FAIRHOPE — Within the first paragraphs of this book, you may feel seen.

You may shake your head yes. You might just begin humming "mm hmmm," as you agree point by point while navigating your car through the school pickup line while waiting on hold for the orthodontist to reschedule your child's appointment because a last-minute field trip was booked for the same day. All while your manager is on the other line, on hold.

Chances are, if you are a mom, this book gets you. And its author, Paula Faris, wants you to use it to first, feel better. And second, use it as a sword to fight the battle against moms being paid less and disrespected in the workforce.

Her book, "You Don't Have to Carry it All," is part historical and political analysis, part pep rally and part checklist for the future. The book is an effort to reach out to overwhelmed and exhausted working moms and help them change the current narrative.

"This is your road map towards a better way forward," Faris said. "I want this to be a rallying cry."

Faris, draws from her own experience as a working mom and former co-anchor of "Good Morning America Weekend," and "The View."

She learned quickly by juggling her own children and a killer broadcast schedule, and through talking with other women, that working moms were not just burned out, they were scrutinized more, paid less and not viewed as valuable leaders in the workplace.

"I manage a basketball team at home, but I can't run a meeting," she said. "That's ridiculous. Being a mom makes you a better leader, and a better employee."

Faris explores shifts in society, religion and history that led to modern American women still being sidelined in the workforce once they have children, a tradition that seems counterintuitive, she said, since without babies there would be no future workforce.

"Fewer kids mean fewer laborers and if we don't have a labor market we have an economic crisis," she said. "It is good for our country to support mothers."

The best way to stop the mom guilt, she said, is to in fact stop carrying the load.

"The reason we have become mom martyrs is we think we have to and that we can't ask for help because that means we're weak, but that's not the case," she said. "Moms are burned out at record levels. The community needs to start doing life together."

Faris will appear at Page & Palette in Fairhope during a ticketed event on Thursday, March 16.