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Sudden Widow A True Story Of Love Grief Recovery And How Badly It Can Suck
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Book Synopsis Sudden Widow, A True Story of Love, Grief, Recovery, and How Badly It CAN Suck! by : Bella Lynn Thompson
Download or read book Sudden Widow, A True Story of Love, Grief, Recovery, and How Badly It CAN Suck! written by Bella Lynn Thompson and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sudden Widow, A True Story of Love, Grief, Recovery, and How Badly It Can Suck! is a book for widows/widowers and everyone in their lives, to help them make sense of an unbearable loss. It is refreshing, authentic, heartbreaking, and funny. Understanding for widows in a world where many people don't comprehend the lifelong grief and change after a loss of this magnitude. Reading this honest, heartfelt book, you feel seen, heard, and supported. The authenticity of powering through an inexplicable life event is evident on every page. Perhaps most importantly, you will feel understood and less alone.
Download or read book Ambiguous Loss written by Pauline BOSS and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a loved one dies we mourn our loss. We take comfort in the rituals that mark the passing, and we turn to those around us for support. But what happens when there is no closure, when a family member or a friend who may be still alive is lost to us nonetheless? How, for example, does the mother whose soldier son is missing in action, or the family of an Alzheimer's patient who is suffering from severe dementia, deal with the uncertainty surrounding this kind of loss? In this sensitive and lucid account, Pauline Boss explains that, all too often, those confronted with such ambiguous loss fluctuate between hope and hopelessness. Suffered too long, these emotions can deaden feeling and make it impossible for people to move on with their lives. Yet the central message of this book is that they can move on. Drawing on her research and clinical experience, Boss suggests strategies that can cushion the pain and help families come to terms with their grief. Her work features the heartening narratives of those who cope with ambiguous loss and manage to leave their sadness behind, including those who have lost family members to divorce, immigration, adoption, chronic mental illness, and brain injury. With its message of hope, this eloquent book offers guidance and understanding to those struggling to regain their lives. Table of Contents: 1. Frozen Grief 2. Leaving without Goodbye 3. Goodbye without Leaving 4. Mixed Emotions 5. Ups and Downs 6. The Family Gamble 7. The Turning Point 8. Making Sense out of Ambiguity 9. The Benefit of a Doubt Notes Acknowledgments Reviews of this book: You will find yourself thinking about the issues discussed in this book long after you put it down and perhaps wishing you had extra copies for friends and family members who might benefit from knowing that their sorrows are not unique...This book's value lies in its giving a name to a force many of us will confront--sadly, more than once--and providing personal stories based on 20 years of interviews and research. --Pamela Gerhardt, Washington Post Reviews of this book: A compassionate exploration of the effects of ambiguous loss and how those experiencing it handle this most devastating of losses ... Boss's approach is to encourage families to talk together, to reach a consensus about how to mourn that which has been lost and how to celebrate that which remains. Her simple stories of families doing just that contain lessons for all. Insightful, practical, and refreshingly free of psychobabble. --Kirkus Review Reviews of this book: Engagingly written and richly rewarding, this title presents what Boss has learned from many years of treating individuals and families suffering from uncertain or incomplete loss...The obvious depth of the author's understanding of sufferers of ambiguous loss and the facility with which she communicates that understanding make this a book to be recommended. --R. R. Cornellius, Choice Reviews of this book: Written for a wide readership, the concepts of ambiguous loss take immediate form through the many provocative examples and stories Boss includes, All readers will find stories with which they will relate...Sensitive, grounded and practical, this book should, in my estimation, be required reading for family practitioners. --Ted Bowman, Family Forum Reviews of this book: Dr. Boss describes [the] all-too-common phenomenon [of unresolved grief] as resulting from either of two circumstances: when the lost person is still physically present but emotionally absent or when the lost person is physically absent but still emotionally present. In addition to senility, physical presence but psychological absence may result, for example, when a person is suffering from a serious mental disorder like schizophrenia or depression or debilitating neurological damage from an accident or severe stroke, when a person abuses drugs or alcohol, when a child is autistic or when a spouse is a workaholic who is not really 'there' even when he or she is at home...Cases of