For fans of The Glass Castle and Educated, comes mystery author Toby Neal’s personal story of surviving a wild childhood in paradise.
We never call it homeless. We’re just “camping” in the jungle on Kauai…
We live in a place everyone calls paradise. Sure, Kauai’s beautiful, with empty beaches, drip-castle mountains, and perfect surf…but we’ve been “camping” for six months, eating boiled … surf…but we’ve been “camping” for six months, eating boiled chicken feed for breakfast, and wearing camouflage clothes so no one sees us trespassing in our jungle hideout. The cockroaches leave rainbow colors all over everything from eating the crayons we left outside the tent, and now a tractor is coming to scrape our camp into the river.
Standing in front of the tent in my nightgown, clinging to my sister as we face the tractor, I know my own truth: I just want to be normal.
But Mom and Pop are addicted.
Addicted to Kauai’s beauty, to drugs, to surfing, to living a life according to their own rules out from under their high-achieving parents’ judgmental eyes. I’m just their red-headed, mouthy, oldest kid. What I want doesn’t matter.
But I’m smart. I will make a different life for myself someday if I keep up my grades no matter what happens.
No matter how often we run out of food.
No matter how many times I change schools…or don’t go to school at all.
No matter how many bullies beat me up for the color of my skin.
I might be growing up wild in Hawaii, but I have dreams I’m going to reach, no matter how crazy things get.
“An affecting and riveting chronicle of a singular childhood that evokes the contradictions of hippie utopian ideals in an unspoiled Hawaiian landscape long since lost.” ~Kirkus Reviews
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A raw, gritty, sometimes painful memoir. Not my typical genre, but I enjoy Toby’s writing so much that I wanted insight into where her stories flow from.
This memoir is so well written and descriptive that it reads like fiction, which was wonderful! I laughed, I cried, I got mad, but I also related to young Toby. It brought back so many childhood memories for me from my pets to roaming the countryside free to my love of horses and always having a book with me. Oh, and the teenage angst, lol. The view into Hawaii of the 70’s was engrossing! I highly recommend this book!
Because I love Toby Neal I gave her memoirs a try. And what can say except that I will never be sorry. Some parts as I read I felt like I could have written it and well the water works started for me. (Tissues recommended). She takes us on a her journey from 3 to 18. Experiencing Hawaii from her POV was surprising considering my Hollywood inspired opinion of Hawaii. From raising siblings to susbatabce abuse by parents to bulling for being a haloes by the natives. What can I say other than I will be giving memoirs more of a chance in the future. Incredible informative read you won’t be sorry.
Just finished reading my ARC of this book. It was so intense and personal. I have read all her novels and most of them are set In Hawaii. This book goes into such detail of a first child in a 1970’s hippie marriage that lived in Oahu, and Kauai ( a few times in California). Her Mom and dad lived mainly off the land with a few jobs, and needed to surf, do marijuana, and also liked to drink. Having little money, they lived very basic, sometimes without electricity or communication with others. Toby had a lot of responsibilities including taking care of her siblings and help with the work her dad could not handle. They lived in very basic homes or tents, and or in the car at times. She takes us through her young years with the difficulties she endured in a quite primitive Kauai Northshore area, enduring a lot of prejudice against her being a “haole” from the locals. She is such a determined young girl/woman who develops a very strong character and takes us on her journey to become a” normal ” person that goes to college and has plans for a “normal” life. It was such a privilege to read this book and be there with Toby on her journey. It deals with mental health issues, her not having many choices, and her parents returning back to Kauai all the time no matter what. She does often retreat /hide away with her books and dreams. She becomes an avid reader. It is a very intense , emotional journey with a lot of insight and history of Hawaii and Toby, herself. Wonderful book with a lot of insight and vivid descriptions of this lifestyle and growing up in Kauai.
EMOTIONALLY MOVING
I’ve been a fan of TW (Toby) Neal’s since her first Lei Crime Series Book was published. I’ve known she was happily married, mother of two grown children a Licensed Therapist and had grown up in Hawaii. Now that I have read her memoir, FRECKLED, I have a totally new respect for this talented author. I’ve read plenty of memoirs because I like to know the backstory.
