Finding Katie: The Diary of Anonymous, A Teenager in Foster Care

by Beatrice Sparks

This appealing teen read tells the story of Katie, a teen from an abused home, and her journey through foster care. Katie is always surrounded by wealth, but feels terribly alone because of the secret horror of her angry, abusive father. When she's thrown out of her house and put into foster care, it seems like the end of the world. But as she moves through the foster care system, she begins to realize that she can help others. Can she, at last, find courage and strength of her own?

Genres: Young Adult, Fostering, Fiction, Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Adoption, Teen

181 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Beatrice Sparks was an American therapist and Mormon youth counselor who was known for producing books purporting to be the 'real diaries' of troubled teenagers. The books deal with topical issues such as drug abuse, Satanism, teenage pregnancy or AIDS, and are presented as cautionary tales. Although Sparks always presented herself as merely the discoverer and editor of the diaries, records at the U.S. Copyright Office show that in fact she was listed as the sole author for all but two of them.
Sparks began working with teenagers in 1955, after attending the University of California at Los Angeles and Brigham Young University. She has worked as a music therapist at Utah State Mental Hospital and taught continuing education courses at BYU.
Critics have called the precise extent of Sparks' qualifications and experience into question. The editorial credit on some of the diaries published by Sparks identifies her as "Dr Beatrice Sparks, PhD". However, when journalist Aileen Pace Nilsen interviewed Sparks for School Library Journal in 1979, she was unable to find any confirmation of where or when Sparks earned her doctorate. Nilsen also wrote that Sparks was "vague about specifics" when asked about her counseling qualifications and professional experience.
Sparks said that her experience working with troubled adolescents made her want to produce cautionary tales that would keep other teens from falling into the same traps. Her first work, Go Ask Alice, was published under the byline 'Anonymous' in 1971.

Reviews

[Cabrielle Rudisill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have very mixed emotions concerning this read, which makes writing this review very difficult. I really wanted to love this book. To begin with, allow me to give you a snap shot of the story. Katie is the daughter of a wealthy Hollywood couple who lives a relatively sheltered and pampered (albeit ignored) life until she gets close to her 16th birthday. Katie’s life then quickly veers off course as her father begins developing an unhealthy interest in her developing body and her mother grows more distant. Her life completely derails when her father, jealous over her new relationship with a boy, drives her to skid row and kicks her out of the car. Katie then becomes one of thousands of foster care children. Her world changes dramatically as she struggles to cope with the loss of her family, the trauma of her father’s actions and her own sense of self.

This book is a quick read; I read the entire novel in an afternoon. However, there is a reason it is so quick. The novel is choppy, has dramatic shifts in the span of a few sentences and then abruptly has a (unbelievable) happy ending. My main issues with this book come from the sugary version of events, not to minimize the horror of a child living through events like these. The sugary aspects come in with the instant bonds she forms with other foster children, the way she refuses to think ill of her (sometimes horrible) foster parents and the unrealistic happy ending. I do not want to give away the ending but I will say it is not realistic for children who have been through the types of trauma that lead to foster care to be so willing to embrace happiness instantly.

The bottom line on this book; it is a quick read concerning an important topic but it does not paint a realistic picture from any angle. I cannot in good faith recommend this book to anyone. Such a bummer for us all, it had such potential in the title.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. I got to a little before halfway and was so disgusted I had to stop. These can't be real diaries. There's just no way. I've always fought against that notion- I tend to trust people until I have a reason to lose that trust. But these books are all the same, the same exact way of using words, the same exact words in a lot of cases, everything is the same except for the plot. One is pregnant, one is in foster care, one is this and one is that.
One day the girls dad gives her some "white candies". Has anyone else, besides maybe a one year old, mistaken a pill for candy? I haven't. It's not even possible. A blind person would know the difference. Then in the span of a few hours she gets so addicted to these "candies" that she has to have more- give her MORE!
Please. Drugs are addictive yeah. I know that, trust me. But I also know it doesn't happen quite that fast.
Sparks should have done a little research before writing. Yuck.

[Gabriellewilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

now this is a great book. katie is.......sooo deep. her story is heart wwarming. Katie really changed my whole reading life. i am so happy I read this book.. Every-one can relate to Katie. This book thought me to be a better person. It really opened my eyes. Yes, there were drama, but it was real life, hard knock situation drama. Not like the supersituation drama. the drama is heart felt and will make you cry. the people she meets and there stories are just so true and brutal. i recommend this book to people who love real-life situations, diary books and people trying to change others for the better.
i love this book :)


