Buddy: View From The Pumpkin Seat

by Holly Schlaack

Buddy was born with a silver needle in his mother's arm. Abandoned in the
back seat after a car chase, the nine-month-old started a journey through a
foster care system that could cause as much harm as help.


Author Holly Schlaack knows Buddy's world from the inside out. A former
children's services caseworker and Guardian ad Litem (GAL) who created and
managed a children's advocacy program, Holly is a sought after authority on
foster care issues and a relentless advocate for infants and children.


Buddy is an all-too-real fictional story that puts you smack into Buddy's
reality. More than seeing it, you feel it. More than understanding it, you
experience it. And once you do, you will never see the world the same way
again.

220 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2018

About the author

Holly Schlaack has devoted her career to advocating for foster children. She is a former children’s services caseworker and Guardian ad Litem charged with representing the best interests of abused and neglected infants and toddlers in court. She created and managed an award-winning program, Building Blocks, while supervising and mentoring Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), and co-founded the Southwest Chapter of the Ohio Association for Infant Mental Health. She is a highly-regarded speaker who trains nationally on topics related to protecting and supporting very young children.

Holly is the author of Invisible Kids: Marcus Fiesel’s Legacy and the founder of Invisible Kids Project, a non-profit dedicated to prioritizing the rights of kids in the child welfare system and engaging community to create positive change. As a voice of compassion, experience and common sense, Holly is routinely sought out by political and other leaders to advise on issues related to systemic and legislative change.

Holly and her husband, Ed, live in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are the proud parents of Hanna, Grace and Ben.

Reviews

[Shelly Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buddy is a great read. Plain and simple. It was everything a novel should be – a page turner full of complex characters who touch your soul. What is awesome is that it is a great read for ANYONE. I am not involved in the foster care system, just a typical, suburban mom. Buddy showed me the successes and failures of the system without preachiness. It gave me insight into the minds of small children and how they cope – and how that plays out in their development and behavior. I finished this book with renewed inspiration to do what I can to help. Ms. Schlaack’s first book, Invisible Kids, says it is a guide to the “12 things YOU can do to improve the lives of foster children”. I will be picking it up today.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to know that this story had a good ending before I could even buy it. I enjoyed meeting Buddy and experiencing the world as he did through the Foster Care System. Many children have terrible experiences while in Foster Care. Many people are forever changed by the families they meet with foster kids. The families I have known with Foster Children in their home felt like they could never make a difference for these kids. I loved that this story proved that theory wrong.

It’s a great story if you have ever considered adoption or fostering a child. It’s a great story if you want a page turner and if you need some hope for the future. It introduces the various “players” in the system. It explains the policies and procedures and while some do not always make sense, our system is designed to respect birth mothers and the named father on the birth certificate. It’s not a perfect system but the people who are interested in the best interest of the children will need our understanding to make it work for the kids. This book is a great
Introduction to the child care advocates and how they can use the law to get these kids in the right households.

I applaud Holly Schlaack’s efforts and Buddy’s story.

[Noël · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book had a few grammatical errors, it was a complete heartwrenching book. What this poor baby went through had me in tears. All in all, it was a great book.