I have to say, this was not an easy read for me. I’m a few years older than Toby and had the opportunity to visit Hawaii during a period of time she wrote about. I couldn’t help but contrast my childhood/teenage years with hers. I have to say they were as totally opposite as could be possible! Neal writes with such honesty and clarity and provides her readers an opportunity to feel as though they are reliving her life with her. She is an amazing, resilient, goal oriented, spectacular woman who has overcome immense odds to achieve all the goals that she set as a young child/early teen. I think it’s very telling that in spite of all the struggles her family went through, READING was always a PRIORITY and her Mom read to her often and as soon as she could read, made sure she NEVER went without books! What an incredible gift! I believe if you can read & read well, you can do anything! Toby Neal should have been the Poster Child for Reading as a young child/teenager! Also, it helped foster her imagination and allowed her to become the gifted author that she is today.
I was provided an ARC of this novel by the author. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.
In her Memoir Freckled, Toby shares of her life growing up in the paradise of Kauai during the 70’s. Being raised by hippie parents who were self centered and more concerned about their drugs and alcohol then their children’s welfare, Toby had to grow up fast. Her responsibility to her sisters care and her focus on what she wanted to become, outweighed the neglect and weight put upon her shoulders by her parents. She overcame the bullying and physical abuse put on her, not only by her parents, but by the bigotry of the time and the local Hawaiians. Toby found her escape in the glorious beauty that surrounded her and in her books. All that Toby went through and overcame molded her into the amazing woman she is today. With her schooling and degree and becoming the therapist, author, wife, and mom. she has achieved and grabbed on to exactly what she wanted. Her artistic view on the island and description transports you right there. Toby has an amazing way of describing the beauty and the not so beautiful.
I have loved all the fiction books that Toby has written, (and I have read every one of them), but this one took me over the top. I received this book as an ARC reader, but this heartfelt review is totally mine.
This book could be Toby Neal’s best ever. It is such a powerful, engrossing story of growing up out of the mainstream on a remote Hawaiian island. It is amazing that she survived her childhood, much less growing into the successful adult she is now. An excerpt from my blog post on this book: “Through it all, though, the book is an illustration of perseverance and determination. Toby realized that she had to rely on herself to get what she needed, from harvesting hallucinogenic mushrooms for the local drug dealer and babysitting for extra money to save up for her own horse, to enrolling herself in school and being determined to succeed in order to get college scholarships and make something of herself.”
This story is shocking, touching, heartbreaking, and overall inspiring. A definite must-read.
A gifted writer, TW Neal deftly weaves her memoir of growing up on the island of Kauai as a freckled, red-headed ‘haole’ (a non-native born Hawaiian, especially one with white skin). Neal faced a childhood filled with racial discrimination in a place outsiders viewed as a paradise. Freckled is a powerful memoir of a resilient child aware enough to understand life with her parents was not what she desperately desired – one of being ‘normal’.
Raised during a pivotal time in societal history, Neal’s parents were self-absorbed with their ideals, dreams and addictions, leaving her to often run wild when she wasn’t busy taking care of her siblings or working hours at what was supposed to be her father’s job.
Neal writes of her loneliness, isolation, loss and neglect, which often came with her parent’s decisions. Those decisions have her bouncing between attending school or not, living in precarious situations or staying with grandparents on California’s coast.
One of Neal’s saving graces was that she could read from an early age, and the library was one of her beloved havens from the chaos her life often held. Books opened her eyes to the wonders of the world outside her small universe, and were constant non-judgmental friends. Having no restrictions on what she read, she often raised the librarian’s eyebrows on her choice of books.
Neal writes with the emotions and voice of the child she was, and as the memoir progresses in time, so does Neal’s voice and emotional growth progress. Throughout the memoir, the strength of character Neal shows, despite the abuse, uncertainty, and instability of the life thrust upon her, shines brightly.
