The Heart Knows Something Different: Teenage Voices from the Foster Care System

by Youth Communication, Al Desetta (Editor), Jonathan Kozol (Foreword by)

Overview

A New York Public Library "Books for the Teen Age" selection.

There are more than 450,000 children living in foster care. The Heart Knows Something Different collects over three dozen personal narratives by young writers, ages 15 to 20, and provides an insider's account of growing up in "the system." It takes us into a world largely hidden from public view, and attests to the mix of pain and fear, and sometimes hope, and sometimes even happiness that the foster care experience involves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892553778
Publisher:	Persea Books
Publication date:	12/07/2010
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	13 Years

Editorial Reviews

Fiction Reprints

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 9 UpFor the teens who contributed to this volume, the journey to adulthood has been particularly arduous, because they are all participants in the foster-care system. The 57 essays are divided into four sections. The first deals with the individual situations responsible for a child's placement in foster care. Next come pieces on living in that system. The third section deals with self-awareness, and the last looks to the future. Some of the stories are told with humor, some with anger, and many with pain, but all resonate with unflinching honesty. Whether the teen is a runaway, an orphan to AIDS or drugs, or a victim of abuse, each has had to work through his or her own situation. What is clearly missing from all of the writings is any trace of self-pity, although many of the young people express regret or even remorse for their past lives. But a strong sense of individual purpose permeates the book and, according to the notes at the end of each essay, the contributors have been successful in turning their lives around. The problems and issues the writers express are universal, and their courage will touch the hearts of all.Marilyn Makowski, Greenwood High School, SC

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