Boys Home

Book excerpt: Boy’s Home by Willis Howard Boy’s Home is a heart- rendering, emotional story of a young boy’s struggle to find himself in a might-is-right new world. A parentless atmosphere where he is thrown into an orphanage, along with twenty-three other distraught boys. He finds himself living in an environment void of affection and compassion. It is a poignant story that will tug at your heart ... a story jammed with unexpected excitement. The author of Boy’s Home went through eight formative years in this unusual situation, and writes his unique story in first person, realistic fiction. Damon, an adept, handsome boy, nearly two years older befriends him. He protects guides and teaches him the way of life in this uncanny climate. Everything is shared: the cliques, the problems, the pranks, the initiation rituals, the discipline, and the intimacies. Subordinated with unbelievable, unique characters: Miss Jay, the head matron, an indifferent old bitch, crafty, cold-hearted, and faster than a hummingbird with her back-handers. Mrs. Smith, the compassionate cook with an English accent, a facade of toughness, but a heart as soft and sweet as pure whipped cream; Julie, the author’s first encounter with the opposite sex that leaves him with a deceived and aching, crushed nebulous heart. The thread of sexual awakening that slowly wends its way through the pages of Boy’s Home becomes the unraveling and final snag to this rare and innermost story.