Troubled: A review of Rob Henderson's book

 Not like in Hillbilly Elegy, where J.D. Vance survived in a rural environment with his grandmother, Troubled shows us Rob Henderson, having his family fall apart, leaving him to bounce around in foster care systems in small or large cities in California. Even after he is adopted, his world is not okay as his parents divorce.  He never had a family through his life that he could count on. What I think is important is his position that family and bonding to those who care about you is way more important than educational goals and social achievement in our society, as if attaining success can win out over the need  for a sense of belonging.
    Limousine liberals with luxury beliefs have created a world of many troubled children, young adults, and adults because of their zeal to assume belief structures for others that are not the same as for themselves. To them, it's okay if those below them in society are not encouraged to get married, then have children.  It's okay for them to have helter skelter lives, with no marriages, children out of wedlock, and homes where police have been defunded and crime is now even worse.  How can elites be so arrogant (my word, not his)?  It is because elites do get married, stay married, have children, and can protect themselves from crime by burglar alarm systems, body guards, and the luxury of their addresses.
    This memoir is about more than that though.  Henderson spent lots of hours reading books that dealt with persons having tough lives.  By reading those books, he gained a sense of understanding of what he was going through. I loved how Henderson talked about his own life and minimal survival until he joined the Air Force, where he finally attains a sense of belonging.  This book is one for those troubled among us so that they can seek a way out even if the odds are against them. Perhaps this book might help to change the way institutional foster care functions in this country and also help individuals in the system cope and find a sense of belonging that we all need as children or adults.