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Billy: A ’70s Story
Sometimes the family that saves your life is the one you never knew you had.
New York City, 1972. Eighteen-year-old Billy Johnson has spent most of his life believing he was unwanted. After years of abuse, foster homes, and surviving on the streets by selling drugs, he expects nothing from the world except another day of getting by.
Everything changes when a chance encounter leads him to Ethel, a lonely widow living in a Greenwich Village townhome. As Billy begins helping the elderly woman with everyday chores, an unlikely friendship grows into something neither of them expected. Through quiet conversations, shared meals, and the steady rhythm of ordinary days, Ethel begins teaching Billy lessons about responsibility, dignity, and believing in a future worth planning for.
But as Ethel’s health begins to fail, Billy is forced to confront painful family secrets buried for nearly two decades. Standing at the crossroads between the life he has always known and the one Ethel believes he deserves, he must decide whether to return to the streets or find the courage to leave everything behind and discover who he was always meant to become
New York City, 1972. Eighteen-year-old Billy Johnson has spent most of his life believing he was unwanted. After years of abuse, foster homes, and surviving on the streets by selling drugs, he expects nothing from the world except another day of getting by.
Everything changes when a chance encounter leads him to Ethel, a lonely widow living in a Greenwich Village townhome. As Billy begins helping the elderly woman with everyday chores, an unlikely friendship grows into something neither of them expected. Through quiet conversations, shared meals, and the steady rhythm of ordinary days, Ethel begins teaching Billy lessons about responsibility, dignity, and believing in a future worth planning for.
But as Ethel’s health begins to fail, Billy is forced to confront painful family secrets buried for nearly two decades. Standing at the crossroads between the life he has always known and the one Ethel believes he deserves, he must decide whether to return to the streets or find the courage to leave everything behind and discover who he was always meant to become
493 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2026
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September 16, 2026
I wrote this book about a teen college student in 1972 who has aged out of the foster system and is now on his own. He attends college on grants and scholarships but gets caught up in dealing and consuming drugs. Failing classes, he will lose his scholarships, grants, and student housing if he fails out. He may also end up in Vietnam. A chance meeting with an old woman and a new girlfriend help him find the right path and find out who his family really is. Some of it is based on personal experiences and feelings I had at the time.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review