Wayne Douglas Harrison

Out of Fear Wayne Douglas Harrison

A young man intuitively knows his parents wouldn't love him... ...if they discovered his truth. In this first book of the Journeys of Courage series, Brock Matheson, a striking, athletic 17-year-old confronts his darkest fears and discovers his true self. After years of crafting a safe persona to deflect others from questioning who he is, he himself questions. His parents had unconsciously taught him he had to live a lie or face painful, emotional consequences. Brock allows his fears to control his life; what he could do, who his friends could be, and what he could think or say. As he opens up to trusted friends he realises the modern world hasn't come very far in accepting differences. A deep connection with Mammie, Brock's charming 98-year-old neighbour with her wrinkles of wisdom brings out a surprising realisation. The parallels between his story and hers offer a glimpse that different kinds of prejudice come with common fears that have to be confronted. A circle of colourful friends, a conservative working-class dad, a conflicted supermom, and a precocious sister who challenges the status quo; offer Brock support and challenges as he journeys to figure out who he is. This small-town-Canada story could be any young person's account of what it was like to grow up facing religious intolerance masked by conditional words of love, bullying of those who don't fit some people's standard of normalcy, and the whole-scale resistance to acceptance of difference.