Introduction

Although this book is inspired by true events, it is a work of fiction by the author. Though many of the places and events mentioned are real, the characters do not represent specific individuals. This story is written to simply reveal that many of the laws in America – although placed in an attempt to protect children – often times deprive them of a childhood that might have been more accommodating. When I was young, homeless children in California were essentially placed in the same category as criminals, and when those children were caught by the authorities, they were often locked up like common thieves for “safe keeping.”

As a result, the young boy in this story was compelled to keep moving or be incarcerated.

– L. Michael Rusin

California’s Child

Just when Scott Reynolds thought things couldn’t get worse, the unspeakable happened…

At the age of nine, convinced he had accidentally killed a bully trying to molest him, he jumped the fence and headed out into the vast wilderness, alone. Could he make it through the blistering cold or would his asthma finally do him in? Would they catch him and throw him in prison for what he did to that boy?

His mother had died four years earlier, and it didn’t take long for Scott’s abusive Aunt to send him to Saint Cecelia’s Orphanage, where, as a ward of the State, he became California’s Child.

And from where he had just escaped.

When he thought about the consequences if they caught him, Scott realized that he would rather die than go back. Would they stop looking for him, or would he be on the run forever?

(Coming soon in Spanish)