Irreverent local author Maria Semple’s hilarious and highly readable novel has been made into a movie directed by Richard Linklater and starring Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne, and newcomer Emma Nelson as Bee Branch, Bernadette’s 15-year-old daughter and the most sensible, and sane, person in the book. A true Seattle story, this one has it all: tech transplants, agoraphobic artists, private school, middling moms, and a hearty dose of both love and hate for the city in which it is set. by Katie Herzog