Mitchell takes us through his painful childhood. He shows us the anger and hurt that came from being rejected by his parents, his grandparents, and his extended family. And he shows that, through God's grace, a child is not doomed to the same fate as his parents. One of his greatest fears growing up was that he was doomed to succumb to mental illness that drove his father to attempt suicide and left his mother unable to function as a normal human adult. With God's grace, Robbie changed the course of his life. We see how he chose to follow Christ; how he managed to forgive his mother, father, and grandmother Pauline; and we see how he meets his wife and finally creates the loving, normal family he always wished for.

It's the saddest book I've ever read. But it's also a book about hope. All the statistics were against Robbie. He was more likely to end up homeless, in prison, or a mental ward than to ever make anything of himself. But God is greater than genetics, environment, or statistics.