Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: An inspiring, heroic, true story Review: Antoine Fisher's story is moving, gripping and inspiring. I can't think of any person who, after reading this book, would not in some way become a better person. Antoine Fisher is a hero, a mentor and an excellent writer and story teller.His story is as sad as a story can be at times. His childhood is utterly tragic and shows the evils of humanity and the shortcomings of our culture and society. Yet, throughout his misery, he maintains an inner spark that drives him through the trials he faces, one obstacle after another. This is a story of a beautiful human spirit overcoming everything thrown against it--selfish, abusive people, a system that doesn't care, anger and bitterness, violence and apathy. Finding Fish tells how a lost soul became found and flourished. It shows how the love of people can make a difference in a life. It also shows what does really matter in the end. I think Finding Fish should be required reading for all people. I am thankful to Antoine Fisher for sharing his story. The movie was good, but it does not do the true story justice--there is just too much there to put into a 2 hour movie--so read the book.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Against All Odds ! Review: In spite of being born to an incarcerated teenage mom, raised in a hellacious, dysfunctional foster home environment from the ages of 2-16, being homeless and panhandling from ages 18-20, growing up without love, or a feeling of belonging and attachment, being physically and psychologically abused, having very few people who believed in you, or supported your endeavors, or those who took the time to get to know you and listen to you...the bleak future, the seemingly endless obstacles...in spite of it all, Antwone Quenton Fisher would survive and become an even rarer statistics based upon the hand he was dealt...Fisher aka Fish would become a young AA male who makes it against all odds. Finding Fish is a depressing and disturbing read but yet its encouraging and heartwarming. Its a story that should be read by everyone as it shows that this is still America and with a little faith and belief in self we can all rise above our circumstances if we look ahead rather than looking behind us. Antwone Quenton Fisher was a statistic waiting to explode! As he said, "Statistically, given the sum of my circumstances, I was probably the most likely candidate to have ended up behind bars. But having defied statistics, my last institutional port showed me the powerful stuff of which I was made." As he tells his story he comes full circle...starting his life at birth in a correctional facility and returning his adulthood as a guard and observer, as if returning as a witness to the scene of the crime to better understand her--his mother. Fish would meet the mother that he never knew as well as members of his father's family but what was poignant and riveting was that he could tell them and the world that "he'd taken care of himself all of his life, that he'd never been in trouble with the law, that he'd never fathered children, and never done drugs or smoked a cigarette in his life". All of this coming from a child who was never invited to be a part of anyone's family/world when he was growing up. A child who was physically and psychologically scarred so bad that only when he entered the Navy would someone take an interest in him and demand more of him than he expected of himself. Finding Fish is a book that everyone can learn from. One thing that was reinforced for me as I was reading was the saying..."Without a Vision the People Perish". Fish always had a vision and that vision helped him to see beyond Cleveland; in fact his vision taunted him and taught him that he couldn't settle. In spite of it all and against all odds Fish went on to become a family man, a good provider, a strong, loving husband and father in a secure, love-filled home. Today he's living his vision with his family and good friends.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Reading Excellence Review: This was one of the best books that I have ever read. I found that the story was well told and it was fun to read. I liked how Fisher uses description to make the story more interesting. This was a great book and I would recommend you to go out and read this book if you like to read new stuff then this is the book for you. After you read the book see the movie they are very similar not like the other book, movie relationships. The movie is just like the book.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Food for many thoughts Review: "Finding Fish" is a deeply moving account of a childhood misspent, Antwone's struggle to find his true self, and finally the triumph of doing just that. It's an important book to read for foster and non-fostre families, for black and white people, for inner city and suburbian dwellers. I loved the story, and with personal experiences not much different from the ones described I could relate to the story line by line. It makes you laugh and cry, and is an inspiration from start to finish. The one thing that marred my reading experience is the intrusive, permanent presence of the editor/co-author Mim E. Rivas. I truly wish they would have let Antwone tell his story in his own raw, unedited words. As it is, the co-narrator's voice, while technically skillful, is unauthentic, flat, predictable, and manufactured in the context of the story. I don't know if that's the case or not but to me it sounds as if co-author Mim E. Rivas is a woman, and the feminine narrator's voice/style is really distracting when the story of a young boy/youth/man is being told. A big Thank You also to Denzel for picking up and giving life to this story.