Growing up in the Missouri Ozarks in the 60s and 70s, Wade Rouse was always a bit of an outsider. While some of his roughneck peers wore Wrangler jeans and had stylish crew cuts, Wade feathered his golden hair and sported a handmade leatherwork belt bearing his unfortunate childhood nickname, Wee-Pooh. Taunted by his classmates, Wade finds comfort in his offbeat but lovable family, but when a tragic motorcycle accident ends his brother’s life, Wade buries his sexuality along with his brother, vowing to be the son he believes his family wants. America’s Boy is Wade Rouse’s bittersweet and utterly moving tale of self-denial and self-discovery, and a tender tribute to the eccentric family that carried him through it all. Wade’s battle with himself— and the long road back to self-acceptance—forms the heart of America’s Boy , a joyful and courageous memoir about a boy learning to embrace his own true nature.