NEVER SETTLED ~ the memoir

What happens when you spend your childhood learning how to survive–and then have to learn how to live?

Shawn D. Congleton recounts his life growing up where he moved nearly 80 times and lived in almost 20 states before graduating high school. Constant change became normal. So did poverty, instability, difficult relationships, and a complicated relationship with an alcoholic and abusive father.

But NEVER SETTLED is more than a story about a difficult childhood.

It is the story of a boy growing into a man while trying to understand family, belonging, responsibility, faith, forgiveness, and what it means to choose a different way of living.

From childhood experiences across the country to Marine Corps boot camp at San Diego and Camp Pendleton, Shawn’s journey is filled with moments of fear, humor, failure, growth, loss, and unexpected grace.

Along the way, he discovers that our past can shape us without having to define us–and that forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting, excusing, or abandoning healthy boundaries.

This memoir is his honest and hopeful story about becoming who you are, making peace with where you’ve come from, and refusing to let your circumstances determine the rest of your story.

NEVER SETTLED is ultimately about overcoming adversity, breaking patterns, finding identity, and learning how to truly live.

Readers of personal memoirs and coming of age stories will appreciate the personal transformation Shawn goes through as he literally grows up on the road.

“Readers will be glad that Shawn Congleton never settled for a life like the one in which he grew up. Now his story can give hope to hearts that are looking for a chance to be loved and to belong.” ~ Tanya Anderson, Award-Winning Author and Editor

“In a beautifully raw and compassionate way, Shawn invites us into his painful, yet hopeful story.” ~ Chris LeMaster, LPC

“This book, more than most others, was able to reach all five senses! It took me back on a nostalgic journey of childhood memories that I had previously tucked away.” – Todd Buck, Educator