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Swerve
by G L Franklyn
ISBN: 9798987629710
Swerve is defined as: "A sharp departure from a straight path". On a number of levels, that describes this true story of an odd, effeminate and quirky orphan as he makes his way in the world. From his earliest memories to his high school graduation from Fr Flanagan's BoysTown, "Swerve" tells the story of an orphan boy, raised by the Catholic Church and the foster care system in 1950s and 60s Michigan. He is adopted, at 2 years old, into a colorful family embroiled in a well meaning but ultimately failed attempt to save a crumbling marriage and is placed in the care of Catholic Social Services in Detroit at 6. From there he is disconnected from everyone he knows as family and an endless parade of changing faces, and sometimes harrowing, environments ensues, where we get to know an array of interesting characters who help shape the young boy as he struggles his way through school without the love and support of a family. While trying to find himself, he is repeatedly plucked from one placement and plopped into another entire world that had no connection to anything, or anyone, he knew from the last one. Along the way he is treated with love and kindness, at times, and subjected to crushing horrors at others. Through his eyes we see anger, terror, forgiveness, fun and gratitude as he struggles in vain to find a way back to a home and family that no longer exists. He travels through a dizzying array of Foster Homes, Children's homes, and Catholic Military Academies, all of which seem to be taking him progressively further and further away from the family he so deeply longs for, culminating with his admission to BoysTown at 14. There, with unsteady steps, he begins to see that he has value as a human being and learns about the real meaning of family. "Swerve: The Story of an Orphan Boy" is a cringe-worthy indictment of the turbulent instability of what life is really like for LGBTQ+ children raised by institutions like the foster care system or The Catholic Church. It is an inspiring story of the resilience of the human spirit against what might sometimes seem like insurmountable odds and demonstrates the adage often spoken by the LGBTQ+ community to those among us who feel lost and alone. "It Gets Better!" G.L. Franklyn is a descriptive storyteller with a writing style that paints vivid images of the people, events, and places he encounters during his journey, with a consistently lighthearted and conversational voice and a subtle comic undertone, that cushions the longing, loneliness and fear that his story includes. He pulls the reader into the story with him as if they were there at his side along the way. WARNING: One chapter of the story contains a graphic depiction of Homosexual Sexual Assault and a few others briefly mentions sex acts between boys and adult/child sexual molestation.