E.l.a homework

Dear Katie,
Hello Katie, my name is Gabrielle Williams. I found your diary on 31st street in California. Katie you are a great person. Do not be mad, but I read your diary. I know I invaded your privacy, but I could not help it; I am a nosy person. Your life story is incredible. The people you met are dynamic people. I barely know you but I look up to you. Your diary changed my life. The way, you took an interest in Donita, Lacy, and Jennipher was really great. It sounds like you really changed those girls’ lives. I know this is a personal question, but how does it feel to go from filthy rich to street kid to Foster child? The transitions must have been hard I know you are a strong person. I love how you treated everyone with respect even though they did not treat you well. You are a true woman and I admire that about you. Spite your parents you were raised well. How does it fell to have such an ass of a father? I know that was brutal, but I would like to know. I want to know every thing about you. I feel really close to you because our birthdays are a day apart. Another question I really wanted to ask is another tough one. Why did you lie about your age? That was somewhat stupid in my book. If you told the truth, you would not feel like you lived a lie. How can you go on with that dirty feeling? I hate it, when I am lied to or if I lie to someone. It makes me feel guilty. Did you feel guilty at all? Why didn’t you tell anyone abut your previous life? I think it might have been better if you didn’t lie and told the child protective service everything they wanted to here. Your dad deserves to be in jail. He is an abusive monster that beat your mom down physically and mentally. What he did to you was also unexplainable. You are a teenager, so what if you sneaked out of the house for a good time out. You didn’t deserved what happen too you. I want you to know you were not wrong for what you did. You deserved a lot more freedom you got living in that mansion. The most punishment you should have gotten was no pool for a week. I hope you know that your mother was never jealous of you and always loved you. I can tell your mom was just hurt because of your dad’s abuse. Your dad manipulated you into thinking she was a bad mother. You are a good girl and were back then too. We all make mistakes. Maybe what happened was a good thing, in retrospect because you changed those little girls’ lives. Donita is a happy toddler now, because of you. Lacy is happy in a family with a new mother that loves. You are just liked the old King Midas everything you touch turns to gold. You even helped out your teachers with the classes you were in you are a smart, beautiful women and don’t let anyone tell you other wise. I hope you are happy now. I hope you are living a happy life because you deserve it Katie. Your new mother sounds great and I wish you guys the best. Please, please go to college and don’t let your intelligence go to waste. To all those birthdays that weren’t acknowledged happy birthday, I hope you like the card and bag of cookies. Thank you Katie for opening up my eyes. I see that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what happened in your life. You can still live a successful, happy, fore filled life. I hope that I can meet you.

Yours truly,
Gabrielle Amani Williams








Gabrielle Williams June 17th, 2009
Book Shout-Out
The book is fabulous. Finding Katie is about a teen girl’s struggles. Katie is fifteen in the beginning of the book but is eighteen toward the end. Katie’s real family is rich. She went to the best catholic school in California. Katie’s dad is a troubled man. One day he flipped on Katie for sneaking out. He dropped her on the streets and let her fend for herself. Katie meets a nice man that works for Child protective services. She taken to a foster home and see and hear things horrible. Girls like Donita, Melba lacy and Jennipher makes living in a foster home bare able to live at her homes. In the end, she finally finds a home with a guardian that loved her.
Since I finished the book, the image I see is Katie and her new mom walking on the beach and laughing. In the end, she got her happy conclusion and that was great. I love it when a book keeps your sprits high. That image is still plastered in my head, today.
The book is so deep and inspiring. This book could really change a person. Katie is a real person. Katie is a role model for all young girls out there. The storyline is not only true, but also eyed watering. Katie is a real person, with real problems. She issues aren’t super fiscal and fake they are real and true. Finding Katie had dynamic characters and they really inspire you. Well at least the good ones.
This book changed the way I see the world in many ways. I never thought that someone that can be so fortunate could become so poor and unlucky. This book showed me that you could be unfortunate and still changed people’s lives. You don’t need to act out because of your past. You can become better from your past. I learned to never just a book by its cover. I literally judged Finding Katie and thought it was boring. I was really wrong.

[Shyla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was "edited" or written by Beatrice Sparks, the same person who brought us It happened to Nancy and Go ask Alice. Supposedly she takes teens diaries who have been through challenging and life changing expeiences and edits them to publish. She has done several of these type of books and when I was a teen I loved It Happened to Nancy and Go ask Alice so whether they are true or not (and there is a big controversary over this issue) I think they are good to read. I was really looking forward to this book about Katie, a girl grows up in Beverly Hills and has everything except the love and attention of her parants. Her father is downright abusive and horrible and her mother lives in a pill induced dream world. Eventually things escalate with her father and she ends up in foster care. The book or diary chronicles Katies journey from an abusive and disfunctual family and homelife to being homless to several sad and often scary foster homes. While an uplifting tale of how she makes it and helps others along the way I couldn't help but find many of the events unbelievable. While the other books I read by the same author were omewhat sensational in content they were also haunting and read like my very own diary so it was easy to believe they were in fact authentic. This book was somewhat cutesy and lacked the depth I thought it would have as they other did. All in all a great read for young girls with a good lesson but not nearly as sincere and touching as the first two I read.

