What’s in it
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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorA Last Kiss for Mummy: A Teenage Mum, a Tiny Infant, a Desperate Decision
Casey Watson
At fourteen, Emma is just a child herself – and one who’s never been properly mothered. She has been in foster care several times already and when she discovered she was pregnant, and refused to have an abortion, her mother threw her out of the house. Casey and her family instantly form a strong bond with Emma’s baby Roman, but dealing with Emma’s behaviour and constant lack of responsibility is a
Three Little Words: A Memoir
Ashley Rhodes-Courter · 320 pages
Ashley spent nine years in foster care after being taken away from her mother. She endured many caseworkers, moving from school to school and manipulative, humiliating and abusive treatment from one foster family. See how she survives and eventually thrives against the odds.
The Privilege of Youth: A Teenager's Story
Dave Pelzer · 240 pages
More than six million readers can attest to the heartbreak and courage of Dave Pelzer’s story of growing up in an abusive home. His inspirational books have helped countless others triumph over hardship and misfortune. Now this former lost boy who defeated insurmountable odds to emerge whole and happy at last takes us on his incredible odyssey toward healing and forgiveness. In The Privilege of
A Chance in the World: An Orphan Boy, a Mysterious Past, and How He Found a Place Called Home
Steve Pemberton · 264 pages
The Cast-Off Kids
Trisha Merry
One hot summer's afternoon, two abandoned infants are brought to Trisha and Mike Merry's door, forlorn and afraid. Their mother walked out on them. (They don't remember her.) Their grandmother tried, but couldn't manage them. And now their young father has given up on them too. These cast-off kids desperately need somewhere to live and a family to love them. They've come to the right place. Trisha
Hope's Boy: A Memoir
Andrew Bridge · 313 pages
There's something going on in this Great Land of ours--more and more people are famous for being famous. Now, one of the Avon Trade program's brightest young voices examines what happens to an ordinary young woman who ends up in some pretty wild circumstances.When a Hollywood heartthrob moves in next door, Julie finds herself thrust into the spotlight and becomes a bona fide celebrity for no good
Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island
Regina Calcaterra · 306 pages
Calcaterra and her siblings endured a series of foster homes and intermittent homelessness in the shadow of the Hamptons. She managed to rise above her past while fighting to keep her brother and three sisters together. An unforgettable reminder that, regardless of social status, the American dream is still within reach for those who have the desire and the determination to succeed.
Orbiting Jupiter
Gary D. Schmidt · 187 pages
I personally (perspective of a 12 y/o) LOVE this book! Starting on page 174 to the end of the book made me cry. This book is written from Jack's POV. (SPOILER)--> Joseph's father intrudes in his new home and threatens to shoot Jack (Joseph's foster brother) if Joseph wouldn't leave with him. Joseph agrees, and leaves with his abusive dad (who sold Jupiter, Joseph's 4 m/o daughter, for money). He s
The Kid : A True Story
Kevin Lewis · 256 pages
Kevin Lewis grew up on a council estate in South London. Beaten and starved by his parents, ignored by the social services and bullied at school, he was offered a chance to escape this nightmare world and was put into care. Despite his best efforts to make things work out, his life spiralled out of control. At the age of 17 he became caught up in the criminal underworld of London, where he was kno
One Small Boat: The Story of a Little Girl, Lost Then Found
Kathy Harrison · 201 pages
This story of one little girl's journey through our foster-care system forms an intimate portrait of foster care in America and the children whose lives are forever shaped by itAugusten Burroughs called Kathy Harrison's memoir Another Place at the Table a "riveting and profoundly moving story of a hero, disguised as an everyday woman." In One Small Boat, Harrison tells the story of one little girl
Instant Mom
Nia Vardalos · 282 pages
Writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos firmly believed she was supposed to be a mom, but Mother Nature and modern medicine stood in her way. So she made a choice that shocked friends, family, and even herself: with only fourteen hours' notice, she adopted a preschooler. This is Vardalos's hilarious and poignant true chronicle of trying to become a mother while fielding nosy "fre
Far from the Tree
Robin Benway · 384 pages
Three teenagers, biological siblings separated by adoption, explore the meaning of family in all its forms--how to find it, how to keep it, and how to love it. "Perfect for fans of NBC's "This Is Us," Robin Benway's beautiful interweaving story of three very different teenagers connected by blood explores the meaning of family in all its forms--how to find it, how to keep it, and how to love it.
Bulletproof
Maci Bookout · 189 pages
"Maci Bookout was just a normal, slightly overachieving high school girl in Chattanooga, Tennessee. But then she got pregnant, and everything turned upside down. Even as she rose to fame on MTV's hit series Teen Mom, Maci was struggling to balance life as a single teen mom with her own hopes and dreams...all while honoring her own sense of independence. This is the true story of how she took charg
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou · 281 pages
She was born Marguerite, but her brother Bailey nicknamed her Maya ("mine"). As little children they were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Their early world revolved around this remarkable woman and the Store she ran for the black community. White people were more than strangers - they were from another planet. And yet, even unseen they ruled. The Store was a microcosm
Street Kid
Judy Westwater, Wanda Carter · 320 pages
After a childhood lived in terror, in 1994, Judy was presented with an Unsung Heroes Award for her charity work with street children in South Africa. Her moving story came to light after Judy was interviewed by John Peel on BBC's "Home Truths". This title offers the story of her early years, a story of a child who refused to give up.
I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond
Michael Oher · 261 pages
250 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm1130L Lexile
Child C: Surviving a Foster Mother's Reign of Terror
Christopher Spry · 313 pages
Trapped: The Terrifying True Story of a Secret World of Abuse
Rosie Lewis · 293 pages
Phoebe, an autistic nine-year-old girl, is taken into police protection after a chance comment to one of her teachers alerts the authorities that all might not be what it seems in her comfortable, middle-class home. Experienced foster carer Rosie Lewis accepts the youngster as an emergency placement knowing that her autism will represent a challenge - not only for her but also for the rest of the
The Orphan's Tale
Pam Jenoff · 363 pages
Sixteen-year-old Noa, forced to give up her baby fathered by a Nazi soldier, snatches a child from a boxcar containing Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp and takes refuge with a traveling circus, where Astrid, a Jewish aerialist, becomes her mentor.
The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir
Victoria Rowell · 345 pages
The story of a remarkable woman's rise out of the foster-care system to attain the American dream—and of the unlikely series of women who lifted her up in marvelous and distinctive ways Born as a ward of the state of Maine—the child of an unmarried Yankee blueblood mother and an unknown black father—Victoria Rowell beat the odds. Unlike so many other children who fall through the cracks of our ove
Finding Fish
Antwone Quenton Fisher, Mim Eichler Rivas · 339 pages
Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far
Bristol Palin, Nancy French · 256 pages
The daughter of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shares details about her life, describing her Alaska childhood during her mother's political rise, her highly publicized teen pregnancy, and the religious faith that gives her strength.
Riding in Cars with Boys: Confessions of a Bad Girl Who Makes Good
Beverly Donofrio · 204 pages
Denied college, Beverly Donofrio lost interest in everything but riding around town in cars, drinking and smoking, and rebelling against authority. She got married and divorced and finally ended up in an elite New England university, books in one arm, child in the other. A book about the compromise between being your own person and fitting into society.