Foster Girl, A Memoir

by Georgette Todd

Excellent Book

Genres: Memoir, Fostering, Nonfiction

314 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2013

Reviews

[Melissa Crytzer Fry]

This memoir offers a heartbreaking look at the failures of the US foster care system - especially for those children who bounce around in the system for years. The author, Georgette Todd, shares a harrowing tale of abuse but ultimate fortitude to overcome her situation thanks, in part, to a loving foster parent who stepped in "just in time."

[Sara Gillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books about the Foster System have hit me hard this school year.
I didn't want to believe what I was reading in Ms. Todd's memoir.
What made it worse, is that she is just one little girl in the system.
Thank you Ms. Todd for sharing your story and making a difference in
other foster kids lives in CA.

[Amy Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a hard but good read. It gave me valuable insights into the foster care system so I can better understand the experiences of the children I serve as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate for Foster Children). I can't imagine how difficult it was for the author to write her story but I am so thankful she had the courage to share it with those of us on the outside.

[CëRïSë · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hard and heartbreaking look at the foster care system, through the eyes of one girl who lived it and managed to survive. It's not terribly well-written, but it is a haunting, empathy-inducing, and important story.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great accounting of what happens to teens in the foster care system. The author shows amazing strength in surviving the trauma life brought her. She offers good suggestions for how to help at the end as well.

[Jan Keyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating, touching. well written.

[Rawknroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book. It's a very raw, brutally honest, and incredibly thoughtful and insightful memoir of Todd's time inside the US foster care system. I loved her voice - at turns vulnerable, confessional, strong, defiant, and spirited. She has endured some really terrible things and while they might be difficult to read, they only serve to better help you understand the depth of her strength, and appreciate how much she truly has accomplished. It's a brave piece of writing from a personal standpoint, and an important piece of writing in terms of how we understand the foster system - a system that essentially punishes children not for doing bad things, but for having bad things done to them. As someone who has lived through the system, and subsequently gone on to work within it and work to reform it, Todd's perspective is about as well-rounded as you're going to get. I knew very little about the foster care system when I picked up this book, and it stuck with me. A real eye-opener.

[Amy McCammon]

Create Movement

[Laura Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Such am amazing book. Georgette gives all the foster children a voice and now you can't say you don't know how the system needs to be changed.

[Mills College Library]

362.73309 T634 2014

[Najela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good.

[Diane Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author gives a view into foster care that only someone who has been there can do. It's an excellent read with a surprising story line.