"Darls was my first and only friend outside the family, and I treasured the time we spent together. One of the few girls in our school not in awe of Michael, she treated him as just another kid, which he really appreciated."- La Toya Jackson, from her autobiography La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson FamilyIn 1970s Los Angeles, fourteen-year-old Darls Centola lives between two worlds: the rigid doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses and an elite private school where she works in exchange for tuition, surrounded by the children of Hollywood stars. Her life shifts when a quiet, fifteen-year-old Michael Jackson asks if she will study the Bible with him.What begins as shared spiritual inquiry deepens into something more intimate. In a hidden, eucalyptus-scented sanctuary, they exchange future dreams and fears of Armageddon. As their connection grows, the pressures of belief and expectations close in.Drawn from Darls's teenage diaries, Finding Truth with Michael is an intimate story of first connection, spiritual questioning, and the courage it takes to listen to one's own inner voice.
