Coming-of-age is complicated by coming-out in personal essays leavened with humor, generosity, and all the awkward indignities of growing up.

The acclaimed author explores his path from closeted child to out-and-proud adult in this deeply personal collection of fourteen linked essays. “[A] moving debut. . . . Thanks to Van Meter’s honesty, essays on his own childhood, identity, and love have a profoundly universal appeal.” —Publishers Weekly The middle American coming-of-age has found new life in Ryan Van Meter’s coming-out, made as strange as it is familiar by acknowledging the role played by gender and sexuality. In fourteen linked essays, If You Knew Then What I Know Now reinvents the memoir with all-encompassing empathy—for bully and bullied alike. This deft collection maps the unremarkable yet savage landscapes of childhood with compassion and precision, allowing awkwardness its own beauty. This is essay as an argument for the intimate—not the sensational—and an embrace of all the skinned knees in our stumble toward adulthood. “As Van Meter drifts elliptically between his childhood as a closeted young boy and his life now as an openly gay man, he draws the reader inexorably to this book, and its compelling weight.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “To read a book this observant, this fiercely honest, and this effortlessly beautiful is to feel the very pulse of contemporary American essays.” —John D’Agata, author of The Lifespan of a Fact “These essays are insistently honest, darkened by melancholy and yearning, yet polished by prose so lithe, so elegant that Van Meter’s human presence brightens every line.” —Lia Purpura, author of It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful

"No matter what your current achievements or future aspirations, the advice in this book can save you years of hard learning"--Back cover

This wonderfully whimsical book is a celebration of all the phases and stages it took to get you to who you are today... a bold, confident, incredible woman who is not afraid to stand up, speak out, and rock the boat.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Jann Arden—bestselling author, recording artist and late-blooming TV star—is back with this funny, heartfelt and fierce memoir on becoming a woman of a certain age. The power, gravity and freedom she's found at fifty-seven are superpowers she believes all of us can unleash. Digging deep into her strengths, her failures and her losses, Jann Arden brings us an inspiring account of how she has surprised herself, in her fifties, by at last becoming completely her own person. Like many women, it took Jann a long time to realize that trying to be pleasing and likeable and beautiful in the eyes of others was a loser's game. Letting it rip, and damning the consequences, is not only liberating, it's a hell of a lot of fun: "Being the age I am—that so many women are—is just the best time of my life." Jann weaves her own story together with tales of her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, and the father she came close to hating, to show her younger self—and all of us—that fear and avoidance is no way to live. "What I'm thinking about now aren't all the ways I can try to hang on to my youth or all the seconds ticking by in some kind of morbid countdown to death," she writes, "but rather how I keep becoming someone I always hoped I could be. If I'm lucky one day a very old face will look back at me from the mirror, a face I once shied away from. I will love that old woman ferociously, because she has finally figured out how to live a life of purpose—not in spite of but because of all her mistakes and failures."

If you're new to youth ministry, whether paid or volunteer, you can learn a lot from the stories of veteran youth workers who have made some common, but avoidable, blunders. Here you'll find encouragement and wisdom of what not to do when it comes to everything from soul care, to programming, to crisis, and more.

There is strength and promise within these pages to inspire any reader seeking to find quality of life. Join us on our journey as we courageously share our heartfelt stories about what we have learned through life lessons and trial and error. If I Knew Then What I Know Now is a compilation of our experiences, things we have done, observations we have made and what we have discovered. "I am honored to have been chosen to be a part of this amazing quality of life project. This book is a testament to a single radiant Spirit who, years ago, visualized and set a goal to help more than one million people live a better Life. Doreen lives the mantra of "People Helping People," and this book intensifies her vision and her dream. The stories written in If I Knew Then What I Know Now came straight from the souls of people wanting to help other people while, unknowingly, helping themselves in the process. These heartfelt stories will give you courage and inspiration to explore your own life-while loving and accepting others even more.Thank you, Doreen for your vision and for your tenacity. I'm one of your biggest fans " Love, Rebecca L. Norrington, Happiness Specialist P.S. You have already changed the world with this book.

Lots of people go through their entire life and never find answers to the questions they've always wondered about. Wolff shares a guide, a sort of "Here's something you may have forgotten or never even thought about" kind of written friend, whose only purpose is to help readers see their lives and those in it a little differently.

Winner of Crime Debut and Readers’ Choice Awards—Sisters in Crime Editors’ Choice/Staff Pick by The New York Times Book Review “A brave and timely novel.” —Clare Mackintosh, internationally bestselling author of Hostage This is not just another novel about a dead girl. Two women—one alive, one dead—are brought together in the dark underbelly of New York City to solve a tragic murder. When she arrived in New York on her eighteenth birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city’s latest Jane Doe. She may be dead but that doesn’t mean her story is over. Meanwhile, Ruby Jones is also trying to reinvent herself. After travelling halfway around the world, she’s lonelier than ever in the Big Apple. Until she stumbles upon a woman’s body by the Hudson River, and suddenly finds herself unbreakably tied to the unknown dead woman. Alice is sure Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her short life and tragic death. Ruby just wants to forget what she saw…but she can’t seem to stop thinking about the young woman she found. If she keeps looking, can she give this unidentified Jane Doe the ending and closure she deserves? A “heartbreaking, beautiful, and hugely important novel” (Rosie Walsh, New York Times bestselling author), Before You Knew My Name doesn’t just wonder whodunnit—it also asks who was she? And what did she leave behind?

As a thirtyaEUR"yearaEUR"old, reflecting on my adolescent self, I realize there are so many life lessons to be learned. The common phrase "If I knew then what I know now . . ." is the basis of my book. While reading this book, you will get a glimpse into a normal, everyday girl's life growing up. By reading an actual misspelled young girl's diary entry followed by a typed thirtyaEUR"year old's reflection, you will see how life affects us behind closed doors. Growing up, we experience many ups, downs, wishaEUR"IaEUR"dids, gladaEUR"IaEUR"didn'ts, bestaEUR"dayaEUR"ofaEUR"myaEUR"lifes, worstaEUR"dayaEUR"evers, and everything in between. This book shows that people are not alone at this age. Get ready to relive making friends, new schools, fitting in, school dances, boyfriends, and first kisses with a whole lot of bumps along the way. Growing up is tough aEUR" for everyone. We've all made mistakes, and we've all looked back and thought, If I only knew then what I know now . . .