Reshuffled: Stories of Hope and Resilience from Foster Care

by Tracy Gharbo, Linda Palmer

Reshuffled tells the life stories of former foster children, who despite all odds, craft productive lives. Within Reshuffled , former foster children share their trials and strategies to gain footing in their unpredictable lives with the hope that their stories can model, inspire, and encourage youth facing similar situations today. Tracy Gharbo and Linda Palmer have captured the authentic voices of the abused and abandoned children who become lawyers, social workers, military officers, college graduates, scientists, teachers, parents, athletes, and foster care advocates. Inspiration abounds in unique lives, told honestly and without reserve.

242 pages, Paperback

Published June 22, 2021

About the author

Tracy Gharbo grew up in Central Ohio and graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in Journalism. She has fond memories of her first writing experiences, including as a staff reporter and photographer for the university’s student paper and as a student intern in the athletic department’s sports information office. She went on to make a career in advertising and marketing and is currently a marketing manager in the healthcare industry. Tracy’s interest in child advocacy stems from a difficult period in her early teens that left her feeling unheard and isolated. She works as a CASA to give children in crisis a voice and a reliable advocate for their needs. She has volunteered since 2017 as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she resides.

Reviews

[Jane Winner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read...hard to process some of the situations these children have had to face. If you work with children, have children or care about children
and young people, you should read this book. You may be influencing a child like these and not even be aware!

[Kiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of brave individuals each sharing their foster and/or adoption story so we may better understand the foster care system and experience and how much resilience is necessary to make it through. Cheers to all those who were part of these stories, helping each of the former foster children with kind acts, big and small! It takes a village and they showed up!!!

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I was so pleased with this book, and I had not expected to enjoy it as much as I did. This is a real treasure and a perfect book to read with foster teens. The stories included are so well done. I read tons of foster literature, and this is one I will remember.

ONE BAD THING: There desperately needs to be an audiobook. Otherwise, it will not reach the kids it needs to.

[Lily Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories themselves were inspiring but because they were all only 3-4 pages max it felt a little difficult to get into a flow while reading. Nonetheless I feel like everyone that works in the field should read this!