Book Review - Sorrowed Souls by Brenda Youngerman

What would you do if you woke up on the streets and couldn’t remember who you were and how you got there? That is what Bryan wakes up to in Brenda Youngerman’s Sorrowed Souls. In Sorrowed Souls Bryan wakes up on the street and Gus, the “sheriff” of the street people takes him under his wing. Youngerman takes our rose colored glasses off and gives a real-life look at what life on the streets is like. She goes a step further by showing us what transpired in the life of these people that lead them to become lost and homeless. Youngerman writes such an amazingly real story that I kept having to remind myself this is fiction. That is the mark of a truly gifted writer. She opens your eyes and makes you see street people in a whole new way. I work in a place where I pass homeless people and pan handlers several times during the day. My hear goes out to most of them, but occasionally I come across one that doesn’t look obviously homeless, in fact they look like high school or college students that are looking to make a few bucks off the generousity of others. Having many homeless in our area that truly need help and goodwill from their fellow man, it always makes me angry to see the posers. After reading this book, I feel guilty about that, because I don’t know their story and I shouldn’t make assumptions based on appearance. Sorrowed Souls is aptly titled. It is a book filled with sorrow. It is the story of people who grow up unwanted and unloved and how they deal with and sometimes don’t deal with life. It reminds us that any of us could be the one to wake up on the street. It reminds us to look past the outer appearance. It reminds us that we are not always the architects of our own lives and yet at the same time every decision we make carries with it a consequence. Youngerman’s book is sad and heart wrenching. It is not an easy book to read and yet it is so well written and so compelling it is a book everyone should read. We all want to read the happy books, the adventures, the love stories and we often shy away from those that make us think and open our eyes to the world around us. We want the warm fuzzy and feel good books. Amidst the darkness in this book there is light and at the end you are left with a sense of hope, but it is a hard journey. A journey many will shy away from because it’s not easy, and that is the very reason this book is a must read. It opens your mind to the human condition and the harsh realities of the world around us. The most amazing thing to me about the way Youngerman writes is that there is no judgment. Again this is one of her gifts. As humans it is our nature to judge and it’s something that permeates everything we do. To write a compelling and honest look at people society wants to forget without placing any type of judgment on those characters sets a beautiful example for us all. This book gets five out of five life lessons.

This book was provided by the author and will be given to one lucky commenter.