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Semisweet: An Orphan's Journey Through the School the Hersheys Built
The Milton Hershey School is the richest and wealthiest K-12 residential school in the world. Its $12 billion trust fund, financed by sales of the iconic Hershey candy, eclipse that of Cornell, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins combined. Even more stunning is that the school for orphans owns The Hershey Company and not the other way around.As the twentieth-century drew to a close, the School’s Board of Managers creatively interpreted the Founder’s mission and tried to turn the refuge for extremely needy children into more of a middle-class boarding school. The alumni “Homeguys” challenged the Board and, after a decade of legal struggle and national publicity, won the battle to reclaim the soul of the school.Johnny O’Brien, an orphan who lived at the school growing up, helped to lead the successful alumni protest. In a shocking turn of events, he was then selected to become Milton Hershey School’s eighth president and tasked with restoring the mission, morale, and character-building culture of “the Home.” He would need all his orphan resilience, Princeton and Johns Hopkins wisdom, and his good friends, to transform this unusual and remarkable school.In a riveting and haunting account, O’Brien tells a universal story about the vulnerability of needy children, describes the madness that consumed his beloved brother, explores the cruelty of bullies—both young and old, exposes the corrupting influence of money, and shows how the Milton Hershey School continues its sacred mission of saving thousands of America’s neediest children.See the website for the book at semisweetbook.com.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 3, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 14, 2020
There is much to learn here: Milton Hershey was a generous man, and his Orphanage, started in 1909, has helped many.
John O'Brien was an orphan who, along with his brother Frankie, was housed and educated at the Hershey Industrial School. In the book we can see that his involvement lasted more than the 14 years he lived there. He became president and guided the institution back to its original goals between 2003 and 2009. Then he wrote this book.
My book club selected this book and invited O'Brien to the meeting. I have never been to a better book club discussion. Johnny O'Brien talks the talk and walks the walk. His love for the Hershey school is very apparent.
I just might read this book again someday. Everyone in the book club loved the book and I have made a new friend.
5 stars
John O'Brien was an orphan who, along with his brother Frankie, was housed and educated at the Hershey Industrial School. In the book we can see that his involvement lasted more than the 14 years he lived there. He became president and guided the institution back to its original goals between 2003 and 2009. Then he wrote this book.
My book club selected this book and invited O'Brien to the meeting. I have never been to a better book club discussion. Johnny O'Brien talks the talk and walks the walk. His love for the Hershey school is very apparent.
I just might read this book again someday. Everyone in the book club loved the book and I have made a new friend.
5 stars
January 23, 2023
Having grown up with a mother who grew up in Hershey and two uncles who went to the Hershey Industial School in the 40's, I was totally captivated by this book. It was eye-opening to learn that the school was not the idyllic place I thought it to be even though my uncles sometimes talked about the bullying they endured. O'Brien revealed a lot about the departure from the place Mr. Hershey wanted the school to be and O'Brien's attempt as a former student and President to return the school to that mission.
April 2, 2017
I couldn't put this wonderful book down. Thanks to Milton & Kitty Hershey who had the insight, love & dedication to open the Hershey School in 1910. When the school opened they had two students, now the school has grown to 1,850 students. Many thanks to John O'Brien the author of this book.
June 9, 2017
Wonderful book. Could not put it down.
July 25, 2014
In the interest of full disclosure, I have known Johnny O'Brien since college. I consider him a close friend. I was aware of his journey as an orphan through the Milton Hershey School and beyond.
Nevertheless, I have been blown away by "Semisweet". O'B tells an amazing story of his life as an orphan and of his experiences later in life working to help orphans. I thought I knew the basics of the story. But the book tells a compelling story that no one could ever have imagined even if they were aware of the basics. It will bring tears to those with the hardest of hearts; it even brought tears to mine. It is a story of amazing survival and non-survival, of great success and utter failure, of great caregiving and deplorable caretaking, of people motivated to help orphans and those who seemed to have cared less except when it was necessary to feather their own nest.
While the book focuses ostensibly on orphans, it reveals universal truths about any of us who have at one time or another felt abandoned or pressured to conform or made to confront unbelievable truths or terrible situations involving others we could not control or even ameliorate.
