Alan Aisenberg

Value Shop assistant manager Maya Vargas wants only one thing for her 43rd birthday -- a promotion. While her résumé may not scream upper management, her track record certainly does; she is an innovator who listens to her customers and delivers results. When she loses the job to a college-educated candidate, Maya sets out to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as book smarts -- and it's never too late for a second act.

A Democratic political consultant helps a retired Marine colonel run for mayor in a small, conservative Wisconsin town.

A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.