A CHANCE IN THE WORLD: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past… (2024)

I met Steve when I was 17 years old with a desire to attend Boston College. He sacrificed leaving work on Valentine's Day to wait for me to arrive on campus and ask any final questions. I was late, but he still stayed. He understood me as an inner city kid looking for a way to better myself and turn the tide of family failures to successes. That is exactly what his book is about.

Steve's story is about the determination he showed, despite the abuse, disappointments, and setbacks. His story as a bi-racial child without a family to call is own is heartwrenching. His honesty showed throughout the course of the book. There are times in which I had to put it down because I was so moved. Hopefully his story will better inform the public not only of the injustices of the world of foster care, but also the many shortcomings of society regarding the care of its members.

This is the memoir of a terrible life, of a boy who should never have made it in the world. The product of two very dysfunctional parents, sent to a terrible foster home, denied not only a normal childhood, but food and hope, Steve Pemberton should have turned to drugs and an early incarceration or death. That he turned out a stable man with a family, and education, and good job is testement not only to his fortitude, but to the strange working of our genes. The book is a harrowing read for the first quarter and then suffers for a lack of good editing. The chapters on trying to reconnect with siblings he never knew he had is too long and should have been cut down to the essentials, An interesting read, all the same, and a terrible indictment to out social services and foster care system.

WHAT I LIKED:
Steve Pemberton shares the story of his horrific youth in foster care and how he overcame those circ*mstances. Very powerful story

I recognize almost all the places and even some of the names mentioned. Pretty cool!

My favorite part is when he searches for his birth family. I won't go into spoiler details but it is certainly a roller coaster with ups and downs.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
I found the writing style difficult to deal with. I'm not a big fan of narrative, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, and this writing style is probably why. There are too many descriptions of unnecessary and inconsequential things. I don't really care that someone walking along the street was wearing white sneakers that were slightly scuffed on one side. I ended up skimming over pages at a time so I could get the overall idea but skip over all the superfluous details.

This book was hard to read because of all the abuse Steve had to suffer at the hands of horrible people. It makes me wonder if the foster care system is any better now. I loved that the author came out of this experience better, not bitter. So many people use a difficult past as an excuse for bad behavior and failure. Steve Pemberton did exactly the opposite. He used his experience to create change and success in his life.

I would have liked to read less about the arduous attempts to contact siblings and family and more about his life and success now. That would be my only suggestion for making the book better.

A Chance in the World is a book an orphan named Steve, and what he had to go through as a child and through out his life being an orphan. As a child, Steve was put in an awful home, where he was beaten and yelled at. Life there was horrible for him. He lived there for most of his childhood and while he did, he was, whipped, burned, slapped, and almost shot on a "hunting accident". It took him until he was 17 years old until he was let out of the horrible home. Afterwards it talks about how he was able to go to college and how he tries to find his family. He believed that everyone belonged to someone. Today he is a happily living man who has a family and a job. This book show that no matter where you come from, or what has happened to you, that you always will have "a chance in the world". I thought that this book was great and every one should read it, even though it might seem gruesome or scary at times. We should all know what its like to go through this and how some people have to live.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Steve Pemberton, as he gave the keynote speech at the National Partnership for Educational Access conference in Boston, which is also where I got the book. The book is a little hard to read at times, only because of the serious abuse Steve endures as a kid. How he made it through his childhood is unbelievable, but he does and his story is one everyone should read. I was stunned at the failures of the foster care system detailed in this book, but also relieved that there were so many good people in Steve's life who wanted to help him get to college and succeed. Definitely a good read for anyone in education, or anyone who is just looking for an inspirational story.

A heartbreaking memoir chronicling the life of a young boy's experiences in the foster care system in Massachusetts, his search for his birth family, and the obstacles he encounters along the way. No child should have to live through what Steve did, and it sounds like his experiences are not atypical, which should be a call to arms for everyone in the social services and justice system. The memoir would have benefitted from some tighter editing, however. Steve's story is so powerful, yet sometimes gets bogged down in distracting details.

