A comedy-drama, We Bought A Zoo is a true story based on Benjamin Mee’s 2008 memoir of the same name. In the film, Matt Damon portrays Mee, who has recently lost his wife, and is struggling with moving on, as well as helping his two children cope with the loss of their mother. Set in Southern California, the adventurous Mee decides the family is in need of a change and buys a house in the country that also happens to be a no-longer-running zoo. A stipulation of buying the house is getting the zoo back up and running, which means Mee has to learn how to run a zoo and care for animals, which leaves for some definite animal-human hijinx as he learns the tricks of the trade.

Mee’s young daughter is more than thrilled at living at a zoo, but his teenage son is not. Mee works them through it and also deals with the zoo’s staff that comes along with the property, including the head zoo keeper played by head-turner Scarlett Johansson. While adjusting to all the changes, everyone’s goal is to get the zoo back in order and ready for inspection in order to open for the summer season.

It’s a feel good film, and a great one for the family. It definitely pulled at my heart strings. One thing I took away from the film is Mee’s idea of 20 seconds of insane courage. If you give yourself just 20 seconds to be courageous, think of what you could do. I mean, why not?

Personal Effects is a well-written, highly engaging, debut novel by E.M. Kokie, an attorney in Madison, Wisconsin, who has long been drawn to teen literature. Readers will find humor, compassion, excitement, and a memorable coming-of-age story in these pages.

The story opens as 17-year-old Matt Foster is trying to recover from the death of his older brother, T.J., in Iraq. Matt is failing classes at school, fighting with classmates, and trying to tune out his father's command that he follow T.J.'s steps to the military after high school. When T.J.'s stuff -- some of the “personal effects” in the title -- are shipped home, Matt thinks sneaking to go through them will help put closure on his grief. Instead, he unearths letters and secrets about his brother's identity, strength, honor, and bravery that show him that he did not know T.J. as well as he thought he did.

As Matt comes to terms with his brother’s life and death, he begins to better stand his ground with his dad and to become the hero of his own unfolding young-adult life. Matt’s high-school girlfriend, Shauna, is an intriguing and charming character who contributes much to the page-turning magnetism of the narrative. I hope Ms. Kokie is writing more books!

Stef Penney, bestselling author of her debut novel The Tenderness of Wolves, continues her repertoire with her second novel, The Invisible Ones. Both novels contain suspense-filled stories weaved with strands of mystery and shrouded in intrigue. Penney’s first novel was set among trappers in 19th century Canada. The Invisible Ones delves into the more recent past, focusing on the Gypsy/Romany community of 1980s England.

Private investigator Ray Lovell is not surprised when Leon Wood will only accept his help in discovering what happened to his daughter, Rose Janko, after her disappearance six years ago. Mr. Wood, a member of the Romany community in England, refuses to go to the police, but he is willing to trust Ray because of his Romany heritage. The mystery begins in the present with Ray in the hospital hovering between states of delirium as paralysis grips his body. The story continues to alternate between present and past, including insights into the investigation and viewpoints from Rose's nephew, JJ. Not surprisingly, the Janko family is hard to crack. Not only can the story be difficult to put down from the nagging questions that need to be answered, but Penney's book takes a close look at the culture of Romany families today, including their customs and traditions.

Minding Frankie might take a bit of effort as far as realism is concerned, but Irish novelist Binchy creates a heartwarming story of family ties (both traditional and not so traditional) that bring a community together.

In Binchy’s 2011 novel, we meet Noel, an alcoholic stuck in a dead end job, who learns that not only is one of his exes on her deathbed, but she is pregnant with his child and desperate to find a family to care for her. Noel pulls his life together with much needed support from family and friends. His greatest supporter is his American cousin Emily, who is on an extended visit to Dublin. Emily not only rescues Noel, but she manages to quietly bring order to the lives of nearly everyone in this little circle of friends and even helps a few outsiders.

Minding Frankie is another touching story from Binchy, a writer and storyteller who will be sorely missed by her fans. The bestselling writer died on July 30 at the age of 72. Some other favorite titles from Binchy are Heart and Soul, Scarlet Feather, “The Glass Lake,” and “Firefly Summer.” Two of her novels, Circle of Friends and Tara Road (also an Oprah Book Club pick), were made into films.

If you're looking for a satisfying summer theatrical experience, consider that Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea is showing On Golden Pond through Sept. 1. The play by Ernest Thompson spotlights the Thayer family at their summer home on Golden Pond, where they are moved to renew their bonds of love and to overcome long standing generational divisions. The production is directed by Michelle Mountain. Ticket information is here.

If you've lived in Ann Arbor for at least one summer, then you're probably aware of the annual Summer Festival that starts on Friday, June 15, as well as the Art Fair that starts July 18. Additionally, Ann Arbor is host to dozens of other festivals and events throughout the summer, including the stacked lineup of events at the AADL. Here are some other highlights around Ann Arbor.

