In Cool Mom on the Hot Seat, Virginia Boyle Traver offers an entertaining account of raising a family today. Along with poignant and humorous descriptions, spontaneous dialogue provides a continuous momentum to this series of slice-of-life sketches. As the children grow beyond their home and neighborhood, the author moves from being on top of it all to wondering what will happen next.Cool Mom on the Hot Seat shows what one family found that worked: time alone together at home where one-on-one chats in the kitchen are daily events, and time in the outdoors around a campfire, far away from the phone and computer. This portrayal of a real family growing with the adventure of the everyday rings with a natural universality."Writing in a lyrical style tinged with equal parts humor and pathos, Virginia Boyle Traver charts the ever-shifting landscape of motherhood. These pieces call to mind the wit of Erma Bombeck and the emotional warmth of Anna Quindlen, but they are never derivative. This collection announces a fresh, new voice in the rich literature of what it means to be a parent."-Paul Grondahl, journalist, author, historian Used Book in Good Condition