“…The clock reads seven minutes after four in the afternoon in professor William Escalante’s classroom. Inside, ten youngsters are slouching in their chairs, in complete silence, but unable to hide their annoyance and displeasure with the assignment that has just been handed to them.  “Coach Willy”, as some of the kids call him, frequently has that effect on his students. He is one of those no-nonsense teachers who always says what he means and means what he says.  “I think we should just stop wasting time and get this over with. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll finish”, shouts Gaby in frustration, irritated with some of the boy’s attitudes.”

So it begins this journey of self-discovery by a group of teenagers and their teacher in Dr. Camilo Cruz’s new book Once Upon a Cow for Teens: No limits! No Excuses!  Written with his sixteen year old son, Richard, this book follows the success of the original version, La Vaca (Once upon a Cow), written in Spanish and translated to fifteen languages, with over one million copies in print.

In this life-changing metaphor, the cow represents every excuse, fear, justification, and false belief that keeps us from living the kind of life we truly want and deserve. Through an array of real-life stories, everyday school experiences and conflicting emotions and situations, this book confronts some of the toughest challenges teens face today; topics such as career choices, peer pressure, dealing with parent’s divorce, drugs, sexuality, depression, bullying and even suicide.

In this inspirational novel, the challenges and situations portrayed by the characters were taking from real-life experiences, contributed by readers of Dr. Cruz’s previous books from over thirty countries. The conclusions put forward throughout the book are based on real facts as well. All statistics and information are supported by studies and research conducted by a number of organizations, institutions and authors that have dealt with these issues.

At the end, the students discover that most of the difficult situations they’ve experienced are simply the result of not having dealt with the most important challenge, which the authors articulate in the book, using the words of the Mexican poet Amado Nervo: “Because I see at the end of my arduous journey that I was the architect of my own destiny.” That is why in every chapter, the reader –particularly the teenage reader— is challenged to accept full responsibility for his or her success.

The book is written with simplicity, insight, understanding, humor, compassion, and wisdom, Once Upon a Cow for Teens offers character-building principles for teens, parents and teachers alike. It is a must-read for al those who want to be instrumental in building a new generation, free of excuses and self-imposed limitations.