A Place Called Home

A Memoir

By: David Ambroz

Narrated by: David Ambroz

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

There are millions of homeless children in America today and in A Place Called Home, award-winning child welfare advocate David Ambroz writes about growing up homeless in New York for eleven years and his subsequent years in foster care, offering a window into what so many kids living in poverty experience every day.

When David and his siblings should be in elementary school, they are instead walking the streets seeking shelter while their mother is battling mental illness. They rest in train stations, 24-hour diners, anywhere that’s warm and dry; they bathe in public restrooms and steal food to quell their hunger. When David is placed in foster care, at first it feels like salvation but soon proves to be just as unsafe. He’s moved from home to home and, in all but one placement, he’s abused. His burgeoning homosexuality makes him an easy target for other’s cruelty.

David finds hope and opportunities in libraries, schools, and the occasional kind-hearted adult; he harnesses an inner grit to escape the all-too-familiar outcome for a kid like him. Through hard work and unwavering resolve, he is able to get a scholarship to Vassar College, his first significant step out of poverty. He later graduates from UCLA Law with a vision of using his degree to change the laws that affect children in poverty.

Told with lyricism and sparkling with warmth, A Place Called Home depicts childhood poverty and homelessness as it is experienced by so many young people who have been systematically overlooked and unprotected. It’s at once a gripping personal account of deprivation—how one boy survived it, and ultimately thrived—and a resounding call for listeners to move from empathy to action.

©2022 David Ambroz (P)2022 Legacy Lit

Critic reviews

"A story destined to end in tragedy that magically rewards an indomitable determination to succeed. Beautifully written."—Ted Koppel

important, imersive, incredible

Thank you for sharing your story. You motivate me to try harder for my patients and community. I feel so deeply for the little Hugh. I pray for peace in your soul. I am so proud of what you've become. Thank you for sharing your hope.

Powerful, Moving, Uplifting & Inspiring

This incredible true story moved me beyond words! I have read dozens, if not hundreds, of similar stores, and this one was by far the most thought-provoking and inspiring of them all!!! It is a story of an extremely strong boy who showed up for life throughout countless hurdles and horrific obstacles with pure grit, determination, and motivation to not just survive, but to help countless others thrive!!

Eye opening!

This book made me realize children were meant to be see and heard but most of all protected and loved.

So very beautiful and raw

This is one of the most uplifting books I’ve read. That may sound odd, as the author had so many hardships in his life…but his resilience and perseverance was remarkable and I felt myself rooting for him and his family the whole time. David Ambroz is an amazing man and I am honored to be able to read his memoir.

Amazing strength and spirit

This story made an impression on me. I won’t forget it. The heartbreaking treatment by “bad” foster parents is excruciating as well as the abject poverty. Written so well. I want to find the author and give him a hug. But I suspect he no longer needs it.

For anyone who cares about humans!

Great book for anyone who cares about humans! I could not stop listening. Thank you, David, for sharing your story and for your advocacy efforts!

Fabulous account of David’s experiences

I couldn’t stop listening to this book. David’s story touched me deeply. The injustice he experienced was appalling. The detailed accounting of his experiences were very well written and moved me. This is an important book on many levels. Not just to improve the foster system, which is imperative, but also how we treat people who are different. Those of us who haven’t experienced poverty have absolutely no clue the challenges, the hurt, and the discouragement it causes. Innocent children deserve much better. Thank you David Ambroz for your courage to shared some vividly the difficulties of your childhood and for the incredible spirit you possess to have gotten yourself out of it to make a difference in the world. I’m inspired.

Harrowing Memoir

David Ambroz’s childhood is so steeped in neglect, abuse, and poverty, it would make Dickens blanch, yet throughout, his clear-eyed narration and innate resilience offers the faint pulse of Hope. Horrifying, galvanizing, and ultimately inspiring, it is a story that can change your perspective on the world.

A Place Called Home

The most powerful story that I've ever read. I am moved to action on behalf of foster children because of David Ambrose.

Excellent!

Mr. Ambroz's heartbreaking story urges the reader to act politically, socially and consciously. This book will be with me forever.