Freckled and TW Neal captured my heart. I wanted to hold the child Toby close, give her stability with complete acceptance and love, and the assuredness that she was a beautiful spirit – inside and out.
I laughed and cried at the antics. This freckled child of drug influenced hippie parents shows that humble beginnings are not a map of life. If you have never read Toby Neal’s work you are in for an incredible treat in this memoir. Toby grew up in the late 1960’s, 1970’s and beyond. She was a curious and inquisitive child who early took on the role of child-parent to her younger siblings. Living in cars, tents and an occasional room or house, she grew. At a young age she discovered the racial discontent of the locals and haoles (caucasians). She spent much of her time as a free spirited individual all while tending “her flock.” When she visited her grandparents in California, she discovered some of the luxuries of life. With a gentle push from friends and family, she completed her high school education, and her graduation from a Massachusetts university. Upon returning to her beloved Hawaii, she rekindled a friendship and became a wife, mother, and author. Toby is a winner and her story is worth the read.
Being a big fan of Toby Neal’s fiction books I really looked forward to read her memoir and it did not disappoint! Having been to Hawaii multiple times including Kauai, I was totally absorbed in her story about her family and the island itself. At times I felt such anger at her parents and that led me to amazement at Toby’s resiliency and determination. It also gave me insight into where her super strong fictional women originate.
This book can be a freedom anthem for anyone (but especially females) who feel that they are in an impossible situation.
I got this book as an ARC for my honest opinion and that opinion is that I LOVED IT!
What an amazing story and what an amazing human who lived it! I am impressed by Toby’s vivid recollection of her childhood growing up in rural Hawaii in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Having lived in Hawaii during this time frame, it all rang very true for me and brought back many memories. Despite her parents’ lack of self-awareness or responsibility to their growing family, Toby always kept her eye on the prize of what she wanted for her life. She did what she needed to do to achieve that, despite every obstacle put in her way. This story will stay with me for a long time
What an awe inspiring book. The trials that Toby survived and had to overcome is just amazing. The story of surviving not only her parents addiction to drugs and alcohol but also the addiction to surfing and living in the area of Hawaii as a non-native is just so heartening and uplifting! Being a “freckled” person in the area they lived in also added to Toby’s anguish. The fact that Toby has survived and become such a great person is not surprising as the stubbornness and intelligence Toby had from the beginning was the foundation she built her life on. Loved reading about the different areas of Hawaii and the ways that people lived and survived the life they lead in the different areas. The descriptions of the areas sucked me in from the start. The bond between Toby and her sisters made me think of my own sisters. The fact that I got angry, cried and laughed while reading the book is in tribute to Toby and her style of writing! Loved every page and picture in this book!
Memoirs aren’t my usual go-to reading choice, but this opportunity to learn more about a successful author’s background was not to be missed. I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging tale of overcoming childhood and experiencing Hawaii through Toby’s childhood eyes to find out where her deep-rooted love of the islands began.
RECKLED by Toby Neal
This could come with a warning on the cover. We know of Toby the author, thru her books the thrills and adventure she gives us. Her life with Mike the pictures she shares of her surroundings. She seems to glow with life and love. This story of her upbringing is one of deep emotion, she did, she survived, would be appropriate. The joy of no clothes when swimming, the spankings were more than we as readers could handle. The sisters to come and share with. Finishing her senior years away from family. Her nickname ‘never
enough girl’ her ambition and dreams as though they were bad. A book that gave us an inside look of a land she loves, the good and the bad she has
shared with us. It was a hard journey to write this, a cleansing, and we thank
Toby for sharing.
Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion.
Toby Neal’s memoir, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing up Wild in Hawaii, is engaging, poignant, enlightening, and entertaining. It also explains how she is able to create characters with such depth and convincing backstories. One always thinks of Hawaii as a paradise, but even a paradise can be a painful place to be with under-employed and over-stimulated parents trying to survive as poor outsiders (haoles) to the native peoples.
