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  • Don't Call Me Jupiter - Book One "Tightrope": Memoir of a Reluctant Hippie Kid by Tom J. Bross book cover
  • Don't Call Me Jupiter - Book One "Tightrope": Memoir of a Reluctant Hippie Kid by Tom J. Bross book cover
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Don't Call Me Jupiter - Book One "Tightrope": Memoir of a Reluctant Hippie Kid

by Tom J. Bross

A childhood upended in the early 1970s

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A childhood upended in the early 1970s

Tom J. Bross’s memoir begins with his family’s public image as a model of American respectability, then turns to the upheaval that followed his mother’s second divorce. Set against a shift from conservative Catholic life to a nomadic hippie household, the account centers on instability and separation among the siblings. At 12, Bross leaves Davis, California, and returns two months later without a home; his siblings are staying with friends, while he lives in the garage of one of his mother’s former partners. This first volume, titled “Tightrope,” recounts a turbulent family period through the author’s childhood perspective.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in memoirs about family upheaval and childhood instability.
  • Readers exploring accounts of unconventional upbringing and changing family circumstances.

Themes

Family instabilityChildhood and displacementCultural changeSibling separation

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In 1962, the Bross family was the picture of American perfection, handpicked to model Dr. Sabin's oral polio vaccine for the Cincinnati Enquirer. But in 1973, everything changed.

After their mother's second divorce, Tom and his siblings are plunged into a chaotic hippie lifestyle, marked by instability, abandonment, and rampant drug use. Their transformation from conservative Catholics to freewheeling nomads is a rollercoaster of heart-wrenching drama balanced with laugh-out-loud humor that keeps you turning pages.

In the first book of the series, Tightrope, Tom, with the aid of funds from Victims of Violent Crimes, recounts his family's turbulent journey. At just 12 years old, Tom is uprooted from Davis, California, only to return homeless two months later. While his siblings are scattered among their friends' houses, Tom ends up in the garage of one of his mother's ex-lovers. But this is just the beginning of their story.

If you were captivated by the raw honesty of The Glass Castle, the unconventional upbringing in Educated, and the dark humor of I'm Glad My Mom Died, then Don't Call Me Jupiter is your next must-read.

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