Lindsay and Kerrie Ann are sisters who have known hardship from an early age, when their mother was sent to prison and they were separated and sent into foster care. Thirty years later, Lindsay is still trying to reconnect with her little sister. When they are finally reunited , neither sister's expectations are met. Kerrie Ann feels intimidated by the "classy," more educated Lindsay, while Lindsay is dismayed by Kerrie Ann's streetwise ways. They...

"When Dahlia decided to become a foster mother, she had a few caveats: no howling newborns, no delinquents, and above all, no girls. A harrowing incident years before left her a virtual prisoner in her own home, forever wary of the heartbreak and limitation of a girl's life. Eleven years after they began fostering, the Moscatellis are raising three children as their own and Dahlia and Louie consider their family complete, but when the social worker...

At the age of 12, Astrid has her world blown away when her mother is sentenced to life in prison for murdering her lover. Sharpened by harsh foster home environments, Astrid remakes herself as a survivor, and ultimately, an artist.

Thirteen-year-old Sunny, accompanied by a stray dog, takes advantage of a windfall to travel from her Nebraska foster home to Enumclaw, Washington, to find the twin sister from whom she was separated at age three.

Enduring a brutal foster-care upbringing, Melanie embarks on an adult life that she hopes will allow her to leave the past behind, only to be framed for drug charges that threaten her ability to keep her baby, a situation that is aided by an attorney who wants to solve the cold case of a serial rapist.

In this memoir of a decade spent in foster care, Bridge illuminates the horrors of a system that, in its clumsy attempts to save children, he argues, all too frequently condemns them to physical and emotional abuse. The child of a teenage mother who divorced her abusive husband soon after Bridge was born, he watched helplessly as his mother disintegrated under the impact of isolation and poverty. At the age of seven, Bridge was dragged away from his...

For one 14-year-old boy, life can be a challenge sometimes. With all of the usual crises that accompany being an adolescent, foster kid Billy has some additional obstacles in life. A chance encounter with a mystical wizard completely changes everything. And it's not long before this boy discovers that one phrase grants him the ability to make a transformation into a superhero. In fact, it couldn't be easier. All Billy needs to do is shout "Shazam!"...

Della relies on her older sister, Suki, for comfort and guidance during difficult times, but after Suki attempts suicide, it becomes apparent that she is struggling more than she lets on.

Caleb Franklin and his big brother, Bobby Gene, have the whole summer to explore the woods in Sutton, Indiana. Caleb longs to venture beyond their small town, but his dad likes the family to stay close to home. Then Caleb and Bobby meet their new neighbor Styx Malone. Styx is sixteen, and he oozes cool. He promises the boys that together, they can pull off the Great Escalator Trade - a way to turn one small thing into more, and more until they achieve...

The Boss Man has an unexpected motive in destroying Mike Wingate, who's worked his way up from the bottom to become a successful home contractor in Lost Hills, California. To protect his family and himself, Mike, who was raised in a foster home, summons his only friend from those days, the formidable Shep, who has grown up to be a career criminal of considerable skill.