UNIVERSAL STORIES OF LONGING AND BELONGING Our quest for origin and, by extension, identity is universal to the human experience. For the twenty-five contributors to "Somebody's Child," the topic of adoption is not--and perhaps never can be--a neutral issue. With unique courage, each of them discusses their experience of the adoption process. Some share stories of heartbreak; others have discovered joy; some have searched for closure. "Somebody's Child" captures the many unforgettable faces and voices of adoption. The third book in a series of anthologies about the twenty-first-century family, "Somebody's Child" follows "Nobody's Mother" and "Nobody's Father," two essay collections from childless adults on parenthood, family and choices. Together, these three books challenge readers to reexamine traditional definitions of the concept of "family."

'A dark, gritty, and compulsive read' Daily Express Nineteen-year-old Sally is battered and bruised, and lying in the hospital once again. It's nothing new, it's happened before and it'll happen again. But when DI Laura Kesey introduces Sally to a new social worker, she finds hope at a local women's domestic violence refuge, where she's surrounded by women just like her. But then a man is mowed down in a hit and run. Soon a second suspicious death follows. Both deaths link back to the refuge. Has Sally found a safe place or a new danger? *Please note this is a re-release of The Sisters*

Fostering is vitally important: the majority of looked after children are fostered, yet these children are often left out of the agenda and their voices are not heard. This book sets out a child-centred approach to foster care which argues against thinking about children purely from a psychological perspective and instead places children's views, rights and needs at the centre of care. It sets out the theory behind working in partnership with children who are fostered, and discusses children's views about fostering systems and living with foster carers. The book then outlines how to put the theory into practice, offering models, processes and best practice examples. Practical advice is given on establishing effective communication and good working relationships between practitioners, carers and foster children. This insightful book aims to promote better services and outcomes for fostered children, and will be essential reading for social work practitioners and students.

The decision whether or not to reunify a child in care with their birth family is one of the most serious taken by children's services, and often involves considerable risk. This book examines the long-term consequences of this decision for children who entered public care for abuse or neglect. It compares the experiences and progress of children who remained in care or returned to their birth families up to four years after the decision was taken. It covers how the decision is made, the factors taken into account when making it and provides important suggestions for effective decision-making. It compares the progress made by the children in relation to their safety, stability and emotional well-being. The book demonstrates that, contrary to common belief, long-term care can be a positive option for maltreated children. This book provides important messages for reunification policy and practice in relation to maltreated children. It will be essential reading for social work practitioners, researchers and policy makers.

A GARDA, A FORCED ADOPTION, A FIGHT FOR JUSTICE In 1984, Majella Moynihan was a fresh-faced young garda recruit when she gave birth to a baby boy. Charged with breaching An Garda Siochana's disciplinary rules - for having premarital sex with another guard, becoming pregnant, and having a child - she was pressured to give up her baby for adoption, or face dismissal. It forced her into a decision that would have devastating impacts on her life. Majella left the force in 1998 after many difficult years and, in 2019, following an RTE documentary on her case, she received an apology from the Garda Commissioner and Minister for Justice for the ordeal she endured as a young garda. Here, for the first time, she tells the full story. From an institutional childhood after the death of her mother when she was a baby, to realising her vocation of becoming a guard only to confront the reality of a police culture steeped in misogyny and prejudice, A Guarded Life is both a courageous personal account of hope and resilience in the darkest times, and a striking reflection on womanhood and autonomy in modern Ireland.

The Children Money Can Buy covers decades of dramatic societal change in foster care and adoption, including the pendulum swings regarding open adoption and attitudes toward birth parents, the gradual acceptance of gay and lesbian adoption, the proliferation of unregulated adoption facilitators in the U.S., ethical concerns related to international adoption, and the role money inevitably plays in the foster care and adoption systems. Special attention is given to the practice of "baby brokering" and the accompanying exorbitant finder's fees and financial incentives encouraging birth mothers to relinquish (or pretend that they are planning to relinquish) their babies that permeate much of U.S. infant adoption today. The Children Money Can Buy illuminates the worlds of foster care and adoption through the personal stories Moody witnessed and experienced in her many years working in the foster care and adoption systems. These compelling stories about real people and situations illustrate larger life lessons about the way our society values-and fails to value-parents and children. They explore the root of ethical problems which are not only financially driven but reflect society's basic belief that some children are more valuable than others. Finally, Moody makes a plea for change and gives suggestions about how the foster care and adoption systems could work together for the benefit of children and families.

'A dark, gritty, and compulsive read' Daily Express Nineteen-year-old Sally is battered and bruised, and lying in the hospital once again. It's nothing new, it's happened before and it'll happen again. But when DI Laura Kesey introduces Sally to a new social worker, she finds hope at a local women's domestic violence refuge, where she's surrounded by women just like her. But then a man is mowed down in a hit and run. Soon a second suspicious death follows. Both deaths link back to the refuge. Has Sally found a safe place or a new danger? *Please note this is a re-release of The Sisters*

Brought up between the controlling, strict matriarchal presences of her foster mother and grandmother, Judith never had the opportunity to ask about her birth parents, and was discouraged from even acknowledging the possibility of a wider family. Hers was a 'seen but not heard' upbringing, with loving but uncompromising guardians who would be familiar to anyone who grew up in the fifties. It's unsurprising, therefore, that it took Judith so many years to brave the question of her origin, and start a journey of self-discovery. By this time it was too late for such questions to be easily answered, and it would take many years of perseverance for the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to fall into place. In the meantime, Judith grew and changed, married and had children of her own, all the while with a single question niggling in the back of her head: where did she come from? This is a journey with surprises, reunions, travel, loss and love, homecomings and heartbreak; the story of an isolated, cowed only child growing into an adventurous woman, determined to track down her family. As the fog of Judith's early life lifts and her family tree becomes visible, developments grow ever more surprising. My Hidden Family is a heart-warming memoir about the family you're given, and the family you find.

The most addictive, deliciously dark and redemptive psychological thriller you've been waiting for in 2021 - for fans of Lisa Jewell, Louise Jensen, Phoebe Morgan, CL Taylor, Cara Hunter and KL Slater... ************** Blue grew up in the Black House. In remotest Wales, Joseph Carillo recruited young, lonely women to join his community and adopt his erratic views. Blue's mother was one of them. But when the Black House goes up in flames, Blue escapes to freedom and never stops running. Twenty years later, when Blue's old dormmate commits suicide, Blue receives a strange call. She has been awarded sole custody of Natasha's daughter. But things don't add up. The girls haven't spoken since the night of the fire. As Blue begins to dig into Natasha's life, her suspicions take her all the way back to that fateful night...But will the truth help Blue to face her past, or will it put everyone she holds close in danger? ************** Praise for NJ MACKAY: 'Dark, gripping, unexpected. Insanely good - like, Dark Places good' ELLE CROFT 'Brilliantly plotted, tense and atmospheric' RACHAEL BLOK 'Grips you from the first line through to the nail-biting conclusion. Psychological suspense at its best' VICTORIA SELMAN 'Clever, unexpected, brilliantly plotted; I literally could not put it down' CLARE EMPSON

Please let me introduce you to Judith AM Denton. Placed in Foster Care at the age of 9, growing up through the system, Judith experienced exclusions from School and College, a run in with the Law, and then as a Care Leaver, she experienced a period of poor Mental Health. But thankfully her story doesn't end there....