The Home: A Memoir of Growing Up in an Orphanage

Rating:
Summary: Valuable Childhood Lessons
Review: I read this book and loved it. I'm writing this review to counter the Booklist one above. Courage is where you find it; and this book shows us an example of how the human spirit previals -- with some help. McKenzie and his brother were taken from their parents and raised in an ophanage. Mckenzie went from a troublsome child and slow reader to a PHd in economics. And he thanks the teacher that did it. A sad, but wonderful story. One that shows that courage and perseverence can triumph. A good read too!

Rating:
Summary: "The Home" made me alternately cry and laugh.
Review: Prof. McKenzie's book, "The Home", touched me to the core. The plight of children, in all walks of life, are "dear to my heart". The book made me alternately cry and smile throughout with it's sometimes heart- wrenching look at life through a young boy's eyes. It is good to know that children without "parents" and a "normal" family can be cared for and loved enough to grow up and become viable, giving human beings. For the sake of suffering and lonely children everywhere, I believe this story needs to be told.

Rating:
Summary: The Home: A Memoire of Growing Up In An Orphanage
Review: This book, written by an orphan, contributes a first person voice to the conversation on child welfare. A reunion of orphanage alumni convinced the author to write about his own orphanage upbringing. The permanence of "The Home" and knowing that he would not be sent away helped him develop a sense of place and of belonging. The alumni agreed that this was seminal to their well being. The author's upbringing in this Presbyterian orphanage is testament to the healing power of a constructive rural life. The children learned to care for themselves and each other by raising their own food (crops and animals) and maintaining the farm equipment and the buildings. They went to school and church on the property until they entered high school. The administrative leadership was strong, moral and fair. His story is not a nostalgic rendition of the experience. It is a very objective assessment of the benefits he received from growing up on this particular 1500 acre farm orphanage.

Rating:
Summary: The Home: A Memoire of Growing Up In An Orphanage
Review: This book, written by an orphan, contributes a first person voice to the conversation on child welfare. A reunion of orphanage alumni convinced the author to write about his own orphanage upbringing. The permanence of "The Home" and knowing that he would not be sent away helped him develop a sense of place and of belonging. The alumni agreed that this was seminal to their well being. The author's upbringing in this Presbyterian orphanage is testament to the healing power of a constructive rural life. The children learned to care for themselves and each other by raising their own food (crops and animals) and maintaining the farm equipment and the buildings. They went to school and church on the property until they entered high school. The administrative leadership was strong, moral and fair. His story is not a nostalgic rendition of the experience. It is a very objective assessment of the benefits he received from growing up on this particular 1500 acre farm orphanage.

Rating:
Summary: Valuable Childhood Lessons
Review: This review is in response to the Booklist one above. In The Home, McKenzie makes a case in favor of orphanages as opposed to foster homes based on his own experiences. He points out that The Home is his story and was not intended to speak for all orphans. This book shows how people have choices in life - they can choose to use what they are dealt for them or against them. The stories that McKenzie relates illustrate how he learned valuable life lessons during his childhood, which ultimately contributed to his present success. Although some of the stories in the book made me cry, I thorougly enjoyed reading it. I feel like The Home gives readers a peek into McKenzie's soul. Truly inspirational, very interesting, and it makes you re-evaluate your own childhood!