Portrait of a Troubled Child

Looking back to 1964, the Girty family appeared to be a typical lower-middle-class Detroit family, with two hardworking parents and three children living in the home. The family went to church every Sunday, sat down together regularly for family dinners, and taught the children to be well-mannered and respectful. However, behind the doors of the Girty household was a pieced-together family with disciplinary tactics that, at age twelve, youngest son Curtis did not like or understand. As a result, he began to use drugs and alcohol as a pacifier to help him both tolerate and escape his family situation. Now, in his compelling and honest memoir, he reveals the powerful story of his struggle through and back from addiction.