Toby’s life story from age 3 to 18 is, at times, inspiring, sad, funny, encouraging, frightening, and always a reflection of a child who is a little bit larger than life, and how difficult that can be when growing up. (I encourage you to have a box of tissues handy. You might just need them.)
I highly recommend this book as a stand-alone read. If you are unfamiliar with Toby’s fiction, this should spur you into sampling her work. Toby is an excellent writer of fiction and with this foray into non-fiction, we learn she is equally good at both.
I first met Toby though her novels. As I started Freckled, I knew her ability to create beautiful settings – her attention to detail, the ability to paint gorgeous word pictures so that her readers experience the settings of her stories. Growing up with her in Freckled, revealed the foundation of her descriptions. Matching the color of her environment to the names of her water colors shows how deeply she saw all that surrounded her on Kauai. I also knew how masterfully she created stories. I discovered that her voracious reading as a child had provided escape as well as a foundation in literature which has nurtured her story telling today.
Freckled spoke to me on several levels – the story of a young girl growing up in a difficult family situation; the story of a culture in Hawaii during the 70’s that was different than where I lived; a look at how my fact centered approach to life varies from Toby’s artistic approach.
Let Toby guide you through her early years and see how they molded the strength of her adult years as a therapist and the brilliance of her novels.
I just finished my ARC copy and wow. This book brought me into the story on the first line. Toby has a way with writing that makes you feel emotions. I could see the young girl living in a place and time not a lot of people could survive. The what I call “struggles of love” the family had to go through. How many years this very vibrant girl pulled herself up and gave the world everything she could. Parents sometimes don’t know how to be parents. They suck at it. But somewhere along the way they help you resize things that help you become the person you are suppose to be. You can love someone with all your heart but you don’t have to like them. Toby not only had to raise herself but also her younger sisters. You can see the bond grow different but strong between each one. To try and fit in is sometimes the loneliest thing in the world. I could relate to being different and not fitting in. Kids are sometimes the biggest bullies of them all. They don’t have as many filters as a adult and so they don’t know how far under the skin they get. There is a lot of funny stories to. Toby’s horse had me laughing out loud. I never get tired of hearing stories about the past and how people lived. The history in this book about the islands are just as interesting as the story. When I seen Mike’s name I knew it was time for some happy endings. I am in awe as to how this book turned out. How all the feelings came through. You most deferentially will need to grab a box of tissues right from the beginning
I am not a fan of biographies in general but as I am a big fan of Toby Neal books – I was very excited to read her story. Also was fortunate to receive an ARC. Hawaii for me was and still is something out of a fantasy (I have never been there even though have lived in the U.S. for some time but would surely like to visit one day). Also hippie lifestyle is something that I have only seen in movies and documentaries. Story itself I did enjoy as both the documentary of those unique times and as quite a rollercoaster of human drama with many “downs” and thankfully some significant “ups” as the story draws to a conclusion. It is very emotional and I feel I understand Toby Neal style of writing and her characters much better now that I have read this book.
I am a big fan of Toby’s so when I was asked if I wanted an ARC of her memoir, I was excited to read it. I am not a big fan of Memoirs but I instantlly fell in love with this one. Thank you Toby for allowing me to feel what you felt growing up. I am so glad that I had a box of Tissues next to me while I was reading . I laughed so hard I cried and Then I cried so hard I laughed at myself. It’s funny to me how our lives are so different yet so similar at the same time.
Just finished my ARC copy of Freckled by Toby Neal and I’m writing this with tears streaming down my face. She’s not only one of my favorite authors but now one of my heros. Growing up in Kauai i with hippy parents, living in shacks if lucky and outside in tents or their van with no running water let alone hot running water or toilet, well let me tell you I don’t believe I could have survived. This is a tale of how this young girl takes care of her drug and alcoholic parents, acts as caretaker of her sisters, lives in the wilderness, is bullied relentlessly and tries to make up for not being the son her father wanted yet perseveres to become all she undertakes (again not to mention one of my favorite authors). If you liked The Glass Castle (even if you didn’t) I really recommend reading Freckled. You won’t be sorry.
Loved how she wrote her perspective on things…great book!!