie, Karen and househusband Paul aren't overly concerned. After all, aren't their children are bright and sociable enough? But they're quickly shaken out of their complacency when enrolment time approaches and turns out to be little more than a rigged lottery, where only the most ruthless hold the cards. Marriages and friendships crumble under the pressure, fake addresses abound and tutors rates soar. As measures get more and more extreme, the four quickly rally their troops and throw themselves into the battle for big school. Initially wary to be in competition with each other, they realise that the only way of out-smarting the rest of the pack is by coming up with a plan. Because getting their kids into The Oaks will demand determination and strategy akin to Mission Impossible ...

From Karen Gravano, a star of the hit VH1 reality show Mob Wives, comes a revealing memoir of a mafia childhood, where love and family come hand-in-hand with murder and betrayal. Karen Gravano is the daughter of Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, once one of the mafia's most feared hit men. With nineteen confessed murders, the former Gambino Crime Family underboss—and John Gotti's right-hand man—is the highest ranking gangster ever to turn State's evidence and testify against members of his high-profile crime family. But to Karen, Sammy Gravano was a sometimes elusive but always loving father figure. He was ever-present at the head of the dinner table. He made a living running a construction firm and several nightclubs. He stayed out late, and sometimes he didn't come home at all. He hosted "secret" meetings at their house, and had countless whispered conversations with "business associates." By the age of twelve, Karen knew he was a gangster. And as she grew up, while her peers worried about clothes and schoolwork, she was coming face-to-face with crime and murder. Gravano was nineteen years old when her father turned his back on the mob and cooperated with the Feds. The fabric of her family was ripped apart, and they were instantly rejected by the communities they grew up in. This is the story of a daughter's struggle to reconcile the image of her loving father with that of a murdering Mafioso, and how, in healing the rift between the two, she was able to forge a new life.