Rickie left home a long time ago - so how is it that at the age of twenty-five, she's back living with her parents, sleeping in the same bedroom she grew up in? At least one thing has changed since high school: she now has a very sweet but frequently challenging son named Noah, who attends the same tony private LA school she herself went to back in the day. Rickie fit in fine when she was a student, but now her youth and tattoos make her stand out from all the blond Stepford moms who are desperate to know why someone so young - and so unmarried - has a kid in first grade. Already on the defensive, Rickie goes into full mother-tigress mode when her small and unathletic son tells her that the gym teacher is out to get him. She storms the principal's office, only to discover that Andrew Fulton, the coach, is no dumb jock. As his friendship with Rickie develops, she finds herself questioning her assumptions - about motherhood, being a grownup, and falling in love.

Claire LaZebnik lives in Los Angeles with her TV writer husband and four children. She is the author of the novels The Smart One and the Pretty One (5 Spot, 2008), Knitting Under the Influence (5 Spot, 2006), and Same as it Never Was and co-author of Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life and Growing Up on the Spectrum: A Guide to Life, Love, and Learning for Teens and Young Adults with Autism and Asperger's.