-
A Brother's Journey
- Surviving a Childhood of Abuse
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $13.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Moving Forward
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving Forward is for anyone wanting to move forward and change his or her life, no matter what the past may have held.
-
-
Consult a shrink?
- By Ryan on 07-10-08
By: Dave Pelzer
-
El Nino Sin Nombre [The Child Without a Name]
- La lucha de un niño por sobrevivir [A Child's Struggle to Survive]
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Jorge Tejedor
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave Pelzer narra la inolvidable crónica de uno de los casos de maltrato infantil más grave en la historia de California. Es la historia de Dave Pelzer, quien fue brutalmente golpeado y padeció de hambre por la inestabilidad emocional de una madre alcohólica: una madre que jugaba un tortuoso e impredecible juego con su hijo, el cual tuvo que aprender los juegos de su madre para poder sobrevivir. Una madre quien no lo consideraba un hijo, sino un esclavo- no un niño, sino un objecto.
-
-
Thank You
- By Lorenzo Mejia on 11-13-18
By: Dave Pelzer
-
My Daddy the Pedophile
- A Memoir
- By: Lily Palazzi
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of suffering multiple forms of abuse, a vulnerable young girl flees her home only to land straight into the arms of her biological father - a sexual predator. My Daddy the Pedophile tells the harrowing true story of a teenage girl’s affair with her manipulative sociopathic father. After a terrible dark secret comes to light, the real story unfolds and her courageous journey of healing begins.
-
-
Tragic and healing
- By Terri on 10-22-21
By: Lily Palazzi
-
A Family Secret
- My Shocking True Story of Surviving a Childhood in Hell
- By: Maureen Wood
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abused from the age of eight by her older brother and then her step-father, Maureen Wood quickly became numb to the constant suffering. But Maureen’s world crumbled when her own mother started to abuse her too. A Family Secret is the harrowing true story of how one little girl survived sickening abuse by the people who should have loved her most and how an innocent baby finally saved her.
-
-
Bravery in Spades
- By Mama of Roses on 03-22-21
By: Maureen Wood
-
Return to the River
- Reflections of Life Choices During a Worldwide Pandemic
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Tim Fannon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the surface, Dave Pelzer’s life seems like an action movie—he’s walked the red carpet with celebrities and stood shoulder to shoulder with soldiers in Iraq; he’s flown top-secret missions for the U.S. Air Force, obtaining the rank of chief, and battled wildfires in California as a volunteer fire captain. And now—on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of this rescue from horrific childhood of abuse and into the safety of the foster care system—he reflects on the battles he’s fighting in his own heart. From a lifetime spent serving and saving others, can he learn how to serve and save himself?
-
-
A good summation of Dave's life experiences
- By Consumer Outlook on 03-15-23
By: Dave Pelzer
-
Broken
- The Most Shocking Childhood Story Ever Told. An Inspirational Author Who Survived It.
- By: Shy Keenan
- Narrated by: Judy Mason
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from ‘thinks it’s love’ to ‘show it hurts’. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim—that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix—a work in progress. This is my story....
-
-
Heartbreaking, disgusting, sickening, angry…Inspiring, encouraging, uplifting, admirable
- By Debbie B. on 03-13-23
By: Shy Keenan
-
Moving Forward
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving Forward is for anyone wanting to move forward and change his or her life, no matter what the past may have held.
-
-
Consult a shrink?
- By Ryan on 07-10-08
By: Dave Pelzer
-
El Nino Sin Nombre [The Child Without a Name]
- La lucha de un niño por sobrevivir [A Child's Struggle to Survive]
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Jorge Tejedor
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave Pelzer narra la inolvidable crónica de uno de los casos de maltrato infantil más grave en la historia de California. Es la historia de Dave Pelzer, quien fue brutalmente golpeado y padeció de hambre por la inestabilidad emocional de una madre alcohólica: una madre que jugaba un tortuoso e impredecible juego con su hijo, el cual tuvo que aprender los juegos de su madre para poder sobrevivir. Una madre quien no lo consideraba un hijo, sino un esclavo- no un niño, sino un objecto.
-
-
Thank You
- By Lorenzo Mejia on 11-13-18
By: Dave Pelzer
-
My Daddy the Pedophile
- A Memoir
- By: Lily Palazzi
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of suffering multiple forms of abuse, a vulnerable young girl flees her home only to land straight into the arms of her biological father - a sexual predator. My Daddy the Pedophile tells the harrowing true story of a teenage girl’s affair with her manipulative sociopathic father. After a terrible dark secret comes to light, the real story unfolds and her courageous journey of healing begins.
-
-
Tragic and healing
- By Terri on 10-22-21
By: Lily Palazzi
-
A Family Secret
- My Shocking True Story of Surviving a Childhood in Hell
- By: Maureen Wood
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abused from the age of eight by her older brother and then her step-father, Maureen Wood quickly became numb to the constant suffering. But Maureen’s world crumbled when her own mother started to abuse her too. A Family Secret is the harrowing true story of how one little girl survived sickening abuse by the people who should have loved her most and how an innocent baby finally saved her.
-
-
Bravery in Spades
- By Mama of Roses on 03-22-21
By: Maureen Wood
-
Return to the River
- Reflections of Life Choices During a Worldwide Pandemic
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Tim Fannon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the surface, Dave Pelzer’s life seems like an action movie—he’s walked the red carpet with celebrities and stood shoulder to shoulder with soldiers in Iraq; he’s flown top-secret missions for the U.S. Air Force, obtaining the rank of chief, and battled wildfires in California as a volunteer fire captain. And now—on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of this rescue from horrific childhood of abuse and into the safety of the foster care system—he reflects on the battles he’s fighting in his own heart. From a lifetime spent serving and saving others, can he learn how to serve and save himself?
