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167th out of 1,802 books
—
1,739 voters
Finding Fish
Baby Boy Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. He ultimately came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse. In his mid-teens he escaped and enlisted in the navy, where he became a man of the world, raised by the family he created for himself.Finding Fish shows how, out of t...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
December 18th 2001
by Perennial
(first published January 1st 2001)
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Absolutely inspirational, Antwone, had a rough start in life to put it very mildly, you need to read the story and be astonished that he survived, being born in Cleveland, surrounded by gangs, drugs the works, The woman who takes him in as a foster child is totally deranged, in spite of the face that this is a Mininster of the Gospel's house, with the nausiating show of playing religion on Sunday, totally abusing her foster children, unbelievable how she was able to make the case workers believe...more
Finding Fish was a book that my social worker MIL had around that she'd had to read for school, and suggested I read it, since I'm also a social work student. It sat around until I had a dry spell between library runs; I wasn't as interested as I wanted to be. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I had a messed up childhood myself, but I could relate to very little of Antwone's experiences (foster care, the 60's and 70's, African American culture, male perspective), but his voice is so s...more
The author of my book was Antwone Fisher, I believe his point of writing this book was to have others involved in his life be able to understand what he feels about the events and situations he has been in, he has had his ups and down in life, but for the most part he put on a happy face for everyone.
The theme of this book is that everything does not come as easy as you would like it to, and just because you get something other than you truly want, you might grow to like it. As a child he was p...more
The theme of this book is that everything does not come as easy as you would like it to, and just because you get something other than you truly want, you might grow to like it. As a child he was p...more
A really good book..... Baby Boy Fisher--as he was documented in his child welfare caseworkers' reports--was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. After beginning his life in an orphanage, Antwone was placed in a temporary foster home until, around age two, he was transferred to a second foster home. It was there, over the next thirteen years, that he endured emotional abandonment and physical abuse. Removed from this foster home not long before his si...more
Antwone's early life is a filled with textbook examples of causes which lead to a life of crime, drugs and poverty. He grew in a foster home where it was made apparent to him he was just a means to get money from the state and nothing more. He grew up in an impoverished Cleveland neighborhood where he was treated to beatings, molestation, slave labor and psychological intimidation within his foster home. Yet, through this and other events in his early life, Antwone was able to escape the life he...more
I actually have an autographed copy of this book; fantastic memoir about overcoming abuse; he's from cleveland; he came and spoke at event i went to and i went to a book signing of his; amazing story; he talked about how the screenplay to this book (became the movie with Denzell) that he wrote was the first screenplay ever sold for more than 1 million dollars by an african american screenwriter
A good embellished nonfiction story. Antwone Fisher tells his story of growing up in Ohio's child welfare system and the many abuses and instances of neglect that he suffered. A book like this always makes me take a closer look at the feelings and experiences of the children I work with. It amazes me how Antwone was so oblivious to his foster care experience, mainly very little was explained to him and he was not at all included in his case planning. I hope that much of this has changed since th...more
The book keeps you cheering for Antwone because you know he is going to make it. A reminder to everyone (but especially young people) that the only way to escape poverty and that cycle of unhappiness is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do it yourself. The book made me mad, made me cry, made me smile and made me embrace Antwone "Q" for the fine young man he developed into. Thank you Mr. Fisher for mentioning your elementary school teacher. She was a remarkable woman who loved all her st...more
I had the opportunity to see Mr. Fisher speak when I was working at the University at Buffalo Foundation. Once I heard his story I had to read his book. Wow.... I am always taken with people who can take there life of crap and turn it into less crap! It is so easy for people to fall into the negative way of life. Very positive inspiring story!
This book really touched my heart and I'm sure a huge part of that is because I work with children every single day who live in situations similar to what "Fish" grew up in. Antwone's story is inspiring and a great rememinder that good things can come from even the crappiest of circumstances in life. That we should never underestimate anyone because of where they come from. If anything, we should use Antwone Fisher as an example of what we can become if we just make it a challenge to better ours...more
Feb 21, 2010
Martha Salas
added it
Durante la lectura de este libro, pude experimentar el dolor y la tragedia de un niño indefenso que a pesar de su grande dolor pudo salir adelante dejando atrás su pasado. Pude experimentar el perdón así a un ser querido que no solamente lo abandono si no que lo dejo a la merced de gente depravada que solamente le dejo dolor. Pero a pesar de todo la valentía por la cual este niño confronto su dolor fue solamente una prueba de luchar para sobrevivir el abuso infantil. Ahora el es un gran escritor...more
I enjoy reading true stories regarding the tragic circumstances that real people have to go through in life. "Fish" was brave enough to tell his story to the world, where I'm sure otheres keep quite with shame. I'm glad he was brave enough to share, so that I may be able to understand the dark side of society. I found his story an inspiration. I read stories like this, not for my own enjoyment, but to educate myself and open myself up to the pain that others may suffer and at times, maybe I can...more
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Incredibly moving!! I grew up in the era of "you are your environment" and Antwone Fisher's story proves to me that this does NOT have to be the case!!