Also, I am now a 29 year old woman rather then a young teen girl so perhaps that is another reason it was hard for me to swallow. Perhaps if I were to read It Happened to Nancy or Go Ask Alice now I would find them lacking as well. Good books for the teens they were intended for.

[Miranda Stephenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book that's hard to put down. Can be confusing at times. It's a book that reminds you to be thankful for what you have. When this girl goes through foster care she is still not treated the greatest by her "foster dad" I don't think I understand why all of it is happening. It's kind of like a love type story when she sees a boy, but of course she isn't allowed to be with him because her dad doesn't allow it.

[Nasima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finding Katie: The Diary of Anonymous

Have you ever imagined being abused by someone who loves you like a father?
Have you thought about how it might feel or what other children might have to go through everyday? What it would be like to be a foster child? Well Katie a 16-year-old girl has had a lot going through her. She is born around a family with wealth and luxury. Sometimes that’s not an easy thing. She goes to a catholic school and her life with her family isn’t that great. Her dad does not get along with her and her mom doesn’t as well. Her father abuses her all the time and her mother does, too. Her mom was an alcoholic and is very sick and just always is in her room. And her dad is working and comes home late. She lives her life as it is, but then slowly it changes. Her relationship with her father turns better. She gets along with him and gets to know him a lot more. He starts to like her and takes her everywhere and gets her everything. And she tries to get along with her mother and tries talking to her and its helps because then she got to know her mom better. But then she sees a guy and he becomes her boyfriend. She is super excited and he invites her to a party and she goes but has to sneak out. Later her dad finds out and throws her on skid row in Los Angeles.
She is about to kill herself until a nice man that works at salvation army takes her to a foster care where she has to live with foster parents. She appreciates and likes to be with her foster parents because she feels that she can help people and she can be there for people. She becomes happy later on and starts to love her life.

[Felicia Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katie is a student at a Catholic girls’ school and living with her parents in a huge mansion, surrounded by wealth and luxury. Her mother is badly abused by her father, and because of her father’s controlling personality, Katie herself has never really been allowed to have friends, associate with boys, or do normal teens things. She gets excited about future possibilities when she and her new friend Jennifer meet two boys, Mark and David, at a museum, and secretly begin dating. Katie’s father starts paying her unwarranted amounts of attention as soon as he notices that she’s becoming a young woman. Feeling starved for love, she accepts his sudden lavish attention, not realising till it’s too late that he’s behaving extremely inappropriately. Things come to a head when he finds out she’s been dating and dumps her in a very run-down area of L.A. While Katie is praying before her planned suicide, she’s found by Salvation Army man. He takes her to a shelter, and from there she gets put into foster care. This book is in 1st person in Katie's perspective. This helps the story because we can see her every thoughts and understand how she feels about all her situations and her predicament is foster care. I recommend this book to people who are interested in the foster care program and learn the ways that most children live.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Katie is brought up with lots of money and has everything that a girl could want, at least materialisticly. The problem with her life, is she really doesn't have a life her parents really don't care about her, and she is so sheltered from the real world, she goes to an all girls school and than home, thats it. Finally Katie seems to be moving up when she actually has a friend and they hang out after school and then she gets a boyfriend. When her father finds out though he sends her to a foster home and she must fight her way through the system and many different homes.
This was a good book, not one i would read again but it was good. I really liked the ending, which is surprising it was so typical but with the context before it and all that this poor girl went through I found myslef really ruiting for her and hoping she would get a life that she deserved.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had trouble believing that this was a true story, or based on a true story. The main character, "Katie", is being sexually abused by her father, and when she finally tells someone, she is kicked out of her home and placed in foster care. For a girl who was "surrounded by wealth" and supposed friends, it made me wonder why she didn't call either her extended family, or her many friends and ask them for help or a place to stay. The fact that Katie "got lost in the system" was also incredibly unbelievable, especially since she was placed in a foster home that was just a few miles from where she grew up.
Her courage in helping others in her situation, while it sounded like a heroic thing, seemed a bit forced.
All in all, while this did open my eyes to the foster care world, I've read better fiction books that dealt with the same topic 100 times better and with more reality!

[Lilmislovely345 · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was different.it was being told in the dairy of katie a girl who was a prisoner in her on house and i know what your thinking doesn't everybody who cant go to the dance say that, but no she actually kinda but not really really was she could never leave her big luxury house , i kmow who would want to leave but you would if you knew you could always come back to it. and she went to catholic school (all girls)she could not even have her only friend over for 5 minutes.after a while when her father lets her start getting some freedom because he doesnt really have a choice sense he always out of town she invites over 2 boys and her friend to hang out.nothing to bad all this while her mom and dad start to fight and he (abusive) soon he throws her out on the coner somewhere and she.....

