(Isstories Editorial):- Tampa, Florida Nov 21, 2025 (Issuewire.com) – What happens when a single summer changes everything you thought you knew about friendship, family, and yourself? In California Awakening, now available on Amazon Kindle and in paperback, author Mark Sahl invites readers to relive the raw beauty of adolescence — the laughter, confusion, and quiet awakenings that shape who we become.
About the Book
California Awakening is a coming-of-age story grounded in reallife experiences and emotions. It follows Mark, a 15 year-old boy traveling alone for the first time from the Marshall Islands to California to spend the summer with his best friend, Luke. What unfolds during those sunny weeks is more than a simple visit – it’s a story about friendship, discovery, and the kind of moments that stay with you long after the summer ends.
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Set in the mid-1970s, the book captures a time of freedom, simplicity, and selfdiscovery. Readers are drawn into an authentic world where conversations happen face-to-face, dreams are shared under open skies, and every experience feels larger than life. Through detailed, sensory writing and heartfelt dialogue, Sahl brings the era to
life while touching on universal truths that transcend time.
The story is laced with both literal and metaphorical “awakenings” — dreams we have while sleeping and those we chase in life. It reminds readers that growing up isn’t about losing innocence, but about learning to see ourselves and others more clearly.
“It’s a very personal story,” says Mark Sahl. “A lot of it comes from my own experiences — the friendships that taught me who I was, the confusion of youth, and the beauty of finding connection when you least expect it. I wanted to write something that felt real, like memory itself — soft at the edges but unforgettable.”
Whether you grew up in the 1970s or are discovering that decade for the first time, California Awakening offers a relatable, emotionally grounded look at what it means to come of age — to feel deeply, to question, and to dream.
About the Author
Mark Sahl writes from the heart — and from a lifetime of diverse experiences. Growing up Jewish and gay in both Philadelphia and the Marshall Islands, Sahl developed an early understanding of identity, belonging, and what it means to feel “different” yet connected.
Before turning to creative writing, he spent over three decades in public relations in the Northeastern United States, crafting stories for others. Eventually, he decided to slow his pace, trading the noise of city life for the quiet of rural Puerto Rico and later central Florida, where he could finally tell his own story — not for clients, but for himself.
California Awakening reflects the honesty, warmth, and perspective of someone who has lived many chapters and learned from each one. It’s a debut that feels both intimate and universal — a mirror for anyone who has ever looked back on their youth and thought, “That’s when everything changed.”
Availability
California Awakening, published by Booklyn Writers, is now available worldwide on Amazon, in both Kindle eBook and paperback editions. Readers can download it instantly or hold the story in their hands — just like the dog-eared novels that once filled their childhood summers.
For anyone who loves stories about friendship, growing up, and finding one’s place in the world, this book is a must-read. It’s not just a story — it’s a feeling, a memory, and a reminder that awakening can happen at any age.
Book Link: https://a.co/d/1TzM3UO
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