While there are many disturbing recollections in the story, it must be acknowledged that the lack of understand and even the evil that he encountered in his childhood is very real. I didn't find this book to be at all sensational...but rather an appropriately emotional recollection of the many things that shaped Mr. Fisher into the man he has bec...more
While there are many disturbing recollections in the story, it must be acknowledged that the lack of understand and even the evil that he encountered in his childhood is very real. I didn't find this book to be at all sensational...but rather an appropriately emotional recollection of the many things that shaped Mr. Fisher into the man he has bec...more
I am reading this book and i think its great because it takes you back to old times. Also its about abuse.
Excellent book - moving and meaningful. You have to love seeing someone rise above such difficult beginnings. Could have been a bit shorter at some points, but I believe he had every right to share all that he wanted to from his story. Well written and impacting, as it is tough to consider someone suffering so; especially only to realize that there are so many more Antwone Fishers in this world. I surprised myself at the end by shedding quite a few tears at a development in the story as he tied...more
This is the memoir of a young man's life growing up as a ward of the state of Ohio in the '60's and '70's, and how he overcame the challenges in his upbringing to become a successful adjusted adult. The story of his childhood is heart wrenching. His mother shot and killed his father (in self defense) two months before Antwone is born, and his mother is incarcerated. He is placed in foster care with an abusive and dysfunctional family led by the manipulative and heartless woman of the house. The...more
Right now all the social workers are starting to realize that Antwone might be getting physically abused because of they way that hes acting in front of the social workers and he doesn't talk as much as he used to he only talks about hes art work that he does in class. This book has really gotten my attention because its what happened's in everyday life. Kids get physical and emotional abuse by there parents, foster parents, family or family friends it doesn't matter many children have been deal...more
I stumbled upon this book because of a job interview I had at George Jr. Republic, its a school that Antowne attended in his youth and mentions it in the book, so I wanted to read it. It was a great book and the idea of reinventing oneself to become the person of their dreams is the main lesson to take home from this book. Its a sad story about his life and growing up, but he is so very wise. I recommend this book to young adults, seniors in high school, seniors in college or anyone about to mak...more
I first read this book when I lived in Portland, but I reread it when it was assigned for a class at MSASS, and it had all new meaning now that I live in Cleveland. The author tells the story of his own childhood, which was spent in foster care in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland, and his subsequent quest for identity and belonging as an adult. This is a very powerful book. Things end very well for the author, and he acknowledges how fortunate he is compared to so many.
For me this book was inspirational an many ways. From a life of depression, opression and obscurity a man with such profound intellect and eloquents was born.
Though I did not grow up in foster homes I feelt that when he was talking about being unwanted,depressed and how unimportant he was, he was speaking directly to me.
Overall this book was a great read and a good motivater. I'd reccomend this book to any and everybody. It's definetly a book that everybody has to atleast read once in their life...more
Though I did not grow up in foster homes I feelt that when he was talking about being unwanted,depressed and how unimportant he was, he was speaking directly to me.
Overall this book was a great read and a good motivater. I'd reccomend this book to any and everybody. It's definetly a book that everybody has to atleast read once in their life...more
Later made into the movie starring "Denzel" this is a positively heart-rending story of a young boy brought up in the foster care system. We are plowing through our own foster licensing application now, and it is stories like these which remind me of the need for tough criteria for foster parents. While it is hard to read some of the horrors, it is so worth it to see how this boy became such a wonderful man against all odds.
I found this paperback book in my condo building's book swap shelf and almost didn't read it because I had seen the film Antwone Fisher and figured it would be repetitive. I am glad I read it because it is an excellent memoir and really helped me understand the trauma of kids in abusive foster care placements. Fisher captures his feelings from the perspective of a child and adolescent and is also able to provide adult insight into his adverse upbringing.
Amazing book focusing on the childhood of the author - a ward of the state of Ohio whose father was shot by the mother of his 2 children before Antwone was even born. His own mother gave birth to him in prison. It's a major indictment of the foster care system yet he went on to make something of himself despite every possible disadvantage in life. The photo on the cover is the ONLY picture he has of himself as a child!
I really enjoyed reading this book because when you read this book its like you're experiencing what the kids went through......A young child grow's up in a foster home with his brother.They come to find that their foster parent is rude and obnacious. The two young boys lives are getting ruined by their foster mother. the foster treats one of the kids the worst his name was Antoine. Antoine wants to run away from this nightmare but theres (.NO .WAY .OUT).
