According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, the "Snowball Effect is a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger (graver, more serious), and perhaps potentially dangerous or distastrous (a vicious circle, a "spiral of decline"), though it might be beneficial instead (a virtuous circle)."The process in this case is a young man's journey (coincidentially named Snowball),through the first twenty years of his life, describing his earliest memories of his birth family, his separation from them and introduction into the foster care system, to his eventual adoption at age 8. Drugs, alcohol and problems with the law puntuate his life while experiences and daily challenges force him to re-examine old mind sets and endure the agonizing pain of growth.