How a Boston boy found himself in Texas.
Trigger Warning: there is mental illness, suicide, sexual assault and murder in this book. Other than that, it's a TMI, joyous romp through my first 20 or so years of life.
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About the Author
Christopher John Chuter — born Christopher John McKeon — is a father, former NASA engineer, inventor, and the developer of video games you've likely used to ignore your own family. He wrote this book to explain his chaotic past to his two sons. He now realizes this was probably a huge mistake and that a simple "the stork brought me" would have been much easier on everyone. Sorry, boys.
In "Unaccompanied Minor," Christopher shares his upbringing in foster care from age 7-21, culminating in a scavenger hunt search for his artistic birth mother, Margery Lee McKeon (who took the cover photo).
When he's not writing, Christopher enjoys watching his boys play sports, running ridiculously long distances, and perfecting the ultimate beer and pizza pairing. His goal with this book is simple: to figure out if he was the problem all along. (Spoiler: it's a tie)
For twenty years, Christopher John Chuter's past was a box of weird letters and pretty drawings from a mother he couldn't remember. He was fine with that. But when a call from Boston turns his life upside down, he finds himself on a scavenger hunt he never signed up for.
What follows is a funny, poignant, and deeply human quest to find a woman who is more myth than mother, and in the process, to discover that sometimes the family you find is just as important as the one you were born into.
An impromptu flight with no RSVP
Shuffling from family to family is easy
OK, maybe not so easy
I was wrong it is easy, it just costs money
Granny has a plan
Chicken fried steak is not optional
Featuring four furry fuzz-balls
Not an invitation to Hogwarts
Time for school
No posters on this kid's wall
Still not an invite to Hogwarts
A Boston accent arrives
Flight number 2, this time with RSVPs
Are you considering adopting a child, were you adopted, did you give up a child for adoption, or did you grow up in foster care? Were you once a child? Then this memoir is for you.
This sample is the opening of "Unaccompanied Minor," covering Christopher's impromptu travel from Boston to Texas.
Read The First Chapter
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