First published 2025
Alyson Stoner opens their story in the grueling world of child entertainment, working eighty-hour weeks at age eight while millions knew them from Cheaper by the Dozen and Camp Rock. Behind the Disney Channel smile lay crushing pressure, family dysfunction, and isolation that fame couldn't fix. Stoner chronicles their path from tomboy dancer in Missy Elliott videos to a young adult grappling with religious trauma and mental health crises. The memoir traces their fight to reclaim agency over their life and identity after years of others controlling their narrative. Stoner examines how they learned to heal in a culture that profits from breaking people down. Now working as a mental health advocate, they share the tools and insights that helped them rebuild on their own terms. This is a story about finding authentic voice and personal power when everything seems designed to strip both away.
Genres: mental-health, autobiography, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, reclaiming-identity
320 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness