Washoe County Library System

After fourteen years of working multiple jobs to make ends meet, Letty Espinosa must learn to be a mother when her parents, who have been raising Letty's teenage son and six-year-old daughter, decide to return to Mexico.

"The Good Mother Myth dismantles the social media-fed notion of what it means to be a "good mother." This collection of essays takes a realistic look at motherhood and provides a platform for real voices and raw stories, each adding to the narrative of motherhood we don't tend to see in the headlines or on the news. From tales of mind-bending, panic-inducing overwhelm to a reflection on using weed instead of wine to deal with the terrible twos, the...

"A novel about womanhood, modern family, and the interior landscape of maternal life, as seen through the life of a young wife and mother on a single day. At night, Maisie Moore dreams that her life is perfect: the looming mortgages and credit card debt have magically vanished, and she can raise her four children, including newborn Esme, on an undulating current of maternal bliss, by turns oceanic and overwhelming, but awash in awe and wonder. Then...

As mums, we've all had that feeling of "not being good enough", not measuring up to expectations of how we should be doing - where parenting is concerned this is a really unhelpful trap to fall into, and doesn't help you or your children. It can lead to feelings of anxiety, guilt and failure. Especially if you're attaining to be an unrealistic figure: Supermum. What if you were able to dwell on the good stuff rather than the bad? To have confidence...

"This program is read by the author. A groundbreaking exploration of the parental brain that untangles insidious myths from complicated realities, Mother Brain explodes the concept of “maternal instinct” and tells a new story about what it means to become a parent. Before journalist Chelsea Conaboy gave birth, she anticipated the joy of holding her newborn, the endless dirty diapers, and the sleepless nights. What she didn’t expect was how...

"Your guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from two of America's top reproductive psychiatrists. With a combined thirty years of counseling new and expectant mothers, Dr. Sacks and Dr. Birndorf have seen firsthand how the pressure to be perfect, and perfectly happy, leaves women feeling confused and even ashamed of the emotions that can bubble up during pregnancy. Now, in What No One Tells You, the two psychiatrists show why it's...

Volunteering at the local church, Mary-Margaret, a dull and overweight girl who nearly everyone disregards, has a profound experience while cleaning a statue of Jesus and becomes obsessed with fulfilling what she believes to be sacred duties while religious fervor spreads throughout her community.

Attention all potty-mouthed, cheap-wine-drinking mothers: Prepare to meet your match

"What's the first thing a woman does when she thinks she might be pregnant? She Googles. And it goes downhill from there. While the internet is full of calming and cheerily supportive articles, it's also littered with hyper-judgmental message boards and heaps of contradictory and scolding information. Motherhood Smotherhood takes parents through the trenches of new parenting, warning readers of the pleasures and perils of mommy blogs, new parent groups,...