Orphan

  This is a book about...

Three small children (ages 4, 3, and baby) were left alone for a long period of time in a small apartment.
 
Though they tried, they couldn't open a can of food by banging it repeatedly--but the dog hadn't eaten everything in his dish.
 
They couldn't reach the tap to get water to drink--but the toilet lid was up, and there was plenty of water in there.
 
Though the older kids tried to feed the baby dry corn flakes, they were unsuccessful, and he starved to death.
 
This is the way authorities found them.
 
The baby went to the morgue, the sister went somewhere, and four year old Roger was sent to live with step-relatives who tried to get rid of him by claiming he was feebleminded and belonged in an institution.
 
When they weren't successful, they subjected him to abuse out of frustration and misplaced hatred until somebody finally got wise and reported them to authorities.
 
Roger was then taken to one orphanage for a short time and then sent on to the one where he would be living until his early teens--a place where those who were supposed to have been taking care of him subjected him to unbelievable abuse!
 
First, they broke his spirit (which is what they did with most of the orphans in their charge) and made him feel like he was a child that nobody would want.
 
Once they had convinced him of that, they were able to use him for their own sinister agendas.
 
Roger was being shaped for life! Could he fight what was happening to him?
 
Would he even come to realize that he even SHOULD be putting up a fight?
 
 

  I especially liked...

It was always wonderful to picture in my mind those brave, beautiful orphans as they very cleverly coped with their lives and came up with ideas--doable but never permanent--to make life easier for them.

  I didn't like...

The way they were treated. It's really hard to imagine that these so-called caretakers were allowed to keep on getting away with all that they did without being caught, removed from their jobs, and put somewhere that they could both receive professional help and never be able to hurt children like Roger anymore.

  When I finished this book I wanted to...

Know more how I could help.
 
I'm now on the board of The Sad Orphan Foundation http://www.geocities.com/trampolineone/, which Roger launched the first of this year, as a fundraiser (raising both traditional and always-needed $$$$$$$ and interest in helping us in other ways as well).

  This book made me feel...

Angry with the system that let these kids down.
 
Very moved by and having a lot of admiration for these game, little kids who were very creative in their survival plans.
 
Wanting to do all in my power to make sure that this will never happen to any other kids!

  The author of this book...

Roger is a precious person who is in his late fifties and still bearing the emotional scars of his early years--yet, someone who has managed to overcome and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
 
He's one of my heroes--as well as becoming a wonderful e-pal!!!

  I recommend this book because...

Why would I recommend this book?
 
For a lot of reasons.
 
(1) If you want a good read, you'll find it, as Roger relates the story through the eyes and mind of the child he was then.
 
(2) This is "reality" having to do with "surviving"--and not like that ratings-hungry interpretation of it on TV!
 
(3) After reading this book, you won't be the same!

  Further Comments...

Recently, I was eating at one of my favorite places The Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana.
 
One thing they have there are TV screens placed in several spots that show re-runs of The Andy Griffith Show.
 
And I looked at Ron Howard/Opie and noticed that his ears were a lot like the same ears on each side of Roger's head that he was told as a child would make nobody want him!
 
What a horrible lie he was told!!!
 
I often find myself looking at the picture of him on the front of the book and kissing his precious ears--wanting to pull the Roger-of-way-back-when right out of the book to hug him and tell him that he's a wonderful, little boy!
 
But Roger's a man now, so all we can do with his past is to learn from it! And ACT!!!
 
One more note, if I rate something like the setting high, I don't mean that I go along with what goes on there--only that it has been described in a way to take the reader there!

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