Suited for use by classrooms, groups, and individuals, Charting Your Course: A Life-Long Guide to Health and Compassion is a positive answer to the negative pressures that young people face today: from depression, to substance abuse, to lack of confidence or direction. In the first half of of the book, Sally Coleman and David S. Anderson spell out seven areas of healthy living—attitude, personal values, holistic health, relationships, community, the natural world, and service to others—and articulate seven corresponding principles aimed at helping people design a life that will allow them to flourish.

In the second half, dozens of people, including Elie Wiesel, Joe Paterno, Matthew Fox, Father Theodore Hesburgh, and Jane Alexander, answer the question: "If you could write only one letter to young people before you die, what legacy would you leave them?" Their answers address issues ranging from substance abuse to religion, from parenting to sexual orientation. Finally, the editors provide the reader with workbook pages aimed at developing his or her own plan for charting a unique and healthy course through life.