About Antwone Fisher (who I've never heard of) who was raised by the Queen Bitch Foster Mother of All Time. He finally joins the Navy after many years of neglect and abuse and finds himself and self-esteem. He writes a screenplay about his life and it is now a movie, apparently. After that is successful, he writes more and more.
Very good book, but hard to read. But all ends well ...
Very good book, but hard to read. But all ends well ...
This book is a memoir about a man named Antwone Fisher. I thought it was a pretty good read because his life was quite sad, mostly speaking about his childhood with his foster mother and siblings. You see how he gets treated and you feel bad for him. It is also nice to see how he manages to turn his life around. It is also a pretty fast book to read.
This horrific story was very well told. I appreciated that the author did not come across as whiny, he just told it how it was. I found it hard to get through in places, just a little too close to home with our experiences doing foster care (and seeing the way parents can mess up their children). It was very good, but the language was awful at times.
In this book, Antwoe Fisher describes his life so vividly that it feels like you experience the exact emotions he went through throughout all of his life's events. I mean this in both positive and negative senses. His childhood and early adulthood are plagued with so many hardships, obstacles, and miseries that you can't help but feel like the worst and it might become a little difficult to read. But as you watch him go through the process of growing up, you, the reader, become excited and joyou...more
I found the story so encouraging. Two themes run through the book: children can overcome a difficult, even abusive childhood; an involved, caring individual can influence,even save a child's life. It gives me hope in this world of broken families, where fewer and fewer children have the stability of a two parent, nurturing home environment.
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“Halfway home, the sky goes from dark gray to almost black and a loud thunder snap accompanies the first few raindrops that fall. Heavy, warm, big drops, they drench me in seconds, like an overturned bucket from the sky dumping just on my head. I reach my hands up and out, as if that can stop my getting wetter, and open my mouth, trying to swallow the downpour, till it finally hits me how funny it is, my trying to stop the rain.
This is so funny to me, I laugh and laugh, as loud and free as I want. Instead of hurrying to higher ground, I jump lower, down off the curb, splashing through the puddles, playing and laughing all the way home. In all my life till now, rain has meant staying inside and not being able to go out to play. But now for the first time I realize that rain doesn't have to be bad. And what's more, I understand, sadness doesn't have to be bad, either. Come to think of it, I figure you need sadness, just as you need the rain.
Thoughts and ideas pour through my awareness. It feels to me that happiness is almost scary, like how I imagine being drunk might feel - real silly and not caring what anybody else says. Plus, that happy feeling always leaves so fast, and you know it's going to go before it even does. Sadness lasts longer, making it more familiar, and more comfortable. But maybe, I wonder, there's a way to find some happiness in the sadness. After all, it's like the rain, something you can't avoid. And so, it seems to me, if you're caught in it, you might as well try to make the best of it.
Getting caught in the warm, wet deluge that particular day in that terrible summer full of wars and fires that made no sense was a wonderful thing to have happen. It taught me to understand rain, not to dread it. There were going to be days, I knew, when it would pour without warning, days when I'd find myself without an umbrella. But my understanding would act as my all-purpose slicker and rubber boots. It was preparing me for stormy weather, arming me with the knowledge that no matter how hard it seemed, it couldn't rain forever. At some point, I knew, it would come to an end.”
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This is so funny to me, I laugh and laugh, as loud and free as I want. Instead of hurrying to higher ground, I jump lower, down off the curb, splashing through the puddles, playing and laughing all the way home. In all my life till now, rain has meant staying inside and not being able to go out to play. But now for the first time I realize that rain doesn't have to be bad. And what's more, I understand, sadness doesn't have to be bad, either. Come to think of it, I figure you need sadness, just as you need the rain.
Thoughts and ideas pour through my awareness. It feels to me that happiness is almost scary, like how I imagine being drunk might feel - real silly and not caring what anybody else says. Plus, that happy feeling always leaves so fast, and you know it's going to go before it even does. Sadness lasts longer, making it more familiar, and more comfortable. But maybe, I wonder, there's a way to find some happiness in the sadness. After all, it's like the rain, something you can't avoid. And so, it seems to me, if you're caught in it, you might as well try to make the best of it.
Getting caught in the warm, wet deluge that particular day in that terrible summer full of wars and fires that made no sense was a wonderful thing to have happen. It taught me to understand rain, not to dread it. There were going to be days, I knew, when it would pour without warning, days when I'd find myself without an umbrella. But my understanding would act as my all-purpose slicker and rubber boots. It was preparing me for stormy weather, arming me with the knowledge that no matter how hard it seemed, it couldn't rain forever. At some point, I knew, it would come to an end.”
Nov 28, 2012 03:52pm