Thanks to Leslie Barrett of PR by the Book – Austin, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Advice I Ignored: Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen’ by Ruby Walker.
Description Advice I Ignored by Ruby Walker
Advice I Ignored is the only book about teenage depression that was actually written by a teenager!
When Ruby Walker was fifteen, she went from a numb, silent, miserable high school dropout to a joyous loudmouth in one year flat. Advice I Ignored answers the question everyone’s been asking her since: What happened? In ten illustrated chapters, you’ll learn how to:
get out from under self-hatred
gain a sense of free will
deal with failure without falling apart
create your way through an existential crisis
use exercise to beg your brain for endorphins
have an identity beyond “sad”
and more!
Full of embarrassing stories, honest advice, and fierce hope, Advice I Ignored is a self-help book for people who hate help. And themselves.
Praise Advice I Ignored by Ruby Walker
“If you are a teen struggling with depression and anxiety, an adult working with teens, or an adult who is yet to shake off those traumatic teenage situations, Advice I Ignored is for you.” – Jo-Ann Duff, duffythewriterblog.com
About Ruby Walker
Ruby Walker is an 18-year-old college student, artist and writer. Ruby grew up in Austin, moved down to Buda (TX), dropped out of high school, earned herself full tuition to a private university, and is currently studying art at Trinity University in San Antonio. Advice I Ignored: Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen is the only book on teenage mental health actually written by a teenager.
Thanks to Lisha Samuel of Wunderkind PR, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Human Kind ‘by Brad Aronson.
Description Human Kind by Brad Aronson
Changing the World One Small Act At a Time
HumanKind is the heartwarming feel-good book that we all need right now.
Brad Aronson’s life changed in an instant when his wife, Mia, was diagnosed with leukemia. After her diagnosis, Brad spent most of the next two and a half years either by her side as she received treatment or trying to shield their five-year-old son, Jack, from the worst of Mia’s illness. Amid the stress and despair of waiting for the treatment to work, Brad and Mia were met by an outpouring of kindness from friends, family and even complete strangers.
Inspired by the many demonstrations of “humankindness” that supported their family through Mia’s recovery, Brad began writing about the people who rescued his family from that dark time, often with the smallest of gestures. But he didn’t stop there. Knowing that simple acts of kindness transform lives across the globe every day, he sought out these stories and shares some of the best ones here.
In HumanKind, you’ll meet the mentor who changed a child’s life with a single lesson in shoe tying, the six-year-old who launched a global kindness movement, the band of seamstress grandmothers who mend clothes for homeless people, and many other heroes.
Brad also provides dozens of ways you can make a difference through the simplest words and deeds. You’ll discover how buying someone a meal or sharing a little encouragement at the right time can change someone’s world, as well as your own.
The resource section at the back of the book provides guidance and organizations that will help you channel and amplify your own acts of kindness. Here you’ll discover:
How you can fund a surgery to cure someone’s blindness with a donation of less than $200.
Organizations through which you can provide a birthday gift for a child who otherwise wouldn’t receive one.
Multiple places where you can send letters of encouragement to support hospitalized kids, lonely seniors, refugees, veterans and others in need.
And over fifty more ways you can change a life.
HumanKind will leave you grateful for what you have and provide a refuge from the negativity that surrounds us. This feel-good book will touch your heart. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll be reminded of what really matters.
All author royalties go to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Praise Human Kind by Brad Aronson
“An elegant, wise book of love in action.”– Deepak Chopra
“HumanKind has never been more timely.”– PEOPLE
“Extraordinary Stories.”– The Philadelphia Inquirer
“These stories will inspire you.”– Gabrielle Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Universe Has Your Back
About Brad Aronson
Brad Aronson is a husband and a dad, and when he’s holding the parenting reins, he likes to go all out. For him, that means leading an egg drop competition from the third-floor window of his family’s home or coaching indoor games of baseball and hockey, and then having to explain why something else is now in pieces. Luckily, his wife Mia is understanding. Brad Aronson started i-FRONTIER after college, which grew from a small apartment he shared with his best friend into one of the largest and top rated digital ad agencies in the US.
Today, he invests in startup companies and spends most of his time supporting youth nonprofits. Much of this time is spent teaching entrepreneurship in Camden, N.J., and volunteering on the nonprofit boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Hopeworks. Using his business background, Aronson teaches inner city students entrepreneurship in order to instill self-confidence, discipline, and hustle. He believes in a hands-on learning environment so each student starts their own business in class, which has led to many adventures in entrepreneurship.
