Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is a true story filled with real-life horrors. While nothing is described graphically, it includes a variety of forms of child abuse and mistreatment; lots of sexual references, none of them healthy; swearing; drugs; alcohol; and acting out of psychological damage.
Families who read this book could discuss how Ashley came out of this gruesome childhood intact and excelling. What enabled her to succeed when so many others are lost? Why doesn't the system do a better job of protecting them? Do you think Ashley's legal actions will do any good? Why has Ashley gotten all the media attention?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
The first half of this book is just disturbing and horrifying, the more so because readers know that it's true, and actually happened to the little girl in the pictures at the back. It's for teens only, and even they might wonder why they are reading something so miserable. But as a story, that first half perfectly sets up Rhodes-Courter's courageous battles and triumphant successes in the second half, leaving the readers feeling strongly connected to the author and deeply satisfied by her accomplishments.
The author spares no one, least of all herself, and in her plain, straightforward, unadorned prose her anger is palpable and fully justified. But her determination and strength of character prevent her from wallowing in blame and indignation, instead turning this into a story of hope and triumph as she rises from the ashes of her ruined childhood to become a best-selling author and spokesperson for the protection of foster and adopted children. If you can get through the harrowing first half, you will find yourself astonished and uplifted.
From The Book
Her mother -- my maternal grandmother, Jenny -- had her first child when she was fourteen, but she put that baby up for adoption. Over the next six years she had Perry; followed by the twins, Leanne and Lorraine; and finally, Sammie. Then, at twenty-one, Grandma Jenny was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had a hysterectomy. Sick, poor, and battered by her alcoholic husband, she decided she could not raise her kids any longer and turned them over to a Baptist children's home. My mother did not have much to do with either parent for many years, but when Jenny was about to die in Florida, my mother went to see her for the last time. Jenny was thirty-three.
Using her small inheritance, my mother enrolled in cosmetology school. Before they would allow her to train with the hair treatment chemicals, she had to have a physical checkup. This is how she found out she was pregnant with me. My mother thinks she conceived me when she partied the night of her mother's funeral. In any case, I was born thirty-nine weeks later. While she was in labor, she was watching The Young and the Restless, and so she named me Ashley after one of the soap opera characters.
Plot Summary:
In the first half, author Ashley Rhodes-Courter describes her childhood in the foster-care system: after being taken away from her mother at age three, she endures fourteen foster homes in nine years, including one that was seriously abusive. In the second half she details her adoption and subsequent struggles to adapt, overcome her distrust, and feel like she belongs with her new family, as well as her legal battles with the abusive foster parents and the state system that looked the other way.
Related Books:
Foster Children:
Dakota Dreams by James Bennett
The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Prince of Central Park by Evan H. Rhodes
Last Chance Summer by Diana Wieler
Nightwalkers by Judy K. Morris
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Maze by Will Hobbs
America by E. R. Frank
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
The Boy from the Basement by Susan Shaw
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
Strays by Ron Koertge
Related Web sites:
Author's Site
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Sexual ContentChildren simulate sex with toys; a child watches graphic bondage porn on video, finds a condom, and dresses as a hooker for Halloween; mentions of sex abuse, rape, molestation of infants, pedophilia, castration, "making out." |
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ViolenceSpousal and child abuse, including kicking and hitting with objects, stress positions, forced consumption of hot sauce, holding underwater, being forced to bathe in water with feces, starving, supergluing hands to walls. A grandfather is shot in front of his grandchild. Fighting among children, one throws acetone in another's face. |
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LanguagePlenty of swearing by both children and adults, including giving the finger and aggressive cursing: "F--- you," etc. |
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Social BehaviorAshley tries to drug her adoptive parents so she can sneak out at night. The book details some of the worst behavior of which humans are capable, yet it is a story of hope: Ashley perseveres, works hard, and does well in school with no encouragement, and courageously brings legal action against those who abused her and the system that allowed it, and eventually becomes a successful author. |
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CommercialismMany products mentioned: toys, foods, fast food restaurants. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoA parent makes, takes, and sells drugs. Drinking, drunkenness, drunk driving with a child in the car, smoking cigarettes. |
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