It's Never That Serious: ten true stories about everything I thought was the end of the world. By Sid Bharath, written at eighteen.
About Sid
Sid Bharath is a high school senior in Northern California. He played basketball until three concussions ended it. He spent twenty-six days in Death Valley with no phone, three of them completely alone. He repeated his junior year. He started writing this book at seventeen and finished it at eighteen.
This is his first book.
Foreword by
Eric Maisel, PhDAuthor of Why Smart Teens Hurt and more than sixty books on creativity, meaning, and human flourishing
“For teenagers, this book offers companionship. For parents, it offers understanding. For educators, it offers perspective.”
“Many adults spend decades avoiding the questions this young author is willing to ask.”
For teenagers
Nobody tells you that the years everyone says are the best of your life are also the most disorienting ones.
You're expected to figure out who you are, where you belong, and what any of it is supposed to mean. All at the same time. With a lot of people watching.
Nobody talks about that part honestly. So you end up thinking the confusion is yours alone. That everyone else figured out something you haven't.
They don't. You're not behind.
This book is ten things I had to learn the hard way, written down so maybe you don't have to. I'm still in high school. I don't have it figured out. These are honest accounts of what it actually felt like to be inside these years.
Ten stories
- 01When Your Identity Collapses
I played basketball so people would like me. Then three concussions took it away.
- 02When You Finally Stop Running
Twenty-six days in Death Valley with no phone, and the three days I spent alone.
- 03Nobody Was Coming
Freshman year at a school where I knew nobody, and the morning I realized I had done this to myself.
- 04Nobody Wins
The 89 that ruined my week, and what comparing yourself to a boxplot does to you.
- 05The Table
The fun friend group, how I ended up in it, and what it cost to stay.
- 06When Good People Cave
The most disciplined kid I knew, and what happened when he met a girl.
- 07Both Are True
The older player who put me down for years, and the day I judged him too fast.
- 08You're Cooked
I waited a week to tell her how I felt. Someone else didn't.
- 09It's Never That Serious
The night before every game I didn't sleep. Then I'd get to the gym and throw up.
- 10The Last First Times
The year I shrank my life to one thing, and everything I almost missed.
Every story ends with a short section called What I Wish I'd Known. Read the first story.
For the parent holding this book:
My parents supported me through everything in these pages. They showed up, they paid attention, they did their best, and they did a ton. There are still things in here that they're reading for the first time.
We were close. Some things are just hard to put into words, even with the people who love you most. That's how it is at this age, when you're still figuring out what you even feel, let alone how to say it out loud.
Your kid is dealing with their journey. Read this book to understand what's actually going on in there. Then listen more than you ask, give your kid the room to figure it out, and stay close enough that they know where to find you.
— Sid
Get the book
Paperback, hardcover, and ebook.
Readers in India: the paperback is available through Amazon.in and local bookstores.
Bookstores, libraries, and schools
Available through Ingram.
Paperback ISBN [PAPERBACK_ISBN]
Hardcover ISBN [HARDCOVER_ISBN]
For bulk orders at a discount, for classrooms, counselors, coaches, and advisory programs, email sid@itsneverthatseriousbook.com.
Contact
Sid reads everything sent here.
sid [at] itsneverthatseriousbook [dot] com- Readers
If a chapter landed, or didn't, say so.
- Press and interviews
Cover image, author photo, and a one-paragraph description are available on request.
- Schools and bulk orders
See bookstores, libraries, and schools above.