I'm Not Broken
A Memoir
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4.8 • 10 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In this unflinching and inspiring memoir, Jesse Leon tells an extraordinary story of resilience and survival, shining a light on a childhood spent devastated by sex trafficking, street life, and substance abuse.
"A book for survivors and those who know someone they hope survives, bodhisattvas all." —Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street
Born to indigenous working-class Mexican immigrants in San Diego in the 1970s, Jesse Leon’s childhood was violently ruptured. A dangerous and harrowing encounter at a local gift shop when he was eleven years old left Jesse with a deadly secret. Hurt, alone, and scared for his life, Jesse numbed his pain by losing himself in the hyper-masculine culture of the streets and wherever else he could find it—in alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. Overlooked by state-sanctioned institutions and systems intended to help victims of abuse, neglected like many other low-income Latinos, Jesse spiraled into cycles of suicide and substance abuse.
I’m Not Broken is the heartbreaking and remarkable story of the journey Jesse takes to win back his life, leading him to the steps of Harvard University. From being the lone young person of color in Narcotics Anonymous meetings to coming to terms with his own sexual identity, to becoming an engaged mentor for incarcerated youth, Jesse finds the will to live with the love and support of his family, friends, and mentors. Recounting the extraordinary circumstances of his life, Jesse offers a powerful, raw testament to the possibilities of self-transformation and self-acceptance. Unforgettable, I’m Not Broken is an inspirational portrait of one young man’s indomitable strength and spirit to survive—against all possible odds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Leon debuts with a staggering tale of survival in this raw account of his youth as a sex worker. The child of working-class Mexican immigrants in 1980s California, Leon was bullied relentlessly by his white peers at school and, at age 11, was raped by a storekeeper who would molest and traffic him for years. Embittered by his own closeness to his mother—whose love, he writes, "turn me into a sissy"—Leon turned to drugs in his teens to dull his pain, and began offering up his body for money to fulfill "the masculine male Latino sexual fantasy of white men." As he offers an unflinching account of his drug addiction ("I did more lines of crystal... smoked more heroin"), Leon renders in tender prose his mother's unflagging support, a constant that remained even when her own health began to fail her. Still, it wasn't until the author discovered "a whole world of Latinos I had not been exposed to" at a college event that he began his difficult path toward sobriety, found a home in his queerness, and eventually made his way to Harvard. Despite the grimness of his subject matter, Leon's story of resilience pulsates with verve and breathtaking grace. The result is a gripping portrait of perseverance that radiates with humanity.