-
-
A good summation of Dave's life experiences
- By Consumer Outlook on 03-15-23
By: Dave Pelzer
-
Broken
- The Most Shocking Childhood Story Ever Told. An Inspirational Author Who Survived It.
- By: Shy Keenan
- Narrated by: Judy Mason
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from ‘thinks it’s love’ to ‘show it hurts’. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim—that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix—a work in progress. This is my story....
-
-
Heartbreaking, disgusting, sickening, angry…Inspiring, encouraging, uplifting, admirable
- By Debbie B. on 03-13-23
By: Shy Keenan
-
A Stolen Life
- A Memoir
- By: Jaycee Dugard
- Narrated by: Jaycee Dugard
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen. For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse. For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation. On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I dont think of myself as a victim. I survived...."
-
-
Terrific
- By Daniel on 07-27-11
By: Jaycee Dugard
-
The Bad Room
- Held Captive and Abused by My Evil Carer. A True Story of Survival.
- By: Jade Kelly
- Narrated by: Caro Clarke
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jade Kelly met her new foster mother, she thought her prayers had been answered. Kindly Carol Docherty was everything her violent, drug-addicted mother was not. Loving and nurturing, she fed and clothed 10-year-old Jade and offered a life free of fear from near constant abuse. Or so Jade thought. As soon as social workers in Lancashire stopped their regular checks on Jade’s progress, Carol turned. Over the next six years Jade and three other girls were effectively kept prisoner in a bedroom she called the ‘bad room’ and subjected to unrelenting physical and mental abuse.
-
-
can't believe people can be so mean.
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-24
By: Jade Kelly
-
The Lost Boy
- By: David Pelzer
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the tremendous success of Pulitzer Prize nominee A Child Called "It", this book continues the extraordinary tale of author Dave Pelzer's childhood. On the verge of adolescence, Dave is rescued from his terrifyingly abusive, alcoholic mother and made a permanent ward of the court. Then the real journey begins. He is moved from one foster home to another, searching for identity and family.
-
-
A heart wrenching true story
- By Mark and Amy Acker on 07-06-12
By: David Pelzer
-
A Child Called 'It'
- One Child's Courage to Survive
- By: David Pelzer
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave was in first grade when his unstable alcoholic mother began attacking him. Until he was in fifth grade, she starved, beat, and psychologically ravaged her son. Eventually denying even his identity, Dave's mother called him an "it" instead of using his name. Relentlessly, she drove him to the brink of death before authorities finally stepped in. With faith and hope, Dave grew determined to survive. He also knew that he needed to share his story.
-
-
Good one
- By Christy Medsker on 06-07-09
By: David Pelzer
-
Call Me Tuesday
- Based on a True Story
- By: Leigh Byrne
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At eight years old, Tuesday Storm's childhood is forever lost when the death of her older sister Audrey sends her family spiraling out of control into the darkest of dysfunction. In the wake of the tragedy, Tuesday's mother, distraught and looking for a scapegoat, singles Tuesday out from her siblings to take on the blame for Audrey's death, and then targets her for unspeakable abuse.
-
-
loved it, so glad she shared her story.
- By Olivia Telles on 05-01-16
By: Leigh Byrne
-
The Boy in the Cellar
- By: Stephen Smith
- Narrated by: Oliver J. Hembrough
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen Smith is the boy who did not exist. Born out of wedlock in the early 1960s, Steve's parents - both devout Catholics - had felt so 'shamed' by their son's illegitimate birth that they hid him away from the world by locking him in the cellar...for 13 years. Apart from a few admissions to hospital as a result of his 'imprisonment', Steve remained in the coal cellar of the family home where he was deprived of daylight, his childhood, school and human contact until he'd reached his teenage years.
-
-
At first I thought this was horror fiction
- By Ruth Malan on 04-11-20
By: Stephen Smith
-
Call Me Cockroach
- Based on a True Story
- By: Leigh Byrne
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our prisons and mental hospitals are filled with tragic stories like Tuesday Storm's. Her early childhood was riddled with torturous "games" and violent physical attacks. She was isolated from the rest of her family, locked in an attic with nothing but a bare bed and a bucket for a toilet, and fed just enough to be kept alive. The experts say it's next to impossible to find the soul's light in a dark past like Tuesday's.
-
-
The rest of the story...
- By PJH on 07-11-15
By: Leigh Byrne
-
Cupboard Boy: A Shockingly True Story of Horrific Child Abuse
- The PT Saunders Story, Book 1
- By: P.T. Saunders
- Narrated by: Paul Winter
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the cover of anonymity, Paul Saunders courageously tells his shockingly true story of how he and his stepsiblings were repeatedly abused by their mother and stepfather. It doesn’t make “easy” listening, but living through it wasn’t fun, either.
-
-
Torture By Human Hands
- By Ceci on 06-30-20
By: P.T. Saunders
-
My Prison Without Bars
- The Journey of a Damaged Woman to Someplace Normal
- By: Taylor Evan Fulks
- Narrated by: Em Eldridge
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My Prison without Bars is a courageous and harrowing journey through the catacombs of hell, from the mind and voice of a little girl, living with her own monster underneath her bed. Written in first person, this novel is not a memoir, but more a psychological thriller based on true events; chronicling one woman's attempt to claw her way out of the darkness of Child Sexual Abuse, while struggling to find normal, in a not-so-normal world. It is poignant, dark and graphic; not for the faint of heart.
