A Boy Named Trout by Mercy Strongheart

A Boy Named Trout by Mercy Strongheart

In 1976, in the fields of Northern New Mexico's scrub grass and coyote fences, a twelve-year old boy named Trout searches for integrity in an increasingly volatile family that is free of moral inhibition. Trout takes it upon himself to protect his mute younger sister, Heaven, and seek out a better life for the two of them. All the while, he must avoid abusive anger of his parents.

Before he can take action, a series of events fractures his family forever. Trout and his siblings are left to pick up the pieces and determine if they can ever manage to forgive their parents and each other.

A Boy Named Trout is a story about inter-generational patterns of addiction and abuse, and the power of familial bonds to save us and destroy us. Set against the backdrop of the hippie movement in the 1960s and '70s, when dictums such as If it feels good do it guided personal philosophies, A Boy Named Trout examines the creation of social morality and looks at how one follows their own inner compass when it contradicts cultural norms. Ultimately an uplifting message of strength and love, A Boy Named Trout is an important story for anyone touched by alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse, poverty, and cataclysmic social movements.