A captivating memoir about a biracial child who survives the terrifying experiences of foster care in Massachusetts. His remarkable resilience, survival, faith in God and search for personal identity make this a must read for anyone working in public service.

A hard and brutal read, but worth every effort

Excellent memoir about a childhood in foster care, living with abuse and finally creating a regular life as an adult once he was able to get into college and get away from the abusive foster family. It shows the pain of childhood trauma and the neglect of social service agencies who may know about foster care abuse but have trouble getting the child out...

I was very impressed by the man's resilience and his post-traumatic growth in eventually seeking birth family members....

This book has much in common with Tara Westover's book Educated.

This story is honest, raw, heartbreaking, and full of resilience. This author has shared his story and I’m grateful he did. Through inner strength, love of reading, and prayer...being ‘seen’ by a few caring people, he did rise up and work through a most difficult childhood. Amazing man - excellent writing. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a powerful read. There are difficult parts to read, particularly the author’s childhood, but the book is an over-arching story of resilience and perseverance. I appreciated the author’s frankness in taking us with him on his self-discovery of his past and how it both impacted both his current and eventually, future, views. This book also makes you see the depths of hardship so many in society go through.

An eye-opening book about S. Pemberton’s experience through the foster care system and perhaps more significantly, his journey in uncovering his history and establishing his sense of self & family. His writing style made me feel like we were in a long conversation, and I oftentimes had to remind myself that I was reading about someone’s lived experiences and not a fictional story. Lots to admire about his resilience, grit, intelligence, and determination!

Steve Pemberton is worthy of admiration. He was dealt all the wrong cards to start life with, but has fought, struggled and persevered his way to a good life! This was a good read!

9 in 2022 and 88 in 2021: A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home by Steve Pemberton.

Just finishred reading it a second time and more slowly this time, as we read it in a small group book study in the community in anticipation of Steve Pemberton's visit on March 1. I cannot wait to meet him and compliment him on this very important and very well-written personal history. Putting all of these details into words on the pages had to have been an extremely cathartic process. He is a strong, smart, sensitive, humble, and honest, not to mention talented storyteller from my perspective. I also really enjoyed reading it this time with others; there was rich discussion every week!

This is a wonderfully written and TRUE story of hope and love and family as told by one who had to work so much of his life to find those basic needs met in his own life. Steve Klakowicz was orphaned at a very young age and sent into the foster care system to two families--one short-term and then one very long-term--who did not truly "care" for him as they were charged or as he needed.

Thank goodness for others in his life--teachers, neighbors, kind strangers--he never stopped believing in the value of his own life or believed those families' assertions that his life mattered not at all. Of course I am especially pleased with Mrs. Levin giving him early on the gift of books and the love of reading, of seeing him and believing in him all along, while not even knowing until much, much--years and years--later (after this book was written and published) how significant her impact on Steve Pemberton's life.

Pemberton's quest throughout much of the book to put together his own life story, fill in the gaps of his parents and family is heart-wrenching but completely heart-warming at the same time, as he truly had built a life for himself despite what others who should have never did for him. Somehow he gained faith and hope and love and compassion while never having had it modeled well for him. He could have become angry, bitter, distant...and instead became the best father his three children could have ever hoped for. At age 6, his eldest son asks him, "When you were a little boy, did you have a daddy?" And it seems that that might be the start of THIS story, rather than its end, for while Pemberton did not, ever, have a daddy as a young boy, he became a tremendous one. And while none of the men who stepped in when Pemberton needed them to were his "daddy" but moreso "fathers" when he absolutely needed one, Pemberton figured out what a good daddy would do and be...and has been that for his children.

This is just my first read of this book, and I am very excited to be taking the reading of it "on the road" with a community book study, as it is our high school's "one book, one school" read these next couple of months, and I am excited to bring Pemberton's story into the hearts and minds of others who will gain from learning about him.

"Like untold numbers of African American children, I had been consciously discarded by a man who seemed to define manhood by everything except being present for his son. That decision and its repercussions had blown across time, like tumbleweed in an arid desert. Immeasurable voids and endless questions are often created when a father deliberately abandons his child. Far too often, those empty spaces are filled by opportunists who see that vulnerability as something to exploit. In my case, it had been a cold and calculating foster family."

