Rebellious, quick-witted Erica Vandross is a 17-year-old firecracker living with her single mom, Laurie, and her mom's new boyfriend, Bob, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. When Bob's mentally unbalanced son, Luke, arrives from rehab to live with the family, Erica finds her domestic and personal life overwhelmed. With Luke and her sidekicks Kala and Claudine in tow, Erica acts out by exposing a high school teacher's dark secret.

A handyman living in New York City is mistaken for a famous and famously reclusive writer and brought to a university where he is to deliver a keynote address.

A sixty-something mother and her two adult sons cope and move onward following the death of their larger-than-life father/husband.