I could not put the book down. I want everyone in the world to read it. I want a special person to produce and direct it as a first rate movie. We would all be better for it if this were to occur.
So if you haven't figured it out yet, I really liked the book and would highly recommend you read it.
Nevertheless, I have been blown away by "Semisweet". O'B tells an amazing story of his life as an orphan and of his experiences later in life working to help orphans. I thought I knew the basics of the story. But the book tells a compelling story that no one could ever have imagined even if they were aware of the basics. It will bring tears to those with the hardest of hearts; it even brought tears to mine. It is a story of amazing survival and non-survival, of great success and utter failure, of great caregiving and deplorable caretaking, of people motivated to help orphans and those who seemed to have cared less except when it was necessary to feather their own nest.
While the book focuses ostensibly on orphans, it reveals universal truths about any of us who have at one time or another felt abandoned or pressured to conform or made to confront unbelievable truths or terrible situations involving others we could not control or even ameliorate.
I could not put the book down. I want everyone in the world to read it. I want a special person to produce and direct it as a first rate movie. We would all be better for it if this were to occur.
So if you haven't figured it out yet, I really liked the book and would highly recommend you read it.
January 18, 2015
What do I like about the book? It gives a lot of story packed into a little over 200 pages. The author's experiences are genuine and help give a view into the Milton Hershey School that shows it's strengths and weaknesses. John's writing makes you feel like you are right there with him, and his brother, while they cope with being abandoned at the school all the way up to John's graduation and eventual coming full circle and becoming the president of the school for 6 years to bring the school back to what it should be.
What did I not like about the book? It is stated that he had someone help him condense it down from about 800 pages to 200 pages. I can't help but wonder if information about his childhood during his stay at the school may have been glossed over for the sake of making the book more "efficient".
I worked at ZooAmerica in Hershey, went to college in Grantham, PA, and was born in Lancaster,PA and this book gave me a new, and wonderfully informative, look into Milton Hershey, his ideals, and his school for orphans that you don't always get to hear about. It's refreshing to read a book like this.
What did I not like about the book? It is stated that he had someone help him condense it down from about 800 pages to 200 pages. I can't help but wonder if information about his childhood during his stay at the school may have been glossed over for the sake of making the book more "efficient".
I worked at ZooAmerica in Hershey, went to college in Grantham, PA, and was born in Lancaster,PA and this book gave me a new, and wonderfully informative, look into Milton Hershey, his ideals, and his school for orphans that you don't always get to hear about. It's refreshing to read a book like this.
October 22, 2014
If one is interested in the history of the Hershey School, this is definitely the book to read. I was very interested, since we have opportunities to be near the Hershey area, and we have driven past the school. The most compelling part of the story (SPOILER) is the story of the author's brother, and how he fared (did not) at the Hershey School.
The rest of the story was interesting to me, though, as I could see the effect of the Hershey School on the author, and could understand at least his view on how the school has fared in the past 50-60 years.
The rest of the story was interesting to me, though, as I could see the effect of the Hershey School on the author, and could understand at least his view on how the school has fared in the past 50-60 years.
January 18, 2016
Again, this book was recommended to me by a fellow reader-friend. I am so glad I read it. Having spent much of my adult life within a few miles of Hershey, this tale had special meaning to me.
Mr. O'Brien was always held in high regard in our area. And this certainly proves why.
He could have written this with a different slant and it would have read, "Look what I did!" Instead, he used the collective noun, we, as often as Mr. Hershey would have expected.
Well-done, Mr. O'Brien. I hope the Chesapeake Bay is all you want in your retirement!
Mr. O'Brien was always held in high regard in our area. And this certainly proves why.
He could have written this with a different slant and it would have read, "Look what I did!" Instead, he used the collective noun, we, as often as Mr. Hershey would have expected.
Well-done, Mr. O'Brien. I hope the Chesapeake Bay is all you want in your retirement!
June 15, 2015
"It is easier and cheaper to build whole children than it is to fix broken adults."
March 20, 2016
An easy-to-read account of a relatively unknown, but long-standing and influential educational institution.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews