i see myself in them, now what i mean? i could easily be sitting right where you re sitting, just by the grace of god that i m not. what is the message you re trying to drive home to american dads? my real reason for wanting to write this book in the first place, to inspire young people who grew up in a situation where they didn t have a father in their home. we always heard telling us how, you come from a broken home, you re not going to make it. now what? life isn t over. you still have to be able to make it. so you recognize, even though it s not the most favorable situation, it s a situation you have and you make the most of it. to help deliver wakeup calls to men, thomas enlisted the help of highly revered professional athletes, coaches, actors, politicians and leaders of faith to share their insights on being a dad. men like kareem abdul jabbar, yao ming, actor thai digs. tony hawk and more, ice cube.