A CHANCE IN THE WORLD : An Orphan Boy, A Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home

Steve Pemberton

ISBN 10: 1404183558 / ISBN 13: 9781404183551

Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 2012

About this Item

Text/NEW & Bright. Softcover/NF; w/a whisper of shelfwear. COVER ART: Evocative, metaphorical image of an empty tricycle and an idle ball. Memoir of a survivor. Life experiences of an Afro-American child w/blue eyes & the last name of Klakowicz (Polish) placed w/an abusive foster family at --- yes --- the age of three. Classic revelation of the trials of abandoned children & weaknesses of the accepted foster-care system, adapted to film 2018. That author Steve Pemberton, against all odds, graduates from Boston College, finally identifies his birth family, and becomes both a successful family man & businessman is celebratory, but for the many others destroyed by prevailing social instituions, much to be done.

Seller Inventory # 020256

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A CHANCE IN THE WORLD : An Orphan Boy, A Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1404183558
• ISBN 13: 9781404183551
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: First Edition, 4th Printing of 2013
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: None as Issued
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
  • Family, Kinship, Marriage, Adoption, Divorce
  • Social Sciences, Cultural Studies

About this title

Synopsis

“Pemberton’s beautifully told story is a rags to riches journey—beginning in a place and with a jarring set of experiences that could have destroyed his life. But Steve’s refusal to give in to those forces, and his resolve to create a better life, shows a courage and resilience that is an example for many of us to follow.”

—Stedman Graham, author, educator

Home is the place where our life stories begin.  A Chance in the World is the astonishing true story of a boy destined to become a man of 

• resilience
• determination
• and vision.

Down in the dank basement, amidst my moldy, hoarded food and beloved worm-eaten books, I dreamed that my real home, the place where my story had begun, was out there somewhere, and one day I was going to find it.

Taken from his mother at age three, Steve Klakowicz lives a terrifying existence. Caught in the clutches of a cruel foster family and subjected to constant abuse, Steve finds his only refuge in a box of books given to him by a kind stranger. In these books, he discovers new worlds he can only imagine and begins to hope that one day he might have a different life, that one day he will find his true home.

A fair-complexioned boy with blue eyes, a curly Afro, and a Polish last name, he is determined to unravel the mystery of his origins and find his birth family. Armed with just a single clue, Steve embarks on an extraordinary quest for his identity, only to find that nothing is as it appears.

Through it all, Steve’s story teaches us that no matter how broken our past, no matter how great our misfortunes, we have it in us to create a new beginning and to build a place where love awaits.

About the Author

Steve Pemberton is Chief People Officer for Workhuman, the leading online platform bringing positivity to the workplace through social recognition. Prior to assuming his role at Workhuman, Steve was a Senior Human Resources Executive at Walgreens. Steve and his wife, Tonya, are the proud parents of three children.