One of the toughest books I have read in a long time A Chance in the World is about willpower, survival, redemption, and, at its core, faith. A product of our foster care system, this is the memoir of Steve Pemberton née Klacowicz, who defied all odds to graduate from Boston College and become a successful business leader. This novel should be required reading for every aspiring social worker, ER employee, teacher, and neighbor. Despite a system that failed him time and time again, Steve learned early on that education would be his way out thanks to the boxes of secondhand books passed down to him by a neighbor and read in secret. From his early years to his quest to discover his birth family, Steve describes in great detail the struggles and impact of growing up unwanted without a chance in the world.

Despite his circ*mstances, Steve is clearly grateful to those who counseled and supported him, and it's nice he tells us at the end where and how he reconnected with many of those beacons of light.

An engaging public speaker, Steve recently spoke at an industry conference I attended. I literally walked away with goosebumps thinking this man is destined for more. What I didn't know at the time was a story recalled in his memoir in which a mentor said "God is not finished with you yet." God most certainly has more in store for Steve Pemberton.

I wish I had remembered to review this in October when I read it... I sped through it on a family vacation.

This is Steve Pemberton's heartbreaking story of the abuse he suffered in foster care. A few good people made a real difference in his life, and he was able to survive this terrible situation.

What he went through makes me wish I could be like the lady who dropped off books, or some other wonderful person who made a real difference (without even setting out to do so).

It's sad that there is not better oversight of the foster care system and that it appears that finding a loving foster family is uncommon. We can hope that because bad news is what makes news, that maybe there are lovely families serving as foster parents because they want to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children, and that a story like this is the exception and not the rule.

To me that is the best definition of underprivileged... I mean not having your own family... not enough food or clothes or a great place to live is horrible, but not having parents who take care of you and love you is the worst! I am so thankful for my strong belief in a Heavenly Father who loves each of us and will some day make it up to those who have suffered so in this world. There will be peace, justice, and abundant love.

Beautifully Told

This book tells the heart-wrenching, true story of Steve Pemberton, an orphan who experienced a horrific childhood in the hands of the most vile and despicable foster parents, and his search for a place in the world by finding out who his biological parents, and the miracle of not just surviving these terrible years in the foster care system, but managing to put himself through college and becoming a CEO. I chose to read this book after Mr Pemberton appeared on the Steve Harvey show and briefly told his story. I found him fascinating and I had to get his book. To be taken through those years with him was both gut-wrenching and inspirational. His writing was beautifully done and I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. From day one, young Steve maneuvered his way through the foster care system with grace, eloquence and the kind of control you only see in the strongest adult. His descriptions throughout were vivid, and I could envision them all. I am quite sure we will see more books by Steve Pemberton. Truly worth the read.

The first section detailing Steve’s childhood in an abusive foster home was absolutely captivating. I couldn’t put the book down until I finished this section and I lost a bit of sleep from all the emotions it stirred up. From there, the book loses steam (and Goodreads stars) and seems more like a document written more for his children and wife, than for the general reader. It’s a very Christian book, so if you’re into that, you’ll probably cherish this story. I get fairly disinterested when people keep relying on messages of faith — it’s just not for me. I worry that some readers might find a “pull yourselves up by the bootstraps” mentality reinforced by this story, but one could also find the message of how systems fail children and how small acts of kindness from adults can make all the difference in a suffering child’s life.

I had the pleasure of watching Steve give a keynote speech and he had the whole audience, myself included, in tears. Wonderful speaker.

Harrowing, mesmerizing, and thought-provoking, this rapidly devoured memoir goes toe-to-toe with Dickens in its unforgettable depiction of a hellish childhood endured and overcome. It is an eloquent and engrossing testament to the indefatigability of the human spirit at even the youngest age, as well as the power of literature to serve as a lifeline to those drowning in sadism. It portrays the invaluable kindnesses of individuals while also exposing the struggles of well-intentioned but ultimately unwieldy institutions to safeguard the most vulnerable in our society. The cliche is too often deployed in countless book reviews, but in this case it is entirely applicable: you open this book, you will not be able to put it down.