-
-
My life
- By PMOUSAABR on 03-08-16
-
My Story
- By: Elizabeth Smart, Chris Stewart
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Smart
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, the daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, was taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life.
-
-
Defining Strength, Faith, and Inspiration
- By Mel on 10-08-13
By: Elizabeth Smart, and others
-
Educated
- A Memoir
- By: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.
-
-
The Other Side of Idaho's Mountains
- By Darwin8u on 03-28-18
By: Tara Westover
-
Ender's Game
- Special 20th Anniversary Edition
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: It’s easy to say that when it comes to sci-fi you either love it or you hate it. But with Ender’s Game, it seems to be you either love it or you love it.... The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Enter Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the result of decades of genetic experimentation.
-
-
6 titles in the series so far
- By Kapila Wimalaratne on 01-29-03
By: Orson Scott Card
Publisher's summary
Critic reviews
"Gripping....By looking back at, and then releasing, the image of the skinny, red-haired boy who wanted nothing more than his mother's love, Pelzer discovers his true spirit, which he shares courageously and selflessly here in the hope of healing himself, as well as raising awareness of and preventing child abuse." (Publishers Weekly)
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The White House Boys
- An American Tragedy
- By: Roger Dean Kiser
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hidden far from sight, deep in the thick underbrush of the North Florida woods are the ghostly graves of more than 30 unidentified bodies, some of which are thought to be children who were beaten to death at the old Florida Industrial School for Boys at Marianna. It is suspected that many more bodies will be found in the fields and swamplands surrounding the institution.
-
-
A Haunting Reality.
- By William and Anna Truax on 07-28-18
By: Roger Dean Kiser
-
After the Eclipse
- A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search
- By: Sarah Perry
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fierce memoir of a mother's murder, a daughter's coming-of-age in the wake of immense loss, and her ultimate mission to know the woman who gave her life.
-
-
True crime memoir
- By Julie on 11-03-17
By: Sarah Perry
-
Finding Fish
- A Memoir
- By: Antwone Q. Fisher
- Narrated by: Thomas Penny
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baby Boy Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. He ultimately came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse. In his midteens he escaped and enlisted in the navy, where he became a man of the world, raised by the family he created for himself. Finding Fish shows how, out of this unlikely mix of deprivation and hope, an artist was born.
-
-
This book will not disappoint you.
- By Joseph on 10-16-16
-
Rare Bird
- A Memoir of Loss and Love
- By: Anna Whiston-Donaldson
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On an ordinary September day, 12-year-old Jack is swept away in a freak neighborhood flood. His parents and younger sister are left to wrestle with the awful questions: How could God let this happen? Can we ever be happy again? They each fall into the abyss of grief in different ways. And in the days and months to come, they each find their faltering way toward peace. In Rare Bird, Anna Whiston-Donaldson unfolds a mother's story of loss that leads, in time, to enduring hope.
-
-
Warning! Tears
- By Madge on 08-16-15
-
A Bad Idea I'm About to Do
- True Tales of Seriously Poor Judgment and Stunningly Awkward Adventure
- By: Chris Gethard
- Narrated by: Chris Gethard
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chris Gethard has often found himself in awkward situations most people, including you, probably would have safely avoided. The good news is now, thanks to this book, you can enjoy the painfully funny consequences of his unfortunate decisions at a safe distance. A Bad Idea I'm About to Do invites listeners to join Chris as he navigates an adolescence and adulthood mired in hilariously ill-fated nerdom, and to take comfort in the fact that - as his experiences often prove - things could always be much, much worse.
-
-
Loved it!!!
- By Amber G on 10-02-20
By: Chris Gethard
-
The Boy Kings of Texas
- A Memoir
- By: Domingo Martinez
- Narrated by: Emilio Delgado
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A lyrical and authentic book that recounts the story of a border-town family in Brownsville, Texas in the 1980s, as each member of the family desperately tries to assimilate and escape life on the border to become "real" Americans, even at the expense of their shared family history. This is really un-mined territory in the memoir genre that gives in-depth insight into a previously unexplored corner of America.
-
-
It was Okay
- By DebKoo on 05-17-13
By: Domingo Martinez
-
The White House Boys
- An American Tragedy
- By: Roger Dean Kiser
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 2 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hidden far from sight, deep in the thick underbrush of the North Florida woods are the ghostly graves of more than 30 unidentified bodies, some of which are thought to be children who were beaten to death at the old Florida Industrial School for Boys at Marianna. It is suspected that many more bodies will be found in the fields and swamplands surrounding the institution.
-
-
A Haunting Reality.
- By William and Anna Truax on 07-28-18
By: Roger Dean Kiser
-
After the Eclipse
- A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search
- By: Sarah Perry
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fierce memoir of a mother's murder, a daughter's coming-of-age in the wake of immense loss, and her ultimate mission to know the woman who gave her life.
-
-
True crime memoir
- By Julie on 11-03-17
By: Sarah Perry
-
Finding Fish
- A Memoir
- By: Antwone Q. Fisher
- Narrated by: Thomas Penny
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baby Boy Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. He ultimately came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse. In his midteens he escaped and enlisted in the navy, where he became a man of the world, raised by the family he created for himself. Finding Fish shows how, out of this unlikely mix of deprivation and hope, an artist was born.
-
-
This book will not disappoint you.
