This book will tear at your heart strings. I am not what most would consider an avid reader, but I read this book cover to cover the day I got it. It is the true story of a child who is an outcast in his own family. I cannot believe that he survived all that he was put through. This book can be emotionally troubling. I would not recommend that teenagers read it. There were times when I threw the book, and then went an picked it up. At the time I did not have children, but I wanted to go find the mother and strangle her. It was amazing to me that through the torture and hatred he suffered he still loved his mother. Even now, just thinking about the book gets my emotions flared up. You will never be the same after reading a book like this it makes you think about how fortunate most of us truly are.