When MaryAnne Howland''s son was turning thirteen she organized a "Black Mitzvah" rite of passage celebration for him. Max is one of the one-in-three children in America being raised without a father in the home. To help fill the father-shaped hole in Max''s life as he transitioned from boyhood to manhood, MaryAnne invited four men from different corners of her life --an engineer, a philanthropist, a publisher, and a financial planner--to become Max''s mentors.Max has faced many challenges. As a boy without a consistent father figure in his life, as an African-American male in a time when race relations in the USA continue to be fraught, and also because Max was born premature and as a result has cerebral palsy, he has had to be a true warrior.On the brink of manhood, his mother wanted to give him the benefit of men who could answer some of the questions she felt that she, as a woman, might not be able to answer. Through his adolescence, Max''s mentors have shared valuable insights wit