- By Joseph on 10-16-16
-
Rare Bird
- A Memoir of Loss and Love
- By: Anna Whiston-Donaldson
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On an ordinary September day, 12-year-old Jack is swept away in a freak neighborhood flood. His parents and younger sister are left to wrestle with the awful questions: How could God let this happen? Can we ever be happy again? They each fall into the abyss of grief in different ways. And in the days and months to come, they each find their faltering way toward peace. In Rare Bird, Anna Whiston-Donaldson unfolds a mother's story of loss that leads, in time, to enduring hope.
-
-
Warning! Tears
- By Madge on 08-16-15
-
A Bad Idea I'm About to Do
- True Tales of Seriously Poor Judgment and Stunningly Awkward Adventure
- By: Chris Gethard
- Narrated by: Chris Gethard
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chris Gethard has often found himself in awkward situations most people, including you, probably would have safely avoided. The good news is now, thanks to this book, you can enjoy the painfully funny consequences of his unfortunate decisions at a safe distance. A Bad Idea I'm About to Do invites listeners to join Chris as he navigates an adolescence and adulthood mired in hilariously ill-fated nerdom, and to take comfort in the fact that - as his experiences often prove - things could always be much, much worse.
-
-
Loved it!!!
- By Amber G on 10-02-20
By: Chris Gethard
-
The Boy Kings of Texas
- A Memoir
- By: Domingo Martinez
- Narrated by: Emilio Delgado
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A lyrical and authentic book that recounts the story of a border-town family in Brownsville, Texas in the 1980s, as each member of the family desperately tries to assimilate and escape life on the border to become "real" Americans, even at the expense of their shared family history. This is really un-mined territory in the memoir genre that gives in-depth insight into a previously unexplored corner of America.
-
-
It was Okay
- By DebKoo on 05-17-13
By: Domingo Martinez
-
All but Normal
- Life on Victory Road: A Memoir
- By: Shawn Thornton
- Narrated by: Shawn Thornton
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After waking from a coma following a car crash, Beverly Thornton's once sweet and gentle disposition had been replaced by violent mood swings, profanity-laced tirades, and uncontrollable fits of rage. Inside the Thornton house, floors and countertops were piled high with dirty laundry and garbage because Bev was unable to move well enough to clean. Dinners were a Russian roulette of half-cooked meat, spoiled milk, and foods well past their expiration dates.
-
-
Should be in the religous category
- By Shreridan on 10-24-16
By: Shawn Thornton
-
Murphy's Boy
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.
-
-
want to meet Kevin
- By Cherish on 10-14-15
By: Torey Hayden
-
Saving Alex
- When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began
- By: Alex Cooper
- Narrated by: Luci Christian Bell
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Days after Alex Cooper told her parents she was gay, they drove Alex from their home in Southern California to Utah, where they signed over guardianship to fellow Mormons who promised to save Alex from her homosexuality. For eight harrowing months, Alex was held captive in an unlicensed "residential treatment program" modeled on the many "therapeutic" boot camps scattered across Utah.
-
-
I'm a Christian straight, divorced man, with 2 kids that lives in the heart of the Bible Belt.... Alabama
- By Ronald on 03-30-16
By: Alex Cooper
-
Lifted by the Great Nothing
- By: Karim Dimechkie
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max doesn't remember his mother, who was murdered by burglars before they emigrated from Beirut to New Jersey. He lives with his father, Rasheed, who is enamored of his concept of American culture - baseball and barbeques - and tries to shed his Lebanese heritage completely.
-
-
Excellent
- By Cheyenne on 06-13-15
By: Karim Dimechkie
-
Finding Jake
- A Novel
- By: Bryan Reardon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While his successful wife goes off to her law office each day, Simon Connolly takes care of their kids, Jake and Laney. Now that they are in high school, the angst-ridden father should feel more relaxed, but he doesn't. He's seen the statistics, read the headlines. And now, his darkest fear is coming true. There has been a shooting at school.
-
-
Great Book
- By Cassandra on 04-19-16
By: Bryan Reardon
-
The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
-
-
No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
-
I'll Be There
- By: Holly Goldberg Sloan
- Narrated by: Laura Jennings
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily Bell believes in destiny. To her, being forced to sing a solo in the church choir - despite her average voice - is fate: because it's while she's singing that she first sees Sam. At first sight they are connected. Sam Border wishes he could escape, but there's nowhere for him to run. He and his little brother, Riddle, have spent their entire lives constantly uprooted by their unstable father. As Sam and Riddle are welcomed into the Bells' lives, they witness the warmth and protection of a family for the first time.
-
-
Needs to be a film!
- By TreasureHunter on 06-25-16
-
Breaking Night
- A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
- By: Liz Murray
- Narrated by: Liz Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
-
-
unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
-
Unwind
- Unwind Dystology, Book 1
- By: Neal Shusterman
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After America’s Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement. According to their Bill of Life, human life may not be terminated from the moment of conception until the age of 13. But between the ages of 13 and 18, the child may be gotten rid of by their parent through a process called “unwinding”.
-
-
Chilling, Scary, Difficult to Read
- By Joe on 11-11-20
By: Neal Shusterman
-
Ordinary Light
- A Memoir
- By: Tracy K. Smith
- Narrated by: Tracy K. Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tracy K. Smith has a fairly typical upbringing in suburban California: the youngest in a family of five children raised with limitless affection and a firm belief in God by a stay-at-home mother and an engineer father. But after spending a summer in Alabama at her grandmother's home, she returns to California with a new sense of what it means for her to be Black: from her mother's memories of picking cotton as a girl in her father's field for pennies a bushel to her parents' involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.
