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Joshua Gray’s raw and unflinching memoir chronicles a childhood in North Carolina defined by displacement, family complexity, and unaddressed trauma. Known as Frog, Gray navigates a landscape where early violations and systemic silence—both within his community and the church—shape his perceptions of masculinity and identity. After a devastating vehicular assault on his mother leaves him as the guardian of his younger sisters, Gray is thrust into a world of premature responsibility, street politics, and survival-mode living. The narrative moves through the gritty realities of the 'Creek' neighborhood, where loyalty and respect are the only currencies, and Gray eventually spirals into homelessness and crime. Rather than a standard redemption arc, this is a profound meditation on the hidden architecture of a survivor's nervous system. It explores the high cost of hyper-vigilance and the transformative power of finally naming one's wounds to break cycles of generational pain, offering an honest look at the long, non-linear journey toward reclaiming a stolen identity. Comparable works include Between the World and Me