Eye-Opening Coming Of Age Memoir Is Set In Lake Forest

LAKE FOREST, IL — Adolescence forces a myriad of life lessons into your lap, whether you're prepared for them or not.

Jim Burns, the author of "Just Remember The Happy Hours... A Memoir of Innocence & Experience," explores the unpredictable messiness of adolescence in his book, which was just released this fall. Confronted with some of the most defining moments of our lives, our teen years are harrowing for some.

Burns recounts the story of his young life, drudging up some of the darkest moments, but also capturing the true spirit of growing up in the 1960s. Much of his memoir takes place in Lake Forest, where Burns spent much of his teen years.

"I mean, Lake Forest was just this beautiful, green, wooded, affluent place to be," Burns said. "We moved there from the desert, so it just hit me how extraordinarily beautiful it was. That's kind of the backdrop to my life growing up."

Throughout the book, Burns details the confusion he felt growing up, as his life had an opposite dynamic to what most people expect. When thinking of home, most would correlate it to being a safe and comforting place, but Burns found most of his comfort outside his home.

As he grew, Burns remembers watching his mother struggle in abusive relationships with multiple men, the first being Burns' father and the second being a man named Kirk. Through the lens of a young boy, Burns shows the real risk that women face when they feel like they have no support outside of their relationship.

"If a woman in an abusive relationship read this and realized that, if you think that you're in trouble, you need to get out, that was really my hope." Burns said. "My mom was definitely in trouble for a lot of this book, but she never got out. And unfortunately, she paid the price for that"

Burns found comfort in his community, specifically with his classmates in his Lake Forest high school. Where many would find solace at home, Burns looked outward to bring normalcy to his otherwise turbulent home life.

“Our band kept me sane, made me laugh, pissed me off and generally helped me steer the rudderless boat of being a latchkey kid before that was a thing. If you were lucky enough to be in a band of brothers, you always had a leg up no matter how the world beat you down,” Burns wrote in his book. “Honestly, they were the brothers I never had.”

The book is available to purchase online for $4.99 for the e-book, and $9.99 for a paperback copy.