A candid, intimate look at teens in crisis: “Heartrending . . . startling . . . a resource for understanding and approaching the life-changing pitfalls of youth.” —Publishers Weekly “I get abused and hurt so much, and no one seems to care . . . ” These are real words written by a real girl. There are thousands more just like her. Her pain is real. Her story is true. But her voice has been hidden . . . until now. The desperate words of a generation have too often been drowned out by the white noise of a culture too busy to care. For those who dare to listen, there are incredible stories to be unearthed, filled with both tragedy and triumph. This book was written in response to thousands of personal letters and messages, meant for both those in crisis and those who share that crisis with them every day. As a sought-after public speaker, Reggie Dabbs has shared his own incredible story with millions of students—and many of them share their stories with him in return. These letters contain those stories, with only names and details changed to protect their anonymity. They are followed by Reggie’s actual response of hope to that individual. John Driver, MS—a former public secondary educator, as well as a longtime community youth advocate and mentor—provides additional insight and “Breathable Moments” for educators, parents, friends, and family. Equipping readers to help those in crisis continue breathing another day, Just Keep Breathing provides both the inspiration and the information needed to respond confidently and appropriately—and see those we care about make it to another sunrise.

Just as Jeanie decides to leave her job as a horse trainer, deferring to her husband's movie industry career, one of the principals of the race track where she works is murdered and she is thrown back into the maelstrom of racetrack politics and the care of the valuable horses.

Just Keep Breathing is a true story of loss, grief, and hope. It was written in the midst of tragedy and speaks to the difficulty of enduring through unchangeable, heartbreaking circumstances. This story is meant to shed light on the arduous matter of grieving one’s children and being okay with not being okay.

My husband has AIDS. I miraculously don’t. How am I going to survive? …I try to keep from screaming, “Dennis, you can’t do this to me now. I left my family, my friends, my job, pulled the kids away from their school and friends—you can’t quit on us. You can’t.” Through clenched teeth, he controls his response, “Scott, I’m tired. I’m dying.” Dennis is walking away and does not sound tired; he sounds angry. “Have you not heard anything I’ve told you for the last twenty-three years? I love you; you are my life. Don’t you dare think I’m not dying here, too. You may be the one who gets buried, but I’m the one who has to figure out how to keep living. I’m dying, Dennis; I’m dying with you.” We stand there, energy spent, emotionally depleted, tears falling. I take him in my arms, and we hold on to each other as if we draw life’s breath from the other—because we do. He sits on the sofa, and I go find the Dallas phone book so I can call Restland, the place where we will bury his body. When Joan Scott Curtis was 43 years old, she found out her husband was dying of AIDS. He had been infected for thirteen years. She tested negative. None of this was possible. It was the mid 1990s. All the prejudices about AIDS are not supposed to exist anymore, but they do. Just Keep Breathing is the remarkable story about finding courage in small victories, on taking solace in helping others, and knowing that even though the major battle will be lost, the ability to live on with grace and dignity is what defines the war.

One of lifes hardest blows is to suffer the loss of a child. How Can I Keep Breathing? offers insight and validation to the initial feelings and behaviours that arise from such a trauma, including the struggle to keep on going and the various ways family members cope with this kind of tragedy. Author Olivia Sunshine also shows, through her personal experience, a way of turning loss and pain into an ongoing opportunity to becoming a more fully developed and integrated human being. It is the silver lining that seems so impossible to find when ones heart has been so badly shattered. The effect of such a loss resonates throughout the rest of each family members life, even for siblings born after such a tragedy, creating a lifelong relationship with the deceased child. How Can I Keep Breathing? goes into detail the struggle with this and the coming to terms with it. Death invites examination of our beliefs about it, asking what, if anything, lies after death. Olivia gives a compassionate view of different ways of handling the death of a child, showing how the spiritual path she chose helped her cope with the loss of her son and how it changed her life for the better in more ways than she could have imagined.

