Peter Werner

When Todd, a developmentally-challenged 20 year-old with an affinity for animals, hears the animal shelter is looking for families to foster a dog for the holidays, he's eager to sign up. But his father, George, says "no adoptions"--Even temporary ones -- claiming he wants to protect Todd from disappointment. His wife, Mary Ann, knows better. Something else is troubling her husband -- something he doesn't want to face.

Katy and Bob live a perfect life until New Year's Eve, when Bob goes next door to shut down a teen party. After a confrontation he winds up dead. Though Katy hunts for answers, no one is talking. A bond of silence covers the town until an undercover sting points to Ryan, a popular kid. Though Katy is grieving, once she meets Ryan she becomes a supportive mother who listens rather than berates. When Ryan appears in court to plead guilty, he turns to...

Gracie and her sister and brothers, each the product of a different dead-beat dad, have been dragged through life by their drug-addled mother. At the age of 17, Gracie decides to get a job, succeed in school, and be the mother her siblings never had.