As the "Leave it To Beaver" model for American parenting fades into distant memory, the June and/or Ward Cleaver of today face challenges and obstacles far more diverse and acute than the high jinx of Beaver and his neighborhood pals. In this original and timely collection of short stories focused on contemporary parenting, editors Heather Swain and Emily Franklin have selected stories that address the timeless certainties and uncharted territories that define parenting in the 21st century.

In styles ranging from the realist to the surreal, and subjects ranging from bringing home a new infant to dealing with an adolescent's burgeoning sexuality, After covers the whole gambit of feeling and experience faced by parents in today's world. The follow up to Before, and the second volume of the anthology of pregnancy and parenting series that "has moms and dads abuzz" (Child Magazine), After includes stories from our hottest new fiction writers, including Dani Shapiro, Elizabeth Crane, Tom Perotta, and Amy Bloom. Tender, edgy, anxious and hopeful - and sometimes all of those things at once - After is a necessary and vital addition to the library of every mom or dad who knows that raising children takes more than a sit com smile and a spotlessly clean kitchen.