Joey’s Song is a heart wrenching and raw glimpse into the life of a mother whose teenage son is in the grips of drug addiction. With unflinching honesty and vivid detail Swenson paints the grim reality of addiction and its impact upon her young son, her family and society.

As Joey, her bright and talented son who held so much promise skates through high school and prepares for college, behavioral changes signal concern but nothing more than usual teen missteps. In time, as the degree and persistence of the problems escalate, Swenson and her husband start to break through their denial, realizing he has a problem and then set out to do all in their power to save him from himself. Joey becomes her main focus, though she is aware she is neglecting her younger son, Rick. She tracks Joey daily on social media, drives around to find him, pays thousands of dollar for rehab treatment. And Joey gets worse despite all her valiant efforts.

Swenson maps her grueling journey through facing the addiction that has stolen her son from her and awakens to the stark reality that she is fighting an endless battle between the cunning beast of addiction and the undying love she has for her son. She learns to let go in a way that does not mean giving up.

Through the pain and heartache and after years of enduring her son’s lies, manipulations, and ongoing havoc that go along with addiction, Swenson begins to look inward and deal with her addiction to her son’s addiction. She takes responsibility for her own healing while loving her son and not feeding the addiction.

Swenson’s voice is genuine, engaging and powerful. She grabbed my attention from the first page and kept me turning the pages until the end. Her courage in stepping out and sharing such heartache so openly is a source of inspiration and hope for any mother or parent dealing with a child who is struggling with addiction. Her memoir can also serve as an excellent resource for those working with the addicted population.

This is a story that will stay with me as I deal with loving and letting go of but not giving up on my own addicted son. ( )