Someone's Kid

A young man's journey from addiction to redemption

Fiction - Short Story/Novela
130 Pages
Reviewed on 06/03/2022
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Philip Van Heusen for Readers' Favorite

Someone’s Kid by Patti Carpenter opens with Jesse in the throes of an overdose. The description is as real as it gets. Patti knows what she is talking about. I would be surprised if the first few pages do not grab you. From the opening line, you know this book will keep your attention. Patti is a master storyteller, and this book is so believable that I thought it was a memoir instead of fiction. However, it is fiction based on stories she unearthed as a long-time reporter. If you know someone struggling with an addiction, this book can help you understand some of what they are going through. If you sit in judgment on addicts, this book will help you learn that most addicts never intended to become addicts. Addicts honestly try to break free but overcoming addiction is one of the hardest things.

Usually, I do not read works of fiction. So, I am thrilled I broke my rule and read this important story about drug addiction and the battle to overcome it. Patti Carpenter presents the gut-wrenching truth of how a child’s addiction destroys the parents. At the same time, she shows addiction’s life-stealing, death-causing clutches. Addiction controls and kills. No one ever wholly overcomes addiction. Staying sober is a day-by-day and sometimes a minute-by-minute decision not to use. Someone’s Kid accurately portrays the destruction that goes on all around you. Unfortunately, too many people turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the suffering. This book will open your eyes to the fact that the addict on the street is someone’s child. But for the grace of God, that addict could be your child or even you.