Arkin, Alan

Little Miss Sunshine ( Visual )
1 edition published in 2006 in English and held by 1,978 libraries worldwide
A dysfunctional family undertakes a road trip to California in order to allow their 7-year old daughter to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant.

Marley & me ( Visual )
5 editions published in 2009 in English and held by 1,867 libraries worldwide
John and Jen are journalists who are a newly married couple. Marley is the adopted puppy that no one wants, a high-strung lab who is virtually untrainable. Marley shreds cushions, destroys floors and walls and most everything in between. Instead of taking him to the pound, they love their dog and he faithfully loves them in return. John and Jen eventually have three children and Jen gives up her career to be a mom. John's career continues to advance as he carves a niche as a local columnist. The family moves from Florida to Pennsylvania. John struggles with his own career direction, but Marley remains the constant. A memoir of Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Grogan's life with his yellow Labrador retriever.

Gattaca ( Visual )
28 editions published between 1997 and 2008 in 6 languages and held by 1,672 libraries worldwide
Story about an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. Vincent is an "In-Valid," who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his goal of traveling into space with the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. However, a week before his mission, a murder marks Vincent as a suspect. With a relentless investigator in pursuit and the colleague he has fallen in love with beginning to suspect his deception, Vincent's dreams steadily unravel.

Catch-22 ( Visual )
37 editions published between 1970 and 2006 in 4 languages and held by 1,418 libraries worldwide
The story of a group of fliers in the Mediterranean during World War II.

Santa clause 3 the escape clause ( Visual )
6 editions published in 2007 in English and held by 1,359 libraries worldwide
With another Christmas season fast approaching, Santa Claus/Scott Calvin is feeling even more pressure. Mrs. Claus is expecting a little Claus. She is also longing for the company of some "tall people." So Scott agrees to let her parents visit as long as they believe that they're really in Canada rather than at the North Pole. Further complicating matters is a visit by Scott's ex-wife, her husband, and their daughter, Lucy. A member of the Council of Legendary Figures, Jack Frost is a very bad boy. He is supremely jealous of the figures who have their own holidays, especially Santa. So he launches a plan to sabotage the toy factory and compel Scott to invoke the little-known Escape Clause and wish he'd never become Santa. The resulting chaos has Scott rewinding 12 years and juggling a full house of family and the mischievous Jack Frost, who is scheming to take over the 'big guy's' holiday.

Sunshine Cleaning ( Visual )
12 editions published in 2009 in 3 languages and held by 1,292 libraries worldwide
Rose Lorkowski is a single mother attempting to support her son Oscar and her unreliable sister Norah. She works a mundane job as a maid. Once the head cheerleader in school with plenty of prospects, Rose now has little to show for her life. She still sees the former head football player, but it is little more than a despondent affair. When Oscar is expelled from public school, Rose takes a job as a bio-hazard crime-scene cleaner to help pay for a private education. She brings Norah on to help in her steadily growing business. As the sisters work to clean up the messes left behind by the chaotic lives of others, they must learn to reconcile their own differences and overcome a troubled past if they hope to prosper in their newfound venture.

America's sweethearts ( Visual )
6 editions published between 2001 and 2002 in English and held by 1,264 libraries worldwide
Gwen and Eddie are the countries favorite on-screen couple. Having to promote their latest movie, the couple, whose public romance had turned into a private breakup, have to count on their veteran press agent and Gwen's assistant-sister, Kiki, to keep the press from knowing about the real story. Can true love, happily ever after and other Hollywood endings really happen?

Get Smart ( Visual )
2 editions published in 2008 in English and held by 1,208 libraries worldwide
The headquarters of the U.S. spy agency CONTROL is attacked and the identities of its agents are compromised, so the Chief has no choice but to promote his analyst Maxwell Smart. The competent and beautiful Agent 99 is assigned to work with Agent 86, the bungling Maxwell Smart. The agents know the task of taking down KAOS, their evil crime nemesis, will not be an easy assignment. KAOS has plans for world domination but Agent 99 and Agent 86 will do whatever it takes to thwart that plan.

Rendition ( Visual )
2 editions published in 2008 in English and held by 1,190 libraries worldwide
The policy of "extraordinary rendition" began under the Clinton administration and accelerated after September 11, 2001. The policy allows for the handing over of suspected terrorists to countries that use torture as an interrogation tool. Anwar El-Ibrahimi is an Egyptian-born man who disappears on a flight from Africa to Washington, DC. He is sent to a North African country where torture is practiced and the CIA gives approval. Anwar's pregnant American-born wife wants to know what happened to her husband. A reluctant CIA agent begins to question his assignment after witnessing an unorthodox interrogation. A severe interrogator plys his trade on Anwar while a U.S. terrorism honcho is willing to turn a blind eye to the unpleasantness, especially if it stops a terrorist attack.

The lemming condition by Alan Arkin ( Book )
11 editions published between 1976 and 2009 in English and French and held by 1,042 libraries worldwide
A young lemming is haunted by doubts about the purpose of the great march westward to the sea.