On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
Lewis, a brilliant young inventor, is keen on creating a time machine to find his mother, who abandoned him in an orphanage. Things take a turn when he meets Wilbur Robinson and his family.
Single dad Richard meets Christine, a starving artist who moonlights as a cabbie. They awkwardly attempt to start a romance, but Richard’s divorce has left him emotionally damaged. Meanwhile, Richard’s sons—one a teenager, the other 6-years-old—take part in clumsy experiments with the opposite sex.
The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.
The comic mishaps and adventures of a young boy named Ralph, trying to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect Christmas gift for the 1940s.
'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.
After the death of his mother, a young boy calls a radio station in an attempt to set his father up on a date. Talking about his father’s loneliness soon leads to a meeting with a young female journalist, who has flown to Seattle to write a story about the boy and his father.
In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.
The horror of Jen's teenage past catches up with her when she takes her autistic son to a birthday party in her hometown.
Single mother Ryan has just about given up on dating after her divorce, happily accepting her young son as the most important man in her life. That all changes when Ryan's brother Owen, also feeling unlucky in love after a bad breakup, swaps his home in their small North Carolina town with New York City adman Sean.
A struggling dad gets a new start after a strange encounter replaces his mall Santa gig with the real thing.
Home for Christmas, single ad agency owner Marci fakes having a fiance to deflect mounting family pressure to get married.
Set in the remote Scottish town of Fort William on Christmas Eve, when life is turned upside down for Jen and Rob. Suddenly finding themselves heartbroken, single and stranded, they team up to try and reach home 100 miles away to be with their families. "Borrowing" Jen’s now ex-boyfriend’s classic car, the pair hit the road, but it’s not long before the weather turns for the worse forcing them to continue their journey on foot.
After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
When a small-town teen discovers she's pregnant on Christmas Eve, her entire life begins to snowball downhill.
Hanna is a 30 something single woman from Helsinki. She has a good job and great friends and has almost given up on finding the Mr. Right. One night, Hanna meets Markus, a dark stranger who sweeps her off her feet.
An immature, newly unemployed comic must navigate the murky waters of adulthood after her fling with a graduate student results in an unplanned pregnancy.
An anthology of 26 fan entries submitted for inclusion in ABCs of Death 2, each offering various takes on the letter "M".