Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found

by Jennifer Lauck

Book Overview

With the startling emotional immediacy of a fractured family photo album, Jennifer Lauck's incandescent memoir is the story of an ordinary girl growing up at the turn of the 1970s and the truly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671042556
• ISBN13: 9780671042554
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

It was not believeable..too much feeling sorry for herself. Needed more family history...I didn't e

Had me standing and cheering for her at the end!

After seeing Jennifer Lauck on Oprah I began my search for this book. Once in hand, I read it in a period of 14 hours almost right through since I was unable to put it down, and unable to stop my tears. How desperately I wanted to take this poor child in my arms and hold her forever. It brought great comfort to remember her on Oprah...that she has survived, but even so I had to keep flipping to the back cover to see her smiling face to assure myself that her suffering is over now. I became so angry at society - I am sure there were many opportunities for adults to notice this child and her situation, but no one helped. This book reminded me of my own childhood pain, and helps me to perfect some of my parenting skills, and I truly hope that this book will serve the ultimate purpose and awaken us to the plight of children. Jennifer's story is heartbreaking, but she is not alone in a world that still largely minimizes children. Thank you dear sweet Jennifer for telling your story, and I truly hope that your words reverberate throughout the world as they allow insight into lonliness, grief, rejection and abandonment as seen through the eyes of a child. I tremendously look forward to the sequel.

Life is a gift ~ use it wisely!

Blackbird proves that no matter how much pain a child or young adult endures, if they're strong enough it is possible to grow up to lead a well balanced and productive life. All too often, with the help of psychologists and therapists, adults blame their lack of success in life on their parents. We are all so busy spending so much time blaming others, we fail to reach our potential.Jennifer Lauck, the author of Blackbird, suffered greatly and uses her childhood experiences to tell a spellbinding and heart-rending story of the loss of innocence and survival. It is amazing that a 6 year old child could not only survive the pain that was inflicted on her, but rise above it and tell her story to the entire world.The writing style is unique. Written in the perspective of 6 yr old Lauck, the story tells everything from the kitchen counter down. Some passages and thoughts are totally random and Lauck goes into great detail about the strangest subjects... just like the mind of a 6 yr old. I think this is one reasons I like the book so much. Lauck was able to capture and describe the way a child thinks and views the world in an incredible way. I look forward to reading the follow-up to Blackbird. I am concerned for lauck's brother B.J./Bryan. Lauck describes his deeply burried anger throughout the book, and I fear for his ability to cope with that anger later in life.

Absolutely could not put it down!

I was up until 4 a.m. finishing Jennifer Lauck's gripping story of her childhood. The pages seemed to turn themselves as I followed the early loss of her tenderhearted mother, her panicky father's remarriage, and her experiences at the hands of a neurotic stepmother. What makes this debut all the more impressive is Lauck's clear and compelling prose style. Early in the book, the childlike tone seems potentially grating, but the reader is quickly drawn under Lauck's spell as that voice rapidly hardens and matures in the face of a tough life. More important, there's an astonishing lack of self-pity that makes the story all the more chilling. This is not one of those horrifying stories of child abuse and molestation that, no matter how shocking, we like to think of as happening on the fringes of society. Instead, this is a straightforward recounting of life's circumstantial horrors, namely what happens to children when the people who are supposed to take care of them die and there's no one to take the adults' places. It seems too easy (and unfair) to compare her to Mary Karr, but Lauck displays the same surefootedness and narrative tautness that kept readers of "The Liars Club" enthralled. The only happy ending is her smiling author photo, and I don't know if I could have gone to sleep as dawn approached except that her acknowledgements thanked a husband and son for an unconditional love that she thought she'd never feel again.I'm thankful for Jennifer Lauck's happy adult life (and I feel the need after this glowing review to say that I don't know the woman at all), and I'm thankful as well for the talents that allowed her to turn an incredibly painful childhood into a gripping piece of literature.

Very harrowing, very well written

I just finished this book 10 minutes ago...I read it very quickly because I had to find out what happened to Jennifer. This is a very well-written book. It is very harrowing and made me very mad that no adults came through to help Jennifer and her brother. I can only wonder how Jennifer made it through to where she is now. If I could do anything this minute it would be to call the author on the phone and find out what happened to her in the ensuing years. On the back fly leaf of the book it says that she is at work on a sequel, I will be anxiously awaiting her next book. I am awestruck by her ability to thrive under the circumstances she grew up in. This book will stay with me forever for many reasons. It is truely amazing. Read it.