Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful !!!!
Review: This was possibly the BEST book I have ever read. We always think our problems are big until we hear what other people go through. Fish should be proud of who he is and what he has become. I'm sure his life lessons could teach everyone how to be a better person and a better parent. Fish, I would love to met you one day.
Rating: 
Summary: Heart felt story..
Review: I read this book after seeing the motion picture starring Denzel Washington. I do believe seeing the movie first biased my opinion of the book. Finding Fish is an excellent protrayal into the life of Antwone Fisher. It takes you from his conception to his adulthood. The story is about a little boy who lives in the system of foster care. Throughtout Antwoine's life, he faces my obstacles, trials, hardships, and triumphs. He is placed with every foster child's nightmare. His foster mother doesn't know how to love, therefore she instills hate, anger, and confusion into her foster children. This story takes you through the day-to-day hell of being an abused foster child. It is told from the perspective of the child which helps you see the intricate details Antwone faces. The story ends with Antwone find himself "Finding Fish". I enjoyed the novel; however, I enjoyed the movie more. It was good to read a true story that ended in triumph despite the trials. Sister 2 Sister Book Club- Joy Fitzgerald
Rating:
Summary: Of redeeming value and uncompromising faith...
Review: Every so often a new voice emerges to give credence to circumstances so compelling that it warrants a closer look at what brings situations so vividly to life in the maps of minds that a reader will want to stop what they're doing and look it up...as if longitude and latitude could explain the magic of real life drama. But when told with such force and determination, you readily realize that it is still part of the fabric that weaves social intercourse a strident discourse in what needs to be done for amends. Antwone Fisher's story is just that kind of situation. Finding Fish, the book, is a rocky-style saga about personal triumph and overcoming improbable odds. It deals with trauma, and what can happen when governing bodies have jurisdiction over, and legislate a child's safe passage to unaccredited receivership. Foster home care for all the good that it embodies comes with inherent problems that cause havoc for receipents who're forced to carry the baggage and suffer the consequences. Overcoming a troubled past, righting wrongs, and being able to discuss it without inhibitions are truly challenges that compelled the author to shed light on his story. From the beginning this novel will have you spellbound, if not appalled at how adversity can subvert the best laid plans to go awry. Save for a few lapses into lumbering sentimentality, this is an uncommonly tough and poignant underdog story told undoubted by Mr. Fisher with intrepidation. How can a story like this be told without first conquering the past before being able to confront the future? A set of unfortunate circumstances set the stage here: His father was killed by a gunshot blast shortly before he was born in 1959; His young adlescent mother couldn't handle the pressure at 17 in raising a son, so she gave him up to adoption; and once in the system, he had to deal with a foster parents' relentless binges of cruelty, both mental and physical. The gist of the story gives it insulation against what I feel would be disgust and anger when read for its full impact...and this is where the author writes from the heart, capturing the loneliness and sorrow of a dismal childhood and his determination and resolve to rise above it. A book written like this should have no problem in keeping readers fully engaged and hopeful for a good ending. In his later teen years he find solace in the Navy where he becomes a man, taking advantage of the discipline and tenets that would become his saving grace. Descriptive books like this rarely find one not being able to empathize and be sympathetic to the other vices common to this story. I speak of religious hypocrisy, sex abuse at the hands of various female caretakers, and emotional instability. The fact that Antwone first experienced the N word so early in life didn't make him immune to the injustices of self-esteem as he grew older and endeavored to bring levity and light to his dark world. As I read this book, I did much more than root for the underdog -- I purposed in my mind that somehow there must be a way for all foster care children to seek ways to not let it steal hope, and that I'd take a second look at why and to whom I mentor. I wanted a happy ending as I approached epilog, for this I know, was a story that needed to be told. You will want to read this book and be reminded that for every homeless child, for every misplaced child treated as wards of the state as it pertain to foster care, or anything close to that which is an anathema of our society for the betterment of safe havens for them, sanctity should be given alll of your attention for the good of well-intended hope. Buy this book, read it, and be responsive to those that may share the same plight as one, Antwone Fisher did.
