| Valerie Mason-John
This is a frank and revealing memoir of the author's childhood and adolescence, alternately living in the Dr Barnardo's Village in Essex, with her mother in a London high-rise, and in a string of juvenile and detention centres. This is an important story powerfully told about growing up black, female and in care. It has much to say about the perils of childhood and how we raise children in today’s society.
| Gerrilyn Smith
How much more effective would we be in working against child sexual abuse if every adult had the knowledge currently available only to professionals? This unique, unparalleled and groundbreaking book gives adults the vital information and skills needed to protect children in their day-to-day lives.
| Joan Hunt, Suzette Waterhouse Eleanor Lutman
This study provides invaluable information on the benefits and challenges of kinship care and what is to be done to enable it to be used effectively. The study tracked 113 children in England, removed from their parents’ care because of child protection concerns and placed with kin through the courts. The placements were then assessed in terms of: whether they lasted as long as necessary and provided good quality and safe care; the quality of the relationship between the child and carer; and how well the child was functioning.
| Renée Wolfs
This in-depth practical guide, written by an adoptive parent for adoptive parents, explores the questions adopted children are likely to ask, with suggestions for helpful explanations and answers. Looking at different age groups in turn, the author provides a wealth of suggestions for possible dialogue with adopted children and age-appropriate answers to common questions and fears.
| Multiple
This special issue of the journal is guest edited by Sonia Jackson, editor of Nobody Ever Told Us School Mattered(BAAF, 2001) and a leading researcher and writer in the field. It focuses on the education of looked-after children and how and where they are supported or – more often – failed by “the system”. It features articles from England, Scotland and Australia. Themes include: the role of social pedagogy in foster care; education and self-reliance among care leavers; the work of Our Place, a special centre promoting the educational achievement of looked after and adopted children; and the views of adoptive parents.
| Karen Carr
Published as part of the Our Story series, this is the true story of an adoption and an adoption breakdown, bravely told by the adoptive mother. From the final court hearing, when Lucy returned to local authority care, Karen Carr looks back over the four years that Lucy was with them and, without apportioning blame, describes what went wrong and why.
| Julia Wise
Published as part of the Our Story series, Flying Solo tells Julia Wise’s story of adopting on her own. In this personal story, Julia offers a realistic look at the joys and pitfalls of being a single adoptive parent and the impact of her decision on herself, her family and close friends.
