Ann Gadzikowski, author of Creating a Beautiful Mess.

Topic: Essential play experiences for a joyous childhood.

Issues: Playing with blocks; turn-taking games; pretend and make believe; the joys of messes; finding and collecting; and more.

Alan Gelb, author of Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps.

Topic: Crafting a winning personal statement.

Issues: Understanding what an essay is and how important it is; finding the topic; what if you’re not extraordinary? getting it down; big picture editing; second (and third and fourth drafts); pulling it together; finishing it up.

Catherine Pearlman, author of Ignore It!

Topic: How selectively looking the other way can decrease behavior problems and increase parenting satisfaction.

Issues: What behaviors are appropriate to ignore and what to do when ignoring isn’t an option; use ignoring to eliminate problem behavior in just a few days; creating a reward system that actually works; use time-outs effectively so they don’t become a battle of wills; what to do when mom and dad aren’t on the same page.

Barry M. Prizant, author of Uniquely Human.

Topic: A different way of seeing autism.

Issues: We usually see autism as a checklist of deficits. But in this groundbreaking book, one of the world’s leading experts in the field portrays autism not as a tragic disability but as a unique way of being human.

Susan Greenhalgh, author of Fat-Talk Nation.

Topic: The human costs of America’s war on fat.

Issues: The politics and culture of fat in America; how the war on fat damages the physical and emotional health of our young people and disrupts families and intimate relationships; how to change the national conversation and reframe our relationship with our bodies and our health.

Michael Mascolo, author of 8 Keys to Old-School Parenting.

Topic:Why the “old” ways of parenting might be better than the “new” ways.

Issues: The shift from adult-centered parenting to child-centered parenting and why it’s been a failure; when parental authority became a bad thing; how to value your authority as a parent; cultivating your child’s character; applying discipline instead of punishment; raising self-directed children who are active learners.

Jeffrey Bernstein, author of 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child.

Topic: The breakthrough program for overcoming your child’s difficult behavior.

Issues: Grasping why your child acts defiantly; understanding your defiant child; avoiding the yelling trap; rising above power struggles; reinforcing positive Changes in your child; discipline without desperation; and much more

Paul Smith, author of Parenting with a Story.

Topic: Life lessons in character for parents and children to share.

Issues: Tell a young person what to do–play fair, be yourself, stick to the task at hand–and most will tune you out. But show them how choices and consequences play out in the real world, with real people, and the impact will be far more profound.

Lisa Sue Woititz, coauthor of Unwelcome Inheritance.

Topic: Break your family’s cycle of addictive behavior.

Issues: How alcoholism and addiction affect the whole person; characteristics of adult children of addicts; codependency and addictive thinking; learning from your family history; breaking the cycle of addiction; breaking the cycle of anger and resentment.

Beau Lotto, author of Deviate.

Topic: The science of seeing differently.

Issues: Why we don’t see reality (and why our brains didn’t evolve to perform that function); how realizing that we aren’t seeing reality can make us more creative and innovative at work, home, play, and love; why we need to embrace uncertainty; how changing our environment changes the brain.