Able to Be Otherwise

A true story about love, grief, resiliency, faith, and transformation despite daunting odds.

California wildfires burned more than 4.2 million acres in 2020-more than double the previous record. Approximately 500,000 people have died from an opioid-involved drug overdose since the opioid epidemic started over two decades ago. Millions of children live in food-insecure households, and tens of millions of American families live paycheck to paycheck. 

These startling statistics are interwoven and, for author Anna Lenaker, very personal. 

Able to Be Otherwise is an intimate account of Lenaker's experiences and encounters with poverty, addiction, and climate change. In sharing her story, Lenaker inspires greater compassion and understanding towards the poor, those struggling with addiction, and the Earth. 

In Able to Be Otherwise, you'll encounter stories about:
Living in a Mexican smuggling boss' mansion.Grieving over the loss of cherished places from California wildfires.Going from half-homeless to eventually attending Brown University.
Readers will walk away with the conviction that a more gentle and compassionate world is on the horizon if only we act with the belief that change is possible-or, in other words, with the belief that things are able to be otherwise.