Castaway Kid: One Man's Search for Hope and Home (Focus on the Family… (edition 2007)

This is a true story of a boy, Rob, who is left at an orphanage when he is three years old and lives there until he graduates from high school. He has many struggles as he grows up being "a kid from the Home". Kids in the school system don't like him, girls don't want to date him, his family doesn't seem to want him, and the other boys in the Home aren't crazy about him either. He has a lot to overcome and he eventually decides perhaps God is the one to turn to for help and trust. But can God really help an out of control orphan boy? Will Rob find God in time to change his perspectives enough to save himself?

This is truly an emotional read with great lessons. This was a true story that read as interesting as a fictional one. It was an in depth and great read. The journey that Rob went through in his life is truly an amazing one, and one that was not easy for him. I found it amazing that he would share his journey with us readers to try and help or inspire anyone he could from his life events. It took real courage to relive his life as he wrote it and be willing to share it with readers all over the world. I was very impressed with the telling of his life story. Some non-fiction reads are "dry" to me, but this one was written in such a way that I couldn't wait to see how it all turned out and how he carried on through his hard times. It was very well written and I could tell that he really put his heart and soul into writing this book. His goal of helping anyone he could through his writing about his life story is truly amazing and inspirational. He had a hard time talking about his life as he grew up, but then to share it in hopes of helping others is truly an inspiration. I felt bad for him and how he was treated at the orphanage and as he grew up. I was glad to see that he could find guidance eventually in God to help him get through it all. This was a a very inspirational read for me.

5/5 Stars!!! ( )

I cannot imagine the heart-breaking anguish three-year-old Robbie experienced as he realized that his mother had left him in care in an American orphanage. With no determined or date of return, his mother drifted in and out of his life as he struggled to grasp hold of any sense of normality, security, or love.

Though some form of stability was provided by regular visits from his maternal grandmother and a caring housemother, the deep emotional wounds left by parental abandonment led to feelings of deep rebellion, anger, and dejection. Once his mentally ill mother gave up her parental rights Robbie held out hope that his wealthy paternal relatives would adopt him. Their rejection cut him to the quick and plunged him into a state of desperation during his teen years.

Castaway Kid chronicles the autobiographical reflections of author R.B. Mitchell, who spent nearly his entire childhood in care within an orphanage. Writing in simple, strikingly transparent prose, Mitchell lays bare the wounds created by repeated abandonment and rejection by his family. His would be a truly heart-rending story were it not for an adoption that came once his childhood years were passed.

Mitchell was adopted into the family of God, accepting the Father’s promise to be home for him; to provide him with a never-faltering source of love, stability, and identity. Guided by His spirit through the process of deep forgiveness for those who forsook him, Mitchell was able to move forward into a new life including a wife and children as he learned to trust and love. Coming from an orphanage with dismal outcomes for its long term residents, Mitchell’s life stands out as wildly successful. A college graduate and participant in international missions, Mitchell is now a well established financial consultant and motivational speaker.

The icing on the cake in any autobiography are photographs of the author. Castaway Kidprovides pictures of the author’s family, from his childhood, of the orphanage he called home, his college years, and his own family. I rejoice for the work that God has done in the author’s life. Thankfully everyone can experience the personal love of the creator of the universe, whether orphaned, empty or confused, His free grace available to all comers.

Life in an orphanage is no longer a cultural reality here in North America, but remains a fact of life for millions of children worldwide. Though Mitchell never draws parallels between his life as a castaway kid and that of today’s domestic and international orphans, one can’t help but make the connection. God’s heart is one of adoption, of love and of reconciliation. The story of Mitchell’s life brings the emotional desolation these beloved children experience into sharp focus and embodies the spirit of adoption that God longs to engender in his followers. While Mitchell may be one of the last “lifers” from the American adoption system, we should remember the children waiting for families in foster homes and orphanages worldwide.

Reviewed at http://quiverfullfamily.com ( )

Castaway Kid is an emotionally charged and beautifully written autobiography of Rob Mitchell's life in Chicago from his youth to his adult years. Abandoned at a the Covenant Children's Home when he was just 3 years old, Rob was one of the few kids that spent their entire lives in the home without going into foster care.

Although too young to understand what was really happening, Rob had plenty of hope that his mother would one day return for him, or that his beloved grandmother Gigi, who would visit Rob every Saturday, would take him in. As Rob grew older, he grew more disillusioned and less trustful of those around him. Nola, the houseparent for the Little Boys became a mother-figure for Rob during his early life. Rob's mother would make periodic visits, but they were chaotic at best and only severed the gap between herself and her son.

