“Throughout this book is the metaphor to archery. Arrows fly; arrows land; arrows miss; arrows hit. The aim isn't merely metaphoric. It's a missed opportunity: a mother to know her son, a father to be the protector... the boy. As the author targets the past and present in a series of well-paced vignettes, we are not left wondering about the destruction of child abuse and the scars it leaves. Text credited to The Wounded Storyteller gives the author a chance to share his questions of faith and existence, a search for meaning. The Day the Sky Broke Open is an engaging read into hurt. Hoerner weaves dialog with honesty and poetic verse. His sense of emotional timing puts the reader in the front row of a house of dysfunction. For those who are self-reflective, have questions of their own—or some experience with abuse, read this book. Lovingly attentive to the complications of the family heart, The Day the Sky Broke Open hits the bull's-eye.” —LitStack Keith T. Hoerner, B.S., M.F.A., lives, works, and pushes words around in Southern Illinois. He is the founding editor of The Dribble Drabble Review and has been featured in numerous national / international literary journals, as well as anthologies, and other publications. This is his first book. BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST (SELF-HELP) AMERICAN WRITING AWARD FINALIST (MEMOIR) GOLD AWARD (WRITECOVERY *WORDS HEAL* AMBASSADOR PROGRAM) Five Stars - Take a Journey! This is a smartly designed and structured treatise on the subject of child abuse that the mainstream would preferably sweep under the carpet. Mr. Hoerner knows how to write: really well in fact. In a concise and brilliantly edited fashion, this book is loaded with metaphor, verse, literary merit, thorough research, and historical analysis. He graciously offers us a free ticket to join him on a journey to self-revelation. But it doesn't stop there. Read the book, and you'll see. It's masterful. I guarantee at the conclusion, with some time for it to settle, you'll feel self-assured and good about a lot of things." - Scott Fitzberald (on Adelaidebooks.org) Five-Star - A Much Needed Voice! In a captivating, genuine narrative, Keith Hoerner emphasizes how the process of telling about abuse empowers a trauma victim to author h/er own future life story. In Hoerner's words, "Writing brings out what is trapped within, lessening its larger-than-life, debilitating nature... breaking down one's abusive past - or present - into smaller, more-manageable pieces (making them easier to process and ultimately to reconcile)." I enjoyed reading Hoerner's book with tearful eyes; he brings readers close to his traumatic experience and to his personal memories. The necessity of telling the story is significant for therapeutic benefits in the process of recovery--for ALL, no matter what the suffering... - J. Aldridge (on Adelaidebooks.org) Five-Star - The Best! "The best treatment of child abuse I've seen... The writing is rich, descriptive, fluent, emotionally imbued but spare and authentic. The voice in the book, in particular, moves me beyond words." - Linda Briggs-Harty (on Adelaidebooks.org) Five Star - Thank You! "The Day The Sky Broke Open was simply heartbreaking and beautiful. It's making me think deeply about relationships and love and parenting and the ways we need each other but can hurt each other so terribly. In other words, this book is making me better. Thank you for that." - Kim Lozano (on Adelaidebooks.org) EDITORIAL REVIEW: The Day the Sky Broke Open, by Keith T. Hoerner, is a compelling memoir about child maltreatment—written to seek reconciliation, to give voice to a phenomenon that has been silenced or inundated with misconceptions, and to help others find the courage to rebuild. Focusing on the author as a "target child" of his mother's emotional and physical abuse, Hoerner uses vivid and detailed imagery to share his story through interconnected tales demonstrating a strength and vulnerability one can't help but admire. The reader feels the shame, disgust, rage, exhilaration, lows, and despondency he felt, which is exactly what separates his memoir from accounts of abuse in news outlets. It's not cold, nor does it read like an encyclopedia; it doesn't desensitize the reader or glorify its content. The Day the Sky Broke Open is deeply personal and grounds us into a reality where maltreatment isn't an absurd occurrence. It forces us to rethink how we perceive abuse and what society can do to assist victims as well as prevent it from happening in the first place. In short, this book makes a difference. — At the Inkwell       The Day The Sky Broke Open is a novel-length expansion of the novella Missing The Mark (written at the request of readers who "wanted more").      The movement in the book is a series of vignettes or jump cuts, similar to modern cinematic technique, exemplifying the fact that chaotic stories often have an absence of smooth transition and order.