physical absence with continuing psychological presence typically occur when a soldier is missing in action, when a child disappears and is not found, when a former lover or spouse is still very much missed, when a child 'loses' a parent to divorce or when people are separated from their loved ones by immigration...Professionals familiar with Dr. Boss's work emphasised that people suffering from ambiguous loss were not mentally ill, but were just stuck and needed help getting past the barrier or unresolved grief so that they could get on with their lives. --Asian Age Combining her talents as a compassionate family therapist and a creative researcher, Pauline Boss eloquently shows the many and complex ways that people can cope with the inevitable losses in contemporary family life. A wise book, and certain to become a classic. --Constance R. Ahrons, author of The Good Divorce A powerful and healing book. Families experiencing ambiguous loss will find strategies for seeing what aspects of their loved ones remain, and for understanding and grieving what they have lost. Pauline Boss offers us both insight and clarity. --Kathy Weingarten, Ph.D, The Family Institute of Cambridge, Harvard Medical School
Book Synopsis Confessions of a Mediocre Widow by : Catherine Tidd
Download or read book Confessions of a Mediocre Widow written by Catherine Tidd and published by Sourcebooks. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I spent my 11th wedding anniversary planning my husband's funeral. If I could just figure out how to make that rhyme, it would be the beginning of a great country song." Confessions of a Mediocre Widow is a roller coaster look at one widow's journey through the odyssey of grief and the many missteps, crying jags, fights, hilarity, pedicures, and lying required to get through it. Catherine Tidd shares the story of what it was to honor her husband, to get her three kids (all under 6) through the day (with perhaps more sugar and television than might have been necessary), and come to terms with his loss, in a way that's real, rough, and honest.
Book Synopsis Too Much Loss: Coping with Grief Overload by : Alan Wolfelt
Download or read book Too Much Loss: Coping with Grief Overload written by Alan Wolfelt and published by Companion Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grief overload is what you feel when you experience too many significant losses all at once, in a relatively short period of time, or cumulatively. In addition to the deaths of loved ones, such losses can also include divorce, estrangement, illness, relocation, job changes, and more. Our minds and hearts have enough trouble coping with a single loss, so when the losses pile up, the grief often seems especially chaotic and defeating. The good news is that through intentional, active mourning, you can and will find your way back to hope and healing. This compassionate guide will show you how.
Book Synopsis Black Widow by : Leslie Gray Streeter
Download or read book Black Widow written by Leslie Gray Streeter and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With her signature warmth, hilarity, and tendency to overshare, Leslie Gray Streeter gives us real talk about love, loss, grief, and healing in your own way that "will make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page" (James Patterson). Leslie Gray Streeter is not cut out for widowhood. She's not ready for hushed rooms and pitying looks. She is not ready to stand graveside, dabbing her eyes in a classy black hat. If she had her way she'd wear her favorite curve-hugging leopard print dress to Scott's funeral; he loved her in that dress! But, here she is, having lost her soulmate to a sudden heart attack, totally unsure of how to navigate her new widow lifestyle. ("New widow lifestyle." Sounds like something you'd find products for on daytime TV, like comfy track suits and compression socks. Wait, is a widow even allowed to make jokes?) Looking at widowhood through the prism of race, mixed marriage, and aging, Black Widow redefines the stages of grief, from coffin shopping to day-drinking, to being a grown-ass woman crying for your mommy, to breaking up and making up with God, to facing the fact that life goes on even after the death of the person you were supposed to live it with. While she stumbles toward an uncertain future as a single mother raising a baby with her own widowed mother (plot twist!), Leslie looks back on her love story with Scott, recounting their journey through racism, religious differences, and persistent confusion about what kugel is. Will she find the strength to finish the most important thing that she and Scott started? Tender, true, and endearingly hilarious, Black Widow is a story about the power of love, and how the only guide book for recovery is the one you write yourself.
Book Synopsis Second Firsts by : Christina Rasmussen
Download or read book Second Firsts written by Christina Rasmussen and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a guide for dealing with grief and loss, detailing five steps of healing that can lead to a lifestyle alignment with personal values and new possibilities for a re-engaged life. --Publisher's description.