Publisher: Bowker (January 11, 2019) Category: Memoir/Self-Help/Non-Fiction Tour dates: March/April, 2020 ISBN: 978-0578430805 Available in Print and ebook, 316 pages
Description Teetering On Disaster by Michaela Renee
Michaela Renee Johnson was just 12 years old in 1992 when a financial slump forced her family to move from an upscale area in Sacramento to a 27-ft trailer in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, with no electricity or running water — so no Nintendo or MTV. It wasn’t exactly the life that every adolescent dreams of, but it was, in fact, their reality.
Michaela chronicles these formative years (and beyond) in her often humorous, constantly candid true story, Teetering on Disaster. As the young Michaela navigates her way through the inherently melodramatic teen years, she must come to terms with relieving herself in the woods, shaving with a 10-cent borrowed razor in an irrigation ditch and taking what she called “bird baths” with a jug of water.
Somehow, in the midst of disorienting change, she learned to focus on what she was gaining instead of what she had lost. And in the end, she gained profound wisdom about her family and the world around her, and uncovered the truth about her own ability to thrive in the face of life’s inconveniences.
But the effects of her unorthodox upbringing don’t end at adulthood, and Teetering takes readers along as a grown Michaela stumbles upon a few “Mr. Right Nows,” gets divorced in her twenties, and ends up right back where she started: a small mountain town in the middle of nowhere.
Teetering on Disaster is a heartfelt, coming-of-age story written to inspire others to live a courageous life of authenticity and to speak their truth with grace. Michaela’s book is an unapologetically honest, authentic tale that will make readers laugh out loud and cry — sometimes at the same time.
My Thoughts Teetering On Disaster by Michaela Renee
I don’t think I’ve ever read a memoir quite like this one. Never have I laughed and cried and held my breath quite so much while reading about the life of someone that I didn’t know. What a life the author has had!
Michaela Renee Johnson experienced her first major upheaval in 1992 when her parents decided to sell their house to cover the expenses for their fledgling construction business. After this, Johnson’s parents moved their entire 5-person family into a 27-foot trailer with no running water or electricity in Northern California. At 11 years old, Michaela was perfectly poised to be the most uncomfortable of her siblings with the new living situation.
The book actually starts with a story about her shaving her legs for the first time in an irrigation ditch. A shift of the familiar rite of passage that I think most of us are happy we cannot relate to. Michaela turns many of her semi-horrifying childhood moments into funny stories and it’s clear she has found a way to look at it through rose-colored glasses.
The second portion of the book is more focused on stories from Michaela’s adult life, and these were a bit more emotional and heartbreaking. At times, this part was hard to follow as it just didn’t have the flow of the first part. However, it was still worth reading.
Leading such an unsettled childhood certainly affected her emotionally as an adult and lead her to do some interesting things. I definitely felt for her with what she dealt with during her marriage and it’s clear by the end of the book that she has worked a lot on herself and her own personal growth.
I admire her a lot and found myself rooting for her. Johnson writes beautifully, with just enough wit and humor to make most of the book sing. The detail and atmosphere she added to her stories were well-executed. The heights that she achieves in her career after such a challenging childhood are inspirational. I give it 4 stars.
I received the ebook for my honest opinion.
(c) Permanent Glimpse Photography
About Michaela Renee
Michaela Renee Johnson is a licensed psychotherapist, Be You Find Happy podcast host and an award winning published author. She inspires happiness by encouraging people to speak their truth with grace, and live a courageous life of authenticity.
Her business Be You Find Happy holds workshops and conversations on happiness in spite of life’s setbacks and has landed her speaking opportunities across the nation.
She lives in Northern California with her husband and son. She enjoys traveling and has visited 19 countries; she loves the ocean and everything in it. She rarely finds herself without an activity whether it be hiking, yoga, tinkering the garden, golfing, reading or spending time outside.
In her most simplest she loves poetic quotes and all things metaphysical.
This giveaway is for one autographed print copy and 2 ebook copies of the book. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is available worldwide. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends April 21, 2020,midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Advice I Ignored by Ruby Walker
Human Kind by Brad Aronson
