Fostergirls

June 27, 2011
Shaw (thinandbeautiful.com) doesn't have trouble creating obstacles for her main character, 15-year-old "fostergirl" Sadie. A string of unsuccessful foster placements has landed her in a group home with five other girls ("Messed-up babes from all over the place"); an overeager guidance counselor at her new school has diagnosed her with a learning disability; and Rhiannon, a chronically chipper student determined to befriend Sadie, won't shut up. In fact, Shaw's biggest challenge is making caustic, self-deprecating, and distrustful Sadie likable. Fortunately, she succeeds. Sadie, though tough as nails, narrates her story with an amusing edginess that works. Shaw keeps things PG-rated (with little swearing, minimal drinking, and practically no drugs or sex) while highlighting the reality of life as a foster child. An accident late in the book adds an unnecessarily melodramatic note and the book's ending is abruptâa quarrel with Rhiannon is hastily resolved, and readers are left with the impression that Sadie's circumstances are improving, though far from perfect. But for readers seeking an honest account of how a girl without parents survives, this story delivers. Ages 13â19.

July 1, 2011

Fifteen-year-old Sadie provides a moving depiction of life as a foster child.

After 12 placements, beginning when she was about three, Sadie, always a survivor, is now living in a group home in a small Canadian town. Though the reasons that she's been shunted from one foster family to another have varied over the years, to Sadie they all spell rejection. Since she has been all but lost in the system, her learning problems have been ignored, and school has become a cycle of failures that parallels the lack of adult affection she's suffered from. Her edgy, always authentic present-tense voice rings richly true. As she describes it, "Right now, my hope is buried so far underground that I would need a shovel to dig it up." She's befriended by Rhiannon, an unpopular but kind girl with a motor-mouth and lots to offer a teen without roots: Loving, warm-hearted parents, a welcoming home and even some homework help. But past experience has taught Sadie too well; if she gets comfortable with her current life, she'll probably be snatched away from that and placed somewhere else to start over. Strong character development and believable situations provide a robust foundation for her excellent, ultimately hopeful tale.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-At 15, Sadie Thompson enters her 13th school and a group home. Her goal is to lie low so that she can fulfill her probation and convince her social worker that she is a candidate for emancipation at 16. All she wants is to be left alone, and she has no intentions of making friends. To cope with the instability and lack of control in her life, she shuts everyone and every emotion out. Over time, she develops a friendship with a classmate, Rhiannon, and learns to trust a guidance counselor instrumental in diagnosing her as learning disabled. When she lands in foster home 13 and learns the truth about her "biomom," a bad choice puts her in the hospital. Shaw's description of Sadie's attitude toward school and the testing process that labels her as learning disabled is detailed, as is her look into the lives of foster children. In fact, the depiction of Sadie's emotional void is so well done that readers learn very little of her past other than the highlights, and some might feel the lack of background and connection hinders the plot. Still, Shaw manages an authentic and accurate story. Overall, Fostergirls will engage many reluctant readers and fans of problem novels, and it will have a special appeal to other "fostergirls" and those struggling with learning disabilities or school.-Adrienne L. Strock, Maricopa County Library District, AZ

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.