Available October 1, 2022

New York Times Bestselling author Judy L. Mandel seeks to understand the nature of addiction while she struggles to save her beloved niece; to fulfill the deathbed promise she made to her sister. When she finds Cheryl in jail, she hopes and prays this is a second chance for her sensitive, funny, bookworm niece. White Flag uses this personal story, juxtaposed with intensive research into addiction, epigenetics, transgenerational trauma and brain chemistry to bring a unique understanding of the opioid epidemic. It follows Cheryl's path as Big Pharma floods communities with opioids, as effective rehabilitation is scarce, and as the prison system fails her.

“We rarely know the deeper ramifications of tragedy through people’s lives. Judy L. Mandel’s book White Flag shows us the true story of how the same tragedy I drew from for In the Unlikely Event spiraled through her family, giving a glimpse of the way trauma can be felt for generations.”
Judy Blume

“Judy Mandel’s new memoir, White Flag, is both harrowing and heartbreaking. It’s also strangely timely. Though deeply personal and intimate, the book asks us all to consider our own agency - and lack thereof - when things go terribly wrong.” 
Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer, author of nine novels, his most recent being Chances Are . . . 

“Judy Mandel’s second memoir, White Flag, plumbs the depths of the original generational trauma that affected not only Judy’s parents, but their children and grand-children. While the book focuses primarily on Judy’s own journey in trying to help her drug-addicted homeless niece, it also explores the larger issue of how psychiatric help is practically non-existent for the constantly growing number of homeless people in the United States. Quotes from recent studies of trauma-related addiction greatly enlarges the scope of the memoir, as does Judy’s own personal journey through the red tape associated with navigating the bureaucracy. I have not read a memoir that so carefully and personally explores the difficulties associated with trying to help an addict find the proper treatment, when insurmountable obstacles — including the addict’s and the writer’s own denial — bar the way to peace and recovery. An extremely important and timely book that is a lifeline thrown out into the cold and unforgiving ocean that is our present time.”
Kaylie Jones, Award-winning author of A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, Lies My Mother Never Told Me, and more.