Be Limitless, Be Love by Michael Toledo

I deeply appreciate what Michael Toledo is trying to do with this collection of short stories, interspersed with several illuminating autobiographical entries. The parts that were written with young readers in mind are trying hard to reach them at their level, especially the at-risk kids like Cielo in Grandfather To Granddaughter and Gracie in Heart. You can tell that Mr Toledo feels really passionately about his time in social work, and how he’s been called to help young people not only survive but thrive.

I do think that this collection would have gained so much through the services of both an editor and a beta reader tho. Aside from the basic grammatical corrections, an editor likely would have recommended that the entirety of Part 2 be saved for another book. While the idea of a middle-aged couple seeking to outdo each other in a contest of who can be more loving to one another is outstanding, the actual depiction feels discomfitingly out of place in a book that had previously been aimed at younger readers. The tone shift is just too jarring, even coming on the heels of the first autobiographical essay that closes out Part 1.

That essay (titled either The Dream And The Dreamer or The Dreamer And The Dream, depending on whether you’re looking at the Table Of Contents or the chapter heading itself) starts out appropriately enough in its description of the author’s childhood. Unfortunately, it devolves into what I fear are borderline libelous accusations about people whom he clearly still holds a grudge against. All the stuff about mentally ill ex-wives and cheating bosses could have been excised and saved for another, more adult book: including them here only dilutes the effect of trying to give hope to troubled kids.

Fortunately, Part 3 is a return to the YA tone, with Mi Familia/My Family especially being a great story for teen readers. Even the closing story, Father To Son, feels like it fits thematically. While both of the characters here are older, they’re neither of them terribly mature, so the struggle between them feels quite relatable to a teen audience.

That said, I would have definitely preferred that the author not attempted to mimic Gen Z slang, at least not without getting some beta readers of that age to offer feedback. I, an Xennial, and my eldest child, a Zalphan, spent way too much time cringing hard at the incorrect usage of terms like “vibe check” and “basic” (and what was up with all the random capitalizations?) I get it, Mr Toledo is trying to relate to kids. But when an author doesn’t care enough to actually learn and use the phrases correctly, it just comes off as patronizing, which is the exact opposite of the goal here.

The morals of the stories otherwise are pretty good, even if I thought their correlation to Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs tenuous at best. This is a very well-meaning collection from an author who doesn’t yet have the skills to produce a polished product on his own. With more practice and some professional help, he could one day publish something truly outstanding.

Be Limitless, Be Love by Michael Toledo was published October 1 2024 and is available from BeLimitlessBeLove.com.