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Finding Truth with Michael: A Memoir of Friendship, Faith, and First Love
For fans of Educated and Unorthodox, a powerful memoir set in 1970s LA about a young woman’s journey of faith, friendship, and self-discovery—and her unlikely bond with Michael Jackson.
In 1970s Los Angeles, fourteen-year-old Darls Centola navigates the strict doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the imminent threat of Armageddon, and the loneliness of an elite private school filled with celebrity children and rising stars. Her world shifts when a shy, fifteen-year-old Michael Jackson—already a global pop sensation—asks her to study the Bible with him. What begins as an unlikely friendship deepens into a profound spiritual bond as they share their dreams, beliefs, and the pressures of growing up under intense scrutiny. But the rigid control of the church intervenes.
Finding Truth with Michael is a moving story of resilience, self-discovery, and breaking free from a high-control religion. Offering a thoughtful exploration of Michael’s quiet yet deeply authentic faith, it reveals how he inspired one girl to question everything she was taught and reclaim her own voice.
In 1970s Los Angeles, fourteen-year-old Darls Centola navigates the strict doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the imminent threat of Armageddon, and the loneliness of an elite private school filled with celebrity children and rising stars. Her world shifts when a shy, fifteen-year-old Michael Jackson—already a global pop sensation—asks her to study the Bible with him. What begins as an unlikely friendship deepens into a profound spiritual bond as they share their dreams, beliefs, and the pressures of growing up under intense scrutiny. But the rigid control of the church intervenes.
Finding Truth with Michael is a moving story of resilience, self-discovery, and breaking free from a high-control religion. Offering a thoughtful exploration of Michael’s quiet yet deeply authentic faith, it reveals how he inspired one girl to question everything she was taught and reclaim her own voice.
298 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 29, 2026
Fascinating read!
Darls drew me in immediately with her fascinating, intimate storytelling. I would give this book 10 stars if I could. I never wanted the story to end.
No one but Darls could have shared this remarkable behind-the-scenes account. The book is layered with so much depth—family dynamics and dysfunction, a bygone era, the enduring bonds of friendship and love, the impact of celebrity, the influence and control of religious leaders, the vulnerability that can exist in the face of authority, the challenges of the school-age years, and so much more.
Michael was four years older than me, and I always had a crush on him, which made reading this story even more meaningful. This book takes you on an emotional journey, filled with joy, laughter, hope, shock, anger, and sadness. It stayed with me long after I turned the last page. I highly recommend this book.
Darls drew me in immediately with her fascinating, intimate storytelling. I would give this book 10 stars if I could. I never wanted the story to end.
No one but Darls could have shared this remarkable behind-the-scenes account. The book is layered with so much depth—family dynamics and dysfunction, a bygone era, the enduring bonds of friendship and love, the impact of celebrity, the influence and control of religious leaders, the vulnerability that can exist in the face of authority, the challenges of the school-age years, and so much more.
Michael was four years older than me, and I always had a crush on him, which made reading this story even more meaningful. This book takes you on an emotional journey, filled with joy, laughter, hope, shock, anger, and sadness. It stayed with me long after I turned the last page. I highly recommend this book.
May 22, 2026
A clear-eyed, warm memoir of friendship under high-control religion
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Full disclosure up front: Darls Centola is a respected EMDR colleague of mine. This review, however, is about the book.
*Finding Truth with Michael* is very well written indeed. The prose is steady, the structure carries the reader without effort, and the reconstructed dialogue from fifty years ago - something always risky in a book like this - actually reads with the immediacy of something written that week, drawn as it is from the teenage diaries she kept at the time.
What comes across is Darls's warmth, humility, kindness and compassion. She writes unsentimentally about Michael from a place of authentic teenage friendship, and innocent attraction.
We get to know Michael not as icon, or as the wounded figure of later mythology, but as a quiet, curious, complicated teenager whose seriousness about his faith was as real as his musical ambition.
The two of them sit in a eucalyptus-scented sanctuary, trading dreams and fears of Armageddon. The reader feels what it must have been like to be inside that adolescent world.