-
-
Simply spoken - poetic
- By CarolynneRHarris on 04-27-15
By: Tracy K. Smith
-
The Keep
- The Adversary Cycle, Book 1
- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Something is murdering my men." Thus reads the message received from a Nazi commander stationed in a small castle high in the remote Transylvanian Alps. Invisible and silent, the enemy selects one victim per night, leaving the bloodless and mutilated corpses behind to terrify its future victims. When an elite SS extermination squad is dispatched to solve the problem, the men find something that's both powerful and terrifying. Panicked, the Nazis bring in a local expert on folklore - who just happens to be Jewish - to shed some light on the mysterious happenings.
-
-
At long last, The classic horror novel on Audible
- By Shieldslinger on 07-22-20
By: F. Paul Wilson
-
The Unwelcomed Child
- By: V. C. Andrews
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Cottle
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elle Edwards, who has been told she's a product of her mother's sinful mistake, has never gone to school, never met a teenager her own age, never even been allowed off of her grandparents' property. Convinced that their granddaughter is infected with evil, Myra and Prescott Edwards believe that only the harshest child-rearing methods will prevent Elle from becoming an instrument of the devil.
-
-
I wanted it to be better.
- By A. Smith on 11-25-19
By: V. C. Andrews
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Lost Boy
- By: David Pelzer
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the tremendous success of Pulitzer Prize nominee A Child Called "It", this book continues the extraordinary tale of author Dave Pelzer's childhood. On the verge of adolescence, Dave is rescued from his terrifyingly abusive, alcoholic mother and made a permanent ward of the court. Then the real journey begins. He is moved from one foster home to another, searching for identity and family.
-
-
A heart wrenching true story
- By Mark and Amy Acker on 07-06-12
By: David Pelzer
-
El Nino Sin Nombre [The Child Without a Name]
- La lucha de un niño por sobrevivir [A Child's Struggle to Survive]
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Jorge Tejedor
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave Pelzer narra la inolvidable crónica de uno de los casos de maltrato infantil más grave en la historia de California. Es la historia de Dave Pelzer, quien fue brutalmente golpeado y padeció de hambre por la inestabilidad emocional de una madre alcohólica: una madre que jugaba un tortuoso e impredecible juego con su hijo, el cual tuvo que aprender los juegos de su madre para poder sobrevivir. Una madre quien no lo consideraba un hijo, sino un esclavo- no un niño, sino un objecto.
-
-
Thank You
- By Lorenzo Mejia on 11-13-18
By: Dave Pelzer
-
A Child Called 'It'
- One Child's Courage to Survive
- By: David Pelzer
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave was in first grade when his unstable alcoholic mother began attacking him. Until he was in fifth grade, she starved, beat, and psychologically ravaged her son. Eventually denying even his identity, Dave's mother called him an "it" instead of using his name. Relentlessly, she drove him to the brink of death before authorities finally stepped in. With faith and hope, Dave grew determined to survive. He also knew that he needed to share his story.
-
-
Good one
- By Christy Medsker on 06-07-09
By: David Pelzer
-
Moving Forward
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving Forward is for anyone wanting to move forward and change his or her life, no matter what the past may have held.
-
-
Consult a shrink?
- By Ryan on 07-10-08
By: Dave Pelzer
-
Return to the River
- Reflections of Life Choices During a Worldwide Pandemic
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Tim Fannon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the surface, Dave Pelzer’s life seems like an action movie—he’s walked the red carpet with celebrities and stood shoulder to shoulder with soldiers in Iraq; he’s flown top-secret missions for the U.S. Air Force, obtaining the rank of chief, and battled wildfires in California as a volunteer fire captain. And now—on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of this rescue from horrific childhood of abuse and into the safety of the foster care system—he reflects on the battles he’s fighting in his own heart. From a lifetime spent serving and saving others, can he learn how to serve and save himself?
-
-
A good summation of Dave's life experiences
- By Consumer Outlook on 03-15-23
By: Dave Pelzer
-
My Daddy the Pedophile
- A Memoir
- By: Lily Palazzi
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of suffering multiple forms of abuse, a vulnerable young girl flees her home only to land straight into the arms of her biological father - a sexual predator. My Daddy the Pedophile tells the harrowing true story of a teenage girl’s affair with her manipulative sociopathic father. After a terrible dark secret comes to light, the real story unfolds and her courageous journey of healing begins.
-
-
Tragic and healing
- By Terri on 10-22-21
By: Lily Palazzi
-
The Lost Boy
- By: David Pelzer
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the tremendous success of Pulitzer Prize nominee A Child Called "It", this book continues the extraordinary tale of author Dave Pelzer's childhood. On the verge of adolescence, Dave is rescued from his terrifyingly abusive, alcoholic mother and made a permanent ward of the court. Then the real journey begins. He is moved from one foster home to another, searching for identity and family.
-
-
A heart wrenching true story
- By Mark and Amy Acker on 07-06-12
By: David Pelzer
-
El Nino Sin Nombre [The Child Without a Name]
- La lucha de un niño por sobrevivir [A Child's Struggle to Survive]
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Jorge Tejedor
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave Pelzer narra la inolvidable crónica de uno de los casos de maltrato infantil más grave en la historia de California. Es la historia de Dave Pelzer, quien fue brutalmente golpeado y padeció de hambre por la inestabilidad emocional de una madre alcohólica: una madre que jugaba un tortuoso e impredecible juego con su hijo, el cual tuvo que aprender los juegos de su madre para poder sobrevivir. Una madre quien no lo consideraba un hijo, sino un esclavo- no un niño, sino un objecto.