Dealing with bullies in the home, and family did not, or could not, take him in, Rob built a lot of rage. He lashed out at other students, "Townies", who had real parents to go home to. He rebelled against his own family in Atlanta by growing his hair long, and wearing a beard, two things considered taboo in the 1950's and early 60's. Rob became a womanizer, and also avoided all the religious influence the group home tried to instill in the boys. It wasn't until he went to a summer camp, where he met one girl that seemed to turn his life around. Full of peace and patience, she did not judge Rob and she tried to guide him towards giving faith another try. The second half of the book focuses mostly on Rob's struggle to build a connection to God and find a purpose for himself. His inner struggle with building this relationship with God starts out just as difficult as Rob's attempt to build a relationship with his estranged family members. His faith and transformation from a rebel child, to a moral man happened when he went on a year long missions trip to Africa.

Rob Mitchell's story is heartbreaking, but his endurance and determination to make a better life for himself is honorable and inspiring to read. Rob finally found happiness and love, and now has a family of his own. ( )

In Castaway Kid, R.B. Mitchell revisits his childhood spent in an orphanage just outside of Chicago and the impact that had on his life. He is the only child of two parents who were very mentally ill. His father incapacitated himself during a suicide attempt and his mother spent most of her adulthood in and out of mental hospitals. Only his maternal grandmother Gigi brought any stability to his life. It was her weekly visits that provided him with the love he would ultimately need to survive inside the orphanage and to choose faith and hope over despair as he grew to adulthood.

It was heartbreaking to read about Mitchell’s experiences with his mother and the orphanage where she left him at the age of three. At such a young age, he had no concept of how sick she was and he blamed himself for being left alone. His kind housemother did what she could to comfort him and explain that his situation wasn’t his fault, but with so many other young boys to care for, she didn’t have all of the time and energy Robby needed. Gigi visited him weekly, but was unable to care for him physically or financially. Those visits were the bright spot in Robby’s week, but when she left him back at the orphanage it was like being abandoned all over again. Nothing good ever happened when his mother showed up, but Gigi tried her best to foster love between them. How it must have pained Gigi to watch the decline of her only daughter while being unable to raise her only grandchild as she would have liked.

Despite his circumstances, Robby is a resilient young boy who doesn’t want his circumstances to dictate how his life ends up. Once he learns that there is a scholarship to a college in North Carolina for which he is eligible through his father’s family, he starts taking odd jobs and weekend work to save the money he would need when he was on his own. His hard work earned him jobs that weren’t usually open to boys from the home. He also took it upon himself to invest his savings. This isn’t to say that his adolescence was smooth sailing. His anger, alienation, and feelings of inferiority would have led him down the wrong path had he not had this other side of him that wanted to rise above. His story is proof that nothing is impossible if you put your mind and prayer to it.

Even with a growing faith life, Rob continued to difficulty with relationships, especially with women. He realized that despite his loving grandmother, he had very little experience to draw upon when it came to romantic attachments. His fear that he would develop mental problems like his parents or that his girlfriends may turn out like his mother haunted him into adulthood. It wasn’t until he met the woman who was to become his wife that he opened his heart fully for the first time. Before that could fully happen, however, he had to learn to forgive his parents and learn to let go. It was a pleasure to experience that with him. She, like his grandmother before her, brought out the best in him and taught him how to trust.

It has been a long time since a book moved me to tears, but as I was reading the last pages of this book, I couldn’t hold them back. Some of the best and most inspiring stories come out of deeper personal pain. This story was well paced and well thought out. The only aspect that didn’t work well for me was the internal dialog and personal prayers. Those portions felt like they were often saying what was obvious from the context. I was able to skip over them without losing the story or its meaning. At its best, this memoir is a profoundly human story of the power of hope, love, and forgiveness. There is a reason for suffering if only you allow yourself to see it. This is an important message in such a cynical and sarcastic world.

http://literatehousewife.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/94-castaway-kid/ ( )

Castaway Kid is R.B. Mitchell's frank, unflinching memoir of growing up in an orphanage as an abandoned child of mentally unstable parents. Undoubtedly, Castaway Kid is a hope-inducing story for those in similar circumstances or for those interested in stories of religious awakenings. For the rest of us, Mitchell's unadorned and matter-of-fact account fails to offer any satisfaction from a literary perspective.

This review also appears on my blog: Literary License. ( )