More importantly, you will come out better for having read it.

As a current foster parent, I am horrified and humbled by Steve’s experience in the 70s and 80s with the foster care system. I, like so many others, strive so hard to change the stigma of foster parents being abusive and unloving - because that’s the complete opposite of who I am and what I do. The foster care system has made great strides in the last 20 years, but it still has a long way to go.

Reading this book made me want to leap through the pages and give Steve the biggest hug imaginable. It also made me want to bring justice to his former foster parents (thankfully, I believe they have both passed). As someone who works in the education field, I truly appreciated reading about a brave soul who found a light in the darkness through academics. Steve’s will to live and give back is a grace that only many of us can dream about having.

4.5 orphaned as a 3-year child; abandoned and abused for years while in the foster care system of my hometown, New Bedford, MA, Steven Pemberton is a man I will never forget. His struggles seemed insurmountable yet despite the turbulence and violence of his youth, he turned all that tragedy into triumph. His journey is far from over. In fact He recently withdrew his primary candidacy bid for US Senator from MA finding it impossible to unseat Markey’s incumbency and Joe Kennedy entering that primary race. Though so many failed him, he writes about the people who “saw” him, encouraged and inspired him. You could feel how they imprint on his heart, his mind and his soul.
I never would have read his story if it were not for my cousins, also natives of New Bedford! Thank you for steering me here!

A compelling read, but one that does not make connections to the larger world/context in which it exists. The author makes several negative comments about the difficulty and weight of the choices people in his life faced when deciding how to handle his case or to help him, but he never makes suggestions for improvement or positive change. It's not for me to judge a person's life choices, but I do wonder why Steve chose not to foster or adopt. I can't be the only reader who felt this way - yet another missed opportunity to address "the system" as it currently stands.

I am in love with this writer . I love this book because it makes you think about what children go through in foster care. I had to watch the movie as well when I started to read the book. I was so sad and angry at the awful things the foster families did to him. The movie and book made me cry so much . I hope that people will read this book so they can realize what is happening in foster care systems. We need to do more for the children that are growing in foster care systems. I was happy that the book had a happy but sad ending.

I'm so angry. I'm sure not everyone in the foster care system has experienced Steve's story, but 1 is 1 too many. It makes me want to better understand what kinds of reform is happening (or not happening). I also would like to understand how people like the Robinson's aren't criminally prosecuted. People have been thrown in jail for way lesser offenses. Everyone deserves a right to basic human decency.

I picked this book up on a whim at the public library and I’m so glad I did. I couldn’t put it down. The abuse from his foster family was sickening, but his overcoming of it was amazing! His story is the perfect example of how your circ*mstances don’t define you and your past doesn’t predict your future!

His story is heart wrenching yet allows us readers to gain empathy and perspective through his memoir. I am amazed at how much Mr. Pemberton endured and how he was able to come out the other end of his horrific childhood as a successful and loving person. He truly inspires me to be a kinder person and educator. My real wish is that his book brings positive reform to the foster care system.

Inspiring! Making me want to be more aware of my surroundings and plant seeds where I can.

"A society grows great when we plant trees in whose shade we know we shall never sit."

Due to Steve Pemberton being a local boy and my daughter's praise, I was excited to start this book. While reading it, I had the opportunity to see the movie and meet Mr. Pemberton. It was an incredible experience. Bittersweet, soul-crushing, you will rise with him on his remarkable journey. Read the book, see the movie — either way, bring a box of tissue as you travel with him. You will not be disappointed.

Steve’s story is so heartbreaking, I shed a few tears while reading it. It’s so sad how a system designed to protect children is the main thing that often fails them. I’m glad Steve had some people who actually cared for him outside of his foster family. He grew to become a positive, productive citizen proving that your past does not define you.

I didn’t really care for the writing because it came across as an informal essay rather than a personal memoir. Still worth reading.