The book is also unusually good on the territory of high-control religious systems. Darls writes as a clinician now, but she does not impose the clinical frame on her younger self.
She lets the material speak: the fear, the slow, private accumulation of doubt, the courage it takes to listen to one's own inner voice when every authority around you is telling you not to.
A memoir of this kind only works if the writer can sit with her younger self honestly, neither rescuing nor condemning, neither inflating the Michael connection nor flattening it. Darls has done that work, and the book is her evidence.
For anyone interested in the phenomenon of Michael Jackson himself, this is a side you probably have not seen before. For former members of high-control religions, it will resonate in your bones. For clinicians working with spiritual abuse and adolescent attachment, it is a moving, important first-person document.
Very warmly recommended.
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Full disclosure up front: Darls Centola is a respected EMDR colleague of mine. This review, however, is about the book.
*Finding Truth with Michael* is very well written indeed. The prose is steady, the structure carries the reader without effort, and the reconstructed dialogue from fifty years ago - something always risky in a book like this - actually reads with the immediacy of something written that week, drawn as it is from the teenage diaries she kept at the time.
What comes across is Darls's warmth, humility, kindness and compassion. She writes unsentimentally about Michael from a place of authentic teenage friendship, and innocent attraction.
We get to know Michael not as icon, or as the wounded figure of later mythology, but as a quiet, curious, complicated teenager whose seriousness about his faith was as real as his musical ambition.
The two of them sit in a eucalyptus-scented sanctuary, trading dreams and fears of Armageddon. The reader feels what it must have been like to be inside that adolescent world.
The book is also unusually good on the territory of high-control religious systems. Darls writes as a clinician now, but she does not impose the clinical frame on her younger self.
She lets the material speak: the fear, the slow, private accumulation of doubt, the courage it takes to listen to one's own inner voice when every authority around you is telling you not to.
A memoir of this kind only works if the writer can sit with her younger self honestly, neither rescuing nor condemning, neither inflating the Michael connection nor flattening it. Darls has done that work, and the book is her evidence.
For anyone interested in the phenomenon of Michael Jackson himself, this is a side you probably have not seen before. For former members of high-control religions, it will resonate in your bones. For clinicians working with spiritual abuse and adolescent attachment, it is a moving, important first-person document.
Very warmly recommended.
August 4, 2026
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL memoir. I was sad it had to end!! A must read. Grateful that there was an Epilogue included too :)
Darls captures the exact melancholy of reaching back in hindsight and finding a refuge that seemed to persist through the chaotic times. I loved her honest thoughts, humor, insights, goals, insecurities, dilemmas, etc…so relatable and true. Her friendship with both LaToya and Michael was so pure! Only someone with the genuine closeness Darls had with them could have written these beautiful memories. I kept cheering them all on as they navigated the balance of living around obscurity but choosing goodness together, while their reality seemed to transition quickly around them. There were chapters that absolutely broke my heart for Darls, finding myself literally wishing I could reach through the pages and give her a hug. The care and humility that Darls approaches this memoir is a testament to how much she truly loved and valued this friendship after all these years :)
A song that often came to mind when reading this book was from The Jackson’s Destiny album called “Bless His Soul”. Maybe it’s because the song came out during the same changing times the book takes place. But there is something in the lyrics that matches the fragile purity - the beauty and ache - of a friend who deeply cares. When you have a chance, give it a listen. It compliments the book well :)
Darls captures the exact melancholy of reaching back in hindsight and finding a refuge that seemed to persist through the chaotic times. I loved her honest thoughts, humor, insights, goals, insecurities, dilemmas, etc…so relatable and true. Her friendship with both LaToya and Michael was so pure! Only someone with the genuine closeness Darls had with them could have written these beautiful memories. I kept cheering them all on as they navigated the balance of living around obscurity but choosing goodness together, while their reality seemed to transition quickly around them. There were chapters that absolutely broke my heart for Darls, finding myself literally wishing I could reach through the pages and give her a hug. The care and humility that Darls approaches this memoir is a testament to how much she truly loved and valued this friendship after all these years :)
A song that often came to mind when reading this book was from The Jackson’s Destiny album called “Bless His Soul”. Maybe it’s because the song came out during the same changing times the book takes place. But there is something in the lyrics that matches the fragile purity - the beauty and ache - of a friend who deeply cares. When you have a chance, give it a listen. It compliments the book well :)
June 26, 2026
Such a beautiful book written about Michael and LaToya’s teenage years. Absolutely loved this book and listened to it on the 17 anniversary of Michael’s passing. Loved every second of this book!!!