-
-
Thank You
- By Lorenzo Mejia on 11-13-18
By: Dave Pelzer
-
A Child Called 'It'
- One Child's Courage to Survive
- By: David Pelzer
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave was in first grade when his unstable alcoholic mother began attacking him. Until he was in fifth grade, she starved, beat, and psychologically ravaged her son. Eventually denying even his identity, Dave's mother called him an "it" instead of using his name. Relentlessly, she drove him to the brink of death before authorities finally stepped in. With faith and hope, Dave grew determined to survive. He also knew that he needed to share his story.
-
-
Good one
- By Christy Medsker on 06-07-09
By: David Pelzer
-
Moving Forward
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving Forward is for anyone wanting to move forward and change his or her life, no matter what the past may have held.
-
-
Consult a shrink?
- By Ryan on 07-10-08
By: Dave Pelzer
-
Return to the River
- Reflections of Life Choices During a Worldwide Pandemic
- By: Dave Pelzer
- Narrated by: Tim Fannon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the surface, Dave Pelzer’s life seems like an action movie—he’s walked the red carpet with celebrities and stood shoulder to shoulder with soldiers in Iraq; he’s flown top-secret missions for the U.S. Air Force, obtaining the rank of chief, and battled wildfires in California as a volunteer fire captain. And now—on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of this rescue from horrific childhood of abuse and into the safety of the foster care system—he reflects on the battles he’s fighting in his own heart. From a lifetime spent serving and saving others, can he learn how to serve and save himself?
-
-
A good summation of Dave's life experiences
- By Consumer Outlook on 03-15-23
By: Dave Pelzer
-
My Daddy the Pedophile
- A Memoir
- By: Lily Palazzi
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of suffering multiple forms of abuse, a vulnerable young girl flees her home only to land straight into the arms of her biological father - a sexual predator. My Daddy the Pedophile tells the harrowing true story of a teenage girl’s affair with her manipulative sociopathic father. After a terrible dark secret comes to light, the real story unfolds and her courageous journey of healing begins.
-
-
Tragic and healing
- By Terri on 10-22-21
By: Lily Palazzi
-
A Family Secret
- My Shocking True Story of Surviving a Childhood in Hell
- By: Maureen Wood
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abused from the age of eight by her older brother and then her step-father, Maureen Wood quickly became numb to the constant suffering. But Maureen’s world crumbled when her own mother started to abuse her too. A Family Secret is the harrowing true story of how one little girl survived sickening abuse by the people who should have loved her most and how an innocent baby finally saved her.
-
-
Bravery in Spades
- By Mama of Roses on 03-22-21
By: Maureen Wood
-
Wounds of the Father
- A True Story of Child Abuse, Betrayal, and Redemption
- By: Elizabeth Garrison
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the best-selling tradition of Smashed and The Glass Castle, this raw, eye-opening memoir tells the powerful story of Elizabeth Garrison's fractured childhood, descent into teenage drug addiction, and struggle to overcome nearly insurmountable odds. Elizabeth invites the listener behind the closed doors of a picture-perfect Christian family to reveal a dark, hidden world of child abuse, domestic violence, and chilling family secrets all performed in the name of God under the tyrannical rule of her father.
-
-
A Reader's Comments
- By Kindle Customer on 06-08-19
-
The Boy in the Cellar
- By: Stephen Smith
- Narrated by: Oliver J. Hembrough
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen Smith is the boy who did not exist. Born out of wedlock in the early 1960s, Steve's parents - both devout Catholics - had felt so 'shamed' by their son's illegitimate birth that they hid him away from the world by locking him in the cellar...for 13 years. Apart from a few admissions to hospital as a result of his 'imprisonment', Steve remained in the coal cellar of the family home where he was deprived of daylight, his childhood, school and human contact until he'd reached his teenage years.
-
-
At first I thought this was horror fiction
- By Ruth Malan on 04-11-20
By: Stephen Smith
-
Broken
- The Most Shocking Childhood Story Ever Told. An Inspirational Author Who Survived It.
- By: Shy Keenan
- Narrated by: Judy Mason
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I was born and broken in Birkenhead, abused from infancy by a network of every kind of pervert from ‘thinks it’s love’ to ‘show it hurts’. I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim—that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix—a work in progress. This is my story....
-
-
Heartbreaking, disgusting, sickening, angry…Inspiring, encouraging, uplifting, admirable
- By Debbie B. on 03-13-23
By: Shy Keenan
-
Cupboard Boy: A Shockingly True Story of Horrific Child Abuse
- The PT Saunders Story, Book 1
- By: P.T. Saunders
- Narrated by: Paul Winter
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Under the cover of anonymity, Paul Saunders courageously tells his shockingly true story of how he and his stepsiblings were repeatedly abused by their mother and stepfather. It doesn’t make “easy” listening, but living through it wasn’t fun, either.
-
-
Torture By Human Hands
- By Ceci on 06-30-20
By: P.T. Saunders
-
The Convent
- The Shocking True Story of Surviving and Evil Nun's Care Home from Hell
- By: Marie Hargreaves
- Narrated by: Dorothy Lawrence
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a fancy car pulls up outside six-year-old Marie's home in 1959, her dad tells her she is going on holiday. But little does she know she will not see her home again for four long years. Her family cannot afford to keep her at home. Marie tells the story of how she was taken away from a poor but happy and loving home life to live in a convent - away from everyone and everything she holds dear. Her hair is bluntly chopped, her clothes are taken away and her name is changed. Then a horrific ritual of physical, sexual and mental abuse begins.
