Endorsements
“The moment I read the first page, I was crying I couldn't put the book down. . . I am deeply humbled by this story. I hope it will change the lives of millions of people.It has mine.”
—Brian Littrell , Recording Artist, Member of the Backstreet Boys
This is a great book that reminds me personally of God’s love. I cried real tears reading this, it is a must read.
--Dave Ramsey, New York Times Best Selling Author, The Total Money Makeover
Before you sit down to read Castaway Kid by Rob Mitchell, I would suggest that you obtain a box of tissues. This compelling story grabs from the first page and helps you to understand what real loneliness and rejection feel like. More importantly it puts into perspective the most important things in life, such as a relationship with God. This is a splendid example of how the hand of God can heal all wounds and boost us toward the goal of realizing our innate potential. When you finish this book, you will be ready to put down the tissue and pick up your conqueror’s helmet.”
--Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and author of Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
This is a remarkable work of contemporary literature that quickly gets inside the readers’ head then heart. The book starts out as a little boy’s struggle with abandonment but quickly becomes the readers’ own struggle with universal themes of loneliness, fear, rejection, anger, bitterness and how to forgive others and ourselves.
--Dottie Hoots, English educator, Wesleyan Academy, High Point, NC
“A powerful, compelling message that points to the unimaginable grace of our Heavenly Father.”
--Dan T. Cathy, President and COO, Chick-fil-A, Inc.
“In an era espousing “self esteem,” Rob Mitchell points out with actual experience how badly all of us need God’s help in our lives and endeavors. An important read!”
--Ben Edwards, Retired Chairman, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.
Castaway Kid is an emotionally engaging, thought provoking, and spiritually uplifting story that follows a child's journey from abandonment at an orphanage, through childhood, and into maturity. It explores the power of unconditional love and the process of forgiveness that allows hope to enter into even the most extreme life struggles.
Woven into the tapestry of this life are three love stories—the unconditional and constant love of an impoverished grandmother, the caring and gentle love of a no-nonsense dorm mother, and eventually the love of a southern belle who disregards the young man's past and brings him into their future.
The fast pace and cliff hanging chapters often carry the reader into deep emotional waters without giving them time to raise their defenses. Common comments are “It is unlike any book I have ever read” and “I have never before felt so many different emotions reading one story.”
Few can relate to the circumstances of growing up in an orphanage, but numerous women, men, and teenagers with whom the author has shared his story have told how they have experienced similar emotional issues in their own lives. All seem to relate to times when they have felt angry, deceived, frustrated, lonely, unloved, unwanted, and sometimes overwhelmed by other people’s actions. They also seem to express a near-universal longing for assurance that even in the most distressing circumstances we can find hope as we search for the purpose and meaning of our lives.
Castaway Kid is a book that offers such hope. Not only does it need to be read, Castaway Kid should also be given as a gift to others who need to know that, no matter how severe, the pains of the past and present don't have to determine the path of the future
-- Barbara Winslow Robidoux, Freelance book reviewer