Shakespeare in the Arb is presented by the U-M Residential College and Matthaei-Nichols, performing an outdoor production of Shakespeare's comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor that moves through various settings in the Arb. Show dates: June 10, 14, 15, 16, 17; June 21, 22, 23, 24.

At Minifest, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival presents concerts featuring internationally known artists and new chamber ensembles at the Kerrytown Concert House. Concert dates: June 15, 22, 24, 30.

The Rolling Sculpture Car Show features more than 400 antique, classic, and concept cars on display downtown for one day only, July 13, 2012.

Join the fun on Huron River Day, with river exhibits, discounted canoe and kayak rentals, 1-mile run, a 5K walk and run, live music, food vendors, and a children's activity tent on July 15, 2012.

One more gem, the Riverfolk Jam Camp takes place in Manchester from August 1-3, but its finale is in Ann Arbor, at The Ark on August 4.

Written, directed, and starring the quirky Miranda July, The Future tells the story of a thirty-something couple whose decision to adopt a cat changes their perspective on life, literally altering the course of time and testing their faith in themselves and their relationship. The cat, which has a voice over in the film, acts as a symbol for waiting. He needs a month to heal a hurt paw before the couple can take him home. Sophie and Jason decide that the next thirty days is the last free time they’ll ever have, and ponder what to do with their time, their relationship, and their adult lives as they wait for the cat to join their lives. How would you spend your “last” thirty days?

The film can be difficult, and is not for everyone, but this also makes it powerful, strange, and charming at the same time. I’m not a huge fan of Miranda July’s work, such as Me and You and Everyone We Know, but I enjoyed The Future and found it awkwardly engaging. (For fun, you can also have your fortune told weekly by Ms. July.)

Treme [truh-MAY] is an HBO television drama created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer. (The two previously worked together on Homicide and The Wire.) The show begins 3 months after Hurricane Katrina in the neighborhood of Treme in New Orleans. It focuses on various characters, including musicians, chefs, a DJ, a lawyer, and a series of locals, who are trying to put their lives and homes back together after their neighborhood was nearly destroyed.

The show is deeply moving as the viewer gets a close look at the damage and the long term effect it has on some of the characters. It has a wonderful cast, many who have worked with Simon before, including New Orleans native Wendell Pierce, who portrays a musician in Treme. The show also features many other locals to create the local flavor the creators desire in their productions. Between the acting, writing, and the subject matter, it’s a great human interest story as we look at the lives of those who lost. Being set in New Orleans, the show is also rich with music of all sorts. It flows through the streets and in every scene, and is one of the biggest characters in this television drama.

AADL currently owns season 1 and 2, season 3 will premier this fall on HBO, and a 4th season is planned. If you're attracted to the Hurricane Katrina aspect of Treme, check out some documentaries on the subject matter.

BBC’s Luther is a psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba (The Wire) as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. Elba does a smashing job of portraying Luther, a brilliant yet troubled detective with a dark side. While battling crime in London he’s dealing with a prior case that haunts his existence, as well as coping with the fact that his wife has left him. Luther is an impulsive, emotionally-charged man, on the brink of violence, and often unable to control his emotions at times when he should.

The show focuses on Luther and the detectives he works with. As a twist, former murder suspect Alice decides to make Luther a new pet project and the two are locked in a battle of wits. That keeps things interesting, as they realize they have more in common than Luther would like. It’s a definite must-see for fans of British crime dramas or police procedurals. Thus far, Season 1 and Season 2 have been released on DVD, and a third season is in the works. After such cliff hanger endings, I can't wait!

Based on Nicholas Sparks' novel The Lucky One (PG-13), it follows U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault as he returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive --- a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Learning her name and where she lives, he shows up at her door.

In Think Like a Man (PG-13) - the film adaptation of Steve Harvey's bestseller Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man : what men really think about love, relationships, intimacy, and commitment, 4 interconnected and diverse men whose love lives are shaken up after the ladies they are pursuing buy Harvey's book and start taking his advice to heart. When the band of brothers realize they have been betrayed by one of their own, they conspire using the book's insider information to turn the tables and teach the women a lesson of their own.

In The Pirates! Band of Misfits (PG), Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain --- a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew at his side, and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. We have Author Gideon Defoe to thank for his two adventurous tales in The Pirates! Band of Misfits : an adventure with scientists & an adventure with Ahab

In the film The Raven (R) when a serial killer who bases his methods of killing on Edgar Allan Poe’s stories (beginning with The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Pit and the Pendulum and working his way through other stories), Poe joins forces with a young Baltimore detective to solve the crime. The script is based on biographies of Edgar Allan Poe