Publisher's Synopsis
IN THE SUMMER OF 1977, at the last drive-in theater, a young boy watches in awe as a small band of rebels defeats an evil empire in Star Wars. On the way home, he sees echoes of his father's post-traumatic stress from the Vietnam War, which will soon tear his family apart--and begin his own unraveling.
Remember Who You Want To Be is the epic coming-of-age tale of Roger Evans and his enduring search for meaning, family, and identity. Along the way, Roger gets guidance from his beloved grandfather, who offers both wisdom and warning:
"When a boy becomes a man, he must choose between the life he was given and who he wants to be."
Overcome with grief after a terrible tragedy strikes, Roger drops out of high school and, with "a wad of cash and the greatest car ever created," escapes with his best friend. From a small town hidden deep in the Connecticut woods to the historic Deaf President Now protest of 1988 at Gallaudet University in Washington DC, he soon finds himself torn between the emerging hope of a more perfect union and the horrific revelations of his childhood friend. Haunted by his own guilt and arrogance, Roger returns home to earn his redemption-only to discover that "the best way to build the life you want is to remember the one you were given."
From a reclusive writer worth watching comes a profound and powerful story that challenges us to endure the darkness of our despair until the light of hope rises, reaches, and, at long last, illuminates our humanity.
