Amazon Brenda Youngerman Eloquent Books Category:  Family Publisher: Eloquent Books ISBN-10:  1606931253 Type: Fiction Pages: 255 Copyright: Sept 5, 2008 ISBN-13: 9781606931257 A bolt of lightning shatters his dreams and six-year-old Billy Foster finds himself blamed for his mother's death. Gwen Nelson is an unwanted child who never gives up hope despite people letting her down, time after time. Follow their journeys, as well as their brother and sisters as the world around them overlooks the crying of a child. A bolt of lightning shatters his dreams and six-year-old Billy Foster finds himself blamed for his mother's death as his father rages in mourning. His life irrevocably altered forever, Billy disappears into the night. Billy’s guilt-ridden brother, Wayne, is left behind to deal with the real Foster family demons. He floats through life as an invisible speck of dust, rarely seen by the people he interacts with as he leaves his childhood behind.   Gwen Nelson is an unwanted child who never gives up hope despite people letting her down, time after time. All the adults around her, including her wasted mother, think only of what's best for them, never giving Gwen a second thought, until an angel comes along to help her believe in herself.   Her sister, Grace, is spared this lonely life and grows up in a loving and caring home.   Follow the lives of these four children... two float through life, unnoticed and unheard, desperately keeping the secrets of their parents, two grow up in loving environments. Their lives will converge in one unexpected moment… Excerpt Wayne Foster picked himself up off the floor, looked in the mirror and said, “What’re you looking at?” and disgustedly turned away. At sixteen he was five foot eleven with lifeless gray eyes, straggly blonde hair, a misshaped nose, crooked teeth and a fairly clear complexion. Wayne was slightly overweight; he never exercised, ate junk food and had a passion for beer. He shuffled down the hallway to the bathroom, scratching himself as he walked. The rest of the house was dark. Wayne left his house at the same time every morning; passing the huddled figure of his father, who was down for the count on the couch, or the bed, depending where he’d landed the night before. Sometimes he never made it to the furniture at all, he just dropped to the floor. Just shove everything out of the way and plop himself down where he was; that was Dad…good old Dad. The only reason Wayne left the house anymore was so he wouldn’t have to deal with his dad. It hadn’t always been this way.

Midwest Book Review
How can four people, so similar in origin, grow up so differently? "Hidden Truths" follows four children as they face very different childhoods. Billy Foster faces guilt from his parent's death, while his brother Wayne is left dealing with what's left of their strange family. Gwen Nelson was an accident and knows this plainly, and grows up ignored. Her sister Grace, however, is faced with what most people would assume as normal. Intriguing and thought provoking, "Hidden Truths" is a strong piece of writing, sure to make readers think twice about what is normal.


Heart Wrenching
Hidden Truths by Brenda Youngerman is a heart wrenching novel. There are two stories interconnected. Youngerman begins by telling the story of Wayne and Billy. Their father is an alcoholic and is abusive, especially to Billy. Wayne was forced to grow up before his time. He never really had a childhood. His father resents having children and turns to alcohol. The night his mother died, his brother Billy disappeared. Wayne does the laundry, cooking, bill paying, and takes himself to and from school each day. His father lives in a drunken stupor. Wayne cannot give up hope that his brother is still alive.

Gwen's mother never liked her. When her father leaves, taking her sister Grace with him, Gwen is forced to fend for herself while her mother stays drunk. Her mother watches while a man rapes her.

Grace and Gwen have the same mother; however, you would never know it by the way Gwen is treated. Her alcoholic mother is extremely abusive to her. When their father takes Grace and leaves, the abuse against Gwen amplifies.

As adults, Wayne and Grace each search for their sibling. Youngerman did a superb job of weaving these stories together.

I became so engrossed in this account that I read it in one sitting. There is a bit of a twist toward the end that took me by surprise. I could find no redeeming grace in any of the parents. I could not understand why Jack took Grace with him, but not Gwen. I consider him as abusive as his wife. If I say more, I will give away too much of the plot. This is a good read, and despite the subject matter, there are many warm spots. Despite a few grammatical errors, this is a good read. The plot held my attention to the end. The characters came alive. The story is great drama.

A tale of tragic childhood denied, loss and then mutual happiness,
This is a book that will strain your emotions as you read about children whose parents can be described that way only in the biological sense. Wayne (the eldest) and Billy are the sons of Stan and Pat and Stan is an alcoholic. Things are not well and on a "dark and stormy night" Pat and Stan are in an auto accident and Pat is killed. Stan blames six-year-old Billy for her death and in an alcohol driven fit of anger, he walks Billy to the corner and tells him not to come back until he finds Mommy. Billy is terrified of thunder and walks blindly out into the night.
Grace (the eldest) and Gwen are the daughters of Jack and Alice. It was love at first sight when they met and things were fine between them after Grace was born. However, something happened to Alice after Gwen was born. She was a fussy child and Alice seemed to lose all interest in being a mother to her. Jack tries very hard to make things work, but when Grace witnesses a gangland murder, she is terrified and he knows something must be done. The killer told Grace that if she ever talked, he would come back and kill her and her entire family. When Jack is given the opportunity to transfer to another city, he quietly packs up Grace and moves away. After they are gone, Alice descends into drug abuse and prostitution to support it. When one of her John's wants to rape the young Gwen, Alice's response is, "How much will you pay me?"
All of the children try to live their lives as best they can and they are fortunate to find kindly people to help them when they need it the most. It all builds to a climactic ending that you had a sense was coming and is a bit unbelievable if you look at it in a dispassionate sense. However, by that time you feel so much for these children that you have suspended all disbelief and are rooting so hard for them to be happy that you have not a care as to how they achieve it.