Book Synopsis A GRIEF OBSERVED (Based on a Personal Journal) by : C. S. Lewis
Download or read book A GRIEF OBSERVED (Based on a Personal Journal) written by C. S. Lewis and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-12-05 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Grief Observed is a collection of Lewis's reflections on the experience of bereavement following the death of his wife, Joy Davidman, in 1960. The book was first published under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk as Lewis wished to avoid identification as the author. Though republished in 1963 after his death under his own name, the text still refers to his wife as "H" (her first name, which she rarely used, was Helen). The book is compiled from the four notebooks which Lewis used to vent and explore his grief. He illustrates the everyday trials of his life without Joy and explores fundamental questions of faith and theodicy. Lewis's step-son (Joy's son) Douglas Gresham points out in his 1994 introduction that the indefinite article 'a' in the title makes it clear that Lewis's grief is not the quintessential grief experience at the loss of a loved one, but one individual's perspective among countless others. The book helped inspire a 1985 television movie Shadowlands, as well as a 1993 film of the same name. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. He is best known for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.
Book Synopsis I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die by : Sarah J. Robinson
Download or read book I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die written by Sarah J. Robinson and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.
Book Synopsis Hardcore Grief Recovery by : Steve Case
Download or read book Hardcore Grief Recovery written by Steve Case and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-04-10 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A straight-to-the-point, honest-as-hell grief recovery handbook, offering a refreshingly honest approach to healing, empowering you to navigate your journey without the fluff and generic advice. Embrace the concept of radical honesty with a raw and unfiltered perspective on the grieving process. From acknowledging the messy and complex nature of grief to exploring unconventional methods for healing, this book is your partner in reclaiming your emotional well-being and mental health. Features: Unflinching Approach: Break free from societal norms and discover a guide that encourages you to embrace your grief honestly, without judgment or platitudes. Actionable Strategies: Navigate your unique grief journey with confidence using practical techniques, exercises, and thought-provoking prompts. Authentic Healing: Explore unconventional methods that resonate with you personally, fostering true healing and emotional growth. Empowerment: Reclaim control over your emotions, allowing yourself to feel deeply and process grief in your own way and at your own pace. Step away from the conventional and embark on a transformative journey toward healing, resilience, and renewed hope. Also check out the companion Hardcore Grief Recovery Workbook for journaling your way through grief.
Book Synopsis Welcome to the Grief Club by : Janine Kwoh
Download or read book Welcome to the Grief Club written by Janine Kwoh and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2022-02 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welcome to the Grief Club - a place where one human who experienced a terrible loss, Janine Kwoh, is at the door to welcome other humans who are grieving. It is not an instruction manual, or a step-by-step playbook, or a memoir. It is, rather, a fresh, empathetic approach to all of the surprising, confusing, brutal, funny, and downright bizarre parts of grief. Combining her own experiences with grief - the author's partner died when both were in their late 20s - with what she learned from others in her 'grief club', Kwoh uses brief writings and observations, hand-drawn illustrations, and diagrams to explore all the different ways grief happens. Plus, wisdom and understanding in every line - there is no right or wrong way to grieve - and permission to grieve in whichever ways you need, for however long you need to. What to do when the world is your grief trigger. Signs you have grief brain. And gentle assurances: Grief isn't linear, but it does change and will soften over time. It is a book to put into the hands of anyone who is grieving, because from its very first page, that person will know they are no longer alone.
Download or read book Ask a Manager written by Alison Green and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together
Download or read book Option B written by Sheryl Sandberg and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2017-04-24 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 New York Times Best Seller Named a Best Book of 2017 by Barnes & Noble and Amazon From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor, the #1 New York Times best-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks. After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build. Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy. Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B. We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.
Book Synopsis It's OK That You're Not OK by : Megan Devine
Download or read book It's OK That You're Not OK written by Megan Devine and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2017-10-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenging conventional wisdom on grief, a pioneering therapist offers a new resource for those experiencing loss When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. “Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form,” says Megan Devine. “It is a natural and sane response to loss.” So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible? In It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides—as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner—Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you’ll learn: • Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief • How challenging the myths of grief—doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold—allows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve • Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to “fix” your pain • How to help the people you love—with essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to “solve” grief. Megan writes, “Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution.” Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face—in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world. It’s OK That You’re Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves—and each other—better.
