In the Shadow of Eight by Collin Gosselin | Memoir

A former reality-TV child shares his own story

For years, millions of viewers watched Jon & Kate Plus 8. In In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, Collin Gosselin, one of the show’s sextuplets, breaks his silence and describes what he says the cameras never showed. Born in 2004 and now 22, he tells the story of his childhood in his own words.

What’s inside

• A first-person account. The memoir presents Collin’s experiences growing up in front of the cameras, as he remembers them.
• The cost of childhood fame. The publisher describes it as a reckoning with the dark side of fame, including the systems and institutions around a child on television.
• Time in treatment facilities. Collin writes about being placed in a behavioral health program and what that experience was like for him.
• A story of recovery. The book follows how he left that environment and found his way forward.

Content note

This memoir discusses childhood abuse, restraint, medication and institutional care. Readers who find these topics distressing may want to approach it with care.

Who it’s for

Readers of celebrity and family memoirs, viewers who followed Jon & Kate Plus 8, and anyone interested in the effects of childhood fame and the experiences of young people in institutional care.

About the author

Collin Gosselin is one of the eight children of Jon and Kate Gosselin, who appeared on the TLC series Jon & Kate Plus 8. He was born in 2004 and has begun speaking publicly about his experiences.

Product details

• Title: In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood
• Author: Collin Gosselin
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Format: E-BOOK PDF AND EPUB
• Publication date: October 13, 2026
• ISBN:
• Language: English

Order your PDF AND EPUB copy of In the Shadow of Eight and read Collin Gosselin’s story in his own words.