A deeply honest look at a true American family. Poor, dysfunctional, blended, biracial, and mentally ill. This story is different from other memoirs in this genre in that I did not go on to be highly successful, famous, or even educated. A story at times ugly, raw, emotional and messy, in the truths I share and the wild extremes to which my family swung. It is also quirky, imaginative, and unusual, taking readers from the dark depths of my childhood experiences to the unique and exciting adventures of my young adulthood. A transition made possible by the chaos from whence I came.

From the cold and lonely streets of Buffalo, New York, to the wilderness of Montana and Alaska. Training Iditarod sled dogs, living among Latino immigrants, working construction in Texas summer, wildfire fighting in Idaho, and working my way across Scotland.

My life has been anything but predictable, even less what people expect from surface appearances. My experience is that most people exist in shades of grey—not a black-and-white system of absolutes where right and wrong, love and hate, are simple, uncomplicated, and self-evident. A middle-class, educated woman is not automatically a good mother. Biracial relationships are not always free of racial conflict and deep-seated bias, and all mothers are not necessarily fit to raise children. Parental mental illness leaves a lasting legacy on isolated children, and the systems intended to protect vulnerable populations fail, time and again.

A story for anyone who appreciates journeys about personal transformation and the triumph of the human spirit, that stubborn, unexplainable spark that refuses to be quenched.

Fia Sylvan is not a professional writer, simply a survivor with a minimal homeschool education and a lifelong love of reading and writing, sharing a story of one ordinary individual’s survival of, and adaptation to, extraordinary circumstances.

The hope is that this book will help change the narrative—that rising from difficult circumstances is noteworthy only when one achieves fame and power. How many of us are unsung everyday survivors, who managed to put lives and hearts back together and carry on, to live and die with our songs of strength unsung? This book is for all of you.