Book Synopsis The Joke's Over, You Can Come Back Now by : Laurie Burrows Grad
Download or read book The Joke's Over, You Can Come Back Now written by Laurie Burrows Grad and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laurie Burrows Grad and Peter Grad were together for forty-seven amazing years. The two were inseparable, spending every moment they could together. Then, on a vacation in Vail, Colorado, Peter announced he couldn't breathe. Minutes later he was gone, and Laurie's world crashed around her. In the aftermath of Peter's death, Laurie discovered she hadn't just lost a beloved husband-she'd also lost her social status. People simply didn't know what to do or say about her newfound widowhood. This is the story of how Laurie recovered from heart-wrenching grief, but it's more than that. It's also a manual for grieving widows: a forthright guide to dealing with life alone after years of togetherness. Many widows want to move forward but lack the knowledge they need to do so. Laurie provides that information, and she offers a bit of realism too. With raw honesty and humor, Laurie tackles such issues as sleeping alone, cooking for one, and dealing with financial matters. Grief need not be a forbidden topic, nor does the loss of a spouse have to bring your enjoyment of life to an end. Trust Laurie-you can handle this!
Book Synopsis How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed by : Megan Devine
Download or read book How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed written by Megan Devine and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2021-08-10 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated journal for meeting grief with honesty and kindness—honoring loss, rather than packing it away With her breakout book It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine struck a chord with thousands of readers through her honest, validating approach to grief. In her same direct, no-platitudes style, she now offers How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed—a journal filled with unique, creative ways to open a dialogue with grief itself. “Being allowed to tell the truth about your grief is an incredibly powerful act,” she says. “This journal enables you to tell your whole story, without the need to tack on a happy ending where there isn’t one.” Grief is a natural response to death and loss—it’s not an illness to be cured or a problem to be fixed. This workbook contains no clichés, timetables, or checklists of stages to get through; it won’t help you “move past” or put your loss behind you. Instead, you’ll find encouragement, self-care exercises, and daily tools, including: •Writing prompts to help you honor your pain and heartbreak • On-the-spot practices for tough situations—like grocery store trips, the sleepless nights, and being the “awkward guest” • The art of healthy distraction and self-care • What you can do when you worry that “moving on” means “letting go of love” • Practical advice for fielding the dreaded “How are you doing?” question • What it means to find meaning in your loss • How to hold joy and grief at the same time • Tear-and-share resources to help you educate friends and allies • The “Griever’s Bill of Rights,” and much more Your grief, like your love, belongs to you. No one has the right to dictate, judge, or dismiss what is yours to live. How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed is a journal and everyday companion to help you enter a conversation with your grief, find your own truth, and live into the life you didn’t ask for—but is here nonetheless.
Book Synopsis I'm Grieving As Fast As I Can by : Linda Sones Feinberg
Download or read book I'm Grieving As Fast As I Can written by Linda Sones Feinberg and published by . This book was released on 2022-05-10 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I'm Grieving As Fast as I Can (Second Edition) is a guide for young widows and widowers through the normal grieving process that highlights the challenging circumstances of an untimely death. This updated version of the popular book considers the impact of 21st century "killers" such as COVID-19 and wars in Iran and Afghanistan, among other causes. Young widows and widowers share thoughts and dilemmas about losing a loved one, what to tell young children experiencing a parent's death, returning to work and dealing with in-laws. From anger to guilt to suicidal feelings and desires for sex, the book explores the deep feelings of someone who has experienced the profound loss of a partner. The author also gently guides the reader toward hope and options. Linda Sones Feinberg, M.S.W., founded the first nonprofit statewide organization for young widowed people in Massachusetts in 1983. Linda is now retired from her private practice and continues working as a writer and artist. She resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Book Synopsis What You Left Behind by : Jessica Verdi
Download or read book What You Left Behind written by Jessica Verdi and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2015-08-04 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jessica Verdi, the author of My Life After Now and The Summer I Wasn't Me, returns with a heartbreaking and poignant novel of grief and guilt that reads like Nicholas Sparks for teens. It's all Ryden's fault. If he hadn't gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead he's failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it's not like he's had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college. The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She's fun and energetic-and doesn't know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg's journals only stirs up old emotions. Ryden's convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can't let go of the past? "Ryden's story is a moving illustration of how sometimes you have to let go of the life you planned to embrace the life you've been given. A strong, character-driven story that teen readers will love."-Carrie Arcos, National Book Award Finalist for Out of Reach