[Christina Fernandez-morrow · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are some books that make readers think that anyone with a pen and paper (or computer) can be published. This is one of those books. The plot twists are abrupt, flat and senseless, even for a diary, making it hard to believe it is a true account of events. None of the characters are developed enough to draw readers into their desire lines. Written anonymously, it is very similar in style and tone to Go Ask Alice, which seems suspect that the writers are actually different people with such similar writing styles, since both books have the same editor.

Don't waste your time on this book. There are many others that feature foster kids and give a much more realistic portrayal of what their life is like.

[Karen & Gerard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fast-moving book written as a diary of a 16-yr.-old girl who came from a wealthy family that was sexually abused by her own father who dumped her on Skid Row in Los Angeles to fend for herself. She was "rescued" by the Salvation Army and tells her story about being in foster homes and finally finding someone who wanted her so ends on a happy note. Even through it all, she show great maturity and compassion for the other kids in the foster homes she was placed in. She helped several of them by tutoring them, befriending them and caring for them. She found happiness by helping others.

[Yareinis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who is having problems with her family.Her mom and her dad are having arguments and she almost has no friends.Then when her dad throws her in to the streets and she has nobody, she goes into foster care.Her new foster mom is really lazy,her foster dad isnt almost in the house and her foster brothers and sisters are so mean!Katie is alone and thats when she has to find her courage inside of herself.I dont like how the author wrote how Katie is always having problems.I like how she wrote how Katie is triying to solve ALL the problems.This book can be founded in Ms Lacy library,I forgot what book bin.

[Shayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is yet another one of Beatrice Sparks's fictional diaries with angsty titles. It was a quick, easy, and utterly unsatisfying read. The main character flaunted her wealth, considered herself above everyone else, and complained about everything under the sun. And the characters Cha and Belva were entirely unnecessary to the plot; they were present for about five pages and then were never mentioned again. Overall, it was a horrible book and I was more than happy to take it back to the library.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of some at-home inservice training hours for our foster care license. It's a well-written,(for a 16 year old) horrifying glimpse into the lives of some children in the foster system. I am glad to see the way the system is changing and the improvements that are being made. No child should be treated the way the kids in this book are. It reminded me, once again, what a difference love makes. Loving a child is the best thing you can do for them! And time and time again Katie shows that in her diary.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was very interesting. it definetally is better in the begining then it is in the end. its about a rich girl who got dumped on a street in LA znd she goes into a foster home and has a horrible time. it definetally isnt a book a would recommend. it also has alot of stuff about church and being catholic, so if you arnt into that kind of stuff then dont read this.

[Emily Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book, but I would have liked for it to be edited better. I felt like this book had many entries in Katie's diary that should have been edited out, because they didn't contribute to her story. I understand that it is a true story, but if it is going to be made into a book it should be interesting to the reader.

[Jennifer Hunsaker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Purported as the diary of an anonymous teenager in foster care, this story is geared toward teens and I think is really just meant to start a dialogue about abuse and what happens after teenagers are taken into foster care. I finished it and thought, 'Meh.' It would be interesting to have a teen IN foster care read it and get their reaction.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel totally misled by this book. My library had this shelved in this nonfiction section so naturally I thought it was a type of diary memoir deal but halfway through I could tell it was fiction. :-/ So...it totally skewed my perception plus it was definitely geared towards young teenagers in mind.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. It was a super-quick, painfully easy read, but it contained a somewhat disturbing and sad message about child abuse, which is why I hesitate to label this novella as "children's." I finished this in one weekend, and it offered mild entertainment, so, I suppose, it did the job.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the concept of the book was really good because things like abuse from a child's loved ones happens really often but for some reason I didn't like it so much. I don't think it was very well written and I don't feel connected with the characters at all.

[Kaitlin O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Very interesting and very hard to put down. I lived how its actually someone's journal. It was really cool to get information you may not get elsewhere. I felt like the main character. It was very intense through the whole book. I'd recommend for teen girls. Enjoy!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was interesting. I learned that even from bad experiences people are good and good things can happen when you keep your head up

[Bethanyh2o · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good so far.
t is about a girl who is in foster care.She gets thrown out of her house by her father.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give it another star if it had more closure.

[Jordyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though heart wrenching in its own way, I didn't feel like I understood what was happening to her quite as well as I did in Go Ask Alice.

[Greilyn Castillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I this book talks about how hard katie life is.She goes through alot and has really low self esteem.

[Kattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the other Beatrice Sparks books, this one delves into the life of a toubled teen. If you enjoyed this one, I'd go find the others.

[Jazzie]

its such a good bok

[margrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was cool. it was sad. llama!