In 1987, a station wagon carried everything I owned away from the only home I'd ever known. I watched Andrews, Indiana, disappear in the rearview mirror—the hill where I'd been king, the friends who'd been family, the childhood I was leaving behind whether I wanted to or not. Ahead lay Howe, a small town surrounded by endless cornfields, where I'd have to figure out who I was all over again.
This is the story of what came next.
Between the Cornfields picks up where The Kids on the Hill ended, chronicling the messy, magical, sometimes mortifying years of adolescence in rural Indiana. It's about arriving somewhere new with nothing but a reputation you can't live up to and discovering that starting over might be the best thing that ever happened to you.
It's about friendships that surprised me—Pat, who showed up one afternoon to play Nintendo and never really left, who became so woven into our family that the dinner table felt incomplete without him. Dave, who introduced me to a world I didn't know I needed. Shane, who taught me that loyalty doesn't ask questions. Ryan, who proved that the quietest people often have the most to offer.
It's about my father, who taught at Howe Military School and showed me things about grace and disappointment that I'm still processing decades later. About my sister Jennifer, who transformed from childhood rival to unexpected ally somewhere between freshman year and graduation. About the particular alchemy of gaming marathons, late-night conversations, and shared adventures that turns acquaintances into brothers.
But I'm not going to pretend I was always the hero of these stories. These pages include the moments I'm not proud of—the cruelties I committed, the people I let down, the times I was small when I should have been generous. Growing up isn't about getting it right; it's about getting it wrong and learning anyway.
This memoir is for anyone who survived high school, found friendship in unexpected places, or learned that family isn't just about blood—it's about the people who keep showing up. It's for anyone who remembers what it felt like to be caught between who you were and who you were becoming, navigating the cornfield rows toward something you couldn't yet see.
The story continues.
Soft Cover Book 486 pages $16.99
