Novels - Nancy Star

Featured Book: Carpool Diem

Annie Fleming thinks her family has adjusted well to her hard driving career as a Change Management Specialist. How could they not? She spends hours typing, editing, and proofing To-Do and Not-To-Do lists to make sure the lives of her husband, daughter and baby-sitter all run smoothly. But when Annie is forced out by an unexpected office coup, she finds herself not only unemployed, but face-to-face with a family that isn’t quite as well-adjusted as she’d imagined.

The babysitter bolts. Her husband, Tim, is ducking her calls. And worst of all, her daughter Charlotte is showing little interest in joining The Power—a legendary, elite, work-till-you drop soccer team run by Winslow West, a man who dreams of the Olympic gold his young charges will someday win for him. How could Annie, undefeated even when unemployed, have a daughter with a quitting attitude?

Annie is determined to do whatever it takes to get her life in order, and her daughter on the A team. But politics turn out to be even more cutthroat on the sidelines than in the boardroom. Is it possible Annie’s “Plan Hard/Work Hard” credo isn’t the key to success after all?

Available now from Grand Central Publishing.

Praise

"An appealing tale. Star's breezy story and spot-on description of youth-sports bureaucracy ultimately score."
--- Entertainment Weekly

"Any parent who's had to juggle a career and kids will relish Star's believable characters and spot-on assessment of the minivan set. Star scores big."
--- Kirkus Reviews

"Nancy Star is the female Tom Perrotta. Her vision of suburban New Jersey-suburbia in general-is smart, wise, and generous. The scenes she creates are invariably witty and penetrating."
--- Alice Elliott Dark, author of In The Gloaming and Think of England

"A winning story! Readers will cheer as Annie helps her family get off the sidelines and into the game of life."
--- Jane Porter, author of Odd Mom Out

"A hilarious mixture of bravura and brimstone"
--- N.Y. Daily News

"With her cast of over-the-top neurotic parents pushing their daughters on to soccer glory, Star gives a deft portrait of suburban strivers."
--- Newark Star Ledger

"A welcome reminder of the importance of letting go and enjoying the game."
--- Working Mother

"Whether it's soccer, gymnastics or chess club, children's activities too often bring out the worst in parents. CARPOOL DIEM, while providing clever humor and accessible prose, shows this parents-gone-wild phenomenon in strikingly realistic detail."
--- Woodbury Magazine

"Any mother who tosses a snack to her kid in the back seat and rationalizes that it's dinner, while driving like a maniac to a field that had to be charted by a blind prankster, will relate to this snappy novel."
--- Tribune Media Services

"Great Read"
--- Quick & Simple

"Score! Carpool Diem has the winning combination of humor and heart."
--- Yuka Mizushima, ArmchairInterviews.com

"Nancy Star's characterizations are marvelous...A well-written, humorous book that should please anyone who enjoys light-hearted fare with a message relevant to us all."
--- Douglas R. Cobb, Bestsellersworld.com

"Hilarious madness... the protagonist is fabulous, and it's a ton of fun to read."
--- Lauren Spielberg, Romantic Times

"Carpool Diem is a fun and light-hearted book that contains important life lessons."
--- Leslie Grainer, ReaderViews.com

Is Truth Stranger Than Fiction?

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because
Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities.
Truth isn't.”

— Mark Twain

If you think some of the parents on the Asteroids and Power are out of control, check out this news story of what happened to a coach when he neglected to email proper game directions to a parent.
--- New York Post , “Sock-er Mom is Busted: Smacked Coach With Chair In Fit Of Rage” by Selim Algar

If Winslow West had known about this sports-crazy web forum he absolutely would have banned his players and their families from ever logging on.
--- New York Times, “Friday Night Slights, No Holds Barred.” by March Fuchs

This article would have made Annie very anxious. But Trissy would have been able to tell her exactly where to go to get Charlotte with the program.
--- New York Times, “Train Like Pro, Even If You’re 12” by Catherine Saint Louis

Some people who read this article might say it’s not the young athletes who need the psychologist…
--- New York Times, “Young Athletes Try New Coach: The Psychologist” by Bill Pennington

At twelve, Charlotte thinks she’s too old to be entering the world of competitive sports. Guess what? It’s not her imagination!
--- New York Times, “A Single Goal in Common: More Young Athletes Are Playing One Sport, and Only One Sport” by Bill Finley

Turns out Annie isn’t the only one grappling with the challenges of applying work-place strategy to the home front.
--- Wall Street Journal, Cubicle Culture, “How Is It That You Can Lead a Staff But Not a Family: You Don’t Need To Have Much Pull In The Office To Recognize That You Have Even Less At Home” by Jared Sandberg

For those readers who feel soccer has been singled out, read this compelling story about what it’s like to be on this winning high school lacrosse team:
--- Washington Post, “Fear Factor: For the country’s most successful high school girls’ lacrosse team, nothing was scarier than losing – except maybe the relentless demand for perfection” by Eli Saslow

Too bad Annie never met the women featured in this article. If she’d known them when Charlotte was younger, she might have had an easier time figuring out her life.
--- New York Times, “Mom’s Mad. And She’s Organized.” by Kara Jesella