Almost Lost: The True Story of an Anonymous Teenager's Life on the Streets

"Who in his right mind wants to talk to a shrink? I don't want to talk about anything. I don't want to feel anything, taste anything ... or anything. The lyrics 'just dying to die' run around in my brain day and night..."

This is the incredibly well-written story of a fifteen year old teenager, Samuel Gordon, who was once a happy, self-confident kid, but then becomes someone who almost seems like a complete stranger to the people around him. Samuel's mother suddenly realizes the major changes in her eldest child's life, and seeks help. Paula Gordon sends Samuel to a therapist.

Sam goes to the therapist's office angry, unwilling, and depressed. Dr. Beatrice Sparks soon realizes that Samuel is in a dangerously depressive state, and right before she attempts to persuade Sam into an exercise, he asks to go to the bathroom. Samuel did not return from the restroom.

This story is one that I think every lonely, depressed teenager should read. When you feel like you're all alone, stuck in the "now-way-out black hole of nothingness" this story lets you remember that you really are not alone at all. There are eight million teenagers out in the world suffering from depression and many of them don't even know it. Well, Samuel realized it and was able to make a full recovery with the help of Dr. B.

Samuel tells his heartbreaking story to Dr. B about his life on the streets as a gang member, after disappearing from his family for over three months. He was a drug addict, a thug, and a high school drop-out. But, on the inside, he was really just a hurting kid trying to find his way home.

This is the story of Sam, and his way back home. And it could be some other kid's way back home, too.