Editing Don't Call Me Jupiter (section)

=== Book One: ''Tightrope'' (2021) ===

{{Infobox book
| name          = Don't Call Me Jupiter — Book One "Tightrope"
| subtitle      = Memoir of a Reluctant Hippie Kid
| author        = Tom J. Bross
| publisher     = Independently published
| pub_date      = 2021
| isbn          = 979-8598485941
| genre         = Memoir
}}

The first volume opens in '''1974''' and follows twelve-year-old Tom Bross through a sudden uprooting from [[Davis, California]] to [[San Anselmo, California|San Anselmo]] to live with the family's so-called "God Family." Only two months later, the family moves back to Davis with nowhere to live. Tom's siblings are dispersed among friends' homes, while Tom himself ends up sleeping in the garage of one of his mother's former lovers.

From this bleak starting point, Bross reconstructs the family's "truly strange transition" and delves into his earlier childhood. The narrative introduces his mother, '''Mare''', whose embrace of [[hippie]] counterculture ideals—including a permissive attitude toward [[cannabis|marijuana]] and [[hallucinogen|hallucinogens]]—stands in stark contrast to the rigid discipline of their stepfather, '''John'''. Bross chronicles how drug use became normalized within the household and the psychological toll this took on him and his siblings.

Despite the dysfunction, the bonds between the Bross siblings emerge as a source of warmth and resilience throughout the book.

'''Themes:''' Abandonment, parental neglect, counterculture, drug normalization, sibling loyalty, identity formation.