Don’t worry if you, like many of us, have yet to figure out the meaning of life. There are plenty of people out there just itching to give you advice. And we’re talking people way cooler than your mom — like Nancy Drew, the Dalai Lama, and the Little Prince. All three have guide-to-life books that help show you the way.

In Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life (Running Press, 2001; $4.95) by Jennifer Worick, you can learn all sorts of useful stuff from the wholesome-yet-sassy detective of your childhood. Pick it up at Barnesandnoble.com and you’ll get practical information such as how to get your car out of a mud hole and how to act like a lady in a variety of circumstances.

In his book 365 Dalai Lama: Daily Advice from the Heart (Element Books, 2003; $22.95), available at Trident Booksellers and Cafˇ, the peaceful one offers advice of a more fundamental nature — for example, that to work for world peace, you must first find inner peace. And he does offer some down-and-dirty counsel that most of us would like to give to friends and co-workers from time to time: hush up! Of course, he says it a bit more gracefully than that: "It is best to use language only when it is useful to do so."

The Little Prince also offers advice perfect for the world of work, dating, or friendship. In A Guide for Grown-ups: Essential Wisdom from the Collected Works of Antoine de Saint-Exupˇry (Harcourt, 2002; $9.95), the prince reminds us to be patient. "I need to put up with two or three caterpillars if I want to get to know the butterflies," he says. You can buy those words of wisdom and others at the Virgin Megastore.

People looking for advice on how to hipify their lives should check out The Hipster Handbook (Anchor Books, 2003; $9.95) by Robert Lanham, available at Trident. It tells you exactly how to live la vida trendy by doing things like eating at restaurants that use chalkboard menus, smoking Camel cigarettes, and using the word "bronson" for beer. For those of you wanting to walk on the naughty side of the street, Cameron Tuttle’s The Bad Girl’s Guide to the Party Life (Chronicle Books, 2002; $14.95), also at Trident, will give you all the advice your mother never did. Learn how to cut corners when cleaning for a party (dim the lights so no one can see the dirt) and how to throw a "marriage-ender bender" for divorcees.

Finally, for people looking for a life of simple contentment, there’s Karen Salmansohn’s How To Be Happy, Dammit: A Cynic’s Guide to Spiritual Happiness (Celestial Arts, 2001; $14.95), available at Urban Outfitters. The colorful pictures will definitely put a smile on your face, as will the obvious yet oft-ignored advice, such as "Never go shopping for a kiwi in a shoe store" and "Have great non-expectations."

Where to find it:

• Trident Booksellers and Cafˇ, 360 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 896-0950.

• Urban Outfitters, 11 JFK Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-0070; 361 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 236-0088; www.urbn.com.

• Virgin Megastore, 388 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 267-8688.

• www.bn.com.