-
-
Stunning Book
- By madameEmily on 10-09-21
By: Marie Hargreaves
-
Neglected
- Scared, Hungry and Alone, Jamey Craves Affection
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little Jamey, 2½ years old, is placed with experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, as an emergency. The police and social services have no choice but to remove two-year-old Jamey from home after his mother leaves him alone all night to go out partying. When he first arrives with foster carer Cathy Glass, he is scared, hungry and withdrawn, craving the affection he has been denied for so long. He is small for his age and unsteady on his feet–a result of being left for long periods in his cot.
-
-
Was great until politics got involved
- By PacificNWmom on 08-24-23
By: Cathy Glass
-
The Bad Room
- Held Captive and Abused by My Evil Carer. A True Story of Survival.
- By: Jade Kelly
- Narrated by: Caro Clarke
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Jade Kelly met her new foster mother, she thought her prayers had been answered. Kindly Carol Docherty was everything her violent, drug-addicted mother was not. Loving and nurturing, she fed and clothed 10-year-old Jade and offered a life free of fear from near constant abuse. Or so Jade thought. As soon as social workers in Lancashire stopped their regular checks on Jade’s progress, Carol turned. Over the next six years Jade and three other girls were effectively kept prisoner in a bedroom she called the ‘bad room’ and subjected to unrelenting physical and mental abuse.
-
-
can't believe people can be so mean.
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-24
By: Jade Kelly
-
The Family Next Door
- The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the 13 Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue
- By: John Glatt
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 14, 2018, a 17-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California home and dialed 911 with shaking fingers. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her 12 siblings - ranging in age from two to 29 - were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. "I've never been out," she stammered.
-
-
Sloppy Journalism
- By R. Squyres on 08-21-19
By: John Glatt
-
No, Daddy, Don't
- By: Irene Pence
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dallas antiques dealer Mary Jean Pearle had a bitter history with her ex-husband, John David Battaglia, a former Marine and successful accountant. But even after the abuse she endured from him, she never thought he would go after their daughters, Faith and Liberty. That is, until she listened helplessly over the phone as Faith made a heartrending plea for her life - which was followed by gunshots. In this updated account of Battaglia's unthinkable crime, Irene Pence recounts an unforgettable saga of violence, betrayal, and a mother's worst nightmare.
-
-
Justice provided too late...
- By vtb on 09-07-18
By: Irene Pence
-
Eden's Children
- The Eden Series, Book 1
- By: V.C. Andrews
- Narrated by: Carly Robins
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When former teacher Paula Eden adopts Faith and Trevor, she is astounded by their natural intelligence and decides to homeschool them to nurture their brilliance. But as the years go on, Faith and Trevor itch for more independence. When Faith sets her sights on a handsome young man visiting from out of town, Paula grows increasingly desperate to preserve her small family and her plans for the children to carry on her legacy. Luckily, she has a cohort in loyal Trevor, who will do anything to please his mother, even at the risk of hurting his sister and changing their lives forever.
-
-
Either this book is VERY bad, or I’ve outgrown VCA
- By Bibliophile Mom on 01-21-23
By: V.C. Andrews
-
The Sound of Gravel
- A Memoir
- By: Ruth Wariner
- Narrated by: Ruth Wariner
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruth Wariner was the 39th of her father's 42 children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can ascend to heaven only by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible.
-
-
Unputdownable
- By Lesley A. on 01-16-16
By: Ruth Wariner
What listeners say about A Brother's Journey
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rj
- 05-10-15
Thank goodness it's an audio book
The narrator is fantastic, but the story is repetitive and frustrating. I listened to this audio book after "a child called it" the first time and tolerated it better. The story needs an editor who isn't afraid to cut the fat.
The second time listening to this just dragged. It almost felt like the author wanted to ensure that the reader saw that he suffered just as much and to gain the same sympathy as for Dave.
