Invisible Boy

A Memoir of Self-Discovery

By: Harrison Mooney

Narrated by: Harrison Mooney

An unforgettable coming-of-age memoir about a Black boy adopted into a white, Christian fundamentalist family

Perfect for fans of Educated, Punch Me Up to the Gods, and Surviving the White Gaze

A powerful, experiential journey from white cult to Black consciousness: Harrison Mooney’s riveting story of self-discovery lifts the curtain on the trauma of transracial adoption and the internalized antiblackness at the heart of the white evangelical Christian movement.

Inspired by Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man the same way Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me was inspired by James Baldwin, Harrison Mooney’s debut memoir will captivate listeners with his powerful gift for storytelling, his keen eye for insight and observation, and his wry sense of humor.

As an adopted and homeschooled Black boy with ADHD at white fundamentalist Christian churches and tent revivals, Mooney was raised amid a swirl of conflicting and confusing messages and beliefs. Within that radical and racist right-wing bubble along the U.S. border in Canada's Bible Belt, Harrison was desperate to belong and to be "visible" to those around him.

But before ultimately finding his own path, Harrison must first come to understand that the forces at work in his life were not supernatural, but the same trauma and systemic violence that has terrorized Black families for generations. Reconnecting with his birth mother—and understanding her journey—leads Harrison to a new connection with himself: the eyes looking down were my true mother’s eyes, and the face was my true mother’s face, and for the first time in my life, I saw that I was beautiful.

©2022 Harrison Mooney (P)2022 Steerforth Press LLC

Critic reviews

One of Daily Hive's "12 hot-off-the-press books we recommend reading this September"

“Invisible Boy is told with a vibrancy unique to the author. Mooney’s generosity of spirit, his sense of humour and capacity to transcend the self creates a book that is as riveting as it is incendiary.”—The Tyee

“An affecting portrait of life inside the twin prisons of racism and unbending orthodoxy.”—Kirkus Reviews

"A stark and startling memoir, Mooney's vital story depicts the violence of transracial adoption in the all-too-frequent cases where white parents simply decline to engage with the realities facing their non-white children."—Booklist

An Important Voice That Needs To Be Heard!

Highly recommend!! Harrison Mooney courageously and honestly shares his experience as a transracial adoptee and his discoveries of the dark truths of the adoption system. The read is poignant, honest and beautiful. This is a very important voice and experience that needs to be heard and taken seriously so we can have the conversation to move forward in a healthier direction for our society. I admire Mooney’s bravery in sharing his story. Beautifully written and Mooney’s own voice is perfect.

Making the unconscious conscious

I appreciated how the author shared the slow burn of how he came into his “adoptee” consciousness. It was equally powerful when he became educated on other issues such as racism, religious abuse, and the concept of what love is and what it isn’t. As a fellow adoptee, I rallied for Harrison and rejoiced in his coming into self and finding his own voice—letting go of the guilt and shame that were never his to hold. Well done.