Reddit mentions of AngularJS Directives

For your first question, have a read through of this: http://www.i-avington.com/Posts/Post/angularjs-using-a-service-to-communicate-between-two-different-controllers

Basically, you need to use a Service to hold onto the data as your app navigates between routes.

As for the directives question, I recommend snagging this book: http://www.amazon.com/AngularJS-Directives-Alex-Vanston/dp/1783280336

If you don't want to buy anything, here are a few tutorials that help with wrapping your brain around directives better:

http://amitgharat.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-directive/
http://thecodebarbarian.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/the-8020-guide-to-writing-angularjs-directives/
https://github.com/angular/angular.js/wiki/Understanding-Directives