Casey Watson

“Mummy, please don’t leave us” is a heartbreaking sentence, that no child should ever have to say.

This book is about a foster host and the mom and child placement she is taking care of. The conflict of this book is that Jenna, the mother, is fighting to get custody of her kids back after being in jail. The only way to get her kids back is to stop talking to Jake, Seth’s dad, and stay away from drugs.

The book shows the dedication and hardwork that Jenna put in to get her kids back. Throughout the book, you witness Jenna go through many hardships, and many times where she wants to give up. Jenna would have given up multiple times if Casey, the care taker, wasn’t there to help guide her in the right direction.

I would say this book is very emotional, and some people might relate to the situation. The main characters were constaantly in a battle with the court system. Jenna lost custody of her boys due to drugs and imprisonment, while she was in jail, her parents took care of Seth, while she was still pregnant with Tommy. Seth was put into foster care after his grandparents called in to social services and gave Seth up, which was better than being in their car. When Casey got assigned to the case, Seth was just an angry kid. He didn’t understand that acting out wasn’t going to help him get his way. He was mad at his mom for leaving, but he was too young to understand

I think the theme of the book is dedication. In the book you see Jenna continuously try to get her kids back, even when she wanted to give up. She got in trouble at court, and had a slim chance of keeping her kids, but she still went through court and fought until she got her kids back. She even ran away once with her kids to restart, and then remembered that running away would make her lose her kids even longer, so she came back, to get a slim chance of getting them back.

I would recommend this book because of the emotional feeling the author gives in the book. I also liked that she based the events on actual fostering cases she had, but I didn’t like that the book had a difference in language due to the book taking place in Britain. So, if you are okay with the different language barrier, and enjoy heartfelt, touching, emotional, and lifelike books, this would be a good book for you to enjoy.… (más)

The face of the young boy on the cover is haunting...and why I picked this book up. When I read the summary and learned it dealt with foster care I was keen to read it. Even though I personal was a foster fail carer, I still enjoy learning about these trouble and tormented souls and how there are a few skilled and big hearted individuals who have what it takes to turn their world around for the better. And in my opinion Casey Watson is one of those people.

First off it is very British and I had to slow down a few places and translate British English into American English. I didn't enjoy the first part or some of the other that delved into Casey's personal life (although it helped us understand her character and situation better). I could tell the way Casey and her husband handled Sam's first meltdown that they had been through this before, they were experienced and trained to handle such situations. And the love and patience that Casey and her family had toward Sam was amazing to see and feel as you learned more and more of Sam's sad story and what made him develop such unusual survival skills like counting to 100 or howling like a dog or preferring to stay in a dog cage. The story has a happy ending...but it takes a lot of time, effort, love, and superheroes to bring it about. I especially liked the interaction between Sam and his case worker Colin -- the two made a special team -- a dynamic duo.

I've added some more of Casey Watson titles to my read list...I have selected certain ones...but I think I would read any of them. They remind me of the books that I read in high school and early college that were written by Torey Hayden, a special education teacher that helped this abused and neglected children from the education / classroom perspective.… (más)