Stepdads are the unsung heroes of America. They are here to teach and to pick up slack. Sometimes their great knowledge is over looked because they are never as good as their wife's ex husband Rick who was more successful, more attractive and looked better with his shirt off...so my stepdad told me. But nonetheless, The Funny Stepdad's book is filled with great photos and thoughts my stepdad once told me when I was growing up. Now you can enjoy them around a coffee table or mostly likely, on the toilet.

“Like the YouTube channel, this is a touching yet informative guide for those seeking fatherly advice, or even a few good dad jokes.” — Library Journal

As most divorced couples know -- with kids in the mix -- it is very difficult to have a positive influence on a child particularly when dad lives out of state -- far removed from the rigors of the day to day challenges of raising a child. My original plan was to write one life lesson each week and mail it to my daughter for her to read, study and keep for future reference. Sort of like homework with dad yet still be educational and fun in the process. I wrote my first Life Lesson on June 28, 2011. After many revisions, the book was completed a year later. At the time, I would hand write the Life Lesson on a legal sized piece of paper and photocopy it at the local Post Net store and send the original to my daughter Kelsey in Seattle. I kept the photocopy. After dozens of trips, the young woman working behind the counter, Kate Krutilova, says "You know Thorp, you need to write a book!" I thought about it for a moment and realized she was absolutely right! I finally reached my goal of 100 Life Lessons... Three weeks later another one popped into my head at 3am in the morning... So I ended up with 101! The funny thing about reading this book is that there is no rhyme or reason as to the order in which each Life Lesson is written. It's just what came to me at the time. (That is the great thing about having ADD.) Special thanks to Dr. Victoria Ibric at the Neurofeedback & NeuroRehab Institute in Pasadena, CA. I hope you will find this book entertaining, heart-warming and full of really good tips. Buy one for yourself... Better yet, buy two and give it to someone you care about. Thanks for your support! Enjoy!

"Sometimes a story comes along that just plain makes you want to hug the world. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise is Dan Gemeinhart’s finest book yet — and that’s saying something. Your heart needs this joyful miracle of a book." — Katherine Applegate, acclaimed author of The One and Only Ivan and Wishtree Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash. Coyote hasn’t been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished—the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box—she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it. Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there's Gladys... Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all...but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her “once upon a time” into a “happily ever after.”

Experiencing love and parenting opens us to unimagined joy as well as crushing heartbreak. Because of one mothers honesty and forthright talent, we can experience both the happiness and sorrow of Rykens Journey and we can also relate the lessons learned to our own hearts and lives. Sally Ann Elliott, Registered Nurse Certified Childbirth Educator Eleven years ago I met Ryken and his parents, Brett and Pam. It was through such an unexpected series of events that I became part of his medical team. Fate. Over the subsequent eleven days, I learned much about Ryken, about his parents, and witnessed the unreserved love of a child from his parents. Rykens Journey is his story. It is the story of his family, the story of his birth, and the story of his death. It is the story of how an individual, no matter how young or how brief a life, can teach us so much about love and living. Dr. Aaron Chiu, Neonatologist

This book, through personal stories written every day for a full year, captures the memories of the author's second grandchild as she experiences life in her formative years. Side by side with his granddaughter's personal journey of learning the lessons of life, the author shares his own experiences of relearning these lessons including nostalgic reflections on his youth. The book tells a personal story of growing love between a granddaughter and her papa.