ArcaMax

'ELIO'

Rated PG for some action/peril and thematic elements.

What it’s about: A young orphaned boy dreams of being abducted by aliens after not feeling at home on Earth. He gets his wish.

The kid attractor factor: The animation style, the childhood themes, and heartwarming story about extraterrestrial friendship.

Good lessons/bad lessons: ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- Dozens of graduates and parents stopped Lawson Boeth on his way into the Florida State Fairgrounds, asking why the soon-to-be Newsome High School graduate already had his diploma in hand before the ceremony.

He didn’t have much time to stop and explain. It wasn’t his: It was for his brother Walter, who died in 2020 at 16.

�...Read more

Q. My ex argues about everything. It’s gotten so bad that if I even say, “Good morning!” she accuses me of having an ulterior motive. “That was fake,” she’ll say. I don’t know what to do. This goes on in front of the children — at Little League games and exchanges. I think about her and I sweat. How can we problem-solve and ...Read more

Get a group of women together and chances are they will talk about relationships. And shoes. More specifically, relationships with shoes.

The conversations are about shoes somebody loves, shoes somebody used to love (but broke up with due to plantar fasciitis), and shoes somebody dreams of meeting in the future.

These are women in crisis ...Read more

In "Masters of War" by John H. Thomas, ex-Army Ranger turned cybercrime investigator Maxx King hoped he could recover quietly from his last deadly mission, but fate has other plans. When gunmen ambush Maxx and his loved ones in broad daylight, he finds himself reluctantly pulled back into a covert conflict between the United States and China.

...Read more

Some stories hook you with a single high‑octane scene; others sneak up on you, weaving a spell page by page until you suddenly realize it’s well past midnight and you’re still reading.

Gary R. Hamilton’s "Daydreamers" belongs in the second camp, and the spell it casts is steeped in the music, food and folklore of a fictional ...Read more

A dangerous cult spreading medical disinformation targets Dr. Mark Lin’s patients and hospital in Anthony Lee’s electric medical thriller, "Toxic Minds."

In the sophomore entry of his sleuthing physician series, Lee ratchets up the stakes when Lin takes a call from his patient seeking additional services in the OB/GYN clinic next to Ivory ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Health care advocates are warning that a bill under consideration by Congress could cause two clinics providing abortions and other reproductive health care services in Alaska to close.

Rose O’Hara-Jolley, Alaska director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said that the budget reconciliation bill adopted by the U....Read more

'HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON'

Rated PG for sequences of intense action, and peril.

What it’s about: A young Viking boy breaks with culture by befriending and training a dragon, Toothless.

The kid attractor factor: The kid-friendly action-adventure genre and familiarity with the books and animated series will appeal to kids.

Good lessons/bad ...Read more

The morning after a storm that snapped tree branches, sent people to their basements and trash cans to the curbs, I was sitting in a line of traffic adjacent to a small family-owned garden store.

A woman out front of the garden shop struggled to untangle flagpole ropes twisted in the storm. Hunched over in an awkward position, she couldn’t ...Read more

Q. I’m close to both my dad and my bonus dad, and when there is a day like Father’s Day, I feel as if I have to choose. They have never required it and if I said something, they would both feel bad because my family has worked so hard at getting along. It’s still difficult to figure out the logistics of a day like that because it’s not ...Read more

In a world increasingly fractured by political ideologies, cultural conflict and racial tension, many are searching for more than slogans — they’re looking for healing rooted in grace and shared humanity. This curated collection of books speaks directly to that hunger. Each work is grounded in a spiritually-based approach to reconciliation, ...Read more

To prepare for her first half-marathon, Kandi Schmitz signed up for a 5K run. Six friends and family members decided to join her.

The race was in Melbourne, Florida, a two-hour drive from Schmitz's home in Loxahatchee, near West Palm Beach. So she decided to make a beach getaway out of it. By the time hotel reservations were made, the entourage...Read more

In Linny Mack’s debut novel "Changing Tides," that’s exactly what happens to Sophie Bennett — and it’s the very wave that might carry her toward a new beginning. Mack delivers an emotionally charged neighbors-to-lovers romance that proves some endings can lead to beautiful beginnings.

The novel opens on an earth-shattering revelation: ...Read more