Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I first saw the Reno arch on the cover and was intrigued because I lived near Reno in the 1980s and spent a lot of my youth there. Then I continued to read what the book was about and I had a feeling it would be a good book. I was not disappointed!
This is well written book. It's amazing to see how well Steve broke the cycle. He had such natural insight at such a young age!

Stephen was just 9 years old in 1980 when his mother Brenda abandoned him and his four younger siblings, the youngest 1 year old, leaving them in a motel room in Reno, Nevada. He summoned common sense and inner strength to handle this crisis and many others, forced to grow up well beyond his years. I marveled at his ability to keep his younger charges entertained and fed, even if it was only Nilla wafers and tap water available. He endured unspeakable heartbreak such as intense hunger, militant foster care situations, and family separation. I was impressed with his appreciation of the simple basic foundations in life that most children take for granted, but were so difficult for Stephen to experience- having a safe home, ample food, freedom of expression, and most of all- loving parents. His story exposed cracks in the system that leave abandoned kids such as him in further unsafe environments, but also the beauty of giving souls who will step up to sacrifice and save a life.

This was a very real, authentic, sobering, and inspirational memoir. The writing style was natural and pleasant to digest. I usually will read as many as three books simultaneously, but this memoir's raw and emotional story grabbed me by the heartstrings as I binge read it to its satisfying conclusion. I have incredible admiration and respect for the author and wish him well for the rest of his life.

Thank you to the publisher Forbes Books for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

Every few weeks, I scroll through the books on Netgalley to see if anything new pops out to me; this one did.

His mother was never reliable and any money that came in, went out immediately. There was no father (well, he met his dad a few times, but nothing to look up to as a role model). All he had was his siblings whom he would do anything for. Some family members did try and help them with food and shelter, but it was never a long term solution.

At the age of 9, Stephen was abandoned by his mother in a hotel in Reno, Nevada, and he took the responsibility of taking care of his 4 younger siblings after that happened.

This book tells the extraordinary story of his survival, not only of his, but also of his siblings. He went through foster care in Nevada, and eventually a family friend took him in as one of their own. He did get separated from his siblings, and when they found each other a little while later, the reunion made me shed some tears of happiness.

One thing I read in the description on Netgalley, but there wasn’t much on it in the book, was his job as a human resource executive for several of the top companies in the world. I would’ve liked to read that, but maybe he is saving that for a future book.

This is a heartbreaking story and I am so sorry the author lived this. This reinforced my strong belief that 1) we don't have strict enough laws about fostering/supervision of foster parents and 2) biological parents who screw up should not have unlimited chances. I had a very hard time reading this book because what was done to these kids (and their foster siblings) was equivalent to torture. Some of the sections had me physically sick.

I am so glad the author was able to make a good life for himself; many people who went through what he did are in jail, psychiatric institutions or are abusing kids themselves.