From the corner of a darkened room Joy Stone watches herself. As memories of the deaths of her lover and mother surface unbidden, life for Joy narrows – to negotiating each day, each encounter, each second; to finding the trick to keep living. Told with shattering clarity and wry wit, this is a Scottish classic fit for our time.

The 20th anniversary edition of Vanzant's first published work offers a powerful path to self-empowerment based on the revitalization of one's spiritual and ancestral roots.

Catherine is 13 yrs old, and in eighth grade, she lost her father the summer before and is now living with Evan, her cousin. She would love to just blend into the back ground, but Evan wont rest until he finds out why she hasn't cried.

This story is about times of heavy sadness and light comedy, times of severe sorrow and complete joy, times of overwhelming fear and extreme courage, times of bitter defeat and sweet victory. It is also about attempted rape and murder, depression and healing, loss and redemption. It is a story of the epic battles of American history that pitted the rich and powerful against the poor and powerless. Caulfield32@comcast.net

"Clare Cooley's true-life story is a riveting and intensely textural journey of amazing adventure, profound creativity, and punishing endurance through unimaginable life events. Cooley is fueled by her amazing spirit, artistic exploration, and an outright will to thrive, not just survive, over a lifetime of extreme challenges. Although her story is harsh and disturbing at times, it is also filled with beauty, inspiration, and life lessons for all." Mark Eveslage—Emmy Award-Winning Cinematographer "Clare's stories are well-written, entertaining, yet bittersweet, and they contain universal themes that surely will resonate with readers. Cooley's tales reveal the dramatic story of a woman who overcame enormous obstacles through determination and creativity. The subject matter is timely and can help many. As a writer, Clare has her own unique and articulate voice. This book will help others confront their own demons." Claire Kirch—Publishing Industry Veteran "Incandescence is the transformative book for our times, taking us from a dark and hopeless state to an iridescent and wondrous awareness borne by loss and humility, infused by a profound connection to the natural world, and forged by love's indomitable spirit." Sumner Matteson—Author of Afield: Portraits of Wisconsin Naturalists, Empowering Leopold’s Legacy Sixteen-year-old Clare Cooley is standing on an overpass, thinking about jumping into the traffic below. At her young age, she has yet to kiss a boy, but she is pregnant after being raped and faces a choice—surrender to the darkness or rise above it. Clare Cooley’s powerful and provocative memoir chronicles her journey from growing up in a dangerously dysfunctional family to becoming a self-made successful prolific artist. No one in her chaotic family noticed when she stopped attending school regularly at seven years old, and she did not return until she was asked to teach in her twenties. Cooley’s evocative stories follow her saga hitchhiking with truckers, fasting alone for three days on a mountaintop, being one of the first females to work with the longshoremen on Lake Superior, innocently ending up in jail, nearly perishing at sea, and being deported from a country. Cooley fearlessly reflects on moments of great adversity and expanding epiphany, dealing with abuse, addiction, suicide, teen motherhood, misogyny, raising her damaged drug addicted sister’s children, and confronting her father about his violent crimes. Cooley writes eloquently and authentically about growing up a sensitive, free-spirited daughter of a brilliant but broken pedophile father and a gentle artist mother. Cooley charts her sojourn from her first home in a quonset hut in the Arizona desert, to bouncing around the country with her family, then leaving home at seventeen to travel the U.S. alone, sometimes living in a tent, a teepee, a car, and an abandoned building. Cooley reflects on the power of facing painful truths, expressing them, and healing. A deeply vulnerable narrative that explores transcendence through artistic expression, Incandescence is dark and luminous, personal, and universal. Cooley chronicles the dark times in her life and how her focus on creativity helped her transform it into art. Cooley developed an arts curriculum that she taught to all grade levels, including universities and institutions and created a career as a creativity coach, sharing what she learned about the capability of expression to transform adversity into advantage through art. Cooley’s authentic voice shines through with heart and whimsy in her insightful illuminations of decades of prolific creativity, inner exploration, and meditations on what makes people happy. As evidence of her rise above darkness, Cooley’s masterful art offers moments of serenity between chapters.