When Caylin Moore was six years old, his mother fled an abusive marriage and moved back with her family in Compton, Los Angeles. Their situation became worse when his mum suffered from a serious heart problem, she could no longer work, and his father was sentenced to life in prison for killing his girlfriend.

Caylin had to grow up fast, and he was only nine when the police frisked him walking home from school. He dedicated himself to helping his mother and siblings, being true to his faith, doing well at school, being an athlete and making the world a better place.

Caylin’s childhood wasn’t easy, he went hungry, and the only way he could bathe was using cold water and a bucket, initially he shared a mattress with his mum, sister and brother and lying awake at night they could hear helicopters flying overhead, gunshots and rats and cockroaches crawling around in the walls of the derelict building.

Caylin studied hard, he listened to advice, he applied for every scholarship he could find, Caylin presented himself in person, and asked if they could help him, and he didn’t care if the receptionist laughed at him or a fellow student looked down at him for mopping floors.

I received a copy of A Dream Too Big by Caylin Louis Moore from NetGalley and Nelson Books in exchange for an honest review. His memoir is an uplifting and inspirational read, Caylin fought against poverty, oppression, injustice and prejudice, to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. Every teenage boy needs to read this book, a true coming of age story and every high school library should have a copy. Five big stars from me and I wonder what Caylin will achieve next?

5 stars
I wish I could rate this book higher than 5 stars! This is a phenomenal memoir of a very determined young man who defied all odds to make it out of the ghetto to become a Rhodes scholar. Caylin is simply an outstanding and astonishing man. The sheer grit and fortitude Caylin has exhibited throughout his life is inspiring. This book needs to be required reading for every student, rich, poor, young and old.

This book grabbed my attention from the first page and never let go. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. The views given are my own. #ADreamTooBIg #NetGalley

The author wrote a memoir that perfectly captured the triumphs and setbacks of their life. It was easy to empathize with the author due to the raw writing.