Rating:
Summary: An Abandoned Child¿s Relentless Determination to Survive
Review: "Finding Fish" is the unforgettable autobiography of Antwone Quenton Fisher, who triumphed from the perils of being abandoned by his mother, followed by years of unbelievably excessive and unwarranted child abuse. Skillfully crafted with lifelike imagery, Antwone Fisher shares an "untold story" revealing all the horrors, challenges and complexities he encountered as an unwanted foster child. A haunting tale that would have broken the spirit of a lesser man, "Finding Fish" is compelling, suspenseful, imaginative and sometimes chilling, but is robust with intrigue and unpredictable humor. If you liked the screen adaptation of this sensational novel......"The Antwone Fisher Story"... heralded as "The Emotional Event of the Year", you will absolutely love "Finding Fish"! Written with great courage and startling compassion, "Finding Fish" stretches the imagination and often compels the reader to sit up, take notice and ponder about aspects of his or her own childhood, long after putting the novel down. Brilliantly cinematic, the three-dimensional characters come to life in a manner that engages every aspect of your emotions. "Finding Fish" explores with passion and intensity a beautiful story that no reader will be able to resist. This is exceptional storytelling that is not undermined by predicting what will happen next. A definite must read!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book on human strength and frailty
Review: I read this book yesterday at one go and it left me feeling sad but not surprised. This kid lost his dad before he was born and his moms right afterwards. What impressed me most about this book was the author's sense of compassion for most of those responsible for his being born on this earth and being put into foster care. I am not a sentimental person as a rule but the scene with him meeting his mother at the end was very moving. I suspect this book would have had an even wider audience had the writer not been exposed to such a craven example of religious hypocrisy in the form of his god praising and child-hating foster mom. She was thought of as a good churchgoing lady by the community, but she was a wicked liar and thief. Don't look for a comforting message of faith in this book. You will be impressed by this awesome look at one man's personal strength and determination in the face of horrifying obstacles. I have been a ward of the state and know the feeling of not having a real family, of borrowing someone else's, and know that this 'fictive kinship' is no substitute for the real thing. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: This was one of the best books i have read in a long time. I read it before i even knew that a movie was being made, and now i am very excited to go see that movie. i couldn't put the book down it was so good. i highly reccomend you read this book before you see the movie. it is an awesome book.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: I want to encourage all of you to read Finding Fish. Antown's story is one that offers great insight, is poignant, illustrates forgiveness and gives hope. Moreover, we need to shed light onto the foster care system and expose it for what it is. A while back Antwone and I were on National Public Radio together talking about our respective foster care experiences, which were both in Cleveland. We have a lot in common. I am profoundly grateful that his book is so widely read and thrilled about the movie just now out. I wish him every due success and only wish that all foster care survivors can someday expererience the love, success and share the courage that Antowne has exhibited. Dr. John R. Seita
Author Kids Who Outwit Adults
God Is In the Kitchen
Rating:
Summary: A Spectacular Memoir
Review: This memoir took me through a lot of emotions as I read it over the course of three days. I appreciated my upbringing much more at the end of the book and I was hardly given a bed of roses. I am disheartened at the reviewers who didnt like this book because they felt as if Fisher didnt endure as much as many other children in the foster care system. That's exactly what made the book so compelling. Mental abuse over a long period of time can be just as devastating as physical abuse. Yes, there are kids who turn out worse or who may have had it harder bouncing from place to place but Antwone's story is incredible. He was broken down mentally and spiritually but he still endured. His story is simple but it's so powerful at the same time. Immediately after finishing his memoir I knew right away that it is a book that I would recommend to the young men in my mentor program. This insightful book is a great read, especially for young black men living in 2002 who think that the world owes them something. I am truly inspired by Antwone Fisher's work.
Mister Mann Frisby
Author of "Blinking Red Light"
Rating:
Summary: Really Insightful
Review: I am from Cleveland, too. I grew up in the foster care system in Cleveland, too. I was on an National Public Radio (NPR) talkshow with Antowne recently and found him to be genuine and wise about his experiences. In fact, I suspect that he and I had some of the same caseworkers in Cleveland. I too wrote books about my experience in foster care. I am going to suggest that you read my books as well: Kids Who Outwit Adults, God Is In The Kitchen and Other Everyday Miracles and In Whose Best Interest. BTW, I saw where another reviewer recommended my books. I am grateful for that, but I disagree with his assessment of Finding Fish, which is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Inspirational Book!
Review: Finding Fish is a real "page turner". A friend of mine gave me the book and said, "You gotta read it". Although I was a sheltered child, it was difficult for me to relate to his childhood. It was disturbing and painful and it even made me cry. At one point the tears would not stop flowing, but yet I continued to read because I had to know what would happen next. With all of that, there was still humor and laughter in his journey. Antwone Fisher is truly a SURVIVOR, making it against the odds.
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