June 6, 2026
M&D Compassionate Care
Oh my gosh what a beautiful love story Michael first love was Darlz.. and vids versa it was not physical but they had a deep love for one another of being connected intellectually and emotionally that a higher L.O.V.E. a Agape L.O.V.E. it one of the highest L.O.V.E to endure they were best friendz ..This story will touch you may bring a few tears .Michael was sweet compassionate playful,serious, thoughful,Darlz was the same way she had a sweet ,compassionate very thoughtful,loved her family her spirit is beautiful in this story .. Thank you Darlz for writing this book it does give you a insite of who Michael Jackson essence truly is .. I did cry a few times 😭 !!!you wrote this story as you were actually there with you and Michael and Latoya ..my heart goes out to you for what you endure through your studies with JW but it chapters of your life that helped you build your charter as a human being .. I do hope that someone will help you and Michael dream of opening ophanges or even Michael Jackson children Hospital in the city of Gary Indiana (planting seeds😉🫣 ) will happen.. Continue to grow and prosper in all you do throughout your life z journey .. god bless you Darlz Michael Latoya also .. I added a Z to your name cuz it looks cool 🫣🤭💜✨🦋 GREAT READ
Oh my gosh what a beautiful love story Michael first love was Darlz.. and vids versa it was not physical but they had a deep love for one another of being connected intellectually and emotionally that a higher L.O.V.E. a Agape L.O.V.E. it one of the highest L.O.V.E to endure they were best friendz ..This story will touch you may bring a few tears .Michael was sweet compassionate playful,serious, thoughful,Darlz was the same way she had a sweet ,compassionate very thoughtful,loved her family her spirit is beautiful in this story .. Thank you Darlz for writing this book it does give you a insite of who Michael Jackson essence truly is .. I did cry a few times 😭 !!!you wrote this story as you were actually there with you and Michael and Latoya ..my heart goes out to you for what you endure through your studies with JW but it chapters of your life that helped you build your charter as a human being .. I do hope that someone will help you and Michael dream of opening ophanges or even Michael Jackson children Hospital in the city of Gary Indiana (planting seeds😉🫣 ) will happen.. Continue to grow and prosper in all you do throughout your life z journey .. god bless you Darlz Michael Latoya also .. I added a Z to your name cuz it looks cool 🫣🤭💜✨🦋 GREAT READ
April 29, 2026
Thank you so much for that book! Michael is such a beautiful soul and the world need people like him so much. I really enjoy seeing that side of him. It is beautifully written, only kind words and it made us have a deeper understanding of his philosophy of life and admiration for nature and all living things. Thank you for being so kind and fair.
March 24, 2026
An important book about growing up in the Jehovah's Witnesses that also shows a side of Michael Jackson as an eager student of the bible and Jehovah's Witness before the elders came after him for his record Thriller.
Darls dives into the beauty of faith as well as the struggle when it's from a high control apocalyptic religion.
Darls dives into the beauty of faith as well as the struggle when it's from a high control apocalyptic religion.
August 6, 2026
Fascinating. This was a lot more about Jehovah’s Witnesses than MJ, but it was a sweet look at a more innocent relationship and time period. The JW stuff was wild tho and I appreciated the author’s perspective. This one felt a lot more like her memoir which included a friendship with MJ vs a money grab. Very compelling and sad and ultimately hopeful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews