International award-winning author, speaker, and former School Resource Officer Carlamay Sheremata has received the Literary Titan Book Award for her powerful nonfiction book, Youth Truth: Engaging in Conversations That Can Change Lives. The award recognizes books that demonstrate exceptional storytelling, meaningful insight, and strong impact for readers.
Drawing from more than two decades in law enforcement and years spent working directly with youth in schools, Sheremata offers a compassionate, story-driven look at the realities many young people quietly face, including suicide, addiction, abuse, bullying, identity struggles, eating disorders, self-harm, coercive relationships, and emotional isolation. Through deeply human, case-based storytelling, Youth Truth delivers a clear and urgent message: a young person’s life can change when they feel genuinely seen, heard, and understood.
“This book was never just a book for me. It was a responsibility,” says Sheremata. “I’ve seen firsthand that it’s rarely the big interventions that change a life. It’s one adult, one moment, one question asked the right way.”
In its review, Literary Titan praised Youth Truth as a “compassionate and story-driven work of nonfiction,” calling it “moving, sincere, and unsettling in the best way.” The review highlights Sheremata’s ability to write with emotional candor and moral clarity, noting that she brings readers into the real places where young people carry unbearable burdens: school hallways, kitchens, ambulances, offices, and crisis moments where one caring adult can make all the difference.
Rather than writing as a distant expert, Sheremata draws from lived experience on the front lines. Her stories, including Jon’s imagined waffle breakfast while facing hunger, Jane’s struggle with addiction, and Cameron’s search for identity and direction, reveal the deeper pain that can hide beneath anger, withdrawal, defiance, or silence.
“What looks like anger, withdrawal, or defiance is often pain, fear, or confusion they don’t have the words for yet,” Sheremata explains. “If adults can pause, get curious, and lead with connection instead of correction, everything shifts.”
Youth Truth stands apart by pairing compelling real-world stories with practical insight for adults who want to help but may not feel equipped to begin difficult conversations. Sheremata addresses a gap she witnessed repeatedly: caring parents, educators, mentors, and professionals who wanted to reach youth in crisis but lacked the confidence, language, or tools to respond effectively.
The Literary Titan Book Award further affirms the importance of Youth Truth as a timely and necessary resource for parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, school leaders, law enforcement professionals, youth workers, and anyone committed to supporting adolescents through today’s complex challenges.
“If we can help more adults show up in those moments,” Sheremata adds, “we don’t just change conversations. We change lives.”
Youth Truth: Engaging in Conversations That Can Change Lives is available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Readers, parents, educators, counselors, coaches, and youth-serving professionals are encouraged to get their copy today and discover how one brave, genuine conversation can change, or even save, a life.
About the Author
Carlamay Sheremata is an international award-winning author, speaker, Family Conflict Resolution Specialist, former School Resource Officer, and trust-centered leadership expert with more than 21 years of law enforcement experience. Through her work with youth, families, schools, and organizations, she has witnessed the life-changing power of connection, communication, and compassionate intervention.
As the founder of Diamond in the Rough Consulting, Sheremata helps individuals and organizations build trust, strengthen relationships, and lead with clarity in high-stress environments. She is also the creator of The CALM Leadership Method™, a practical framework designed to help people navigate conflict, crisis, and difficult conversations with confidence and care.
Her book, Youth Truth: Engaging in Conversations That Can Change Lives, reflects her deep commitment to helping adults better understand youth in crisis and respond with the kind of presence, courage, and connection that can create lasting change.
Email: carlamay@carlamaysheremata.com
Media Contact
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Literary Titan
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Carlamay Sheremata
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Canada
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https://www.carlamaysheremata.com/
