GrowGirl

At age 34, Heather Donahue went to pot. Literally. After starring in The Blair Witch Project-the tiny indie film that became a classic and now tops dozens of best-movie lists-she learned how briefly the Hollywood afterglow lasts. She made a few raunchy B flicks before realizing that her acting career had fizzled altogether. Like all good Californians with an urge to transcend, she headed to a meditation retreat in the desert. There she met a new boyfriend, Judah, and before long she was a citizen of the nugget community, where buds of pot are emblazoned everywhere, like a logo of love.

Grow Girl captures the year Heather spent in the land of the growers, where farmers and their pot wives or grow girls form tight support networks. She never intended to become an outlaw, but within twelve months, she writes, "I was alone at the end of a red dirt road with 27 chickens, a puppy, 284 vegetable seedlings, and a felonious amount of ganja in the garage." The community of women she encountered brought her unexpected solace and a surprising level of normalcy as the women helped each other tend crops and build grow rooms. Her relationship with Judah crumbled, but her outlook on life was stronger than ever.

As the battle over legalized marijuana reaches an all-time high (including California's recently defeated Prop 19), Grow Girl puts a fresh face on the debates, while delivering an intimate look inside the world of weed.

Heather Donahue is an actress and writer best known for her starring role in the 1999 cult classic The Blair Witch Project. She has been featured on the cover of Newsweek, in People, and on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, The Daily Show, and CNN. She lives in San Francisco.