The Other
Side Of This
The messy truth about grief for teens.
A candid book for teenagers who have lost someone and cannot find language for what life after loss actually feels like.
Written by someone who lost his father at fourteen, The Other Side of This offers honest recognition without clichés, quick fixes, or a timetable for moving forward.
This is not a book of quick fixes.
I was fourteen when my dad died. For years, I kept moving forward without fully understanding what that loss had changed.
What I needed was not another explanation of the stages of grief. I needed honest language for the anger, confusion, loneliness, relief, love, and ordinary moments that followed.
The Other Side of This is the book I wish someone had given me then: one that acknowledges how messy grief can be without treating a grieving teenager like a problem to solve.
Seven chapters. Honest language. No shortcuts.
Teenagers navigating loss
For young people who feel alone, misunderstood, different from everyone around them, or unable to explain what grief is doing in their lives.
Parents and caregivers
For adults who want a bridge into conversations that can be difficult to begin.
Counselors and educators
For professionals looking for honest, accessible language and reflection prompts they can use when supporting grieving young people.
Written for grieving teens and the adults trying to support them.
INSIDE THE BOOK
CHAPTER 01
The Day Everything Changed
Shock, memory, and the last ordinary moments before life became different.
Seven chapters about the parts of grief people rarely discuss.
CHAPTER 02
All the Feelings You're Not Supposed to Talk About
Anger, jealousy, relief, laughter, longing, and the emotions that do not fit other people’s expectations.
CHAPTER 03
Nobody's Normal
Returning to school, wearing the “I’m fine” mask, and recognizing what people may be carrying beneath the surface.
CHAPTER 05
Where Is Home
How loss can change family, safety, identity, and the places that once felt familiar.
CHAPTER 04
Finding Your People
Friendship, connection, and the difference between someone understanding your grief and someone giving you room to be yourself.
CHAPTER 06
The Things We Keep
The objects, sounds, smells, and memories through which we continue carrying someone with us.
CHAPTER 07
The Other Side of This
Not a finish line or a life without grief—a full, ordinary life in which grief is carried differently.
ALSO INSIDE
Every chapter includes a reflection exercise. It is not homework and there are no right answers—just a place to do something with what you have read when you are ready.
What readers are saying
“The Other Side of This is honest, thoughtful, and deeply compassionate. It's the kind of book I wish more young people had access to after experiencing loss, and I have no doubt it will find the readers who need it most.”
Angie Hawkins
The Inner Glow Coach and Author of Running in Slippers
“The adult version finds the words the teenager could not, giving language to grief that so many young people struggle to express.”
Zulma B. Williams, CSW
Psychotherapist
From The Author
I wrote the book I needed when I was fourteen.
After my dad died, I found myself trying to understand what life was supposed to look like now.
I did not need someone to ask what stage of grief I was in. I needed someone willing to sit beside me and ask, “What do you need right now?”
Nobody asked me that then. This book is my way of asking grieving teenagers now.
It does not promise to make grief disappear. It offers recognition, honest language, and a reminder that loss can remain part of your story without becoming the end of it.
The book is available now.
If you are a grieving teenager—or an adult supporting
one—The Other Side of This was written for you.
Schools, hospices, churches, counseling practices, and youth programs may inquire about bulk copies.