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Finding Fish-April 10, 2002 Review: Painful and hilarious. It only seems larger than life. The sad fact is, if you know anything about foster care, you also know Antwone Quenton Fisher has not exaggerated his story. The predatory, castrating meanness of his foster mother (you will read this book hoping you'll run in to Mizz Pickett on the street so you can teach her a lesson or two of your own); the frustratingly uninvolved "turn a blind eye," "just let me have my kool-aid" aloofness of Mr. Pickett, the foster father; the sexually abusive babysitter; the destructively negligent, hands-off handling by the social services system; and the utter defenselessness and adolescent hopelessness of Antwone -- you know it's all true because you've seen it all. And it makes you mad. "Finding Fish" is wonderful and horrific in equal parts. You know Antwone survives because he wrote the book. How he ever did it is flat out proof of miracles.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: A heart-wrenching inspiration Review: I came upon this book by chance while browsing through an airport book store. From the first page, I was hooked, as the writer opens with a narrative about his father; a father he never knew because he was shot by his mother before he was born. Fisher eloquently allows the reader to share in the horrors he experienced as a ward of the state of Ohio. With each page, one can feel the disappointments, the physical and emotional pain this child endured every day of his life. The story tells of his life in an orphange, followed by what one would believe, his salvation, in the home of his foster parents. Unfortunately, life with his foster parents resulted in a slow demise of his spirit. He endured physical, sexual, and emotional abuse on a daily basis, and grew into adulthood with an extremely low self-esteem and no self-worth. How he survived is truly miraculous. This book not only gives you insight into the child welfare system, but it carries you into the hearts of the orphaned children that the system often fails. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, make you thank God for your blessings. and make you realize just how powerful determination can be.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read Review: Finding Fish is a spellbinding, honestly written true story of a boy growing up facing all kinds of adversity. Most of it came from his cruel foster mother who inflicted physical and verbal abuse on him. Reading the things she did made me wonder how any adult could be so cruel toward an innocent child. I really felt for Antwone as I read this book. All he wanted was love and acceptance, but he never found it in his foster mother. Antwone has a deep strength that even as a child allowed him to withstand the torment he faced. I honestly don't think I would have endured the way he did if I had had his experiences. Despite what he went through in constantly being called Nigga or told he was evil or being tied up in the basement, he was always able to rise and know that he wasn't as bad as he was told he was. Antwone goes on to tell about his experiences as an adolescent and an adult. These experiences were also tough, but he was a survivor who was constantly learning how to push forward. Although I consider Antwone to be a hero and was inspired by his story, this is no sentimental, just pick yourself up by your bootstraps type of story. Antwoine had some brutal experiences and he tells you plainly about what he went through without sugarcoating anything or making his tormentors into caricatures. I'm sure his foster mother was as bad as he described her. I'm planning on buying this book (I checked it out from the library) and rereading it soon. This story touched me in a way that no other book has.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read Review: Finding Fish is a spellbinding, honestly written true story of a boy growing up with all kinds of adversity. Most of it came from his cruel foster mother who inflicted physical and verbal abuse on him. Reading some of the things she did made me wonder how someone could be so cruel to a child. I really felt for Antwone as I read this book. All he wanted was love and acceptance, but he never found it in his foster mother. Antwone has a deep inner strength that even as a child allowed him to withstand the torment he faced. I doubt that I would have survived the way he did if I had had his experiences. I plan to buy this book, reread it, and make it part of my library. This book moved me like no other book I've ever read.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: trauma and turbulation Review: This is a very well written book, with much emotion behind the story. The trauma and turbulation that this author went through is astounding.I haven't see the movie yet, but will do that very soon. thank you Mr. Fisher Also recommended: Nightmares Echo,Beauty For Ashes and Running With Scissors...all the above books are 5 star+ Danielle Morris, a fan of Memoirs
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: A Thoroughly Exhausting Read Review: After seeing Antwone Fisher in the theatre, reading the novel just does not seem to do the movie justice. The novel moves at an extremely slow pace and I just couldn't move pass the halfway point. It starts out good but then it gets extremely boring added to the fact that you just can't read but so much at a time of it. I definitely will recommend the movie over the novel. Get this book from the library because you probably will not finish it.
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