They will tell you the world is yours

In these lyrical vignettes, essayist and Wacoan magazine columnist Mitchael (Copygirl) mines her life experiences to share with readers "the truth as thoroughly as I know it." The brief, second-person pieces--many of which begin by questioning a piece of received wisdom--find Mitchael writing from the perspectives of her younger selves, including a child contemplating how she fits into the world ("You already feel pretty different from kids at school.... Your people are out there") and a young woman standing up for herself by demanding a raise. Elsewhere, she reflects on her search as an adult for a different kind of spirituality than the "spoon-fed" religious didacticism of her childhood, even as she acknowledges that "choosing to believe" means she can no longer maintain an illusion of control over her life. (A section toward the end of the book nicely underscores this point as Mitchael considers the limits of driving one's own destiny--"Whose fingers are at the keys? You will not know. Where is the train going? A mystery.") The author's insights are perceptive--"advice, it will seem more and more, is people telling you how they wish they had been courageous enough to live"--even if the second-person narration wears out its welcome as a rhetorical device. Seekers will find pearls of wisdom. (June)