Cho­sen: A Mem­oir of Stolen Boyhood

September 1, 2021

At thir­teen years old, Stephen Mills is cho­sen for spe­cial atten­tion by the direc­tor of his Jew­ish sum­mer camp, a charis­mat­ic social work­er intent on becom­ing his friend. Stephen places his trust in this author­i­ty fig­ure, who first grooms and then molests him for two years.

The after­shocks rip through his adult life: self-loathing, drug abuse, pet­ty crime, and hor­rif­ic night­mares, all made worse by the dis­cov­ery that his abuser is molest­ing oth­er boys. Only phys­i­cal and men­tal col­lapse bring Stephen to con­front the truth of his boy­hood and begin the painful process of recov­ery — as well as a decades-long cru­sade to stop a ser­i­al preda­tor, find jus­tice, and hold to account those who failed the chil­dren in their care.

The trau­ma of sex­u­al abuse is shared by one out of every six men, yet very few have bro­ken their silence. Cho­sen elo­quent­ly speaks for those count­less oth­ers and their fam­i­lies. It is the indeli­ble sto­ry of a man who faces his tor­ment and his tor­men­tor and, in the process, is made whole.

Discussion Questions

Beau­ti­ful­ly writ­ten and brave­ly told, Cho­sen: A Mem­oir of Stolen Boy­hood, is the sto­ry of sex­u­al abuse that the author suf­fered as a young boy at Jew­ish sum­mer camp, and his life­long strug­gle to recov­er and ulti­mate­ly fight back against the perpetrator.

As a thir­teen-year-old boy, Stephen Mills is cho­sen for spe­cial atten­tion by his sum­mer camp’s charis­mat­ic direc­tor. Mills, whose father died when he was four, places his trust in this author­i­ty fig­ure, who first grooms and then molests him for two years. The sto­ry fol­lows Mills from the time the abuse occurred into his adult life, as the trau­ma leads to self-loathing, drug abuse, and hor­rif­ic night­mares. It is all made worse by the dis­cov­ery that his abuser is mov­ing from camp to camp, molest­ing oth­er boys. Only a painful per­son­al reck­on­ing brings Mills to the process of recov­ery— as well as a decades-long bat­tle to stop a ser­i­al preda­tor, find jus­tice, and hold to account those who failed the chil­dren in their care.

Inspir­ing and deeply mov­ing, Cho­sen is that rare book that is impos­si­ble to put down even as it aches the heart.