The narrator makes it worth listening too. fantastic voice, reminds me of thr power of the story of Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and all off the series by o. scott card.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Frances
- 05-21-05
An Abused Boy Grows Up to be a Man
R.P. starts the book as a five-year old who observes & participates in the abuse of his oldest brother, David, at the hands of his sadistic, cruel, alcoholic mother. At that young age, he has a sense that he has to abuse or be abused, so he is his mother's "Little Nazi," informing on David for mostly fabricated transgressions. David is the "kick-dog" in the family, made to eat out of a dog bowl, called "It," and abused horrifically. After David is rescued from the household by the authorities, R.P. knows that he is next in line for his mother's abuse. He develops a clearer understanding of David after he has suffered the same abuse David did. On a certain level, this book is a gorgeous apology from R.P. to David. R.P. then provides clear recollections of both the physical & psychological torment/torture he suffered from the age of five to fifteen as a miserable, defenseless child whose major vulnerability was that he wanted his mother to love him. Where were the adults? Neighbors, doctors, nurses, teachers who had helped David & suspected R.P. was being abused did nothing for R.P. His own father did not protect his five sons - David, Ross, Scott, R.P. and Keith, from his sicko wife and he finally left her, abandoning them. After the firstborn, David is rescued, R.P.'s hero -the secondborn Ross- leaves to join the Army. His only friend in the family gone, R.P. documents how the thirdborn, Scott assumes the role of mother's "Little Nazi" in abusing R.P. (Keith was too young to make a difference.)As I cringed in fear, dread and horror, I thought --this is so hard to listen to for 7 hours --how did he manage to survive it for 15+ yrs. An epiphany at the age of 15 provides R.P. with some psychological armor. The book ends. We know that he is moving to Salt Lake City with his mother, Scott and Keith -- we hope that he will survive until he can leave at age 18. It's a dark book that enlightens. Let's all be proactive in protecting children. See something - do something.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Leslie
- 06-15-05
amazing story of courage and strength
I have not been able to stop listening to Richard's journey until it was over. Being a human service student, I have learned how there was no protection for children before the 80's. I have had to read many stories similar to Richard's from my state and I appauld his courage and would love to meet him one day.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Amy
- 11-27-06
Jaw Dropping
Another Jaw dropping book from a member of the Pelzer family. Being a Foster Parent, I can't imagine that the abuse in this family went on for so long with no one stepping in to help these children. Although this book is heart wrenching to read, we must all be reminded that we must never turn our back or not get "involved" when a child is not safe in their own home.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Dan Marois
- 08-20-19
Sour grapes
I loved A Boy Called It and it's sequals. However, Rihard Pelzer should be ashamed for writting this book. Clearly, David Pelzer's books told us about his horrific abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother. Don't get me wrong child abuse is unconscionable but I can't help thinking that brother Richard 's book is extension of his "envy" of his brother. (Yup, the kid was envious that David gets to sleep on the army cot!) David's book is an extremely disturbing description of the mother's mental illness. At the start of Richard's book we find Richard to be a mean and spiteful kid. Clearly Richard's abuse escalates but in no way does
He should consider himself a replacement. We read that he is able to get out, actually does his laundry. As time goes on you find his attire is old and rattie.
Richard's description of his "mom's" actions support David's horror but there was no need to. Richard did not eat excrement , was not starved, did not steal food, was not forced to regurgitate his stomach and eat what was spit out and suffer being stabbed. Richard stood up to her, got to play, got to eat at the table and got away to the hill for peace.
There are sections that explain what happened after his dad died. Mom's evil behavior escalating and he does remind us that he was a little guy during this hell. He's 15 toward the end of the book. He shares authority figures let him down. You can't help but think he's older thanks to Scot Brinks narration.
It is a good listen but the story is Richard's second best.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kween Sosaa
- 12-18-16
Very selfish
Richard seems very selfish, karmas a "b", not being mean to any abuse victim but, he got what be deserved. He bullied his brother for his own pleasure, and now hes the one going through the same things. The nerve of him trying to ride the same waves as his brother Dave, is just a shame. The book was okay, & repetitive.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- tammy
- 05-24-21
Reality from a Childs perspective
while the outline provided through Audible didn't reflect the reality of the amount of chapters of the book, the book was an amazing read/listen. I was glad to see another version from a different perspective then Davids but was heartbroken by the details. I've always read David P. books as a way to make me appreciate the circumstances which I grew up with. I found that while I deeply empathized with him it gave me a deeper appreciation for what I thought was a crappy upbringing and how lucky I was to have only received the treatments I endured. my foster parents had to read his books as part of their "programming" which I supported. this book was just as sad and makes me ponder social services and their validation to only take out the currently abused child. though, I am hoping for more books from Richard as I now have many unanswered questions and now I have a life goal of meeting both of these men and speaking to them on a personal level. I would recommend this book to anyone who is unclear of the definition of abuse as well as anyone who has had a crappy life and blamed their past on why they are in their present. We children who were a part of the state do not need to become a negative statistic, this author and his brother are a true testimony to that. We can use our past to justify our failures or use them to accommodate our success but the choice is ours and ours alone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Lisa
- 09-16-05
Heart wrenching, enlightening, and enspiring
I first heard the Pelzer family story about 5 years ago, when my brother bought Dave Pelzer's books. He read a bit of A Child Called "It", and I never forgot it!About 7 months ago, I came across all 3 of Dave Pelzer's books, and read every one of them! It floored me!
As I was browsing this site, I found R.P's book, and immediately decided I wanted to read it and here his side of it. It had the same effect on me as Dave's story did.
I admire, and respect both boys, now men, for having the strength it took to get through it, and be able to tell their story no matter how painful it must have been. I have so much respect for both brothers for stepping forward, and enlightening the public not only what a horrible and heartbreaking experience growing up in an abusive home was for them, but how heartbreaking, and just plain wrong, it is for the millions of children who live in abusive homes today.
Like them, I recognize that we can't go on pretending it will never happen to children we love, or simply hiding from it, or refusing to step up and at least try and do something about it. It's not easy for the one's telling, but it's that much harder for the children who live it everyday like the Pelzer brothers did.
If you read this, it is sure to have a profound effect on you, and make you not only think, but feel, and empathize with the Pelzer brothers and what they went through.
I would like to see Dave's books on Audible.com as well. They're both must-read's as far as I'm concerned.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Beth
- 08-16-07
heartbreaking...
This book broke my heart. That a little boy could endure so much pain and suffering from the one person that should have treasured him is unfathomable. If descriptions of graphic child abuse bother you, then this book is not for you. It was hard at times to listen to but ultimately I think it brings to light what the devasting effects of mental illness and child abuse can leave on a person.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Jonathan
- 02-13-07
A favorite
I loved the intamacy and intensity of this book but at the same time it often made me quite uncomfortable. A good part of it resonated with me all too well. Knowing that there are others out there that went through even worse is a big help. A different perspective gave me much food for thought. A wonderful read by Scott as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful